I don’t necessarily believe in spiritual wonky bonkers shenanigans. I thought people who believed they could talk to the dead were frauds and psychics were just really intuitive people good at manipulation like a pick-up artist. However, after watching a few episodes of Long Island Medium and a recent series of events – I think I may have officially changed my mind.
My boyfriend and I just returned from a weekend in Sedona. Although we went for wine tastings, we stayed in Sedona for the metaphysical vortexes. Okay, so we actually stayed there just because it was close to the wine – but we couldn’t leave without visiting a psychic at the psychic fair (aka I dragged him to it). We initially went for a couples’ reading to see how the spirits viewed the “relationship” for giggles. But we both went into the readings (psychics and tarot cards) with open minds and hearts and came out jaws wide open, shocked by how dead-on some of their readings were. It seemed like they could look right through us and see things we couldn’t show them with our bravest poker faces on. After introducing him to the metaphysical realm, I wanted to give you some tips for your first adventure into the wacky world of psychics and beyond.
Know the types of psychics
There are a ton of different types of metaphysical fun times, from psychic mediums with specialties in past life regressions, to palm or aura readings, to tarot cards. Each one will help you understand the past, present, and future. If I had to recommend one, I’d go the route of the psychic medium. I’ve gone to a few before and have found them very insightful. Plus, I give them kudos for going off of nothing besides just my “energy.” I got my tarot cards done at a walk-in, and the reading was amazingly spot-on. However, since I was the one in charge of cutting the deck and selecting the cards, it seems more luck-of-the-draw than a real ability. And no, I don’t count the Psychic Friends Network – it’s clearly a hoax. Just like every 900 number out there. Unless it’s 30 Rock’s 1-900-OKFACE.
Look for the legit ones
It’s not a joke, I look for the “legit” psychics. These are the ones who have awesome resumes, especially working with law enforcement on unsolved crimes. I also look for people who have been doing it for 20+ years, because if they’re not homeless after 20 years of being a fraud, they deserve my money. I like people who have studied a lot. Granted, I don’t know what any of these schools are, or what any of their certificates mean, but I like a beefy background.
Open your heart chakra
My first psychic turned me down. I came in, she tried to read me, and said that I wasn’t open enough to the process to be read. She told me to think about what I wanted, to open myself to the process and come back. I returned a week later, more open to the idea, and she read me like an open book. Be respectful to them and go in with an open mind and spirit. Only then can you fully participate in the process.
Formulate your questions ahead of time
It’s difficult to cover everything about your past, present, and future all within a half an hour. Go in ready to focus on one or two topics, with a few big questions. They’ll ask why you came in, and it can be a great place to start if you have areas of your life you want to focus on. Sometimes a psychic will start off talking about romance, but pick up aspects of your health, career, and family along the way. At the end, they’ll ask if you have any questions about your reading. Have them prepared to maximize your time.
Understand the fees upfront
Readings can be fun, but pretty expensive. I’ve been charged $80 for a 30-minute reading to $40 for a 20-minute tarot reading. You can spend hundreds of dollars for hour-long readings, so know ahead of time! You can go in and request an allotted time for the reading, but you might get stiffed on the juicy details. If you want to be a cheapskate, you can buy the Aura iPhone app for $1.99. Let me tell you, the results will give you what you pay for.
Take notes
Some psychics will suggest you take notes. My medium even gave me an audio recording of the reading to look back on afterwards. Find some way to remember all the details of the reading. Some things don’t make sense until days, months, or years after the reading, especially the future predictions.
Develop a Poker Face
The skeptic in me tells me all of this is bullhonkey. So I try not to give too much of myself away at the reading, just in case they’re just really intuitive people going off of my body language instead of any real talent. Don’t reveal too much about yourself until they’ve nailed something about you and they’re asking for more. You’ll feel better about the reading if you don’t give it all away.
You’re still in charge
My medium reminded me that the spirit guides and their predictions are merely suggestions for the future. Even if you turned over the worst card, or got a terrible reading, remember that it’s all up to you, your fate, and your personal choices. Don’t get down after a negative reading; just do everything to change it all for the better.
So I’m ending this article how my medium ends her sessions, with the Native American word “Aho” (another word for “amen,” although she could have been swearing at me in Japanese for all I knew). May you and your spirit guide prosper in health, harmony, and happiness!
Erica – Thanks for the great advice! I’ve always been curious but intimidated by the process of going to people like this, but I feel much more prepared now. Appreciate the hands on research! I live in Flagstaff, maybe I’ll check out that tarot reader!
Thanks Jennifer! It’s pretty intimidating at first, for sure! I would recommend sampling around the different types before determining how you feel about metaphysical readings. Although that tarot card reading seemed pretty legit too! You should totally check her out!
This is really helpful, not only for someone seeking a psychic reading but also for a psychic reader building their own brand and services. As an online Tarot reader, I think it is so important to keep check with what our clients want and need in a reading so separate ourselves from those scammy phone lines.
i’m looking for a psychic. i don’t want a reading or to know where my life is heading. i’m 14 and i’m really confused. i am psychic. i have been since i was little. as a child my mother used to come into my room to find me playing with no one, hearing two set of laughter and eventualy she began to see people roaming in and out of the hallways. we began to move. alot. but things always led back to one person. to one bedroom. i do see things: people & colors and random senarios and sometimes i see those senarios acrooss the street or just plane chills down my spine. when i was twelve i got a fever and had awful dreams about my brother michale. we heard back from the army that he died later that week. my younger brother hates me and says i’m a freak and unnatrual and every one knows it and i’m just going to hell. i’m starting to believe him. i need some help i don’t know why this happened to me or what i’m doing and i’m scared. really scared and really lonely. i need a tutor. please send me a psychic.please. i just want to be left alone by the living and the dead. i just want to know how to be normal. help me find someone like me. i have so many questions.
-julie.
trollolololololololololol
i don’t understand.
I am a professional psychic, and I think you have some good tips for people who are considering going to a psychic. Specifically, taking notes is important because information can take on a different meaning over time. Also, formulating questions ahead of time is helpful because it means you are figuring out and focusing on what is really important to you. But overall, I have to say that I don’t feel you have enough understanding of psychics and how they work to advise people on this topic. It sounds to me like you chose a topic you thought a lot of people would be interested in reading and wrote about it without doing a lot of research.
Responding to your comment: “I got my tarot cards done at a walk-in, and the reading was amazingly spot-on. However, since I was the one in charge of cutting the deck and selecting the cards, it seems more luck-of-the-draw than a real ability.”
Some readers of tarot go “by-the-book”, but even that takes years of learning how to interpret what they are seeing and the different combinations. Tarot is a psychic tool I use sometimes. When I read tarot, I use my psychic abilities and connection to my Spirit Guides and can get amazing insight into my client’s life, past life, soul purpose, the reason different events are in their life, and so much more. I do that by tapping into their energy and paying attention to the symbols in the cards, which then trigger scenarios in my mind, feelings in my body, and help me tap into their Guides and life path. They are a tool for most readers to help them tap into their psychic ability. For some readers, they use them to give the client something to focus on while the reader is getting information psychically. So you could have the same cards come out and each reader would get different information based on their unique abilities. It’s not just “luck of the draw.” I think if you’re going to advise someone about psychic readers, it would be helpful if you understood how different tools work and the different methods that readers use.
As for getting psychics who solve crimes – that opens a psychic up to some very negative energy, and that is not what some psychics are into. That’s just a genre of work, just like there are nurses specialized in different areas of a hospital. You don’t say only nurses who work in the ER are good nurses, right? They wouldn’t know what to do in a neonatal intensive care unit. Each psychic has their area of interest and specialty. And as for certifications…certifications don’t mean anything to me, because you can’t study your way to a deep spiritual and energetic connection. That is something that takes time and practice or a natural inclination. I know psychics who are certified by different organizations and some that are not, and I haven’t noticed any correlation with their level of ability and how certified they are.
Also, although I haven’t done them myself, I do know some very reputable psychics who have worked on psychic hot-lines, so to say those are all fakes is another case of misinformation. Some psychics use hot-lines as a way to work from home and build up their personal clientele.
I also think that well-grounded, spiritual psychics understand the amazing impact they can have on someone’s life. Most of my clients come to me when they are going through a very emotional and difficult time in their life, and my reading helps them understand the events that seem confusing and reconnect them to their true Spirit, leaving them with a sense of peace and hope for the future. Because I work with Spirit Guides, I am able to show them how everything in their life is positively working for them to help them create their ideal life. This is sacred work, and the work I do dramatically improves my clients’ lives. I know some people go to psychics just for fun, and some psychics do their work just for fun as well, but referring to all psychic work as the “wacky world of psychics and beyond” and “metaphysical fun times” superficializes the work that I and my clients consider very sacred.
Have you had any expereience with an online psychic reading like through http://www.californiapsychics.com?