sunday life: in which i get told what my future husband and book look like
This week I see a psychic.
Actually, in the past two weeks I’ve seen a sum total of five psychics: Mitchell Coombes, the guy from TV series The One and author of Sensing Spirit (which made it to the top of the self-help bestseller list a few weeks back), Colette Baron-Reid, a prolific American “psychic to the stars” who’s conducted more than 50,000 readings over 22 years, this sweet woman up the road with a sandwich board out front offering 15 minute readings for 20 bucks (perfectly, she works from a card table draped in purple crushed velvet), Kristine Fry , the psychic all my friends’ friends seem to have on speed dial, and “Hope”, the 1800 soothsayer who said my career will either, um, stay the same or – wait for it – change direction in July. And that if I get pregnant next year, the baby will most likely “appear “at the end of the year, not the beginning. Um, Hope, that would be called a gestation period.
On the scale of all things woo-woo, I’m guessing many would rate psychics at about a seven, right? Surpassed, perhaps, by cryptozoologists and tea-leaf readers. So when writing about them a journalist will naturally test a good handful in the hope that such rigour will resemble sound scientific method. Although, of course, to write or talk about psychics, objective scientific thinking must be briefly suspended.
Leaving aside “Hope” and her despairing guestimating, the upshot of my little experiment is startling. Mitchell identifies my flat number, that my neighbour is not the full picnic set and that I shouldn’t move for a while (something I’d concluded myself just a few weeks ago). Speaking superfast and with his eyes shut, he also identifies the four book publishers I’ve been speaking to in the past month, and noted the three that weren’t right for me (again, bingo!).
Colette picks my exes’ very specific shortcomings (as well as, uncomfortably, my own pathos for sticking with them). And tells me I started my search for meaning at 13. Which is true. Indeed it started with ABC Radio’s The Search For Meaning series that I listened to while sick with glandular fever. And apparently my future husband “ain’t pretty”. More of a rough diamond. Stay tuned on this one.
At this juncture I’ll step in and answer the lingering question: do psychics work? And can they help make life better? Hard to answer, but I’ll says this: the world is divided into those who believe in psychics, and those who don’t. Which sounds awfully like something Hope would say. Except that a Neilson poll has indeed found half of Australians believe in psychic powers.
And I’d argue those of us who believe are simply open to the possibility. We accept that our day-to-day perception of life is just that: a perception. We used to think the world was flat. Until our perception was shifted. We also know quantum physics has proven matter doesn’t exist. And that, instead, you, me and that coffee cup are made up of a connected energy. And so we find it possible – fascinatingly so – that a psychic can tap into this common energy matrix, or vibration, and sense where we’re at. Why not?
But here’s an interesting point: if you’re resistant to the whole psychic caper then you, necessarily, won’t get anything from it. Several of the psychics I chatted with are also mediums and endeavoured to communicate with my dead relatives. But I don’t really go for that kind of thing. I don’t have a need for it, and, to be honest, I’m a bit cynical and resistant to it. And so this aspect of the readings fell awkwardly flat.
So to this end, the real value of a psychic is that they simply hold a mirror up to wherever you’re at right now, to what you’re open to and to where you’re already heading. And if you doggedly cling to objective scientific method, then you’ll see the experience through that (limited) prism, I guess.
In my various readings, the most rewarding bit is when the psychic talks broadly about how to steer life. Kristine, who picks up on where my career is at and can sense a big shift in me toward kindness and calmness, counsels me in backing off, not trying so hard. “Get out of your own way,” she says. “Stop trying to control the unfolding”. Yes, such advice could apply to many slightly neurotic 30-something women. But the point is it resonates perfectly with my perception of life in that moment. And makes for a rich, dynamic conversation that leaves me feeling connected. Kristine is astounding at this. “I’m just a feedback loop,” she tells me. “I allow a space for looking at where your own energy is moving. When we tune in to this we can be more graceful.”
Do psychics work? Do they make life better? I don’t know. It’s up to you.
Hi Sarah,
Great article and glad to hear you are staying put in your current abode!
Cheers
Liz
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarah wilson. sarah wilson said: new sunday life post: I saw 5 psychics. yes 5. http://bit.ly/9Fs9F1 [...]
Sarah,
Why do alleged psychics ask so many questions? Aren’t they…um..”psychic”?
“Psychics” aren’t banned from casinos. There’s no need to.
Most supposed psychics are just using a technique called “cold reading” which many moderately trained Magicians and Illusionists can do, often with impressively more skill than so-called psychics can.
You say that “…to write or talk about psychics, objective scientific thinking must be briefly suspended”.
Why?
That’s exactly when it’s most useful. By suspending it you’re becoming less open-minded and killing off your curiosity.
By suspending your critical thinking faculties you’ll ignore the “misses” and remember the “hits” when the “psychics” go about their probing, guesses and generalisations.
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Very disappointed in your psychics article Sarah. How many people on a daily basis are spending a lot of money to be fed nonsense. With all the so called psychics in the world none predicted 9/11 or any other major event. They have an opportunity in the USA and here to earn a milllon dollars from both our sceptics society if they can show that they can really prove that they are. Your article encourages people with problems to spend their last dollar on these charlatans.
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Sarah,
Loved your article. Your experience with ‘Hope’ was hilariously familiar to me. Psychic’s (or intuitives) can get a really bad rap because there are all sorts out there. Just like there are great counsellors/psychologist and seriously bad counsellors/psychologists. There are many people who don’t believe in what they do either
By writing about your different experiences you’ve highlighted that if you want to invest in some psychic guidance, it’s important to shop around. Thanks for bringing this to light! I’ve heard too many sad stories of people being terrified by having readings with unethical or would-be psychics. I’m a sceptic believer – which works for me
and I love getting readings.
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Oh I was quite the sceptic. Then I went and saw one a couple of weeks ago. And she was spot. fucking. on. Scarily so. I gave her nothing and she got 100% right. Not guesses, just told me about my children, my husband, my dead mother. Moving, selling, career. Yeppers. Wasn’t a believer, but am now.
Great article, very very funny.
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Sarah, that bit about your future husband,well i “ain’t pretty” and i’m a rough diamond, if i do say so myself. So let’s meet and get married, my number is 0408 , oh wait, my mum said i am pretty. Damn it
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Not sure I’m a believer but love the debate !
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I’d love a copy of the Coombs book!
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Coombes I mean!
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Great post Sarah. I used to take psychics with a grain of salt (great for post-break-up, not for much else). But ten years ago I did a story where I had to go to 3 psychics in one day and write about what they all told me.
So much has come true since that day it’s quite freaky – including their very detailed description of my future husband and how he would move here from overseas to be with me. Sceptical as I can be, sometimes I think, you just can’t make that stuff up…
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My most recent experiences:
One:I went to see a psychic and she told me I would end up with a guy from my past (a guy I didn’t ever think I’d speak to again) – I knew exactly who she was talking about. She said to wait patiently with knowing…so I waited…patiently…he stood me up two nights in a row. She was spot on with everything else though – from my impending career decisions to my daughter’s life dilemmas and even to my relocating to another part of the city near the ocean which I thought I’d never do.
Two: My sailing instructor informed me that his ‘day job’ was as a psychic and tarot reader and that he only taught sailing on weekends. I didn’t get a reading from him but I’m pretty convinced he was a fraud. If he was really psychic he would’ve known that I was going to freak out when he tried to kiss me at the end of my lesson! Turns out my instructor was bit of a pirate.
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Redundant Mother (funny avatar!), the book is yours…send me your address and I’ll post it to you. x
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Thanks Sarah! Have just e-mailed you my address to your @sarahwilson email address.
Cheers
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Sarah, if really want to put a psychic to the test you need to record the session. Listen to the recording later and see how much information you gave away to the “psychic”. Did he/she “fish” for information and respond according to your response (verbal & body language)? How many correct predictions Vs incorrect?
I thought the efforts of the “psychics” on The One were pretty woeful.
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I have to say I’ve had my fair share of phsyics readings in the past two years. A lot of them do ask a lot of questions which makes me think, “Shouldn’t you already know this?!!” so I’m disappointed by that. Although all of them, strangely, seem to be consistent as to where my career is heading and what my future partner will be like. If they are holding a mirror to where I’m at now and where I’m heading, then I guess it’s a pretty good one. But then again, if you knew my name and searched me on Facebook, you could probably guess it all! I guess we’ll have to just wait and see what unfolds…
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Hi Sarah, my wife and quite a few of her friends seem to be fans of psychics. Some readings apparently better than others over the years. Me, I like to keep an open mind but wouldn’t go and see one. John Lennons words in his song Sean (or Shaun?) seem to apply for me “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
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If you truly are on a mission to make life “bigger, more meaningful, nicer, smarter, heartier” then perhaps you need to reconsider the framework on which your mission is built. There is no credible evidence that psychics have any “supernatural” powers. There is plenty of evidence that charlatans knowingly masquarading as psychics take advantage of gullible and vulnerable people.
To address Bella’s point above, counsellors and psychologists are properly trained, have accredited institutional qualifications, and are registered and submit to regulation within that industry. There may be bad ones, but measures can be taken to address them. Psychics are people who, either intentionally through deception or through delusion, think they have super-powers. There is no regulation, and no measures to address any problems.
If you supporting and promoting this industry means people lose money, get ripped off, are given bad advice, or feed the delusions of the unwell practitioners of “psychic powers”, for whom exactly does that make life “bigger, more meaningful, nicer, smarter, heartier”?
To claim that seeing a handful of alleged psychics resembles a “sound scientific method” demonstrates that you have a poor understanding of science. That you would then go on and insult those who do understand science by stating “if you’re resistant to the whole psychic caper then you, necessarily, won’t get anything from it” is nothing other than ignorance. Perhaps we sceptical few have merely looked at the evidence with an open mind, and drawn a correct conclusion, unpopular though that may be…
To claim that we once knew the world was flat as proof that psychics could be real is nonsense. One of the first great proofs of the scientific method was that the Earth was round, although it was long hypothesised before Erastothenes (around 240BC) gave his evidence, which included a remarkably accurate estimate of the circumference. And your claim that quantum physics supports your idea beggars belief. The great physicist Richard Feynman is oft-quoted as saying “I think I can safely say nobody understands Quantum Mechanics”, so for you to dismiss it in one-line as being proof that psychics could be real..? Again the word ignorance springs to mind, as does the idea that you have read ‘The Secret” or watched “What The Bleep Do We Know?” (which are both highly questionable sources of information) one too many times.
You should consider reading Ben Goldacre’s “Bad Science”, Carl Sagan’s “A Demon-Haunted World”, or Martin Gardner’s “Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?”, and give yourself a rudimentary understanding of the scientific process. Then you might look back on this column, and reflect on the quality, or lack of it, within.
It is a shame that a writer such as yourself chooses to use your profile in this way. There are so many wonderful things in this world that you could be promoting instead of this utter nonsense. As the great Carl Sagan said: “It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
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Sometimes people need a friend and if you get the right reader, that’s what you get. Someone who will focus entirely on you and give you attention and be on your side…and if the reader is a good one she/he can often be spot on and be a big help and comfort to you when you need some calm advice or hope for your life.
Of course, as in any occupation there are charlatans and people who aren’t so good at what they do. And, there are people who are exceptional, wise and true.
If you’re going to see a psychic, do so with a sense of great adventure. Think of it as a hobby, as a lark, as a gamble…enjoy yourself and don’t get too puffed up with belief or disbelief, however it goes.
venus andrecht (psychic)
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Dear Sarah, please read with great care the comments by “Not the big needle” and Terry Kelly. They are both correct. What psychics claim they can do, is something that is in the real world. The Scientific method is the highest achievement of our species and the best way (by far) to test claims and hypotheses in the Real World. It has been done! It is Not just the “bad psychics ” that fail, it has been and Is All of them. The very existence of ALL casinos and All forms of gambling in All of the world is fully and Completely dependent on the NON Existence of “psychic powers” That is not just a glib point for comedy’s sake, anyone that does not want to go down the “scientific method ” path of investigation can and must consider that point. If you are still convinced that you have found a “real” psychic, there is a fantastic way that he/she (and you) can get an easy One Million Dollars. Look up the “James Randi Education Foundation” ( JREF). They have one million dollars to give away to the first person in all of the world that can actually demonstrate ANY supernatural power. James Randi is a well known “outspoken” skeptic. Any psychic would Love to inflict a “bloody nose” to his organisation, and if Money is just too grubby a motivation for your gentle psychic, he/she and you could make One Thousand donations to One Thousand Charities of One Thousand Dollars Each. The test can be done in Australia, And he/she can also take $100,000 from the Australian Skeptics. ( As well!). I ask you to think about any “excuses” given by the psychic if he/she would Not want to proceed. If I were “psychic” , I would want to “do it” just to “help” the scientists learn a little more.
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People get really fired up about stuff that is “not scientific” don’t they! Makes you wonder what they are scared of.
I’ve seen varous psychics over the years. Some of them do fish for info, stuff like “I see someone who is a gemini… maybe a capricorn…blah blah…” but some are really good. The best reading I had was when there was a lot of stuff in my life I wasn’t acknowledging. She laid it all out for me and told me to deal with it. I couldn’t stop crying afterwards but it was stuff I needed to hear so that I could actually deal with it.
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