Do you believe there's another realm and medium's can tap into it?

[Julia2016]

I do. I believe the energy of the dead never dies, it is with us but in another realm. Sometimes it comes through to our realm. AIBU?

I am a bit sceptical about medium's though. Interested to hear other people's view on this.

@100A
"The one I saw (and I was a sceptic), knew nothing about me apart from my mobile phone number. I can't get into the specifics, but it was definitely more than 'cold reading.'

The problems, nobody ever can "get into specifics" Or name the medium concerned. And none of the mediums are ever prepared to submit their claims to any sort of proper testing. Obviously many of them wouldn't want to. But after all these years surely at least one would be tempted by the money they could make? I know I would!

It’s too much to go into on here. My husband was a complete sceptic but he ran out of the house!

Definitely not. I don't believe in religion, spirit worlds, ghosts, apparitions, hauntings or any kind of non physical existence.

However, I respect other people's choice to believe in those kind of things, as long as they don't impinge on me.

I think that anyone you have to pay to provide any kind of spiritual guidance or insight i.e. "a medium" is most likely a very shady individual, probably taking advantage of vulnerable people.

Sure, if that's your perspective on it, then yes, it is. What I'm saying is that when someone comes from a milieu of occultists and witches who regularly engage with occult practices, then 'spirit worker' is an apt description for that person to use. The occult, pagan and witchcraft communities are their own subcultures with a different philosophical perspective than the mainstream, so it's natural that we use terms to reflect our cultures and perspectives.

I think 'egotistical' is unfair if you're applying it as a blanket term that covers everyone who is involved with these practices. Occultists and witches have a diverse array of different kinds of people. Some would definitely qualify as egotistical, but there are also many who aren't. From my experiences as being a part of these communities, I would say that there isn't a one-size-fits-all description that applies to all of us, because there's such a variety of the types of people who are drawn to and start practicing occultism.

Since there's so much we don't know I'm pretty open minded on this, but one thing I'm fairly certain of is that things won't make themselves available to order just because someone's chucked a bundle of cash at a charlatan

"The one I saw (and I was a sceptic), knew nothing about me apart from my mobile phone number. I can't get into the specifics, but it was definitely more than 'cold reading'

Almost certainly confirmation bias I'm afraid

I've mentioned this on here before, but I once got dragged along to a "medium evening" by a friend who was desperate to hear from her late father

Absolutely nothing came through for her, but one guy received a "message" involving a place her family used to holiday in, and to this day the story's still being embroidered to the effect that her father came through to tell her this and that

To those saying it’s all nonsense, how do you explain those times where the medium tells the person things that there’s absolutely no way the medium could possibly have known?

Example please @RabbitsRock?

@RabbitsRock "To those saying it’s all nonsense, how do you explain those times where the medium tells the person things that there’s absolutely no way the medium could possibly have known"

There is always a way. Mediums check local papers, for example. They ask a lot of questions and drop unproductive lines of enquiry. They learn very quickly from people's answers. People forget the "misses" and remember the "hits". People give away much more than they think they do with their clothes, jewellery and so on. Some mediums plant people in the queue to listen. And most people are there because they want to get a message and are willing and receptive. And in some cases vulnerable and desperate.

I saw a medium....it was incredibly generic stuff...some of which was true but that's luck rather than a special gift.

So, the medium I saw knew that my dad was dead....she said a load of generic stuff that would apply to many older men, that he liked gardening and a pint of beer 😂. This was true but it's true for many middle aged/old men...

Now my dad had heaps to say in this particular session...what was funny is that my mum is also dead which I didn't tell the medium... funnily enough my mum didn't want to chat over the divide that day 😂

Social media, cold reading, Barnum statements, people desperately wanting to make it fit, false memory etc. If you’ve seen the videos where they have everyone the same horoscope reading but told them it was an individual reading for their specific star sign. They all thought it described them exactly because it was all so vague and they wanted to make it fit then it’s similar. The techniques are well known and Derren Brown and others have exposed them.

There are other means too. I remember watching one years ago where the psychic’s Sister turned out to be the neighbour of the woman he was seeing and he went to the loo to read the notes he’d made. I can’t recall his name though.

For the bigger shows there are other means too.

See this video of Peter Popoff, a supposed healer and televangelist who had his Wife collect information from audience members and feed it to him during the show.

I remember reading about a medium asking an audience who had a grandmother with a missing finger. And someone did. Amazing,right? However, it was in a town famous for weaving-and it was very common in the past for workers to lose or damage a finger in the looms. So certainly worth a punt.....

We don't "explain it".

That's what the people who insist it's communicating with the dead do.

No.

No , I think it’s absolute bollocks but many of them are clever manipulative people who work out how to convince . I have never been to see one but I have a few friends who go for all this woo and believe it . That said when I was a night staff nurse the leader the leader of the local spiritualist church died with us and her last words to me were you will always be lucky - and she wasn’t wrong as despite having numerous health issues I normally end up on the better side of things 😀

This, 'in essence', haha

The majority of people think death is the end of every part of a person - mind, body, 'soul'.

And yet, and yet.... i once had a vivid encounter with a ghost. No one will ever convince me it was anything else. It was so vivid, unmistakable and visceral. It only happened once, and this was twenty years ago. But it was unforgettable.

If ghosts are real, as I believe that they are, then that does open up a lot of questions about what happens after death. I also don't think science fully understands consciousness.

It's an interesting question, OP and as I'm recently bereaved, it's on my mind all the time.

There was a famous medium quite recently who sent people into the queue offering free tickets for a prize draw. You had to give your name, address and date of birth......

You should look up the James Randi prize (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Dollar_Paranormal_Challenge)
Noone has won it.

I think they can find moral lows and realms of explotative bullshit that the majority of people would be hard pressed tap into.

One of my closest friends is a medium and she truly believes she is. So do her circle of medium friends. She lives it, she doesn't make much money, she practices at spiritualist centres which charge low entry price for not many audience members. I'd describe it like a religion.

I was also friends with another medium and knew another lady who dabbled. They all describe going to psychic circles to develop psychic skills. There is a pathway.

I wouldn't want to dabble because I believe it enough to not trust myself going there. I'm a hobbyist local history buff and I've experienced 'echoes' of the past when looking into past lives and their stories. Weird feelings, I don't really like it. I've also received 'information' now and then.

Most people aren't that sensitive (lucky them) so you're going to get a lot of skepticism.

There should be a sticky at the top of these threads saying YOU CAN'T PROVE A NEGATIVE, YOU CAN'T PROVE A NEGATIVE, YOU CAN'T PROVE A NEGATIVE over and over.

No-one knows what happens when we die and you can choose whatever death “myth” resonates with you. Personally I believe in a universal consciousness which absorbs our own souls when we die. There is no ego.
As for mediums, I don’t feel strongly one way or another and would suggest that if you’re thinking of using one, proceed with caution.

Nope. They are charlatans who prey on the vulnerable. Should be considered fraud if they charge money for it.

"Sensitive" to what, precisely?

We are all pretty physiologically similar, at least, there aren't some people with an extra organ that could account for possessing an extra sense that other people do not have, so what precisely is it that the few can supposedly sense, and why are other people wholly incapable of it?

It's not like it's a "talent", because some people have a natural gift for certain aptitudes, playing the piano perhaps, driving a motorcar extremely quickly, composing a concerto, yet others who have no such aptitude whatsoever can still hammer the keys of a piano, drive at a sedate pace, or scribble two musical notes down on a piece of paper.

Is it any wonder people are sceptical when we're expected to accept ridiculously implausible claims that can neither be tested nor verified, and there is nothing whatsoever that lends any credence to the claims being made?

I'd suggest your "sensitivity" is nothing more than having an active imagination.

Plus 'Psychic Sally' (who has stopped touring to Ireland after two audience members phoned into a radio show in 2011 to say they heard through an open window at the back of the stalls two staff relaying information which she then repeated on stage) has a 'Psychic Orb' in the foyer where audience members can write messages or questions in the hope that Sally will pick them out of her orb on stage. So another source of information.

I once looked at her reviews on 'Trustpilot' (which cracked me up in itself -- isn't Trustpilot mainly for trades?) and the reviewer were often hilarious. Sally apparently was saying that a Dawn was present, had anyone lost a Dawn? Before backtracking in the face of mass audience refusal to have a dead friend or relative called Dawn to saying 'Oh, no, she DIED at dawn!' 😀

Another woman said her husband was now groaning at the idea of having to spend eternity being best heavenly mates with Roger from down the road, because so many 'spirits' manifested saying they were with a name the recipient of the message only knew vaguely as a neighbour.