How do Spiritualists get the information that they have?

Question

Is it a con? I assume that it has a lot to do with psycological tricks and research but is this correct?

Answer 1

it is mostly a con, sum of them draw on evil spirits tho, no future in it homie, stay away from it

Answer 2

there are a few types of 'psychic' reading.
Warm reading is when they have made a conscious effort to research you beforehand.....Doris stokes was notorious for this.
one trick of hers was to invite people she had already read to her stage shows - then in the middle of the stage show, she would point out one of her 'marks' and give them some information (which she had pumped out of them at a previous private reading) as if it was new info. thus it would appear - to everyone else in the audience - that she had a flash of amazingly accurate information.
{psychics will often quote Doris stokes as the most accurate medium of modern times}
Cold reading relies on observation... does the 'mark' wear a wedding ring? does the mark have stylish clothes? what car did the mark arrive in? marks age? - for example a mid 50's lady with a wedding ring coming to see a psychic for the first time will nearly always have just lost a close family member - mother/father/husband/son...........from there the psychic can use their game of guessing and positive reinforcement to make it appear that they are giving information rather than taking it

psychic - I feel that you've lost someone close
mark - yes my father passed away
psychic - yes because I am feeling a lot of male energy, an elderly male energy

When the mark goes away, they remember the psychic hits and forget the misses and the information that they actually fed the psychic - they remember the fact that the psychic told them "I am feeling a lot of male energy, an elderly male energy" but forget that they actually provided all of the info in the first place.

there is also a basic psychological basis to any reading....there is a famous experiment, which has been replicated many times, where a group people are told they will be given a psychological reading based on their horoscope or some other (supposedly) personal details. Unknown to the group, they are all given the same reading based on an average profile.... when people read this they are asked to rate how accurate it is *to them personally* rather than anyone else.....normally people rate the reading at 90 ~ 100 %!!
we all like to believe that we are individual and unique, yet we all share common characteristics.

long story short....psychics are bunk

Answer 3

It's a few quite simple psychological 'tricks', yes.

If you've ever seen Darren Brown in action you'll see how all this is very very possible. The main methods are centred around 'cold reading' - it's a way for people to tell you everything but fell like they're telling you nothing. As so much information is non verbal with knowledge of humans and how they communicate without speaking you can learn more than you think, down to what number someone is thinking.

In short there is nothing supernatural going on, it's all just illusion.

Answer 4

You have people who believe and people who make things up for others to believe in.

Often times you'll find crystals or certain types of rocks which supposedly have spirtual attributes. Perhaps some of these attributes have old roots in alchemy or ancient mysticism but then a lot of them don't. For example, Aqua Aura Quazrtz (TM) is a tourqois quartz crystal which according to the description:

"helps in retaining inner peace, can open up spiritual channels and help you communicate inter dimentionally, attracts wealth and success, relieves depression & anxiety, and create wellbeing and raise the vibrations of humanity"

But of course this is all BS. The quartz is made by taking good ol ever so common quartz and adding gold impurities to it. It's man made, so of course someone had to sit down with milk and cookies and decide what spiritual attributes their new product is going to have.

Many retailers of these crystals are believers as well but follow the trail back far enough and you'll find a mineral and gem dealer or jeweler who was innovative enough to think up a new market.

Answer 5

I believe some see spirits and some see like a movie in their mind which come true. If you need to pay money for it then you can guarantee it is a con, but it is just like the wind, just because you cannot see it doesn't mean it does not exist.

Answer 6

I don't know, but i have been to one psychic more than once. I had never met her before and she knew nothing about me....she knew things about me and my family and my life that she wouldn't of known unless she knew me.....i believe in it, some might say I'm a mug for doing so cos i am aware that some spiritualists / psychics / mediums can be a con.

If you believe then go for it but just be cautious until they convince you otherwise.

Answer 7

yes, you are correct. in fact there are uncountable fraudsters out there,and charging a fair whack for their services too. there may even be some genuine ones though, who knows. I've yet to find one myself, but i keep an open mind and don't let the fraudsters close it off.

Answer 8

Do you know of Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist? You can read about his own investigation of spiritualism. He visited many, and debunked all of them. He also promised to give a sign, on Halloween, if contact was truly possible after death. We are still waiting, and he died a long time ago.

Answer 9

I am not a professional psychic, I can't speak from them but when I do have psychic flashes they tend to come through dreams or sometimes daydreams.
There is no such thing as an evil spirit. If anyone who believes in THAT nonsense thinks about it logically they will realize it's impossible.

Answer 10

http://www.randi.org/library/coldreading/index.html

cold reading explained. This is the majority of the psychics art

Answer 11

People sometimes ask, "Have you seen God?' or "Can you show me God?' Sometimes we meet these questions. So the answer is "Yes, I am seeing God. You can also see God; everyone can see God. But you must have the qualification."


(It is based on faith than mere information.)