Before I really get into the hard hitting, profanity laced, fact infused, dismantling of the psychic profession, I just need to get a few things clear right off the bat. One is a legal matter. Since I am really not hiding who I am on this blog, I need to be able to cover my ass in case of any potential litigation. Calling someone a liar, fraud, or a quack, could be misconstrued as Slander, and is thusly Punishable under the law. But oddly enough… saying they are Assholes, or Mother Fuckers, is completely safe. Saying these were all scams, could also get me in trouble. But Bullshit, strangely enough, is Safe. So you’ll have to forgive my gratuitous use of profanity, I’m trying to talk about the truth without spending the rest of my life in court because of “Litigious Mother fuckers!” But really, when we’re dealing with psychics… shouldn’t they have seen me coming?
Secondly, I have to make it very clear where my heart is. I have nothing but empathy for anyone who is experiencing the loss and grief, of the death of a loved one. I’m a bit of a momma’s boy, and I’m not ashamed to admit that. And I’m very close to my Dad; he’s one of my best friends. I don’t know what I would do without them. Or, I can’t even begin to imagine their pain, if either I, or my sister were to die. I hear stories about people who lost a child, and my heart really does bleed for them. It’s never something you would want to happen to anyone. Or if one, or both of your parents are gone, I can’t begin to imagine the feelings of pain and loss. Harry Houdini, the first real documented de-mystifier of psychics, didn’t really go crazy Busting these Psychics until he lost his Mom. Once you’ve felt that Pure Grief, Seeing it exploited can take away your sense of Humor. Once our loved ones are gone, all we have left is our memories of them. My grandmother passed away a few years ago, and my memories of her, and the time I spent with her are very precious to me. How low do you have to be to exploit someone’s pure grief to make a few bucks, or to sell some fucked-up book? I don’t give a rat’s ass about the money these assholes are taking from the grief stricken. What I do care about, deeply, is the desecration of memories. The grieving person’s memories end up all fucked up because of someone else’s images. All we have left of our loved ones is memories, and these pigs piss on them for money, and a little unearned fame. I’m sure these lame fucks tell themselves they’re easing the grief, but “skits for money” cannot replace loving memories.
Well, now that the sappy stuff is out of the way, let’s Bust up this party!
I will tell you right now that 0% of what any Psychic, Medium, Tarot card reader, or aura reader, will tell you is actually due to psychic ability. Science can explain every single thing they do. This is a skill that doesn’t require any type of supernatural ability. It’s just a skill that requires a good understanding of Human nature, and knowing what your subject wants, and giving it to them. In order to fool people these “performance artists” use a number of techniques. The most common trick they use is called “Cold Reading.” It a process of asking for information, while giving the impression you are getting this information from some supernatural source, like dead people talking. The Psychic will make a lot of guesses, and of course, the more guesses you make the better chance you have of making accurate guesses. It’s a more difficult method to use in a one on one setting, so most of these Bullshitters will use another method, commonly referred to as the “Shot-gun Approach.” They rely on the better odds they have of getting a random “hit” when working with a larger audience. That is where another trick usually comes into play. It’s referred to as the “Question Trick.” The psychic will try to look very knowing, and then say something to the group like “Who’s Mary? Who’s Mary?” Or maybe not phrase it like a question, but word it as “I’m getting a ‘J’ sounding name, like James, or John. Does that mean anything to anyone?” And the believers will jump up, supply the information to fill in the gaps, and be very convinced by it. “He told me my Mother’s name was Mary.” No he didn’t, it was a question. Using these techniques, and by exploiting the grieving “believers,” they can fumble together a reading that to someone who is emotionally fragile, and not thinking clearly, would really sound like they knew what they were doping. When you combine the emotionally fragile, and some good showmanship, the con artist is likely going to pull off their Bullshit. The believers forget the embarrassing misses, and count and exaggerate the hits. It’s a phenomenon that P.T. Barnum made famous in the late 1800s; “People want to be fooled.” It is now commonly referred to as the Barnum Effect, and psychics use this to their advantage, very well. Part of the problem is the Believers are really wanting, no sorry, ‘needing’ this to be true, and that clouds their judgment, and rational thinking. Honestly, if we were voting on whether we want this to be true, my vote is yes. Who wouldn’t want to contact a deceased relative? That’s a very attractive concept. If you were not thinking clearly or rationally, you would really want them to succeed, which is what you came for. But you have to ask yourself “is it really so, or am I just being hustled?” These Methods have been around for hundreds of years, and were routinely De-bunked by Harry Houdini in the early 1900’s. And he was making headway into proving this Bullshit trickery, until his untimely death in October of 1926, due to Peritonitis, caused by a ruptured appendix. Before he died, Harry and His wife His agreed on a code word, in the case that one of them died before the other (a likely scenario, but none the less, that was the plan). This code word would be to prove to the other that they were really talking to each other through a Psychic, or medium. The code they decided upon was “Rosabelle believe.” Every Halloween, for 10 years after his death, his wife Bess, would hold séance to try to communicate with him, but no psychic could ever produce the Codeword. Even in Death, Houdini was the best debunker of Psychic assholes. “Hey Harry, can you believe it? The same Bullshit, you so thoroughly debunked almost a century ago, is continuing. And even enjoying a resurgence.” See, anyone can “talk” to the dead… Getting an answer, that’s the hard Part.
Psychics who seem to know a too much about you, are likely doing what is now referred to as a “Hot Reading.” As opposed to a “Cold Reading”, where they come in “cold.” They don’t know you from Adam. A hot reading is a little different. It’s when the psychic has found a way to do some research on the victim Beforehand. Today, things like Face-Book, Twitter, and My-Space, are huge tools. Most people don’t lock their content, so a Psychic can go online and find out where you live, where you spent your last vacation, the members of your family, your friends, what type of car you drive, what pets you have, and so on. All things they can use to make it appear they are psychic. There have also been cases where a Psychic has hired private investigator to dig up the required information. It is a large up-front expense, but they know if they can be convincing enough they can keep a person on the hook for much more than they spent on getting the info. Another method of Information gathering is a hidden microphone in the waiting room. It’s simple. They place it under a table or a chair, and while you are there with a friend of Family member talking, they gather all the information they will need that way. The last and Final method of “Hot Reading” is a friend of a friend. It obvious that this friend has spoken to the psychic about you before, and thinks the psychic can help. This is the easiest way for them to get all the information on you they will need to be convincing. “Oh, my Friend, So-and-So, moved here a few years ago when her mother died, and she has been having trouble getting over it. Maybe she should talk to you.” Well guess what, that is all the psychic needs to get started. And they didn’t even have to work for it. This method is mostly used in a “one on one” reading, because most of those are scheduled a few days, to a few weeks, in advance.
Taking up the mantle of exposing this bullshit for the last 50 years has been the Amazing Randi. Now James Randi of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). "Perhaps nobody in the world understands both the virtues and the failings of the paranormal as well as Randi does. His qualifications as a rational human being are unparalleled" -Isaac Asimov. Randi is now using his skills as a magician, and a skeptic, to bust psychics and other paranormal phenomena, using his foundation in Florida, and his $1,000,000.00 prize. It’s very simple to win. Prove you can do what you claim you can do… Win a Million Dollars! Approximately 250 psychics apply annually for the prize, claiming some form of psychic, or paranormal, power or ability. The 1 Million Dollar prize was first announced in 1996, prior to that James Randi had a prize of 10,000, then 25,000, 50,000, and up to 100,000, before forming the Educational Foundation, and raising the 1,000,000.00 prize (it is invested at Goldman & Sacks in New York, and can only be removed from the account for the purpose of awarding the prize).
James Van Praagh, is a psychic who has his own daytime TV show in the states. One of the things he likes to tell you is how your deceased friend or relative got deceased. He’ll say things like “He tells me, before he passed, that he had trouble breathing.” Folks, that’s what dying is all about! You stop breathing, and then you’re dead! It’s that simple. And that’s the kind of information he’s going to bring back for you? I don’t think so.
These performers will say things like “I’m hearing ‘Electricity.’ He’s saying to me ‘Electricity.’ Was he an Electrician?” No. “Did he have an electric Razor?” No. It’s a game of 20 questions! Until they narrow it down to a point where they can sound like they know the person. The sad thing is that the victims in all this will forget all the misses, and exaggerate the hits. They want it so badly that their brain takes a hike, and they just believe it so deeply. They don’t just want it to be true… they NEED it to be true. Any thought otherwise would be to admit their loved one is really gone. And that’s too painful for them. It all comes back to the “Barnum Effect.” “People want to be fooled.”
Another so-called psychic, who has his own TV show, is John Edward. Same deal as that Asshole Van Praagh. These TV psychics have it pretty good. They work with an audience of hundreds (shot-gun Approach), and those hundreds are all there because they truly believe, and are emotionally fragile. Jon even gives a little helpful advice to any forgetful fan, “Bring a copy of your Family Tree to the show, just in case.” Yeah, just in case one of your relatives you’ve never talked to, never met before, or never even knew existed decides they want to share a moment with you. Yeah, ok. Asshole. “Most of the misses people think are misses, are not misses.”—Jon Edward. Riiiight…. It’s a hit, but the grieving are too stupid to figure it out. Most of these shows tape for over 2 hours, then are edited down to 45 minutes to fit into a 1 hour TV slot. So how come no one ever hears about those embarrassing misses they edit out of the shows? Both Van Praagh, and Edward, have huge release forms, that the TV audiences have to sign. Van Praagh’s, specifically is over 20 pages, and is the largest release form I have ever seen. (It was available on line, but when I went there to make a copy to reference for you, it had been removed.) The non-disclosure clause is very suspicious, to me at least. You judge it for you self. “Neither anyone acting on my behalf, nor I, shall speak to any media representative, or source, about any aspect of my participation in the series.” What are they so afraid of? It’s very unusual, and seems to be very protective of what goes on inside the studio during the taping of the show.
One Psychic, who I’m sure you’ve seen on TV, is Sylvia Browne, “The Talons.” (If you know what she looks like, you’re probably laughing) Sylvia charges $700, for a 20-minute reading… Over the Telephone! She won’t even see you in person. And you have to book ahead by almost 2 years. For that measly $700 investment, she gives you the names of your Guardian angels. Well without that how would you ever be able to function? And she tells you who you were in previous lives. Now, the JREF has hundreds of these conversations on tape in their library, and a pattern has emerged. All the men were once Grecian Warriors, fighting with Agamemnon, and the women were all Babylonian Princesses, or something along those lines. Nothing is ever said of a 13-year-old “Boot Black” in the streets of London, who died of consumption. He’s not important enough to be reincarnated, apparently. The one thing I find odd about these situations is that they never seem to call anyone back from Hell. Everyone went to Heaven, and No one is in Hell. Now, Sylvia is an exception, in one way. She is the only professional psychic in the world to accept Mr. Randi’s challenge. She accepted it Live on the Larry King Live show back in 2002, and the JREF didn’t hear from her for 6 and a half years. She then said that she didn’t know how to get a hold of him. ??? A professional psychic who talks to dead people, and she can’t reach him? He’s a live, I know, I’ve talked to him (via Email, but to me it counts!) (Video of Sylvia accepting the challenge is available on You-tube.) Another issue with this scary Bitch, she was on the Montell Williams show a few years ago, and was talking to the Parents of a man who had gone missing a month previous. She was asked specifically “Is he still with us?” Basically asking if he was still alive. She responded with a simple no. This absolutely crushed the family. They then went ahead with funeral arrangements, only to find out a few weeks later their son was still alive, and living in another state. This sent Sylvia into serious damage control, making up all kinds of bullshit to try to cover her own ass. (Again, CNN’s coverage of this story is available on You-Tube. And it’s very damming.)
Uri Gellar, a young Israeli, in the early 70’s, who claimed to have Psychic magical powers. Things like Mind reading, Bending metal spoons or keys, locating water hidden inside metal containers. Uri was scheduled to appear on the tonight show with Johnny Carson. Johnny, having been a magician himself, was skeptical of his abilities, and contacted James Randi to devise a test to confirm his abilities. A few dozen props were displayed for Uri to work with, and his people were not allowed to be anywhere near them. When he was pressed to perform his typical tricks, he was unable to perform any of them. And, as Randi would later show on a PBS special in the early 80’s, he was unable to perform those tricks, because they required hours of preparation (weakening the spoons, pre bending the keys, etc. All things that Randi would then duplicate using the same trickery as Gellar). Unfortunately, that appearance had little effect on Gellar’s career. But, as it tends to happen, his star faded, and he went home to Israel in the late 80’s. Uri has also never applied for the Million-dollar Prize. (note: Again, the video of this is available on You tube, and I encourage you to view it.)
And the US doesn’t have a monopoly on Bullshit. There are plenty of these Bullshitting assholes here in Calgary. A google search turns up a few hundred, just in Calgary. Funny enough, some of them also offer, astrology, and hypnotherapy services as well. Wow, branching out into other forms of Bullshit, are we? I’m still waiting for the same headline Jay Leno is waiting for, “Psychic wins Lottery.” Clairvoyant Kim, who is consistently on the radio, is one of the local assholes that needs to be stopped. If you ever hear her on CJay, her “readings” are so scatter-brained, nonsensical, and just plain ridiculous, that it could apply to anyone, and about almost anything. I listened, and a few tings she said could have applied to me, or my parents, or my sister, hell, even the Dog!! She just throws so much information out at once, and hopes that something will fit. Like throwing Shit at the wall, hoping something might actually stick. Which is actually a very accurate metaphor. She hits rarely, but people so badly want it to work that they ignore all the misses, and focus on the one thing she got right. At that point she goes for the jugular, and focuses right in on that one thing, and plays it up as the “be all to end all” of your life, and people buy it. They should be embarrassed, and she should be ashamed. I really wish we had the means to prosecute these Assholes, but as of now there is no section under the law to prosecute psychics, in Canada or the US. But, in Australia, they do have legislation. They can be prosecuted under Fraud, for charging for a service they are unable to provide. Thank you Australia. Hopefully that same legislation will be in Canada in my lifetime.
If these psychics were really talking to the dead, why would they even get it slightly wrong? Why would they have to ask you any questions? If they were really talking to the dead, they should have this information, and should be able to supply it to us. Why would you have to tell them your dad liked to fish, or was an Electrician? Or, that your Grandmother made amazing sugar cookies? Why wouldn’t your mom, who was smart and funny, and sharp-witted, suddenly not remember 1 or 2 letters of her own name? These psychic assholes are making you do all the work, put the information together in your head which ever way fits best to what you want to hear, and then taking all the credit. When you’re vulnerable, and looking for answers, there is always someone there willing to sell you one.
So, obviously, psychics are, always have been, and always will be… BULLSHIT! One of the weird things Houdini discovered was that some of these Mediums actually fall into believing their own Bullshit. They forget their own misses, or even worse, write them off as hits that “we’re just not able to recognize.” Cold Reading can be done accidentally, but that doesn’t mean that the psychic is a better person. Lying to themselves does not make lying to others OK. It can make intellectually lazy scumbags, more convincing and dangerous. But even if these fucks know they’re just making this shit up, and pushing peoples buttons, they tell themselves “At least I’m comforting the bereaved.” Who the fuck are they to decide that lying about the universe, and dead loved one, is what the bereaved needs? That’s condescending Bullshit! There’s a very good reason for all the audience contracts they have to stop the victims from talking after they leave the show. When the pressure is off, and grieving relative gets a chance to think, some of them figure it out. Given a minute to think about it, this shit is pretty easy to figure. We’re all vulnerable, but no, we’re not all suckers. The pain can be great, and we can want to believe, but there’s hope that we can be strong enough to climb out of the bullshit superstitions that have drained away some of our Humanity. You don’t heal a broken heart by pretending it’s not broken.
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