How does one determine if a psychic or clairvoyant is real or a scam?
Making the assumption that there are people are a legitimate psychics and clairvoyants, how does one determine a real one from a fake? What are the criteria used to determine if a psychic is actually a psychic?
While I tend to agree with Paul, I was hoping to elicit a response from a believer in this type of paranormal phenomena.
I tend to agree with Paul, you just can’t make that assumption.
My criterion is quite simple, I would ask them why they are not millionaires as James Randi will GIVE them $1,000,000 just for proving their ability under mutually agreed conditions, ALL Psychics and Clairvoyants are fakes, some are outright scams others genuinely believe they have the power, ultimately neither have.
James Randi and Harry Houdini between them have spent a HUNDRED years scouring the globe for just ONE, they have failed in their quest.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
Just one on the whole planet, is that too much to ask in a hundred years?
EDIT 1: an old Priestess, there’s not one authenticated case of a psychic helping the police to solve a crime other than by chance alone, they are considered a nuisance by most forces although they are duty bound to listen to them.
EDIT 2: The most famous case in recent times of ‘Psychics’ helping the police is the sad case of Madeleine McCann, still missing after more than three years despite the efforts of the world’s ‘best’ psychics!
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id183.html
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Neither are real so it is a wash.
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1 mr pickle said this (August 23, 2010 at 4:48 am)
Making the assumption that the moon is made of cheese, how does one determine whether or not a particular piece of cheese came from the moon?
The criterion is a very simple one. Prove that you got hold of information that you could not have obtained by non-psychic means.
No psychic has ever met this criterion.
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2 Paul B said this (August 23, 2010 at 5:08 am)
I knew your question would bring out the peanut gallery. Watch all the thumbs down I get for giving you a straight answer.
If you can find one who works for free, it’s a pretty safe bet you are not getting scammed.
As far as real psychic ability, see if they know things about you that one couldn’t deduce from looking at you or the nature of your question. For example a question like, "When will I find love?" might elicit a response like, "I feel you are lonely." or "According to your aura, you have a lot of love to give." Sometimes the answer is extremely general- "You are a fun loving person…" Aren’t we all? Any reading which requires a follow-up is a sure sign of a scam: "I see a dark entity, a demon, has attached itself to you, and is the cause of your current trouble. I can get rid of it for a small fee."
A real psychic can look into your soul and see what’s going on. He/she can find and reveal things you are hiding from yourself. If you phrase the question correctly and work with somebody who is good, the experience can be very helpful. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes and scammers out there.
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Personal experience- sitting on both sides of the table.
3 wilds_of_virginia said this (August 23, 2010 at 5:22 am)
Ask them a question that only you know the answer to.
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4 Flying Fid (redux) said this (August 23, 2010 at 5:56 am)
People with real psychic ability have no need to brag while the fake tend to brag that they can read you easily. Real psychics do not ask you personal questions before they start and fake always ask name, age, year you were born in,etc.
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Working on my own psychic abilities
5 rswpbc said this (August 23, 2010 at 6:45 am)
The "test" if you will is in the details. A fake will give you vague answers. "I see money coming into your future". or "I see a person whose name starts with A." or "I see you getting married." A real psychic will be able to give you small details and it will be things they can’t have gotten from anywhere else. A real psychic is someone who stops you in the grocery store b/c they have a need to tell you something. And it won’t be to get you to make an appointment with them, but something they have a need to tell (and then they walk away). Most of the good ones… are the ones who don’t advertise their ability, b/c most of them are actually afraid of what people will say (cause let’s face it, the fake ones have ruined it for those with a true gift).
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6 I'm just me said this (August 23, 2010 at 7:08 am)
How do you know if a car salesman is lying? If his lips move! Same rule applies to psychics and their ilk.
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7 Algol said this (August 23, 2010 at 7:34 am)
I tend to agree with Paul, you just can’t make that assumption.
My criterion is quite simple, I would ask them why they are not millionaires as James Randi will GIVE them $1,000,000 just for proving their ability under mutually agreed conditions, ALL Psychics and Clairvoyants are fakes, some are outright scams others genuinely believe they have the power, ultimately neither have.
James Randi and Harry Houdini between them have spent a HUNDRED years scouring the globe for just ONE, they have failed in their quest.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
Just one on the whole planet, is that too much to ask in a hundred years?
EDIT 1: an old Priestess, there’s not one authenticated case of a psychic helping the police to solve a crime other than by chance alone, they are considered a nuisance by most forces although they are duty bound to listen to them.
EDIT 2: The most famous case in recent times of ‘Psychics’ helping the police is the sad case of Madeleine McCann, still missing after more than three years despite the efforts of the world’s ‘best’ psychics!
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id183.html
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8 Ron said this (August 23, 2010 at 7:44 am)
If you have a "special ability" and you can make money with it, but not that is called a waste. Just takes one person out of thousands (millions?) to win the Randi million dollars and psychic ability will be proved. That simple.
"What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." – Christopher Hitchens.
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9 chainlightningâ…ś said this (August 23, 2010 at 7:58 am)
I believe we are all psychic to a degree…..It has been said that I am a medium, because of my many experiences. I can see spirits, and if I don’t see them, I can feel them, some do speak out loud to me, some communicate in my dreams using pictures instead of words, and when I see them, sometimes they speak telepathically, and sometimes I pick up their personal thoughts, I know they are personal because what they are thinking, and this happens too with humans when I see them, it happens unwillingly on it’s own, perhaps when the person or spirit is thinking about me the same time I am of them. I also have the ability to see spirits when asleep when they come to close, my inner eye opens to see in the room what they are doing and thinking. I know it’s real because I wake up to see the spirit leaving. I have had a spirit that touches me a lot allow me twice to touch back, and when that happens it feels real, holding their hand, or when I put my two hands on the spirits face to feel her features, because I couldn’t see any details on her, just spirit.
I am normal as the rest, just that these abilities happen on their own when it happens. I too have visions of whats about to happen, but again I cannot control it, the information comes to me on it’s own accord when it happens.
So basically I could be like normal Joe one day, and the next day know what bad things are about to happen….it’s that strong when it comes to me, many times these things come to me as warnings, so I prepare my self knowing what to do.
Psychics do bleed, we are normal people, just know things when information comes to us, I know a lot about spirits because I have had many experiences, and communication. The more experience you have the more you ascertain some of the hidden truth of the paranormal.
I hope this is understanding and helpful to you~
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10 inteleyes said this (August 23, 2010 at 8:06 am)
If they collect money
I would say most are a scam.
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11 clcalifornia said this (August 23, 2010 at 8:41 am)
Psychic prediction is a spiritual and divine occult. It is very important to learn and follow psychic forecasting for an authenic forecasting and foretelling guidelines.
http://www.mysticboard.com/psychic
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Myself
12 Robert said this (August 23, 2010 at 8:58 am)
You would have to test them, and they will tell you that they don’t want to be tested. Of course, the only real reason they don’t want you to test them is because they know they can’t possibly pass, but that is not the question you are asking. How to test them for legitimacy. Part of that depends on what they claim their psychic powers are. Here are some quick tests that you could do and get out of the way before consulting the psychic. If they fail, they are probably fake, if they pass they are probably legit.
1) You could give them a simple blind card test. Take a simple deck of cards and shuffle them. Draw one out of the deck, and ask the psychic to identify it. Make sure the card is visible for any ghosts or spirits to see, just not the psychic. Draw 5 times, if the psychic gets all 5 (suit and value) they are real for sure (chances of random success is over 1 in 300 million). Even if they just get the suits its a 1 in 1024 chance. Anything less than 2 cards suit and value correct is probably just a guess.
2) Have a random object hidden in your pocket, or on your person, not a personal possession (shiny rock, guitar pick, coupon for chicken). Ask him/her to specifically identify it. If he is vague and give you information that is obvious (its something light and small) then he is faking. If he identifies it, and describes it well, he is probably legit. Anything in between is interesting, but a big maybe.
I think the best indicator is that anyone who truly believes they are a true psychic would not have any problem with you testing them first, as long as you are being up front and honest about it. Just like any doctor would not be offended if you asked for their credentials before visiting them, or for that matter any professional in any field would not be offended if you made sure they were legit first.
If they are offended and refuse to be tested, then they probably don’t believe they can pass the test, which is a strong indicator that they are fake.
I mean, what would you do if you asked a physician for his credentials and he said "I don’t need those, I got a sign on my door with my name and the letters DR in front. If thats not proof enough that I am a real doctor then go to someone else." You probably wouldn’t go to him with your medical needs, would you?
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13 wushuboy001 said this (August 23, 2010 at 9:35 am)
Honesty is its own ‘giveaway’. You can’t cheat an honest person. A crook gives out signals and body language that can’t be faked or hidden. God is very honest. Pay attention and know what is real- there are honest psychics. Pray.
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14 Thomas E said this (August 23, 2010 at 10:09 am)
You know they are fake if they are going to be at a show and they ring up to see what time they are going to be on stage.
I must be psychic, if you are reading this you must be on your computer.
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15 Me said this (August 23, 2010 at 10:22 am)
Don’t let them ask questions, which allow their cold reading tricks. They are supposed to be giving answers.
Try recording the session then later count up the hits and misses.
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16 Gary Y said this (August 23, 2010 at 11:08 am)
A psychic is not someone who tells you the future
or what card you’re holding in your hand. They are
someone who can perceive certain energies that
most others cannot. They usually work with the
police to solve violent crimes, or to investigate
hauntings. Payment is not important to them…
they seek only to help others and to make a
constructive use of an ability that they happen
to have.
If you are familiar with this sort of thing you can
interview a person and see if they appear to have
the right experience and knowledge. Ultimately,
you just have to give them a chance and see what
results they can produce.
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17 an old Priestess said this (August 23, 2010 at 11:51 am)
One would almost have to experience ESP or clairvoyance to believe it. For every genuine psychic there are hundreds of impostors; but it does exist.
Anyone with a sign saying Fortune Teller, is usually seeking your fortune.
There was a test administered at one time called Rhine, which determined true ability in some areas of extra sensory perception. Real psychics have been used to aid law enforcement in solving some crimes.
The Television program, "Medium" is about a true physic Allison Dubois, who did undergo tests to reveal her ability.
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18 Netta said this (August 23, 2010 at 12:03 pm)
We all know to a point what happened to Madeleine McCann and may the child rest in peace. We have all seen or read about the dogs and the gaspar`s statement and much more, we are all aware of the elite paedophile ring protected by government officials and bent coppers so why is that a some psychics claim to know who abducted her, she was never abducted in the first place. Google Maddie Psychics – look for the star gazing fools who have fallen for the hoax and cross them off your list. Maybe oneday a true pshycic will give us the answer, unless of course their gagged by Brian Kennedy and masonic lawyers Carter Ruck or they become part of the same cult as the McCanns and want to cover it up.
19 Muttfan said this (August 24, 2010 at 1:02 am)