Last Saturday, I was running some errands with my daughters when we passed by a store called “Mystic Valley.” I mentioned to my daughters (they are six and eight) that some people believe that they can tell the future and read other peoples minds. My daughters were incredulous. They thought I was being silly, so they made me “pinky swear” that I was telling the truth. I pinky swore before making a U-turn to head back to the neighborhood psychic store.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go into the store and check out the people who believe that other people can tell the future and read their minds.” My daughters were still suspicious that I was making this up, but into the store we went.
The first thing you notice is the smell of incense. We passed by the rack of psychic magazines, then the shelves of crystals, the piles of drums, and some ethnic carvings before noticing that there were about seven small tables scattered throughout the store, each of them with two people seated facing each other. Many of the experts were holding the customers’ hands. If you listened closely, you could hear the psychics counseling the customers.
“Now do you believe me?” I whispered to my daughters. They didn’t know what to think.
I walked up to the checkout counter and asked the pleasant soft-spoken man what was going on at the tables. He indicated that some of the people were psychics, others were doing tarot card readings, and yet others were doing things I’d never heard of before. He told me that the store “carefully checks out the experts who work at the store,” to make sure that the customers are getting the quality they deserve when they purchase the services of psychics and Tarot card readers. I didn’t ask him how these experts get certified, but I assumed it had nothing to do with double-blind studies. The store’s website indicates that the small-table experts do all of the following sorts of things:
- Akashic Readings
- Astrology
- Aura Photography / Aura Readings
- Primary Self-Empowerment (including a Certified Overlight Facilitator)
- Psychic/Medical Intuitive Readings
- Psychics
- Tarot
- Seer readings
- Reiki
- Thought Field® Therapy
It all sounds impressive and the customers were taking it seriously. From their expressions, many of the customers seemed to be asking these paid strangers for serious advice, and the experts were complying. They were charging between $30-$50 per hour.
I asked the man at the counter if the psychics could really tell the future. It’s a pretty simple question. Nonetheless, when I ask simple questions like this I quite often get “the look.” What look? The look that screams “Who are you?” I was a customer asking whether the psychics can really tell the future or read minds. I asked my question again, and the man told me,” well, that psychics can actually tell the future or read minds is a misconception. The future is never entirely clear. Instead of telling the future, our psychics help you prepare for your future.” It turned out, then, that the store was full of psychics who don’t tell the future, but who charged $30-$50 per hour to not tell the future.
On the way out of the store, I picked up the March/April addition of Pathfinder, a small newspaper dedicated to “Wellness, Inspired Thinking, Spiritual Holism and Environmental Respect.” There are many types of articles one can find in this newspaper. For instance, I am a Taurus, and I learned that “Major change in the spring related to friends or associations which are wasteful, erratic, or controlling.”
In a column called “The Divine Matrix,” the writer considered whether we are “passive observers or powerful creators.” He suggests that we should live as though our dreams have already come to life and our wishes already fulfilled. “In this way, we actively share in… our participatory universe.”
I noticed an ad for the upcoming “psychic fair and holistic health show. It’s coming to St. Louis County on May 5 and 6. I’m thinking about going there with my video camera to chat with some of the exhibitors.
Another newspaper column (called “Akashic Records”) cautions that emotional disturbances that are unresolved from prior lifetimes will carry over into subsequent lifetimes. The author wrote of a woman who figured out what she had done in a past life, and traveled back to Ireland to find some of the eight children she had raised in one of her past lives. Those children who were still alive were now in their 80s, and “The reunion brought comfort and healing to all.”
I don’t know what is more interesting in Pathfinder, the articles or the advertisements. For instance, at Diana Grove’s “Ministry School 2007,” a person can participate in “The ballad of Tam Lin.” Further, one can “answer the call to go to the wild places… discovered the untamed wildness within you… bring possibility into reality.” Is this legal, I wondered?
Or you can visit Linda Humphreys, who advertises herself as an “intuitive metaphysician and clairvoyant spiritual counselor.” She handles those “past life regressions” mentioned above. She can connect you with “the other side.” Or, if you get tired of that, you can go to the “Indian head massage workshop,” part of the “Ayurvedic Body.”
Another interesting at is a company called Celestial Services. Under one roof, you can get Aura Fluffing, energy balancing, or intuitive readings.
Looking for someone with an MSW? You can find them advertising in Pathfinder. One of these social workers offers “John of God tours, Brazil crystal bed healing sessions, Reiki, sound healing and Angels.” Another social worker seems to offer straightforward psychotherapy and counseling.
But that’s not all. Other merchants offer eco-camps, Shamanism, rebirthing, Karuna Reiki, Dowsing Intuitive and special herbs. You can even go to a workshop presented by Alan Iliff, “Grand Councilor,” where “you will learn the true meaning of being a disciple and a master of mystical principles… using the time-tested principles of the Rosicrucian Order.”
Oh wait… here’s a second business offering “angelic services.” More specifically, he offers “angelic readings and attunements.” The advertisements are peppered with psychics, only a few of whom I’ve mentioned. Cynthia Becker touts herself as an “internationally recognized professional psychic.” She and many others advertising in this newspaper post out-of-town phone numbers. I assume, then, that customers would call these people up and do their psychic healing long-distance.
There’s actually some no-nonsense journalism mixed in with all the new age stuff. For instance, one of the articles considers “What happened to the old FDA?” In that article, the author notes “not only is there a revolving door between members of the FDA and the corporate boards of pharmaceutical companies, but their allegiance seems to have changed from protecting the physical health of the American public to protecting the financial health of the name brand pharmaceutical industry.” Amen to that, I say.
The magazine presents a comprehensive calendar of upcoming events, including crystal bed healing sessions, lectures on the history of astrology, demonstrations involving Tibetan singing bowls, herbalism and a lecture on “working with pendulums” (I checked–pendula is not the plural form).
I am a skeptic, of course, and I hate to see people wasting their money on treatments that have not been shown to be of any benefit based upon double-blind studies. On the other hand, a lot of this does seem harmless, except for those who get carried away with it. Then again, it makes you wonder how many people get carried away, spending hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars on psychic quackery. And when they spend so much time consulting with psychic or new age “experts,” are they losing the opportunity to work through their issues with better qualified professionals?
Then again, I suspect that many of the people offering psychic services are really providing something important to the people who pay the money. You can see it in the faces of the people talking to each other at the little tables. The psychics are listening closely to the customers. How often can you get sustained attention from a member of the medical-insurance establishment? Perhaps these customers have no one else in their lives to carefully listen to them, at least not at these moderate prices.
As my daughters and I walked out of Mystic Valley that afternoon, an old memory popped into my head. I was eating lunch with a friend when she noticed that her cousin was eating alone in the same restaurant. We invited to a cousin over to our table. The cousin, it turns out, levitates. Or, at least this is what she told me. I felt compelled to make sure that I understood her. I asked her “do you really levitate?” She responded that she indeed did levitate regularly, and that I should be a witness to one of her levitation sessions. I responded to her invitation by saying that I would be happy to watch her levitate. I said this without smirking or smiling. I was simply curious as to how far she would be willing to take her shtick. After about 10 seconds, she retracted her invitation and told me that I was not of the right type of spirituality to be a witness to her levitation. Therefore, I was curtly dis-invited and my friend’s cousin presumably had to go levitate all by herself.
Speaking of levitating, it’s time for me to go levitate too . . .
I think its fair to say that "psychics" are the poor man's "psychologist". Thirty bucks an hour is cheap to have somebody "listen carefully" to you and help you plan your future. Life coaches charge about 100 bucks an hour. By the way, what is YOUR sign, it might explain a lot of why you are so skeptical…
Ben, I'm a Taurus. And what is YOUR sign, such that you are so invasively curious about MY sign? I agree with your comment about poor man's psychologist. That, indeed, seems to be what was going on at the psychic store.
I once met a woman who was born the exact day I was born, in the same hospital, at about the same time. As though I needed proof to disbelieve astrology—she and I are about as different as two people can be.
Dianetics (now mostly buried in Scientology) is an even cheaper way to get someone to "listen carefully", although the topics are guided by a fixed format of vague questions. And they ask you to accept a specific set of odd assertions, as with any church.
Ya, I caught that after I read the post more carefully. I guess what I meant to say was… "that explains why you are so skeptical, you are a Taurus."
But really, it was just a joke, as I have doubted astrology even before I doubted the bible. Questions arose which nobody could answer to my satisfaction, even when I was as young as 7 years old. Why are there only 12 zodiac signs, and how the heck can even ONE person have the EXACT SAME horoscope as me, let alone 1/12 of the population? I am amazed that ANYONE can buy into astrology, and at the same time I am automatically wary of their opinions on other topics. Oh, and I'm a Scorpio, which of course, explains EVERYTHING.
"Something seems all wrong on the surface, but deep down you're sensing that this situation might actually be life-changing in all the right ways. Go ahead and let yourself take a step out into those deep waters."
http://horoscopes.astrology.com/dailyscorpio.html
I enjoyed Erich's descriptions of the advertisements for psychic services. I've always wondered why psychics *need* to advertise. After all, if they really *are* psychic, then shouldn't they be able to *predict* who needs their services and simply contact those people directly? LOL!
Of course, psychics rely on the placebo effect, as do all "spiritual leaders." The main difference between a psychic and, for example, a preacher in a mainstream religion is that the latter has the benefit of a holy book — and much better funding — to help legitimize what they are saying. The former, of course, will likely have much better skills at "reading" people. I don't mean "reading" in any spiritual sense, but "reading" in the sense of asking leading questions and making educated guesses about what the person might be thinking about. Selection bias also helps a lot: psychics can assume that anyone paying for their services likely has a serious life problem they are eager to discuss, so the psychic merely needs to probe a bit to find out what is on the person's mind, and then go from there. This is not to say that psychic reading is easy or that anyone can do it, merely that it is not magic. Indeed, it probably takes considerable experience, and some natural abilities, to be able to find out what is bothering someone else and help them find comfort. Such natural abilities are perhaps just as real as the natural abilities other people have for painting, mathematics, music, golf, politics, etc. — presumably, this is why some people can make a living as "professional" psychics and others cannot. The stuff about past life regression, astrology, aura photography, etc., are merely the theatrics needed to help create the illusion: something to help distract the clients from noticing that *they* are doing most of the talking.
I'm especially curious about "aura fluffing." It just sounds so cozy!
For fun, I once went to a psychic fair and paid $15 for a 15 minute tarot reading. The woman doing the reading was dressed in a frilly dress that reminded me of the good witch of the east. She played her cards carefully and then started telling me that I'm a curious sort of person, intelligent, relationships are important to me, etc. Then she paused and looked up and asked, "Am I onto something here?"
I responded, "I won't say anything until the end of the session. I don't want to influence what the cards are telling you." I sat there in complete silence and the session became an ordeal to the woman. She desperately wanted feedback, but I wasn't going to give it. She couldn't tell me anything meaningful about myself.
After the session was over, she told me that she was a lawyer who did this on weekends. She told me that she was for hire for parties and other events, if I was interested. I haven't made the call yet.
Freethinkers often meet the criticism that they "pick on" Christianity too much. Thank you for demonstrating that we also can notice the absurdity in things that even strike the religious as ridiculous- like tarot readings and psychic powers.
In response to 'grumpypilgrim':
# Quoting grumpypilgrim from May 1st, 2007 at 9:44 am:
"I’ve always wondered why psychics *need* to advertise. After all, if they really *are* psychic, then shouldn’t they be able to *predict* who needs their services and simply contact those people directly? LOL!"
This is circular in that your expectation is based upon your assumption that psychic ability is 100% accurate and fully controllable.
"Of course, psychics rely on the placebo effect, as do all “spiritual leaders.”"
Probably part of this is true, as with anyone included in the definition (including medical doctors and psychologists).
"I don’t mean “reading” in any spiritual sense, but “reading” in the sense of asking leading questions and making educated guesses about what the person might be thinking about."
I do believe that there are a lot of false positives that are going on in psychic readings, on both sides of the table. However, a person who has done their diligence in examining the legitimacy of psychic activity quickly realizes that there are far too many correct and obscure "guesses" to be just guesses.
"Selection bias also helps a lot: psychics can assume that anyone paying for their services likely has a serious life problem they are eager to discuss, so the psychic merely needs to probe a bit to find out what is on the person’s mind, and then go from there."
Again this is probably true for some cases.
Another way to look at the effect of selection is that the minds "less bound by the parameters of perfection" may have struck upon something new for that very reason. Eventually, those that are more rigid and structured in their thinking will follow and define the boundaries much more clearly.
"presumably, this is why some people can make a living as “professional” psychics and others cannot."
My favorite part of this sentence: "presumably".
"The stuff about past life regression, astrology, aura photography, etc., are merely the theatrics needed to help create the illusion: something to help distract the clients from noticing that *they* are doing most of the talking."
I find this quote particularly ironic in that your comments are exactly that: theatrics to maintain the integrity of your beliefs and conclusions. Perhaps you and your target are not so different after all.
Good luck in your investigations. See you in Rome.
"done their diligence in examining the legitimacy of psychic activity"
James, you may be interested in the 1 million dollar prize for anyone who can prove ANY psychic activity. I suggest you share the winnings with Grumpy and I.
http://www.randi.org/research/index.html
"At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event."
James takes issue with several of my remarks. As regards psychic advertising, I never said they had to be 100% accurate. Let them make twenty phone calls and see if they can find, say, five…or even one…paying client. One in twenty should be possible for a "real" psychic, shouldn't it? Twenty phone calls would be a cheaper way to get new business than by paying for a newspaper ad, so why are the ads there?
Indeed, medical science and psychiatry also benefits from the placebo effect. I've heard it said (facetiously) that practicing medicine is the art of entertaining the patient while the body heals itself.
As regards James' remark about "…far too many correct and obscure “guesses” to be just guesses," I am not aware of even one such example that has been scientifically validated. To the contrary, I remember reading about an "amazing psychic" who once appeared on a major television talk show. He dazzled the audience by choosing people, seemingly at random, and disclosing intimate details of their lives. Psychic power? A miracle? No, he had simply talked to a few audience members before the show and learned things about them from talking with them or their friends, in some cases even surfing the Internet for more information. By the time he gave his performance, the people were so mesmerized they had forgotten all about their prior conversations.
Psychics aren't real, James, they simply provide entertainment.
Out of curiosity, how would any of you rate the activities of shamans?
James
There has simply flat out been no validating evidence to support psychic anything. Psychics rely on the gullibility and insecurity of people who desparately want to believe. They develop a talent for "cold reading" people, which can be done by circus entertainers, and they take advantage of a desire on the part of people who wish to believe there is something that the mainstream refuses to acknowledge exists. They are relying on the inverse conspiracy theorizing of their customers, who will go to great unconscious lengths to help the psychic be correct. Not one single psychic phenomena that has ever been put to rigorous testing has proven true. You would think that statistically one or two might prove out just by sheer coincidence. Psychics–and I've dealt with a few–are, in my opinion, charlatans who, many times, have swallowed their own line. The problem is, they end up with the bigger bank balance.
Sometimes bullshit is just bullshit.
To Jason, grumpypilgrim:
It's unfortunate that you seem so sure of your conclusions. I hope that at some point your perspective is able to be expanded. Likely, it will depend on personal experiences in situations where you least expect it and perhaps need it most.
I can recommend a few introductory works to the field of "unofficial information" in general:
Tom Shroder, Old Souls – a skeptical journalist's examination of two research trips undertaken by Dr. Ian Stevenson
Dr. Brian Weiss, Many Lives, Many Masters – an esteemed psychiatrist stumbles upon an anomaly while attempting to treat a patient with hypnosis
Good luck in your investigations. 🙂
Mary: Your question provoked me to look up "Shaman," which I did on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamans There, I saw that shaman come in many flavors. Some of them focus on counseling and story-telling. Others allegedly mediate between humans and otherly spirit worlds. To the extent that they (or any other "profession") claims to do the latter, I become suspicious.
But you must have some thoughts on this topic?
Wait! James. Me too! I also would like to get some smiley chastisement from you, because I am also suspect that all psychics who claim to know the future or who claim to know otherworld spirits are quacks.
As far as your statistical claims, I fear that you are afflicted with innumeracy. http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=848
James,
Your assumption, couched in feel-good "I'm concerned for your well being" niceness is that I have not yet expanded my awareness. You might want to consider that I and others like me already been there, already done that, and our awareness is about as expanded as it can get on this subject without our brains falling out. In this, the believer in the paranormal is much like the believer in any other religious dictum, that the skeptic is simply (somehow) stunted and hasn't had the proper experience to appreciate "the truth". The opposite is usually the case.
Back in the day, not one single world class (or even local, to my knowledge) psychic predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now that was a pretty big one for them to miss. None predicted the death of JFK jr, either. There is a whole list of failed predictions, but like churches they never address the failures. As far as I know, none of them got much right, either, except by luck.
I've had my aura read; I've had my palm read; I've been "probed" by a psychic. None of them even guessed my Sign. As long as the questions and prognostications are kept very general, a psychic can sell a line to someone who wants to be sold to, but when you demand the kind of specificity that would indicate actual psychic ability, they all fall apart.
I could go on and on, but of course you won't be persuaded. You've found something fun to play with. That's fine. Enjoy yourself. But sell crazy somewhere else, we're full up here.
It's wonderfully comforting to have someone really listen and care about what happens to you AND give you advice, whether it be in the psychic shop or the confessional.
We all would like to think that we are descended from royalty or wish we had lived more interesting lives. Past life readings give us that.
Astrology gives us something in common with powerful and famous people. Bob Newhart, Daryl Zanuck and Raquel Welch and I share the same birthday, therefore I am instantly, and without effort, part of a group that includes some very successful, talented and beautiful people.
Psychic readings and tarot cards and aura massages fulfill some of the same basic needs that organized religion fulfills for many people…it makes an ordinary person feel special.
I recently learned of the term "treasure hunt mentality." It refers to those who think that truth is a matter of luckily stumbing upon something simple, rather than doing the painstaking work of peeling the oftentimes fragile layers off of reality in order to discover yet other layers.
There are many treasure hunters out there. Some of them cling to their ancient religious books and others cling to their crystals or their chants. What they hold in common is a belief that they don't need to try and that believing something, almost anything, makes it so.
One more thing. Jason, I would add 9/11 to those things that no psychic predicted. Or how the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami? If none of them can predict those big things how could any of them ever have the chutzpah to offer to help people with little problems?
If they want to hang signs around their necks that say "Fake Friend for Hire," then by all means let them sell their wares unharrassed. But the only thing predictable about alleged psychics is that they can't predict. Does that make ME a psychic that I know this?
Erich wrote: "What they hold in common is a belief that they don’t need to try and that believing something, almost anything, makes it so."
That is what I call the "tattoo mentality".
Didja ever notice that most heavily tattooed people usually have the worst bodies? I don't want to overgeneralize, (but I'm going to!) but it seems to me that many people, instead of trying to perfect the body they have, allow it to be used as a canvas to display someone else's artistic talent. Rather than spend years perfecting a craft or god-forbid, passing up the Twinky and exercising, they'd rather shell out several hundred dollars and endure the pain of a needle for a few hours and feel like they've accomplished something. In the same way that a psychic can instantly help elevate one's imagined status in the world, it's another easy way to be special without actually having to DO anything.
And didja ever notice that the people getting the most tattoos are the ones who should be saving their money for something more pratical? Like rent, for instance!
I was watching a popular "reality" show about a tatto parlor and noticed that so many of the clients there were getting their "ink" in honor of some goal in their lives. Honey, don't ya think that the $450 and the time spent in the artist's chair could have been better spent trying to ACHIEVE those goals instead of just creating a reminder of them? This is the another variation of the mentality that Erich speaks of, the thought that just believing in a goal will make it happen. At this rate all you'll have is a fading dragon on your leg as a reminder of what you didn't accomplish.
"And didja ever notice that the people getting the most tattoos are the ones who should be saving their money for something more pratical? Like rent, for instance!"
Or maybe a MUFFLER? How bout anti-perspirant, sunblock, dental floss, a mulletcut, a book other than the bible, multiple piercings, face and body jewelry, maybe even a parenting class.
Hi, Erich – I surely do have thoughts on this topic and they woke me up at 4 in the morning after reading this. There were too many to post as comments here, so I've done a full post on my blog at this permalink:
http://filterandsplice.blogspot.com/2007/05/more-…
The shaman question was a way for me to determine whether your views only pertained to the New Age variety of magical thinking, or whether they extended to magical thinking in all cultures and times.
You're always thought-provoking.
Btw, Ben, my husband has three tatoos and we do manage to pay the mortgage – on time, even! – and he uses antiperspirant, doesn't have a mullet, reads books other than the Bible (he's agnostic), and is a fine parent. He does love a loud muffler, but only on his motorcycle; has his ears pierced; wears a necklace that I made him; and tends to eschew sunblock. The dental floss is used on an as-needed basis. The man does brush his teeth regularly.
On the subject of what Mary calls "woo-woo," I did not see in her blog any mention of self-fulfilling prophesies. Were I a believer in "woo-woo," I might look at old Star Trek episodes, with their talking computers and two-way communicators, and say to myself, "wow, the writers of that show must have had magical clairvoyant powers to have forseen the invention of the personal computer and the cell phone twenty years before those technologies were created." Wrong. Fans who watched the television show were inspired by the gadgets, began working on the technologies and, twenty years later, had created them. The same thing happens with tarot cards, crystal balls, tea leaf reading, chicken egg reading, horoscopes, cheiromancy and every other type of fortune telling: believers "see" their future, then go about creating what they "saw." It's not magic; it's merely self-fulfilling prophesy. In other forms, it is called the placebo effect, the power of positive thinking, synchronicity, etc. People tend to become the people they believe they will become. Athletes in competitions, actors on opening nights, students taking tests, etc., have all tried to use this phenomenon to their advantage: visualizing a successful performance before the actual event, in the hope that it will improve their performance during the event. So-called "psychics," like other spiritual guides (e.g., religious leaders), merely dress it up in the trappings of their particular belief system.
Mary:
Thanks for the compliments. I’m glad you find some of my writings worthwhile.
I visited your site—thanks for the invite. First of all, regarding the fascination with ESP and other alleged psychic phenomena. I’ve often wondered about this the intense interest these things generate. I would add all sorts of ghosts and spirits and Gods to the list. Add all of the other violations of the laws of physics that have never been shown, but which obsess us, and which many people believe despite the lack of evidence.
I don’t really have a theory for this fascination and belief, but I’ve wondered whether our fascination with these things (and horror films and magic) may well stem from their systematic violation of innately grounded expectations. There is much evidence suggesting that the human infants come equipped with theories about the natural and psychological worlds, including folk theories of mechanics and physics. This was well-established through experiments conducted in the late 80’s and early 90’s by Elizabeth Spelke and Susan Carey. They noticed (through observing the length of time babies stared) that babies were utterly fascinated when they were presented with situations that appeared to violate laws of physics.
Ghosts passing through walls is a particularly good example, because it clashes with principles of cognition that Spelke and Carey argued (quite convincingly to me) to be innate. ESP, Tarot and netherworlds also violate psychological expectations.
Zombies, too. You know, dead people that come alive again. Many of us believe that human fascination with such things stems from the cathartic pleasure of facing fears in a safe environment. That is surely part of it, but the violations of basic physically laws are another, neglected component. Just as newborns show surprise and excitement when their expectations are falsified (as shown by Spelke and Carey), the movie going public has an endless thirst for physical anomaly. Horror films aren't just scary, they cause us to "dishabituate" from the commonplace, and that might be the source of the fascination. Same thing with psychic powers—they fascinate us because they violate basic laws of physics, including folk physics.
—
You detailed an extraordinary coincidence in your post. We need to beware that life is (and must be) full of extraordinary coincidences simply due to the incredible amount of “stuff” that occurs. The more events and objects there are in the world, the more coincidences will occur, and every so often you’ll run into one of them. It would actually be more incredible if “incredible” coincidences didn’t often occur. As I recently wrote in one of the posts at DI, I once met a woman born on the same date of the same year in the same hospital as I was. Also, we both like ice cream. When I first found out about these coincidences, it seemed like it was indeed some sort of mysterious event—the world was trying to “tell” me something. But, no, of course. For more on coincidences and this “feeling” check out the excellent book by John Paulos wrote: Innumeracy.
As far as the origins of specific psychic paraphernalia, I’m quite ignorant. I suspect that anything that gets two people talking (whether it is a tarot cards or going to a ballgame) is yet another opportunity to talk and bond. Hence the immediate usefulness of most of these “psychic” tools. I would bet that my good friend Wikipedia has a lot more in the way of specifics.
As to the effectiveness of the various tools of psychics and tarot readers, etc, I'm afraid I have much less patience than you, though when I was much younger I too was fascinated. Now I'm more fascinated in why people believe such things. I would concur with much of what Grumpy wrote immediately above with regard to the claims themselves.
Thanks for your delightful comments over the months
"The dental floss is used on an as-needed basis."
Hehe, good one. I guess I was generalizing a BIT.
By the way… I recommend this product to everyone I meet, it is a medical miracle…
http://www.crest.com/glide/deepClean.jsp http://www.crest.com/glide/glide.jsp
According to dentists, "as-needed" is *daily*.
Here is a stunning coincidence/occurance…
My mom was reading a book and came upon a very strange word. She stopped reading, and went to ask my dad if he knew the word. Before she started said the word, my dad said "WAIT!. I know what word you are going to say…"
Eleemosynary?
Silence…
How did you know!? Amazing!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eleemosynary