Any here have experience with a medium?

[BigBigBear]

I've been thinking about visiting a medium, and getting a reading. This is not to say I believe fervently in ADC, or the validity of mediumship claims, but I continue to have nagging questions about the possibility of an afterlife, and I want get as much exposure to it (people's opinions, paranormal experiences, readings, etc) as I can.

My mind is not made up - I feel I have more work to do.

I would approach it as an agnostic - neither confirmed believer nor confirmed skeptic.

Has anyone done this? Either way, what are your thoughts about it?

Thanks for indulging me in another Gloomy Thread.

[Fenris]

1. Yes.

And it was, frankly, less comforting and more creepy. It was a familial thing though - my great-great-grandmother was a seer and apparently passed that on. I can't recommend it or warn against it. I just know that you may leave more at peace than when you got there or more disturbed. It's a toss up.

:hug:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

9. Isn't your background Cajun, Fenris?

[Fenris]

16. Mais oui.

Very much so. Family comes from Kaplan and Rayne, Lousiana.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. Yeah, les Acadiens are a pretty interesting bunch of people.

They often intermarried with the Micmac natives of what is now Nova Scotia and took on a lot of their spiritual beliefs. Of course, they were originally predominantly of Celtic stock, like many French, and my people are nothing if not gloomy and mystical.

[Fenris]

18. Yes. There is definitely a mysticism among my relations.

Which is only amplified by their Roman Catholicism. That, of course, gives them an extra touch of gloom.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

19. Of course, this makes you French-Canadian.

Not only that, but more French-Canadian than the Quebeckers. It would be great to bring you up to Montreal to piss off the pure-blood obsessed Quebecois Nationalists :evilgrin:

[Fenris]

20. I find that idea very intriguing.

They can't even handle Triumph the Insult Comic Dog! And he's a puppet! :evilgrin:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

21. They're extraordinarily touchy.

And obsessed with the idea of pure bloodlines stretching back to the first habitations of the early 17th century. They try to pretend Acadians (and for that matter, natives) don't exist.

[Fenris]

22. Ha! That's funny.

Considering the sheer number of French colonists, traders, and explorers who intermarried with the natives, the concept of pure bloodlines among Quebeckers is quite silly.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

24. Not something you'd want to base your entire nationalist movement on.

[Fenris]

25. Free Quebec! We're racially pure!

Why won't you take us seriously, half-breeds?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

26. Yeah. And you should see what they do to Muggles.

[Fenris]

27. Bastards!

[meegbear]

2. What type of reading?

I've had my cards read by 2 different friends and it was interesting. The first was a 'general' one and although there was some Q&A (some would call this baiting, trying to get a response), she was accurate.

The second one gave me a quick reading and kept saying that he felt the word "Aries", but he didn't know why. A couple weeks later, I finally met in person someone I've been wanting to date; his online name is BearAries. I never told him about this person.

So, take it anyway you want, but walk in with your doubts; the experience will prove you right or wrong.

[BigBigBear]

3. Specifically, I meant communicating with the deceased

not so much what was in my future.

Thx for your input fenris.

[madinmaryland]

5. You must be referring to the media in the US.

They've been dead for the last three-plus years.:evilgrin:

[meegbear]

7. Do it anyways ... that's next on the list

just need the right person.

But, you can go to one and have a reading done to get a feel for them. If you feel they read you right, then you'll feel more comfortable with them and their answers.

[Drifter]

4. I'm a medium ...

Send me $500 bucks, and I'll tell you anything you'd like to hear.

If you think you are going to get a better deal than that, then I suppose that you would most likely fall prey to someone who will TAKE your $500 and tell you what you want to hear.

Don't waste your money, send it to the Kerry campaign.

Cheers
Drifter

[trotsky]

6. The more you volunteer

they more they'll "tell" you.

Try it sometime - don't volunteer a thing, don't react to their guesses, don't ask them specific questions.

[KurtNYC]

8. If the guy on Crossing Over is a fraud then

I have to think almost all of them are. To avoid confusion I don't want to say the guy's full name, but John E. is a fraud. He has plants in the audience and microphones on those bleechers (which is why he says 'someone in this area...' and sometimes 'meditates' during the taping of the show).

On the other hand, I have personally had premonitions and have documented them as such by telling other people before the premonition comes to pass. One of the more mundane was I had a dream in which we broke a friends microphone and he says 'hey that cost me $1060.00' -- it was weird enough to remember but seemed like dreamy nonsense otherwise. 2 days later I bought a tape deck for $99 and as they ring it up with the tax the amount appears on the register -- $106.00 (!). As soon as I got the deck home I realized it did not have microphone jacks on it! In other words microphones would not work with it. I never get stock tips though.

I believe in psychometry because I can do it. I think most people can if they try. And I believe some people can translocate; the Russian are big on this. But talking to the dead I'm afraid is a hoax and it separatesbereaved people from their money.

[Caution]

10. quick article about mediums

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0006488B-4B4B-1C6F-84A9809EC588EF21&sc=I100322

Keep this article in mind if you go.

[BigBigBear]

12. Thx all

I appreciate your comments. I watch Edward as much as I can, with an eye toward how he constructs his 'fraud', if that is indeed what it is, or how he seems to communicate, if THAT is what he does. His critics are pretty forceful and indignant, and they are certainly entitled to their criticism. Since they can so accurately describe how Edwards frauds his way through his TV show, I'd like to see one of them actually try it - since it appears it doesn't take much, except lots of guessing, fast talking, strategic retreats, etc.

His popularity definitely divides the believer and skeptic camp quite sharply. I remember discussing him with the chaplain at the Hospice center where my wife died, the guy who eventually presided over the service, and he said he thought 95% of what Edward did was fraudulent.

I said, if you think 5% is genuine, that has pretty profound implications, doesn't it. He nodded his head.

He believes in the afterlife, or SOMETHING, just doesn't believe in most mediumship.

[Dookus]

11. What most mediums practice

is a talent called "cold-reading", in which they slyly solicit information from the subject. They make a tentative assertion (I see a name beginning with "T")and if there's any sort of subtle positive feedback, they go with it. If there's subtle negative feedback, they change "... beginning with "T" or "S"). They do this until they get a response, and then focus heavily on the hit and skip right over the misses.

They'll say "I see her pointing to her chest" (heart or lung conditions kill many) and if that doesn't get a response, change to "or torso" (adding liver, stomach, intestinal, pancreatic, etc. ailments). Not a bad guess - I'd say the vast majority of deaths are caused by some failure in the chest or torso.

Many trained skeptics can do the same thing, and in fact, do so regularly in order to expose the tricks that so-called mediums use. It's a combination of educated guesses and shifting your focus to the correct guesses and hoping you'll forget about the wrong ones.

As was said above, save your money.

[Blue-Jay]

13. I'm a skeptic.

If your wife is in a position to contact you somehow, I'd think that she would probably want to do it directly. I'm not totally discounting all things supernatural, mind you. I just get the impression that most mediums out there are scamming people.

Best of luck, Bear. My thoughts are with you.

[dryan]

14. Only met one medium....

Ann Gehman. She would not charge because she was an English teacher. Well-known in Central Florida. Never used her services but met her when I attended a lecture she gave.

[pagerbear]

15. I have more experience with large and XL

[jukes]

23. in your

dreams, P/B!



:evilgrin:

[pagerbear]

28. I'm talking shirt size

What did you think I meant? ;-)

[DS1]

29. To sum up my only Tarot card reading. Cups. Lots and lots of cups

:shrug:

[flamingyouth]

30. I was at a party last week where they had a woman reading

She specialized in "house cleansings" so my friend (who recently miscarried) and I thought, what the hell, what do we have to lose.

She was amazingly accurate the way she described my house, it was almost creepy, right down to the paint in the living room, and the fireplace (I actually got a chill from that).

The best advice she gave me was to not keep "shrines" to my husband. I didn't get that at first, but then the other night I went down to his little mancave in the basement, and I realized that I need to reclaim the room. It's creepy and I don't really like going in there.

As for my friend, the woman told her to do something about her trees in her backyard. Judy said that ever since they'd moved into their house, she'd had this weird feeling about these tall trees back there. So the woman suggested she contact an arborist asap.

Anyway, I found it comforting; she said some things to me about Alan that did make me feel better, and Judy got comfort about the loss of her baby. We both felt that, even if it was complete bullshit, it helped us, so it was worth our $10.

Thinking of you, Dave. :hug: