Rhuwen

I know there at least used to be people on this forum that had some form of psychic ability and I had a question.
I suppose this goes to anyone, but how does it work? I always hear the same "I get a feeling" or "something tells me this or that" and it doesn't really help me. Is there anyone that is able to explain in detail? I've just always been curious and would love to train myself.
As of now I've had few experiences that I joke about but nothing I would take as a "psychic power."

(on a side note)
sadly these forums have become all but dead and it saddens me. Though I was never a huge poster, I LOVED coming here and reading people's stories, following links and getting scared before bed. (GakFace comes to mind) If it's not against the rules to ask, does anyone have another forum like this that they know about with a bit more action?

Ample

Personally I don’t believe in psychics one single bit. My ex while we were separated became addicted to them. She ended up spending three thousand dollars in a matter of a year and a half. She would hear one thing and go to a second and a third for confirmation. They told her a lot of vague stuff that she found a way to make a meaning out of it. They also filled her head with a bunch of crap that never happened. One even told her that she had the gift.

It’s a scam in my opinion.

Martian

I have psychic powers. Or at least, I can convince people I do.

There is an ability called cold reading. It basically relies on common circumstances and human nature. It's all about observing an individual (who need not be present - tone of voice can tell a good cold reader just as much as body language) and using your observations to make educated guesses. The particularly skilled are able to adjust their readings on the fly and therefore turn misses into hits, but even when you bomb out you can just depend on the Barnum effect to carry the illusion.

Some cold readers start out as cold readers and gradually convince themselves that they have some sort of special ability; this too is human nature. Some folk are just naturally gifted at the art; their cold reading takes the form of 'gut feelings'; they don't know how they know something, they just know that they do. This is commonly attributed to some form of paranormal ability.

I'm not saying psychics don't exist or that it's not possible, so all those people who want to say 'but what about...?' can go ahead. I just happen to be skeptical and have yet to see anything that convinces me.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

hunnychile

I don't go to psychics, but found out that I'm very psychic, the hard way. Through dreams & other messages or signs that come to me at odd times. It has actually saved my life on 3 occassions. In truth, I don't think it's something you can learn easily, but rather an awareness that some people develop in time. Over the last 30 years & after reading hundreds of books etc. I feel a bit more comfortable with this awareness. Many people are psychic & they don't know it, or haven't (yet) developed their sense for "insight". Call it what you will. Seek and you will find. I can't give you lessons but only suggestions. 1. Learn how to meditate. It will open your levels of consciousness. 2. Read, read and research. 3. Take seminars related to similar subjects. 4. Travel to vortexes. 5. Commune with nature 6. Meet others of like mind.

Some Books/Sources:

Campbell, Joseph. Transformation of Myth Through Time. Harper and Row, Publishers, NY, 1st Edition, 1990.

Cowan, Tom. Fire In The Head, Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit. Harper San Francisco, 1st Edition, 1993.

Matthews, John. The Celtic Shaman, A Handbook. Element, Rockport, MA, 4th Edition, 1994.

Roth, Gabrielle, Maps to Ecstasy, teaching of an urban shaman. San Rafael, CA, 1st Edition, 1989.

Scott, Gini Graham, Ph.D. Shamanism and Personal Master, Using Symbols, Rituals, and Talismans to Activate the Power Within You. Paragon House, NY, 1st Edition, 1991.

The Sacred Pipe, Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. Recorded & Edited by Joseph Epes Brown and Black Elk Holy Man of Oglala. by Michael F. Steltenkamp. MJF Books, New York, NY, 1989.

Titus, Robert J. The Complete Book of Natural Shamanism. Snowbird Publishing Company, Tellico Plains, TN, 1993.

Ywahoo, Dhyani. Voice of Our Ancestors, Cherokee Teaching from the Wisdom Fire. Shambhala, Boston and London, 1987

"Youth, Yoga and Reincarnation" by Jess Stearn.

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

hagatha

Have you also considered you may have mediumistic tendencies as well? The two tend to go together. That's much harder to deal with depending on your comfort level with the dead and opening that door, much like the psychic door, is a pandora's box of sorts.
Once you go there its hard to shut it.
Good luck on your journey.

__________________
Thats the last time I trust the strangest people I ever met....H. Simpson

Seer666

The most dead on post I've seen for what most psychics are. 99% of he psychics out there are cold readers, or total bullshit artists. I have moments of dead on cold reading myself. Sometimes to a scary level. I little bit of empathy goes a long way. That other 1% though, THEY scare the shit out of me. I've run accross a few that just know way to much to be cold reading. I'm talking giveing my converstaions I had with people years ago almost word for word, and describing the people I had them with. Mostly females, I've noticed. I always get one of two reactions from them to. They either take one look, and won't come within 20 feet of me, or end up sleeping with me. Dont' ask me man, I don't know.

__________________
Bad spellers of the world untie!!!

I am the one you warned me of

I seem to have misplaced the bullet with your name on it, but I have a whole box addressed to occupant.

hagatha

South Park did a good spoof on the whole "cold reading" concept with John Edwards.

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Thats the last time I trust the strangest people I ever met....H. Simpson

Martian

John Edwards is a hack. If I had a tv crew editing out all my mistakes, I could make a pretty damn convincing show too.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

hunnychile

Has anyone else on tfp had a good interaction with someone who is a psychic?

Or has anyone here seen something beyond science happen, that's worth sharing?

Just curious...this used to be a fun thread a few years ago.

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

Mojo_PeiPei

I got one that stems from work.

Used to do over nights at my job, so I would sleep over twice a week. As it happens being a newer staff I often got stuck sleeping down in the basement. I never liked working in the basement at night, as the place had a different feeling to it from the rest of the house. To start it was "just a feeling", every once in a while I would find myself doing double takes, irked me a little but I thought I was just being paranoid. Then one night while sleeping a found myself in one of the most intense situations of my life. I find myself waking up suddenly, and I just did not feel right. All my hair on my body was standing on end, and I can not even put into words the feeling that over took my body. It was a feeling of complete terror and fright, I have never felt anything so intense. Once I was able to free myself from the initial hold of the feeling I ran upstairs. I was so rattled I stayed upstairs all night, I even wrote my resignation which my mom later talked me out of doing. From that point on I had refused to do asleeps down stairs.

Sure enough though I got schduled for another one a few weeks later, seeing as to all the staff I worked with had had experiences in the house or the basement, I was forced to sleep down stairs at their refusal and pulling of seniority. I slept in the downstairs living room with all the lights on. At first I had a little trouble sleeping but I was able to fall asleep for a few hours. Then around 4-5am, I was awoken, with the same feeling as the prior experience only this time I saw something. It was person walking through the room. It was not one of the clients I cared for, as his room was in the direction the person was walking towards; on that note apperence was completely opposite. It could've have been the awake staff as again, apperence was at opposite ends of the spectrum. That morning I told the two staff who worked upstairs what had happened. They said that that night they had noticed alot of activity upstairs (just about all the night staff had experiences), they said they caught glimpses of someone walking through the upstairs hallway, the awake said he saw someone standing down the hallway from the kitchen.

My friends who worked there always would rip me until they both had a simultaneous experience where one of our clients had awoken and appeared rattled. He was non-verbal and was trying to tell them what happened. Being at night most of the lights in the house were off, including the offstairs hallway. A few moments later in between the client talking to the staff in the living room, the hallway light turned on. My friends were annoyed because they thought that the second client upstairs had woken up from his house mate. My friend got up and went to the hallway to meet the client, only problem was he wasn't there an his door was closed with him sleeping inside. After that they stopped ripping on me.

Nothing wicked cool, just my own personal account. Don't know what exactly happened, I had several smaller experiences, but these two were most defining. I hate the paranormal, really scares me, I suppose in that sense I hope I am not "sensitive", it is something I try to suppress.

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To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.

Tama

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you were psychic you wouldn't go shouting it in the street or advertising, but if you weren't and you thought it would be really cool to be, and you pretended to be you'd want everybody to know.
I'll finish this off with the statement I am not Psychic

__________________
It is said that he who laugh's loudest, laugh's longest.
This is not true for it uses up more oxygen to laugh louder and there by you can not laugh longer. Instead it should be he who sleeps loudest sleeps longest.

Grasshopper Green

Hubby had a weird thing happen to him last night...an incident that is similar to other ones that he's experienced.

Right before he walked in the door after arriving home from work, he had a sudden vision of someone running from the police and the cops coming down our street to chase the suspect, and that the lights from the police cars would wake us up. Fast forward to 3 am...my son comes in the room, crying that he is scared, and when I wake up I notice cop lights flashing in our bedroom window. There is a narrow alleyway behind our apartment and the cop was stopped just off of it. I don't know why the cop was there, but he was there for awhile, and I don't think it was for speeding, because there were no cars in front of it. Then again, it could have been a coincedence.

I do believe that certain people have psychic abilities, and I think my hubby is one of them. I don't think his is as developed or as strong as others, but I think he is somewhat pyschic. I also think there are a lot of liars out there, like John Edwards and "psychics" like Mother Love.

I agree with you hunnychile..I miss threads like this. Paranoia was my first home at TFP, but lately it only seems to be dying or only filled with political theories.

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

kentucky_lady

i dont believe in the psychics on tv who are just out to get your money, but i do believe in psychic ability.i personally have had experiance with this,ive had dreams that came true, prophetic dreams i suppose.

samcol

Has anyone ever heard of 'remote viewing'? It's a CIA psychic program. I'm not convinced whether or not psychic ability really exists or not, but it is interesting that the CIA had studied a form of it for 20 years or so. Try googling it sometime.

Martian

samcol - The CIA did investigate remote viewing for twenty years. They shut down the program because, after twenty years of research, there wasn't a single shred of evidence that such abilities existed.

James Randi is my hero. If there are psychics out there, why is it that nobody's claimed his prize? If I had some ability that I could demonstrate and if doing so would net me a million dollars, you can bet I'd be doing it.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Lady Sage

If you claimed to be psychic would you want everyone knocking on your door? No, no, no! I always tell people, go with the gut feeling. "Gut" feelings wont lie to you. Cold reading is a BIG thing out there right now. I do believe there are people a little better "in tune" with things than I. However, I dont think "psychic" works quite the way everyone thinks it does. To me it seems more like arthritis...it comes and it goes. Again, just my two cents.

madeodreams

I went to a local coffee shop and somehow ended up with a pamphlet for a "psychic" so why not...I set up an appt. very skeptical i dressed in black, nothing that expressed any kind of personality, when we sat down i was calm, told my self i wouldn't let her get to me, and the first thing she sad was that there was a man that was pushing everyone else aside and that it was very obvious that he was my dad...yeah ok... that he knew i was trying very hard not to believe but that he was going to convince me by telling her things only i would know about (mind you my father died when i was 2, so there are little to no memories) so she began with the bull S*it stuff, mary janes, music, sibilings blah blah blah some stuff made sense but i let them go...but the last thing she said really got to me and it was, and i quote her " he's going to leave, he's leaving laughing cause he knows once he says this you will believe and he told me to never forget the tree he planted for me on the day i was born" how??? how did this woman know that, how did she know that this tree was a constant reminder of my fathers love for me, even after his death...well i believe and it has given me a little peace to know that he's with me no matter the distance, he came to me thru her and i choose to believe...so i thank this woman who allowed me to not cry the memory but remember the love that will live for ever in me...so yeah that's my story on what made me believe in people like her...i only wish i had her "power" to help others not grieve so much, like i used 2

Lady Sage

You know, come to think of it i've read tarot cards for ages... and I never have taken a dime for it... I dont believe in making a profit off of a talent, but thats just me.
I feel if any "true psychics" exist they should do it for free and have a real job. They shouldnt get a free ride just cause. Once again the comments listed in this paragraph are naught but the rantings of a sick sadistic crazy woman... pay no attention.

Munku

I dont believe in psychics one bit. If they were real they would have won the JREF prize already. http://randi.org/

Grasshopper Green

Doesnt sound sick to me...I would hope if this really exists that people would help others for free...

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

Brewmaniac

Me, not in the slightest, My wife though is scary sometimes. She got it from her grandmother. We me an married after 8 months, she told me her grandmother told everyone in the family her grandson was going to die in a fire and the next day he was killed in a fiery car crash.

Now the freaky part, A month or so prior to this next event she told me that she kept having nightmares and premonitions, where she saw me floating face down in water. 4th of July weekend 1982 we went to my parents house on lake Michigan, On the 5th we woke up and she said, something bad is going to happen today and it will change our lives forever, like an idiot blew her off. Spent the day fishing and water skiing. She said lets go home, Please. I said one more ski.

Well this is where "all hell broke loose"! I was flying around on the lake but was time to drop off, the boat was finishing a tight turn, I slungshot myself to the other side of the wake and even up to the passengers in the boat. I let go of the rope, I dove head first and jumped out of my ski's onto a sand bar two & half feet deep. I hit with such force I obliterated my 4-5-6 and completely severed my spinal cord.
I floated to the top face down, thus fulfilling her dreams and premonition.
Several years later she woke up and said her brother(who died earlier) came to her in a dream, he told her to get me to the doctor or I would die. I went to the doctor and imedieatly to the hosiptal as it turned out I had a bleeding ulcer I was down 3 pints pints.

In more recent times, last year she was walking down a hallway with a friend, they passed a co-worker, and she eew or something and her friend asked her what was up. She told her the co-worker they passed was going to die, 2 days later died in a car accident.

Little things with just me, she will get me things before I ask. She will swear I asked because she says she heard me ask.

I'm used to it after 25 years but it's still freaky sometimes.

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"That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son"

Pip

I'm a fairly skilled 'cold reader' myself, so I recognise the skill in a lot of professional psychics. Most of them just use their knowledge of human behaviour and basic probability. There's a well known psychic who has a letters column in several papers here and if you look at her advice over a long time you start to spot certain patterns... However, people like Mrs Brewmaniac, they frighten me. It can't be easy to live with an ability like that.

papermachesatan

I think that the 'gut feeling' comes from messages from your subconscious mind. Basically, your subconscious pick ups on clues that your conscious mind ignores and comes up with conclusions that give an accurate prediction. (unless your subconscious mind's analytic skills suck...)

auntflo5

howdy friend. I thought this was interesting...your reply that is
congrats on the love thing!!!
xoxo
meg

pornclerk

I have had weird experiences with psychic type things before, like having a bad feeling or envisioning something that is going to happen. I wouldn't really call myself psychic though because I'm not sure that ability actually exists.

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Who wants a twig when you can have the whole tree?

Deltona Couple

I was about to jump in and say "I'm one!!!" ......but then realized you said Psychic....not Psycotic!...lol

frogza

I haven't completely ruled out the possibility bbut have yet to see any credible examples. Whereas I have seen several that prove that certain individuals are not psychic.

A few months ago a psychic opened up shop down the street from where I work. They went out of business roughly 3 months after opening. Shouldn't they have seen that it wouldn't work?

genuinegirly

Looking back at what I have written here, it may be entirely too deep and soul-searching for this thread. But here goes:

I try not to ignore preminitions, nor to let them get the best of me. I've come to analyze them, and I find that as one takes a logical stance on the paranormal, it becomes more tangible. I like going with premonitions while shopping. It streamlines the process. Each time I have found a "memory-to-be" associated with an item, it's like a flash of a memory, and I remember that it's my favorite, I just get it. If it's clothes, there's no point in trying them on. They always fit perfectly.

But then again there are times when I go against premonitions. Nothing horrible has happened yet. Turbotom didn't believe that I could sense things "dangit, this pet fish will die by the time I get home from work," etc. until he started to see it as a genuine trend, then began "seeing" too. His best childhood friend vouches that Tt has always been able to see things, but has always ignored them or attributed it to logical deduction or common sense. Tt started believing the day that I was raped, and he sensed it as it was happening. Too bad he didn't know soon enough to warn me, too bad I was too tired to take the premonition that I had that day seriously.

Several other bad things could have happened... but there seems to be a guardian angel there to land my car precisely between two trees (last year) or throw me back from jumping through a broken glass door (age 9). Both instances, someone watched. An off-duty highway patrolman was two cars behind me when I swerved to avoid a condor on a highway. He watched as my car made illogical turns across three lanes of rush-hour traffic and landed precisely between two large trees, tires blown out, windows crushed, and me in shock but entirely safe and sound. He stuck around, borrowed my cell phone to call the highway patrol, encouraged me to step out of the car and see if I was in pain at all, then helped the highway patrol write out the report.

Age 9, it was night, I went into my backyard to gather a sweatshirt that I had left on the swingset. I ran back to the house quickly because I was afraid of the darkness. I didn't know that the large sliding glass door was closed, ran right for it. I hit the glass full-force. It broke with jagged edges. My mother was standing there, watching in horror. Logical sense would have sent me through the jagged glass. My body bounced back and I landed in a crouch on the floor, as though I were simply bending my knees to look down at something on the ground. I stood up easily and didn't know what happened I should have been on the other side with my mom. I looked at the glass. My mom asked how I moved that quickly. I didn't.

My parents, being Mormon (belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), attribute my "acute knowledge" of the world to visions, gifts from God, guardian angels, "the workings of the Spirit," and "The Gift of the Holy Ghost" who is said to be with me always since the day my father gave me a blessing after my baptism at age 8. My mother often asks my opinion on greater spiritual matters that she cannot understand, seeking insight from her daughter that she believes to be "of stronger spiritual heritage" than herself.

I attribute these to blessings, indeed. Most definitely from a loving God, and my father's ability to bestow blessings as well. But I do not view their religion the way they do and therefore cause them a great deal of heartache. My mother trusts that I keep God with me always, but she makes it clear that she does not understand me or my choices to separate from her cherished faith. She somehow believes that I should attribute these powers that we all have the potential to posess to the religion itself, rather than viewing the religion as a means to tap into those powers and change oneself through the power itself.

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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy