Psychics-becoming a believer

[Chasym]

So i spent my weekend on a set filming for a documentary on all aspects of the paranormal. I am only participating in the first episode of the series.
i went in with a fun and games attitude, but little did i know what i was in for and how my life would be changed by the end of it all.

There were two psychics/mediums present. One of them i had worked with before on paranormal investigations, while she seemed to have a gift none of us could explain, because originally we swore to not work with a psychic because we didnt believe in them, we had to because a client requested us to bring one.

She was able to give us details about a location before we even went there, without her knowing ANYTHING about the place, no address, no location, no details whatsoever. And she was always spot on.

But, i was still a skeptic because those readings were still things we could not verify.

But lastnight she changed my life.
I asked questions about my life and asked to speak to my grandfather who had passed in 95. My mother came along to fill in a no show at the last minute as well.
we went through four different situations that deal with psychics and mediums.
Tarot Reading, Ouija board session, Seance and Private reading.

I started with a private reading, which right off the bat she described my current situation in great detail without knowing anything about it, she then told me my grandfather was coming through. he was saying alot of things only he could know about, these were not vague generalized answers, but more along the lines of very personal information.
My emotions were stirring but i was still skeptical.
Only one thing could change my course from that.

I asked her to get an answer for a question for me. I said as vague as possible "there has always been a question that i have asked of him since he died, ive asked it out loud to him, does he have an answer for me?"
she got an image he showed her, it was him in a military uniform (he was in the military and she did not know this as i had not mentioned it to anyone). She saw me kneeling over his grave, he was standing behind me in uniform waving a giant american flag over me. she said she didnt understand what he was trying to say.
but i knew what i meant and i lost it.
He was very proud of being in the service, and my question to him was "are you proud of me". I knew that meant he was. i finally had my answer.

But during the seance, he reiterated things he told me in the private session, on how my family needs to support me and i need to make the difficult decisions ive been stuck on and move on. He was telling my mom directly that she needed to inform the family to support me with no questions asked.

But it wasnt until i asked if he had a message for my father, to which she replied without hesitation "he does". "He said to tell your father, Don't make the same mistakes i made with you".
Me and my mom fell immediately into tears on camera, i absolutely lost it. That was a phrase only me, my mother and my father knew about. but i had buried it so far back i forgot all about it until that moment, it all rushed back and i could hear him yelling it at my father as if he was right there right then. Its one of those memories i was too young to recall, i cant remember any visual image of it, but i remember the words clearly. My mom rememberes the argument as well.
It was something that only meant something to us, and that sealed it for me. I honestly am a believer that she did contact him. But because i was so shook up, she said he would no longer communicate through her, he was leaving, he was going with me and staying with me from now on.

She said he knew now that i could talk to him, and he could talk to me. Which was a reference to what my dizzy spells were that i mentioned in the "lets talk about ghosts" thread. She confirmed that the moment i realized it was him letting me know he was with me, it was the reason i never had one again. He knows he can get through to me.

alot of what was said was too personal, but too detailed to be a cold reading. I mean she gave solid, non general information that only i could know. We contacted my friend that died almost 3 years ago, but that was too emotional and difficult to talk about here as i learned that he had not yet crossed over and that his ailments are still with him, she knew the ailments and knew he hadnt been gone long without me saying a word about it.

I gotta say, i believe now. I really do, i believe that some people really have a gift, and the ones that really do, dont seek fame and fortune for it. They use it to help.
she explained to me how she hears them, its like talking to yourself in your head, but louder. She gets image flashes sent to her that they want her to see so she can reference or translate what they mean.

When these episodes premiere, ill post them.

But now i have alot of changes to make in my life, things that i was struggling with personally that was explained to me on what i need to be doing. That i am not alone and never was. While ive tried to logically explain this stuff away, i just cant. Just too many things that ive been left wondering that i now have exact answers to, that only my grandfather could answer.

has anyone else had an experience on this?
I ask no psychic bashing here, i understand the skepticism out there on this subject, and i understand that. But i cant be a skeptic anymore, at least not with these two ladies. They were very kind warm hearted people, and they truly possess a gift that i cant explain. They dont walk around acting elite because of it, they act like normal people just having fun and hanging out, but when you want to know something or speak to someone...they certainly have some sort of ability to do so.

 

[Makelith]

Its pretty cool that you had an experience like that, but i can't say i share your sentiment. The only psychic i'll ever believe in is Shawn Spencer.

 

[Tagrineth]

Half the stuff you said she said could apply to at least 50% of the US population. :X

like "Don't make the same mistakes I made with you"? That's borderline cliche, not even something "only a select few could know about"...

 

[Cort]

They hit a sensitive spot with vague comments.

 

[Chasym]

theres stuff i wont mention here that were directly related to only me, personal specifics that i dont talk about or get in to with any one. The dont make the same mistakes line, hit hard because they were the exact same words he used, she knew nothing of how my father was, i gave her no information prior to these sessions, yet she was saying exact names of family members, not just letters and asking if i know someone with the letter "J" but every name was specific to me and my family, and some of the members in my family have off the wall names that i have never met a second person with their name, but she used those names.
They werent distant relative names either, they were all close family from both sides.

I didnt even mention the physical impressions, which i wont because they are personal to certain ailments of family members coming through.

as an investigator i know not to give specific information when dealing with people like this, its how ive x'd out every so called psychic who tries to enter my team, im always non descript because they should be able to give me the details, i shouldnt have to give them to them.

She described my grandfathers grave stone as well. She told me it had his name on it and my grandmothers and that my grandmother has not passed yet, she even told me she could see that there was a diamond, a club, a heart and a spade engraved in the head stone. Which there is, because he loved to play poker. How does she get that information without knowing anything about it? Thats not information i tell anyone, i dont describe my grandfathers headstone to anyone.

The image she got of him waving the flag, she described what i was wearing and how i was sitting, how i was crying and that it was many years after he passed, it was like she was telling me at the moment i asked him that question, that he was right there trying to answer me.

How could she know that not once in my life had he ever told me that he loved me?
That it was because he didnt know how to, and that i also didnt know how to and that he was sorry that he rarely ever said it to his family at all.

I understand that its a fact most peoples lives are the same, they go through alot of the same stuff and alot can apply to just any general person because of that.
But what sets them to be able to pick and choose exactly which one of those things will apply to you alone without being even slightly off once?
I watched her do many readings that night with many different people, and every single person said she was 100% accurate with everything.
it wasnt "your having a hard time in your life right now"
It was specific things as to what was going on, she knew my entire unusual life situation right now She knew every single detail of it as if she was living it herself.
she knew about and described my lucky medal i was given after my grandfather died.

I mean, i could list every single thing that only applied to me, but its way too personal for a place like this. It was the number one reason i requested not to have my private reading filmed, the seance on the other hand had to be filmed and it was much more personal and difficult than the reading.

When she contacted my mothers grandmother, she described how she looked, what she wore, where she lived, what happened to her wedding ring, these were things i never even heard my mom talk about and she said they were entirely accurate.

like i said, i thought this stuff was total BS before, ive met and tested many psychics. They have always failed, every single one until i met these two. Shes become a good friend of ours over the time we have worked together, and even still i remained skeptic till it got personal. I work with two of the biggest skeptics i have ever met, and we conversed a bit after it was all said and done, and even they were finding it hard to explain.

Im not trying to change the minds of anyone on this, i know from experience you cant change anyones mind if they have not experienced it themselves.

this was more of an, have you experienced something like this conversation.

now im still skeptical on my tarot reading, while the present was correct, the future is what i wont believe till i see it. And my time frame is 4 months, so i'll see if what i was told will come to be then.

 

[Dejavu]

http://www.skepdic.com/randi.html

tell ur psychic lady she can stop doing house parties and make a million dollars.

Or

http://www.skeptics.com.au/features/prize/

The Australian Skeptics offer $100,000 (Australian), $80,000 for the psychic and $20,000 for anyone "who nominates a person who successfully completes the Australian Skeptics Challenge." If you nominate yourself, and are successful, you get the whole hundred grand.

 

[Chasym]

yes we know of the challenge, james randi helped us set up the ouija board session for the show, we have had him on our radio show before as well. hes an awesome guy and i love hearing him say woo woo lmao.
Im sure this woman would consider doing this with no problem.

 

[Tiael]

Its pretty cool that you had an experience like that, but i can't say i share your sentiment. The only psychic i'll ever believe in is Shawn Spencer.

And this is my partner Gus "Silly Pants" Jackson.

 

[Tagrineth]

I'm not gonna rain on your parade any more after this one, I just want to poke at two easy points and leave the rest up to someone else much more articulate than myself.

The image she got of him waving the flag, she described what i was wearing and how i was sitting, how i was crying and that it was many years after he passed, it was like she was telling me at the moment i asked him that question, that he was right there trying to answer me.

Are you certain you remember exactly what YOU were wearing assuming she was describing a specific day? How many times have you been to his grave stone? How can you be certain of what you were wearing every single time, assuming multiple times?

One thing psychics tend to nail is things that aren't things you'd normally remember so clearly. If someone told me I was wearing particular clothes on the day my Uncle Matthias died, I don't know if I could even tell you what colour my shirt was at the time. But if a "psychic" was doing their job and getting me into the right frame of mind, I'm sure once they get me to a certain point, they'd get me to say "oh my god yes that is exactly what I was wearing when I walked into the room...". But there are no photographs, and my own memory definitely can't bring it up on its own.

How could she know that not once in my life had he ever told me that he loved me?
That it was because he didnt know how to, and that i also didnt know how to and that he was sorry that he rarely ever said it to his family at all.

Welcome to a large proportion of fathers in the US. The father that can't tell his family he loves them is extremely cliche. That's not even a 50/50 guess, that's one you ask and are surprised when you hear otherwise.

 

[Chasym]

I'm not gonna rain on your parade any more after this one, I just want to poke at two easy points and leave the rest up to someone else much more articulate than myself.



Are you certain you remember exactly what YOU were wearing assuming she was describing a specific day? How many times have you been to his grave stone? How can you be certain of what you were wearing every single time, assuming multiple times?

One thing psychics tend to nail is things that aren't things you'd normally remember so clearly. If someone told me I was wearing particular clothes on the day my Uncle Matthias died, I don't know if I could even tell you what colour my shirt was at the time. But if a "psychic" was doing their job and getting me into the right frame of mind, I'm sure once they get me to a certain point, they'd get me to say "oh my god yes that is exactly what I was wearing when I walked into the room...". But there are no photographs, and my own memory definitely can't bring it up on its own.



Welcome to a large proportion of fathers in the US. The father that can't tell his family he loves them is extremely cliche. That's not even a 50/50 guess, that's one you ask and are surprised when you hear otherwise.

well i do remember what i was wearing on the day i asked since i was coming back from a family event and i constantly complained that i had to wear them because i didnt like them.
As far as how many times i had been there, i used to go all the time when i was younger with my grandmother. But within the past 5 and some years i have only been there twice. Simply because its too emotional for me to go. The first time was on a whim, just happened to be passing by and i thought nothing of it and stopped by there with my kids.
I had no idea i couldnt handle it.
The second time i was alone and asked that question.

as for fathers not saying that, my dad struggled with it for years as well, but he started saying it out of nowhere one day, and while its still uncomfortable to hear, i say it back. I struggle to say it to my kids, but i still say it.
yes that can easily be generalized, and because most of the items are far too personal to post here, most of what im willing to post will probly be seen as generalized.
But what i do know is my for certain feeling that what i experienced was certainly something more than a cold reading, with a room full of serious investigators and skeptics walking out with the same state of mind as me i just cant dismiss it.
One of the guys believes in nothing, he dismisses everything that happens on a case as purely nothing. He is known for never having any paranormal experience and being proud of it. we have never seen him baffled before, it was kinda "well hows that feel now?" moments.

 

[Zephayra]

Geez people, let people believe whatever they want, whether its God, Buddah, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, psychics, love, evolution, black hole theories, Mayan calenders, aliens... etc.

(No, this is not sarcasm).

 

[Raesvelg]

I don't trust 'psychics', largely because I've never heard of one who provides accurate, personal information in a truly objective setting.

Considering how much information someone can gather about you with as little as your name, and a rough idea of where you live, I'd be extremely distrusting of any 'psychic'. A reasonably methodical search in the right databases could turn up an immense amount of 'personal' information. Things like military service, deaths, maybe even relatives you didn't even know you had.

Basically, if I were to encounter someone who, without so much as knowing my name, could provide me with 100% accurate and highly specific details about events in my past, I might be convinced to consider the possibility.

As it is, I consider so-called psychics to be little more than con artists, preying upon the gullibility of people desperate to believe.

 

[Chasym]

I don't trust 'psychics', largely because I've never heard of one who provides accurate, personal information in a truly objective setting.

Considering how much information someone can gather about you with as little as your name, and a rough idea of where you live, I'd be extremely distrusting of any 'psychic'. A reasonably methodical search in the right databases could turn up an immense amount of 'personal' information. Things like military service, deaths, maybe even relatives you didn't even know you had.

Basically, if I were to encounter someone who, without so much as knowing my name, could provide me with 100% accurate and highly specific details about events in my past, I might be convinced to consider the possibility.

As it is, I consider so-called psychics to be little more than con artists, preying upon the gullibility of people desperate to believe.

well she only knew me on a first name basis, my last name is extremely long and complicated as i am polish, the other lady didnt even know my name and i had just met her that night, she never even asked my name until much later before i was about to leave.
They also never met my mom before until that night and didnt even know her name at all and were able to provide detailed information to her.
if they actually had access to things like a computer during this shoot to look up information, maybe then id question it, but they didnt have that access and they were always in the same rooms with the crew.

 

[Firestreak]

For all you know they had small earpieces and were being fed information. In general though a sociologist can look at you and with very little information assume a lot of accurate information. For example, you can look at a person, and if they have crooked teeth, you can tell that they were too poor growing up to afford braces. They'll take all sorts of little information and weave a lot of generally reliable assumptions. Your race, your height, your weight, if you're married, all these things together can make a person surprisingly predictable. Mix it with some vagueness and you're off to a start.

Next take the professor pig skin approach. All these things make accurate guesswork, next up us statistics. Let's say she wants to predict football games' winner. She sees 1000 people, and tells half of them them NY is going to win, and the other half Florida is gonna win. Half of the people are correct. The other half she never talks to again. Then the next game she predicts 250/250, and the small percentage that's always right gets more and more confident in her abilities.
Now add in the fact that football games aren't 50%, just like these guessing if she's trained in sociology or something similar.

You'll see where you get fooled.

Ultimate realize you aren't random. Your life isn't random. Humans are well studied and documented.

If you want to test someone as a psychic. Think of a number. Then square it, and add 3. It will make it a number less often predicted. Have her tell you her number. Have her tell you the process with which you came up with the number.

Don't ask any information a 2nd person listening in and transmitting could give her. Don't ask any information that could be investigated or potentially assumed. Randomly generate things in your head, move them around(because random numbers in your head are less random than you think), and then keep asking her. I'd be surprised if she gets ANY of them.

She will 100% fail to get a significant amount.

 

[Chasym]

when the series comes out youll see we did a numbers test, she 100% passed. The only word spoken during the test was "go" when the person thinking of a number had it ready. We even thought of random objects, off the wall objects, she was always right.
there was no way she was transmitting, the entire show was built with the purpose of seeing how this stuff works and could be debunked.

Every person there that was working on the show knew each other in some way, and are very serious about the show. there was no "mole" in the group to pass on information.

yet still, she had information in exact detail on my current life, she knew my exact living situation, which isnt a common one. She knew why i was doing it, what was keeping me from moving on from it etc.

and again, alot more im not going to talk about.
either way you put it, its fact that people dont believe it unless they experience it, so again this thread wasnt meant to be a "lets change someones belief and view on something" and i guess is no longer the thread it was meant to be, so ill be moving on.

 

[Grandphoenix]

If one can believe in a God, why not believe in psychics and mediums etc?

 

[Linhjah]

If you want to test someone as a psychic. Think of a number. Then square it, and add 3. It will make it a number less often predicted. Have her tell you her number. Have her tell you the process with which you came up with the number.

Don't ask any information a 2nd person listening in and transmitting could give her. Don't ask any information that could be investigated or potentially assumed. Randomly generate things in your head, move them around(because random numbers in your head are less random than you think), and then keep asking her. I'd be surprised if she gets ANY of them.

She will 100% fail to get a significant amount.

Your test may be valid for a telepath, but not for other types of psychic abilities such as remote viewing or psychokenesis or even precognition.

I don't think the woman described in the OP is a telepath (at least not solely), so even if she had failed the numbers test, that souldn't have meant she can't have some other sort of esp.

 

[Lyall]

This thread is interesting, and I'll check back for links so I can see it. That said, and I say this with as much tongue-in-cheek as I can:

This is a hell of a viral marketing campaign. *tinfoil hat*

:wink:

 

[Raesvelg]

Yeah, that's the other obvious answer, but one I wasn't going to touch.

 

[Princemercury]

Ask her what's tomorrow night's lottery numbers. I'll take cash option and give you 80%. Deal? I believe in psychics as much as believe in the people who actually consider taking this stuff seriously. (None).