Do you believe in psychics?

[lindya]

oh oh oh do me lindya do me..... come on do me....

 

 

a4a...I see lots of exciting things in store for you over the next few months, but you must be careful not to overdo it, lest you get that "passing ground glass" feeling every time you go to the lavatory.

 

I think you often feel misunderstood in many ways. You're an exceptionally intelligent individual, a4a, and sometimes this can leave you feeling isolated. Not everyone gets your sense of humour, and this can sometimes lead to friction.

 

I sense a certain cynicism in you regarding the psychic process. That's absolutely fine! It's part of your nature to question everything, and it's actually something many people admire about you. More than you realise!

 

Take care, though, that the questioner in you doesn't reject certain experiences. Believe it or not, I sense a psychic ability in you. An incredible energy that you haven't quite tapped into yet. In order to do this, you must curb your natural cynicism and free yourself into accepting all sorts of new possibilities. This might take a little time, effort and money... but I promise you the end result will be worth it. You're an exceptionally special person, a4a, and some truly wonderful things await you.

 

That'll be twenty dollars, please. Same time and price next week?

[Mary3]

Thats the saddest part about fake psychics : Usually its attached to making money $$$.

 

There are real people who possess real capabilities . I have seen some amazing things done by psychics who have absolutely NO information and their answers are not vague and pulled from the client.

 

There will always be skepticism for something that many do not understand.

 

Its like UFO's or Ghosts . How many believe they exist ? How about animals with amazing abilities ? I think you MUST have an open mind to all possibilities.

 

When some who proclaims they are psychic wants you to PAY them for knowledge then I think you smell a stinker ...

 

Some charge and might have real abilities but most work for the Police Depts. in helping solve crimes.

 

Amazing things I have seen out there...

[lindya]

There are real people who possess real capabilities . I have seen some amazing things done by psychics who have absolutely NO information and their answers are not vague and pulled from the client.

 

There will always be skepticism for something that many do not understand.

 

There will always be gullibility for something that many desperately want to believe in.

 

Its like UFO's or Ghosts . How many believe they exist ? How about animals with amazing abilities ? I think you MUST have an open mind to all possibilities.

 

What are the benefits of believing that there might be ghosts, UFOs, friendly aliens that perform life-saving operations on human beings, unfriendly aliens that abduct and impregnate us, toys that come to life and party whilst we sleep, ghosts, fairies in the strawberry patch...?

 

Why is it so important to open one's mind to the possibility of paranormal activities? I can see why it might be important to the people who make a living from it, or base their self esteem on other people's perception that they have a "gift"...but what are the benefits for your Ordinary Jo?

 

Why do con artists continue to make a fabulous living out of the ones born every minute? Because there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who a) don't want to let go of childhood beliefs and accept adult realities, and b) consistently over-estimate their own ability to detect trickery and bullsh*t.

 

There are so many ways a person in difficulty can be helped, through the use of proven methods applied by people who have trained and become qualified in a carefully monitored academic setting. People want easy solutions that they don't have to put effort into...so instead of working with a counsellor and identifying areas of their life that they want to improve, they go to a psychic who will give them vague promises and encourage them to believe that various unearthly form are watching over them and guiding them through life.

 

It creates inertia and false hope.

[dreaming4ever]

lindya,

I agree that people should seek counselling to improve areas in their lives they need help with rather than consult a psychic. I also agree that there are a lot of people out there that claim to be psychics when all they really want is to make lots of money. But the reason you should open your mind to the paranormal is that there is just too many cases which show that it is not something that's made up to disprove it completely. Everyone has a sense of intuition, and while that doesn't make us all psychics, some have the gift more than others. Also, some psychics are actually good people who have chosen to use their gifts to better the world and help others through difficult times. That is why you should open your mind to the paranormal....because you seem to only be focusing on the negative aspects.

[lindya]

lindya,

I agree that people should seek counselling to improve areas in their lives they need help with rather than consult a psychic. I also agree that there are a lot of people out there that claim to be psychics when all they really want is to make lots of money. But the reason you should open your mind to the paranormal is that there is just too many cases which show that it is not something that's made up to disprove it completely. Everyone has a sense of intuition, and while that doesn't make us all psychics, some have the gift more than others. Also, some psychics are actually good people who have chosen to use their gifts to better the world and help others through difficult times. That is why you should open your mind to the paranormal....because you seem to only be focusing on the negative aspects.

 

 

dreaming4ever - I very much identify with your username. I am also one of life's dreamers and procrastinators, and it's something I have to address using common sense methods.

 

This is probably why I have quite a strong, gut reaction towards people who are keen to promote the idea of paranormal activities. It encourages people like me to make that subtle shift from "slightly detached from reality" to "troublingly detached from reality".

 

You say that paranormal activity is real. I say that what my eyes, ears and nose tell me is more real. I trust those three proven, reliable senses against one vaguely defined 6th sense.

 

It also strikes me as very disempowering for people to imagine that all sorts of invisible external forces are out there shaping their lives... and that they should dabble with crystals and psychics in an attempt to regain some control or get answers. Surely there are better, more pro-active ways for a person to improve his or her life?

[dreaming4ever]

lindya,

I'm not suggesting that since I believe in the paranormal that everyone should seek the help of psychics in order to regain some control over and/or improve their lives. I believe in common sense methods as well. But just because you choose to trust the information you receive from your five senses doesn't make the paranormal an untrue possibility. Intuition is real, even if it is not an aspect of yourself that is well developed. Because the reality is that for some people it is a highly developed trait which they use in their day to day lives.

 

Also, while you believe that it is disempowering for people to imagine that all sorts of invisible external forces are out there shaping their lives, ignoring that fact doesn't make it any less true. Plus, while a psychic may give a prediction of your future, the information they receive is not set in stone. Our choices shape our reality, psychics are not deciding it for us.

 

So....no, I'm not suggesting that people go to psychics to improve their lives instead of seeking other methods. I'm just saying that the paranormal is real, whether you choose to believe it or not.

[lindya]

So....no, I'm not suggesting that people go to psychics to improve their lives instead of seeking other methods. I'm just saying that the paranormal is real, whether you choose to believe it or not.

 

 

Cite a cast iron authority, or accept that in stating that the paranormal is real you are expressing an opinion rather than a fact.

[burning 4 revenge]

Lindya, your'e in an emotional realm now. You are trying to use logic where the people your'e having the discussion with reject it by definition.

[lindya]

Lindya, your'e in an emotional realm now. You are trying to use logic where the people your'e having the discussion with reject it by definition.

 

I'm not just being logical here, though. I do actually get genuinely angry about the fact that so many women (and it is generally women - often perfectly intelligent ones) persist in believing all this crap. It's an embarrassment, and it's one of the reasons so many of us still have to struggle to be taken seriously.

[Outcast]

My dad, who was the most matter-of-fact man you'd ever meet, and totally non-religious, had visions of the future. He'd see them in fires or in mirrors. He saw, among other things, my mother before he met her. He told me it as though he was talking about going to the store. To him it was completely normal.

 

I don't think there's anything unscientific about the paranormal. I think the answers will be found in physics someday. This isn't to say that probably the majority of 'psychics' aren't bogus but I completely believe that there are forces of science we don't yet understand which will furnish the explanations for all these phenomena. I have had experiences which aren't explainable by regular science - AS WE KNOW IT. But history has shown that humans know only a tiny bit about how our universe works.

 

IMHO it's a hilarious conceit that people continually have that their generation has such a vast grasp of all knowledge that they can definitely speak to the existence or lack thereof of God and all things spiritual. We're just Whos in Horton's land and we haven't even begun to know how to sing loud enough for even Horton to hear us.

[Ripples]

I don't believe in psychics or the paranormal. Well, not as they are accepted to be. But I do believe that we don't know everything, that there's more to life than what we can see, feel, hear, smell.

 

I've been doing some reading around the subject of physics and in particular, energy. I'm not nearly well read or articulate enough to comment on it, apart from to say that I've come to the conclusion that science, as we know it, isn't necessarily correct. I'd recommend the Field by Lynn McTaggart and anything by Bruce Lipton. I don't think it's overly flakey...

[Ripples]

I'm not just being logical here, though. I do actually get genuinely angry about the fact that so many women (and it is generally women - often perfectly intelligent ones) persist in believing all this crap. It's an embarrassment, and it's one of the reasons so many of us still have to struggle to be taken seriously.

Hmm, don't you think it's a symptom of how women are physiologically and of their lives in general, though? Maybe women who do do this sort of thing need to be supported in their own right so they don't need to seek validation or a semblance of control?

[lindya]

Hmm, don't you think it's a symptom of how women are physiologically and of their lives in general, though? Maybe women who do do this sort of thing need to be supported in their own right so they don't need to seek validation or a semblance of control?

 

I think there's often an assumption that women will be into activities that are related to the paranormal, seances, astrology etc. It's certainly an assumption that people have often made about me - which is probably why the subject is a trigger for me. As soon as someone who's into psychic stuff finds out that I'm musical and enjoy writing, they assume I'll be on their wavelength in terms of having an interest in the paranormal. I've actually felt under pressure to express a belief in that kind of thing before...to keep people happy and show that I'm "feminine and in touch with my intuitive side".

 

I am often quite intuitive about people...but that comes down to a life-long interest in psychology, as well as working in fields where I had to develop my people instincts. That kind of intuition (or what I prefer to think of as unconscious competence in assessing other people's character) is helpful. Nonetheless, I'm a firm believer in challenging own's own intuitive thoughts...on the basis that sometimes what people excuse as "intuition" is just an unaddressed prejudice.

 

I hear what you're saying about women using paranormal related activities as a means of empowerment. I guess another of my issues relates to the witch-hunts that went on in Europe a few hundred years ago. A lot of misogynistic thinking in the past has related to men's belief that women have supernatural powers.

[Ripples]

A lot of misogynistic thinking in the past has related to men's belief that women have supernatural powers.

 

As witch hunts are illegal now, I don't think we should disabuse them of the belief. Don't piss the women off, they can give you the 'eye'!

[superconductor]

As witch hunts are illegal now, I don't think we should disabuse them of the belief. Don't piss the women off, they can give you the 'eye'!

NOOOO!!! NOT THE EYEEE!!!!!

 

*morphs into a frog*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ribbit

[lindya]

NOOOO!!! NOT THE EYEEE!!!!!

 

*morphs into a frog*

 

Eye of newt and tongue of scrote

On the water we do float.

Beware, YE MAN of cauldrons red

Especially on weeks they're bled

And know, when you have itchy shafty,

It's because of witchy crafty.

[Mary3]

There will always be gullibility for something that many desperately want to believe in.

 

 

 

What are the benefits of believing that there might be ghosts, UFOs, friendly aliens that perform life-saving operations on human beings, unfriendly aliens that abduct and impregnate us, toys that come to life and party whilst we sleep, ghosts, fairies in the strawberry patch...?

 

Why is it so important to open one's mind to the possibility of paranormal activities? I can see why it might be important to the people who make a living from it, or base their self esteem on other people's perception that they have a "gift"...but what are the benefits for your Ordinary Jo?

 

Why do con artists continue to make a fabulous living out of the ones born every minute? Because there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who a) don't want to let go of childhood beliefs and accept adult realities, and b) consistently over-estimate their own ability to detect trickery and bullsh*t.

 

There are so many ways a person in difficulty can be helped, through the use of proven methods applied by people who have trained and become qualified in a carefully monitored academic setting. People want easy solutions that they don't have to put effort into...so instead of working with a counsellor and identifying areas of their life that they want to improve, they go to a psychic who will give them vague promises and encourage them to believe that various unearthly form are watching over them and guiding them through life.

 

It creates inertia and false hope.

 

Telepathy :

 

Telepathy (from the Greek τηλε, tele, "distant"; and πάθεια, patheia, "feeling") is the claimed ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. Considered a form of extra-sensory perception or anomalous cognition, telepathy is often connected to various paranormal phenomena such as precognition, clairvoyance and empathy.

 

While there have been numerous scientific experiments into telepathy over the years, no positive result has ever resisted scrutiny. Positive results have always been demonstrated to be the result of flawed methodology, statistically erroneous conclusions, or could simply not be replicated by independent researchers [citation needed].

 

The majority of the scientific community believes that claims of phenomena associated with telepathy constitute pseudoscience. "

 

Lynda : You seem upset at the idea that someone might be born with the ability to see beyond the normal . Hence : Paranormal.

 

You can be steadfast about the non existance of telepathy but you are speaking to one who possess it right now ( me ) . You can say what you like but I have had this ability all my life

 

It is for me : a strong feeling that I read off people. Bad or Good. It comes through pretty strongly. Whereas you might take weeks to find out someone was a rotten egg.. I can feel it right away.

 

It is not intentional . Its almost a pain in the buzzpa...But its there . Its not science so its something beyond that..

 

The *guillible* will always exist . But that can go for many areas in life. Your finances , your relationships,

 

I am not desperate to believe in anything. I personally have seen some unexplainable things regarding death and how we know it. As far as UFO's the debate will always go on....

 

Opening your mind to that possibility is as important as opening your mind sexually , spiritually , the possibilities are endless.

 

Surely you don't think every person has psychic ability is a charlaton ?

 

One could, "see people as they really are, and not what they pretend to be," as said in The Third Eye (1986), a book by T. Lobsang Rampa.

Rampa describes spying on visiting Chinese dignitaries at the lamasery. This exercise happened after he was able to see auras for a while, so that he could learn how it is that people's true motives and feelings could be deciphered simply by observing their auras, rather than listening to their words. "As I looked at them from my place of concealment I observed the shimmering of their auras, the opalescent sheen, shot with murky red, the turgid swirling of hate-filled thoughts. Bands and striations of color, unpleasant colors, not the clear, pure shades of higher thought, but the unwholesome, contaminated hues of those whose life forces are devoted to materialism and evil-doing. Their speech was fair but their thoughts were foul."

 

That about explains it above !

 

And FYI :I don't see color auras . Mine is a stonger * feeling * that stays with me as long as that person is present. But the feeling can be a warm beautiful sensation if they have a warm aura. If they are *bad* lets say , I pick it up immediately and I try to leave the area they are in because its not a pleasant feeling. Its exhausting to feel everyone , lol. But I do !

 

Okay disbelievers let me have it !

 

You might laugh now but if I were your sister you would really appreciate me !

[lindya]

Lynda : You seem upset at the idea that someone might be born with the ability to see beyond the normal . Hence : Paranormal....Surely you don't think every person has psychic ability is a charlaton ?

 

All the ones who have tried to give me a reading have been. I read people too, but I do it using my five senses and a basic understanding of psychology. I've watched friends get informal readings at parties, give away all kinds of information about themselves...then be truly amazed when that information starts getting reflected back at them. When I've told them "but you said, X, Y and Z" they've actually got quite angry and denied it.

 

"No. Well, if I did...it was after he/she said...."

 

No it wasn't. I watched very carefully, and I saw exactly what happened...but I have learned that people get incredibly defensive of these processes when they want to believe, so it's often better to just leave them to their beliefs.

 

And FYI :I don't see color auras . Mine is a stonger * feeling * that stays with me as long as that person is present. But the feeling can be a warm beautiful sensation if they have a warm aura. If they are *bad* lets say , I pick it up immediately and I try to leave the area they are in because its not a pleasant feeling. Its exhausting to feel everyone , lol. But I do !

 

Okay disbelievers let me have it !

 

You might laugh now but if I were your sister you would really appreciate me !

 

I'll give you this: Some people have a knack for picking up certain vibes from others. I think we all do that now and again, but for me that vibe is generally accompanied by a lot of visual and aural information. The tone of the person's voice. The expression on their face. How tense or relaxed they are. Their use of language.

 

If someone who believes they have psychic powers truly feels they can help others, then perhaps that's not for me to comment on. What troubles me, though, is when those people push the idea that they can predict the future on request, put people in touch with dead loved ones and provide them with the answers they're looking for.

[littlekitty]

I believe in psychic powers most certainly. I believe my grandmother had psychic powers, she predicted several events prior to their happening.

 

However, I also believe that at least 90% of proclaimed psychic's out there are completely bogus! They lead people using open questions and simply watch them give themselves away. Body language, voice (tone/pitch), a the tiny signs that give us away and give them something to work with.

 

I believe in much of the paranormal, and have a big interest in it. I have done since a very young age. For me as an adult, I suppose this fits with my 'spiritual' beliefs. I'm not religious, but I do have a set of beliefs that I have built through the years.

 

Sorry Lindya...!

[Ripples]

What about mind over matter? I believe that it's possible to 'will' something to happen. I'm no scientist and so I don't know to what extent, but it seems that if one believes enough (no, I'm not talking about religion), its possible to change things.

 

I guess an example could be after my RTA my parents were told (I was out of it), that my SCI was so severe that I would be paralysed. Well, my mother (who's a very qualified and experienced nurse) thought that it was best if I wasn't told, she encouraged me to keep an open mind and not focus on the extent of my injury. Her experience had led her to believe that the patients who recovered the best didn't believe that they wouldn't. Well, ok, maybe the consultants were wrong, maybe I never would have been totally paralysed, that's always an option. Or maybe because I was never told (until a couple of years later) that I should never have been able to walk, I walked.

[littlekitty]

What about mind over matter? I believe that it's possible to 'will' something to happen. I'm no scientist and so I don't know to what extent, but it seems that if one believes enough (no, I'm not talking about religion), its possible to change things.

 

I guess an example could be after my RTA my parents were told (I was out of it), that my SCI was so severe that I would be paralysed. Well, my mother (who's a very qualified and experienced nurse) thought that it was best if I wasn't told, she encouraged me to keep an open mind and not focus on the extent of my injury. Her experience had led her to believe that the patients who recovered the best didn't believe that they wouldn't. Well, ok, maybe the consultants were wrong, maybe I never would have been totally paralysed, that's always an option. Or maybe because I was never told (until a couple of years later) that I should never have been able to walk, I walked.

 

Although it's a different scenario, I think it's possible to will things to happen.

 

For example, in a relationship, if one believes enough that the other person is going to leave them it often seems their subconscious actions can actually end up making them act in ways that push the separation to happen. Does that make sense? Like the believe it's going to happen so much, that they actually end up causing it by their actions.

 

But then that's not paranormal to my mind. Simply actions/reactions.

 

I guess in your scenario, it was more mind over matter, than subconscious actions.

[dreaming4ever]

wow, I would love to be able to read people's auras. I'm trying to learn but it's difficult.