Say hello to the only professional psychic on this board
There are two completely different, yet related things afoot; the psychological or wordsmith element and the empathic/intuitive side of things.
Anyone can go out and buy a deck of Tarot Cards, learn their meanings and how to do a spread (Reading) and get amazing hits. All of this is possible without a single bit of mysticism, it's just the fact that you have learned the language of the cards, runes, numbers or whatever system you choose to study and on an analytical basis you know how to interpret them.
If you are a right brained, empathic individual with strong intuition you are able to translate the more subtle side of things and add to what the oracle is saying; coupling your analytical understanding with these natural aspects of your nature. This is when we start moving towards the "Psychic" side of the work, but I emphasize, this is but the "start" of things in that direction. Every one of the older books and lessons on most any major oracle or skill will tell you that the "device" such as the Tarot or someone's hand (palm) is only a key by which to help you unlock the more mystical side of the self . . . something I look at as being expanded awareness more than anything mystical. I've never seen an angel or imp sitting on a psychic's shoulder whispering things in their ear though you will hear tall tales of this kind of thing.
Yes, I do believe in having familiar spirits around a person be it Guardian Angels or Spirit Guides or even past relations. NO, I've yet to find a logical explanation behind the existence of such things, only experiences that reinforce my belief that such things are real. But let's address the other side of Readings -- the psychological/wordsmith element.
In the late 1940's a Psychology Teacher named Forer conducted a series of experiments using the Sunday paper astrology forecasts; he'd realized that how they were written made it difficult for them to not get credited with "hits" -- testimony by patrons of the column that such and such came true.
How could this be possible?Because the wordage allows the person reading the forecast to see a full spectrum; the positive side of a given path as well as its polar opposite e.g. the name Forer Effect (see: for more insight) a.k.a. "Cold Reading". But there is a bit of confusion on this point in that those not studied in the actual work of doing Readings confuse the Forer formula with a Reader's tendency to lean on "stock lines" or "Barnum Statements" as they are often referred to. The fact being that Barnum Statements consist of two "habits" -- the aforementioned tendency of Readers to get lazy and fall back on "lines" used in the past that got positive reactions and too, the tendency to end a Reading on a high note by making bold and typically grand predictions (something most legit Readers will refrain from).
FAKE PSYCHICS EXIST. . . there is a very valid argument that most of the people claiming to be "Psychic" AREN'T and that's coming from within the trade itself. We understand that most of these people, especially the younger ones, are delusional and frequently have psychological and emotional issues that have lead them into this rather peculiar world. As I pointed out, many think that if they own a deck of cards and can "Read" them, they are Psychic. . . nothing could be further from the truth. They may be good Readers, which is somewhat easy to do if you are a personable and chatty sort that's got sound "Street Smarts" . . . the ability to size a person up practically at a glance. It's what we call a "Sherlock Holmes approach"; this is far more common than any other mode of Reading and has evolved into several different "sciences" such as FACS. . . the art of discerning truths from falsehoods by way of subtle facial twitching, eye movement, general body language, etc. and then we have the highly debated pseudo-science of NLP, which is a pot pourri of psychological and hypnotherapy styled tactics coupled with some of the FACS elements of observation.
To my mind genuine Psychic ability does require a pragmatic sense of observation; learning to "see" by way of one's sub-conscious. Development of one's memory and mental gymnastics, as I call it; learning to do basic mathematical computations in your head, memorizing and related recitation of artistic literature and literally learning to pay attention to even the smallest details when it comes to one's environment or the person sitting across from you, as the case would be.
This is where I differ with the majority of my cohorts within the Psychic industry, in that I tend to embrace this pragmatic side to thing vs. all the boogiemen and etheric entity explanations. You could say that I support much of what the skeptics & cynics have to say when it comes to the act of being a soothsayer BUT, I do not find such explanation and understanding to be "proof" of fraud -- "proof" that psychics don't exist -- in that I merely seeing these things as mechanical explanations to a Mystery; it's the exact same thing as learning how to do a Magic Trick properly. . . and you'll discover that I know a bit on that topic as well. . .
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR FRIEND. . . I can't say if he was given this Reading by a genuine Psychic or not in that I was not present and able to observe the session. Thing is, the patron of such Readers play a role in things and it is their perception of what is being shared that lends to the Reader, validation. The more you review the session in your mind, the more you unconsciously change what was actually said, to being what you want to hear -- you subconsciously make the Reading fit circumstances in your life.
Yes, such Readers can give you some interestingly hard hits such as naming key people in your life or "seeing" that accident you had when you were about 8 and the scar it left on your knee. . . these are generic lines, a form of Barnum Statement that's based on statistical averages; most everyone has a scar on their knee and had a serious accident in around 8 years old. . . when they were learning to ride their first "full sized" bike or, if they live on a farm, it's about the time they actually start learning about the machinery and work cycle when it comes to said world.
SUMMARYThis is a HUGE field and to give you a more complete answer would require loads more space. I've given you the bigger chunks when it comes to the facts and I'll be glad to answer, as best I'm able, your questions and as well as possible, I'll be kind in my replies . . . sometimes folks think I can be "jolting" for some reason.
For now, I can only encourage you to re-read this post a few times and digest what I've said.
