Mediums/Spiritualists, How do you rate this type of thing? Options

[Pixelgoth]

So what does everything think about mediums?

I went to see one yesterday and he told me several interesting things. I also saw him 3 years ago after Mum died and he was spot on with at least 99% of his predictions/comments. This time he was slightly more vague and I felt a little 'short changed' I guess He did give me lots of info that Mum and Andrew were together but it's almost like I'm more sceptical now than I was before as there didn't seem to be as much 'proof' this time round.

He knew lots of stuff he couldn't have known but I wondered whether I was trying to fit his comments into what I wanted to hear? I'm open minded about these things and seeing as his predictions/comments were so good last time perhaps I should wait, let it all sink in and then listen to the taped conversation again to see what I think in the future.

Either way amongst other things he says I'm going to emmigrate to Oz and I'll meet my soul mate who's called Dave and he's antipodean or has lived out there for a while! I'm now thinking that was too specific for my liking and every single bloke I meet now will be discounted unless he's 'Dave'!

Has anyone has any similar experiences???

[CrazyFooIAintGet...]

I think they are basically con artists unless it's done purely for entertainment. Cold reading and Barnum statements can be very effective and I think in this case he was telling you wanted to hear.

I don't have any personal experience with this but if you've ever seen any of Derron Brown's demonstrations you'll have an idea of how this kind of thing can be done without the need for anything supernatural. It's way too easy to just accept anything that comes true or is meaningful to you as evidence and dismiss anything that doesn't, but these guys can never prove they're genuine (see for example the million dollar paranormal challenge).

[Mata]

I can't help but feel that making a challenge to prove the paranormal is a bit of a baited trap: if it were provable, then it wouldn't be paranormal. It would be 'normal'.

As for mediums... Well, I'm open minded. I believe that if you are focussed enough on one outcome then you can start acting in ways that make it more likely to happen, so if you're told that you will meet an Australian bloke called Dave then you're more likley to pay attention to antipodean chaps with names beginning with 'D' (and ending in 'ave'). Mediums might be able to see the afterlife, but probably not. They are almost certainly either consciously or unconsciously very talented at reading people and working out details of their clients' lives. This kind of abnormally strong intuition could make them able to reveal details that seem impossible, or to make predictions that the client then subconsciously guides into reality. Many of them might not be aware of the way that they produce their results. Alternatively, maybe it really is voices from beyond the grave.

In the Taoist view of things, it's all possible and there's not really any good way of proving one way or the other, so why worry as long as the results are good?

I think that spiritualists need to be approached cautiously: their apparent insight can make them persuasive, which could lead to trusting their word when it isn't wise to do so, but if they are reading people's feelings then there is also the possibility that the spiritualist can help reveal desires and dreams that the person has been denying, allowing them to move on and face new challenges. From that perspective, it doesn't matter if they are performing a supernatural act or just operating as an outlet for repressed desires, as long as the results are useful to the client. The down side comes when the client becomes overly-reliant on the predictions of the psychic, and the predictions turn away from reflecting the client and towards the psychic guiding the client through a life that needs constant predicted reassurance.

[leopold]

I went to see a spiritualist once. It wasn't a particularly good experience, if I'm honest. First off, I had to give her £20 before she'd do a reading. Then, she asked for three personal items, so I handed over my watch, a ring and my chain. As I did so, she dropped the ring and went down to get it. After a few seconds, she hadn't come back up, so I looked over the table - and she'd gone!

I checked out the area but couldn't find any sign of her. There was a hole in the floor, but it looked too little to accommodate her.

Confused, I went to the police. They told me that there'd been a spate of these in the area. Apparently, she was quite a lot smaller than she appeared, and used the hole to make good her escape. It appears she'd conned a lot of people in the last few weeks, but they'd never been able to catch her. She was a small medium at large

Sorry, I'm in a fatuous mood. I've actually never managed to make the great leap from deciding it might be a good idea to actually going to see one. The idea intrigues me in a way, but in some respects I'd rather not know. I prefer to think my life isn't pre-ordained, despite the number of instances where things have erroneously clicked into place.

[Pixelgoth]

I went to see a spiritualist once. It wasn't a particularly good experience, if I'm honest. First off, I had to give her £20 before she'd do a reading. Then, she asked for three personal items, so I handed over my watch, a ring and my chain. As I did so, she dropped the ring and went down to get it. After a few seconds, she hadn't come back up, so I looked over the table - and she'd gone!

I checked out the area but couldn't find any sign of her. There was a hole in the floor, but it looked too little to accommodate her.

Confused, I went to the police. They told me that there'd been a spate of these in the area. Apparently, she was quite a lot smaller than she appeared, and used the hole to make good her escape. It appears she'd conned a lot of people in the last few weeks, but they'd never been able to catch her. She was a small medium at large

Sorry, I'm in a fatuous mood. I've actually never managed to make the great leap from deciding it might be a good idea to actually going to see one. The idea intrigues me in a way, but in some respects I'd rather not know. I prefer to think my life isn't pre-ordained, despite the number of instances where things have erroneously clicked into place.

A few things have come to light since I posted this thread.

The medium said that Andrew was pleased with the things that were put in his coffin in the chapel of rest but I didn't know anyone had. When I told his friend Kim and my Dad and Step Mum they said that lots of things had been put in. I know you could argue that it isn't unusual to put things in coffins but I had no idea about this. Also, the medium said someone didn't go and see him at the chapel of rest and I thought everyone had but Kim said she didn't as she changed her mind at the last minute.

I'm going to listen to the tape again soon as the medium made a specific point of EVPs and he never mentioned that last time so maybe it isn't a message that I heard on the day but one recorded for me???

Who knows but if it makes me feel better surely that's a good thing