FRAUDS AND CHARLATANS

I did a psychic reading a few weeks ago that has troubled me ever since.  I was doing the reading for the parents of a young woman who died of an accidental overdose.  The reading seemed to be the mother’s idea, with the father casting himself in the role of skeptic and critic.  In my work as a psychic medium, I encounter a lot of skepticism.  I consider this healthy and actually encourage it, as I understand that what I do is a bit outside the mainstream.

What troubles me about the reading that I did for that couple was this: the father was so convinced that I was a fraud that he couldn’t hear anything that I said as anything but a lie.  The spirit of the young woman answered every question her mother asked, but I had the strong feeling that her father’s prejudices against ME kept him from asking the questions he really wanted and needed answered.

I understand that my abilities place me in a professional field peppered with frauds and charlatans who prey on grieving people.  Their stories are everywhere: so-called psychics using mass emails to drum up business (“Contact me immediately! I have a message from a loved one!”); so-called psychics telling innocent people that they have dark energy all around them or a curse upon them, and for a fee, the psychic can lift it; and so-called psychics claiming that a reading riddled with incorrect information is the client’s fault, and the result of “blocking” energies.

The stigma of being lumped in with those so-called psychics is horrifying to me, and I truly wish that there was solid science and a psychic lie detector test to back up the fact that I am the real deal.  I wish this for me, but more importantly, I wish it for clients like that young woman’s father.

Until the science catches up, I will try to be patient, which, truth be told, I am not very good at.  So I will also sit here at my computer and tell you that there are things that I do that frauds don’t:

• I offer a free consultation.  It goes against my nature and my values to pressure anyone into anything.  I offer a free consultation in order to give prospective clients the information they need in order to make an informed decision.  Readings are a big deal for most people, and I consider it a privilege to speak with prospective clients, to answer their questions, and to put their minds at ease.  Psychic frauds, on the other hand, don’t do anything for free.
• I charge a flat fee and don’t put a time limit on readings.  I do not charge by the hour and do not schedule an ending time for readings.  Every reading is different, and I go until we are done.  Frauds are the opposite — your fee gets you a short amount of time with them, and you have to pay more to get more.
• With every reading, I provide information that is very specific, very personal, and of a sort that there is no way for me to fake or to find on the internet.  I don’t deal in platitudes and general information (“you have been worried about something”), nor do I spout universal truths (“you are loved”).
• I don’t hawk merchandise.  You will never get a sales pitch from me for t-shirts, mugs, or crystals.
• I ascend all the Earth-bound, un-ascended spirits that I read for.  Most psychic mediums — even the good ones — don’t have this ability and/or don’t see the importance of it.  I consider this a huge disservice both to the spirit and to their loved ones.  People seek out a reading with me for a lot of reasons, but the most common one is the desire for peace of mind.  A reading with me isn’t done until that has been achieved on both sides, with the living person feeling that all their questions have been answered, and the spirit of the deceased person fully at peace and ready to complete their journey and ascend.
• I tell the truth as it is told to me by spirits, even if that truth is difficult for me to tell and difficult for the listener to hear.  I believe that The Truth is a big part of what people come to me for.  Psychic frauds, on the other hand, ask more questions than they answer, and tell people what they think they want to hear.
• I allow clients to come to me in their own way, in their own time.  I never solicit clients through cold calls or emails, and I never, ever approach sad or vulnerable-looking people, all of which frauds do.

I don’t know if any of this makes any difference to anybody, but I hope it does.  Most especially, I hope it for all of the grieving skeptics.  I know that there will always be frauds and always be skeptics, but there will also always be people like me who are the real deal.  A bit outside the mainstream, yes, but a lot of valuable, helpful people are.