Professional Psychics

THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS

by Echo Bodine

Society’s attitude about psychics has changed considerably over the course of history, and I’ve definitely seen a big shift just in the last thirty-five years. We no longer have to meet in secret. We are not being burned at the stake. Hollywood’s portrayal of the psychically gifted has evolved and become more realistic. I can rent space at our local community center to teach my psychic development classes and actually tell the landlord what the classes are about instead of making up some illusive title.

This is the good news, that there is definitely more acceptance of these gifts, but we still have a ways to go. I always tell my students that part of our job as psychics is to break down the stereotypes. Just as everybody possesses some psychic ability, professional psychics are no different from anybody else.

Contrary to popular belief, psychics are not all dark haired, dark eyed, scarf wearing, earring dangling, black cat owners who read people’s minds, know when everyone’s going to die, and scam people every chance they get. The majority of truly gifted psychics that I have met are hard-working, loving people. Most have a sense of humility about their gifts because they know the gifts come from God, and they therefore take the responsibility that goes along with these gifts seriously. It’s been my experience that the majority of truly gifted psychics fight their abilities at first and go through a process of surrendering to them. Of all the well-known psychics today, not one of them grew up hoping to be a psychic.  Psychically gifted people are here to learn and grow and live their lives like everyone else. We’re moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. We work hard, struggle with bills, and help our kids with their homework. Many attend church or synagogue. We have hobbies and pets (and not all of them are black cats!). We shop at the mall, bake cookies, mow the grass, do volunteer work, and try to evolve as human beings like everyone else. Simply put, we’re regular folks who are always in the process of learning about our gifts and how to work with them.

It’s also important to remember that not all psychics are the same. Our gifts and strengths are different. People often assume I can contact their deceased relatives like John Edward or James Van Praagh, but I can’t do what they do. That isn’t how it works.

Psychics often specialize in a certain area. Some are very good at communicating with the deceased (and are called “mediums”). Others, like my brother Michael, are very good with finance and the stock market, and they do readings that focus on business. Some focus on past lives, while others focus completely on the future. There are psychically gifted people whose gift is seeing health challenges inside a body (they are often called “medical intuitives”). Some psychics are able to see and hear ghosts and help them over to the other side (and call themselves “paranormal investigators” or “ghostbusters”). Others can see and read a person’s aura, which is the energy field around our body. Some psychics are able to do many of these things, and others express their gifts in only one or two ways. My specialties are working with a person’s soul and helping people understand their reasons for being here. I see past lives clearly. I’m able to read sick bodies, and I see and hear ghosts clearly and can help them over to the other side.

When I was taking my psychic development class, I remember our teacher telling us that we each have our own unique way of expressing our gifts. She warned us not to compare ourselves to each other in class because it would only distract us from finding our own true gifts. She told us to find what works best for us and work on strengthening that ability, and that is what most of the professional psychics that I know have done.

Stereotypes

For an example of what life can still be like for a psychic today, see the Sam Raimi movie The Gift, which stars Cate Blanchett. The film accurately depicts the common fears and judgments society has about psychically gifted people, and it provides a good taste of how ridiculous the fundamentalist Christians can get. In the final courtroom scene, the prosecuting attorney cross-examines Blanchett with questions that are stereotypical of what people think of psychics, and Blanchett’s reaction is, unfortunately, also typical of how defensive psychics can sometimes get.

Thankfully, this is changing as well-known psychics educate the public about themselves and their gifts, and I’ve included the firsthand, personal stories of five psychically gifted people at the end of this book. On my website (www.echobodine.com), I recommend these five psychics. They graciously agreed to answer a few questions and share a little bit about themselves so that you could gain a better understanding of psychics — their lives, their gifts, and their similarities and differences.

1-800 Hotlines

For millions of people, their only exposure to psychics is the 1-800 psychic hotlines on late-night TV. Until she got busted for fraudulent advertising, Miss Cleo was a staple for late-night watchers, in her colorful turbans and big hoop earrings, proclaiming the great predictions she could make for our lives.

For years, psychic hotlines have been an easy punchline for stand-up comedians, with the joke always being that the psychics who work the phones are all frauds. In 1994 I had the opportunity to attend a private party at Planet Hollywood in Minneapolis for Dionne Warwick and some of the psychics who staff her hotline. They were going from city to city to promote their show, and the Mall of America in Minneapolis was one of their stops. I took my secretary with me, and we were both pleasantly surprised with the two psychics who gave us readings. They knew nothing about us, other than that we were sitting at the head table with Dionne. The psychic who worked with me, Robert from New York, said that he wanted to read me because I was sitting with “the boss.” He didn’t ask for my name or anything else about me. He just dove in and gave me information about my career, the book I was writing, my finances, and my love life. He was amazingly accurate, and my secretary had the same experience with the psychic who read her.

Were all the psychics on her hotline just as good? I have no idea. Are all the late-night TV psychics for real? I wish I could tell you that all the psychics you see on television come from a place of integrity and that you can trust them, but I can’t say that. Every profession has scam artists and I have no idea what the ratio would be on these hotlines. I asked Robert why he chose to work for the psychic network rather than go out on his own, and he said he didn’t want the hassle of marketing himself. He also said he liked the people who worked there, and it was a great company to be involved with.

Shortly after Dionne Warwick’s event, I met a young woman who worked on another psychic network. She had no idea who I was or what I did for a living. I asked her how she got her psychic information, and she said that she made up stuff as she went along. When I asked her if she had any psychic abilities, she looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about and replied, “Hey, whatever pays the bills.” I stood there dumbfounded. I didn’t bother to give her my speech on honesty and integrity among psychics because clearly she couldn’t have cared less. Shortly after this encounter, I heard that the woman was no longer employed at the hotline, and I was glad to hear it.

I hate it when people in my profession don’t come from a place of integrity, but it’s not realistic to think that all will. There are scam artists in every profession. There is nothing inherent in having psychic abilities that makes people behave honestly or dishonestly. But again, just as in any profession, a few high-profile frauds can easily taint all psychics with a bad rap.

How to Spot Scam Artists

The first thing to keep in mind is that scam artists, whatever their supposed profession, are in it for the money. Many years ago, someone came up to my dad at a concert and told him that she could see dark clouds in his aura that meant he had danger ahead, but for a mere five thousand dollars the person could clear this awful curse and protect him from harm.  Fortunately, my dad refused, though he did call me as soon as he got home to ask if something like this was possible. I told him it was total garbage and not to give it another thought. But there are many people out there who don’t know who to call or contact when they receive “bad news” via one of these so-called psychics.

As I was working on this article, a woman sent me four different letters she had received in the mail from various people claiming to be psychics. Each letter forecast some kind of doom and gloom and asked for a fee so that the writer could help her get rid of this negative thing happening in her life.  One letter talked about a curse that had been put on her: “This is your last chance. In the next twenty-four hours, the curse must be broken and your miracles must begin.”

Another letter said that she was this woman’s “dream psychic” and that they had met the previous night in the woman’s dream. The letter went on and on about various negative symbols in the woman’s dreams and what she must do to ward off this negativity, which included sending the dream psychic twenty-five dollars in order to perform the “Dream Ritual of the Archangel Gabriel.” Another letter went on for four pages telling this woman about the negative things that would happen to her on specific dates if she didn’t send Madame twenty-five dollars. The last letter was equally pathetic, except this psychic wanted double the price, fifty dollars, to remove “the black cloud circling her aura.”

These prices may seem small, but believe me, they are only the beginning.  Once these scam artists know they’ve got someone terrified of black clouds, or curses, or whatever, they will keep asking for more and more money. I’ve heard stories of people who eventually paid thousands of dollars to so-called psychics to protect them from evil events. These situations are all so incredibly sad, whenever and however they occur, but they have nothing to do with true psychic gifts. Scam artists will always try to scare you and then claim they are the only ones who can help — and for a fee.  These are the people to watch out for.

If you are currently shopping for a psychic, here are some very simple tips:

·      If possible, only go to someone you’ve been referred to by a good friend.

·      Whenever you’re thinking about going to a psychic, or interviewing one, check your intuition: Is this the right time for you to do it? Is this is the right person? Trust your response.

·      If you’re going through a painful, vulnerable time — such as losing a loved one through death or divorce, finding out you have a serious health problem, losing your job, finding out your kid is on drugs, and so on —don’t rush to the first psychic you can find. When times are tough, it’s natural to want to know how certain situations are going to turn out, but when we’re feeling desperate, we’re also vulnerable, and that’s what scam artists count on. If you feel panicked, give yourself time to calm your fears, and then ask around for a reputable psychic who can help you get through the situation. You don’t need to be victimized twice.

Discerning Who’s Who

There’s a very good section in the Bible, Matthew 7:15–20, about how to discern between a false prophet and the real deal that I believe applies to all professions: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don’t pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.  Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced.”

If a person who has psychic abilities is good and honorable and comes from a place of integrity, he or she won’t need to advertise. Word of mouth will spread, and the person will have all the work he or she can handle. The person will produce good fruit. If a person is not psychically gifted but is claiming to be, he or she will not produce good fruit and his or her business will not flourish. It’s as simple as that.

Excerpted from The Gift: Understand and Develop Your Psychic Abilities by Echo Bodine. Copyright © 2003 by Echo L. Bodine. Excerpted by arrangement with New World Library. $12.95. Available in local bookstores or call 800.972.6657 Ext. 52 or click here.