Awesome Matt asks: “Will you write a more in-depth article about psychics? I know you have a blurb about them already…but I love your in-depth analysis. My experience lately has been, well, let’s say interesting. I am not blindly following what they say. For example, my roommate Taylor was, in theory, going to move out on his own by August. I had two other readings that said six to eight months.

Well, clearly the prediction, and I use that term loosely in this case, is yes, he is moving out in August. But I am the catalyst in this in that I told him to get out…energy vampire beyond words! Anyways if anyone was so accurate and I followed their prediction blindly then yes, he probably would move out in 2014…..not one psychic said I would force cards and call his bluff….crappy poker analogy but I know you get what I am saying.”

Dear Awesome Matt,

I knew you were going to ask that! 😉

How to tell if your psychic is “real”

Yes, there are some douchebags out there who, instead of taking the time to develop their energy reading skills, have spent an extraordinary amount of time learning how to cold read people (at best), or simply play on the emotions of the desperate (at worst). How can you tell if the psychic you’re dealing with is the real deal? Well, like with anything else, you can feel it. Of course, you have to be at least somewhat in touch with your intuition for this to work, but if you are, the fake ones will give you a negative vibe. To me, these kinds of people feel slimy, like something nasty that got washed up out of a sewer. I’m not being judgmental here; I don’t consider these people “bad”. They have their reasons for doing what they do. But the energy of those who feel that they have to deceive others in order to feel better is so low, it feels truly nasty to me (there is one current well known TV psychic who, when I saw her on YouTube, made me want to windex my computer screen. Just ew.)

So, does that mean that all psychics have a high vibration? Nope. Here’s why:

Psychics are people, too

And just like all people, they come in a variety of frequencies. A person who is “psychic” is simply someone who has learned to consciously interpret non-physical energy. Some are better at it than others at translating. Think of it this way: If you’re a UN translator, and your skill is high, you’re going to be able to convey not just the words but the ideas of the diplomat who is speaking. Those who are listening are going to get a better understanding of what is being communicated. If your skill level is low, you may muddle some of the words and interpret them incorrectly. A psychic always brings their own interpretation (and sense of humor!) to the show.

This, however, still doesn’t address the concept of vibration. Just because someone can translate from one language to another, doesn’t mean that what they’re translating is going to be pleasant or useful. A good psychic doesn’t just have to be skilled at interpreting the energy they’re translating, but also at tuning in to the best possible frequencies. There are all kinds of thoughts and ideas out there. And there are plenty of people out there with tons of different vibrations. One can tune into low frequencies or high ones.

If a psychic is focusing on a low frequency (and they can only focus on the range at which they, themselves are vibrating), they will bring you negative messages of pain and fear. They will tell you that your dead Aunt Mary is sad or angry. They will tell you to be careful, give you warnings, and tell you of dangerous and dark futures. They will speak of hell and demons and dark forces (none of which exist, by the way). A psychic like this may have the ability to be quite accurate, but their low vibration will throw off their interpretation of where the energy is coming from and what it means. They may, for example, go to a place where a tragedy happened and tap into the horrific energy imprint still present at that site and then interpret that imprint as the haunted, evil spirit of the murderer or whatever. This, I’m happy to say, is total bullshit. There are no ghosts or evil spirits or demons or possessed children’s dolls out to get you. There are very low frequency energy forms, like thoughts for example, that can be tapped into. But, you have to be at a low frequency yourself in order to do that. In other words, if your psychic is telling you all about the horrors of the world, they’re demonstrating that they’ve got quite a bit of fear of their own.

What psychics can and can’t do

Let’s take a look at what psychics can and can’t actually tell you. Keep in mind, I’m generalizing here, and abilities do vary. This is not a complete list, but rather a compilation designed to give you a better understanding. What I’m giving you is based on my own experience and what my non-physical peeps are telling me. And, you’ll notice that I’m using the word “we”, to include myself in the psychic bunch, even though you’ll never see me advertise myself that way. I think there’s just too much baggage that goes along with that term, so I’ve steered clear of it.

We can tell the future. Sort of… An accurate, highly skilled psychic can tell you what you’re currently lining up with. This means, that if you don’t change your vibration from where it is now, if you keep focusing the way you have been, then the outcome that the practitioner described will come true. If, however, you change your focus, you will line up with a different outcome. Read the Schroedinger’s Cat post for an in-depth explanation on how your focus controls the outcome of any given situation. Also, consider that the very act of telling you something may cause you to focus on it, consequently bringing it about, or cause you to focus in a way that contradicts what you’ve heard, changing the outcome in a different way. A psychic’s words can foster belief in your ability to get what you want (or don’t want), strengthening your ability to receive it. So, the very fact that you’ve gone to a psychic can change your future. Buwahahahahaha.

We can’t tell time. I don’t mean that we don’t know what time it is (although, I generally don’t). I mean that we have a very hard time telling you exactly when something will happen. Not only is the fact that you can change your vibration at any time an issue, but there’s also this little problem of time not really working the way we think it does. How quickly or slowly something happens isn’t determined by how many minutes or hours have passed. It’s all about vibrational proximity. You can be sooooo close to something that it seems like it will happen in the next 5 seconds and yet stay stuck in that spot for months, due to a small but stubborn piece of resistance. How quickly you move towards something is entirely up to you, and how fast you’re willing to move into a really good, resistance-free feeling. So, if a psychic tells you that something will happen in a certain month, they’re either overestimating their level of skill, hoping to manipulate you by installing a suggestion, or have a lack of understanding of how time works. Or they’re full of shit. There’s always that. They can, however, tell you that something will happen soon, is imminent, or that you’re nowhere near it, given your current vibration.

We can talk to the dead. But you may not like what you hear. Right, so yes, we can communicate with the dearly departed. HOWEVER, these communications don’t go down the way most people think they do. First of all, your dead Aunt Mary isn’t going to feel the way you expect her to. She will have dropped all her resistance, anger, fear, worries, depression, frustration and annoyance when she died. What’s left feels more like a giddy five year old about to go on Space Mountain (or whatever the kids are riding these days…). The joy and passion are usually palpable (depends on how one is translating), and the conversations she wants to now have aren’t going to be the same as they were before she died (if she even wants to have conversations…). A dead person will not ever be concerned, not for you or anyone else. They don’t do stressed out or worried. They KNOW you’re ok and that you always will be. They have a much, MUCH broader perspective now. They do, on occasion, yell at people (in my experience anyway), but not out of anger. It’s just emphatic love. If they really want you to know something, it comes through STRONG, and that can feel and translate like yelling. If you’ve ever heard one of my coaching calls, you’ll have heard me sort of, um, slap people around with emphatic love.

This lack of concern can be rather unsatisfying to the living. They’re not going to worry with you. They’re not going to be interested in chatting with you about things they don’t care about, and there’s a lot of crap they no longer care about. I personally don’t give people “readings”; I won’t contact your dead relatives for you. If they happen to come through during a session, I’ll pass on what they say; But given that I’m more interested in bringing forth the answers you’re looking for and that your dead relatives may not be the best source of those answers, I’m not really interested in serving as a telephone service for the departed.

We can find lost objects. I personally don’t do this (I’ve never had any interest in it or spent time practicing this), but I know people who are very skilled at it. There are those who can find your lost thingamagiggies for you. This can be incredibly validating in a “Holy shit, this stuff is real” kind of way. Keep in mind that you have to be a match to finding the object. The psychic cannot defy your vibration.

We can’t tell you the lottery numbers. We can’t manifest stuff for you. Period. Also, if we could see the lottery numbers, don’t you think we’d just win the damn thing ourselves? This brings me to the question that’s often asked: Why don’t you ever see the headline “Psychic wins lottery”? Well, considering that the psychic, just like everyone else, would have to be a match to winning the lottery and to the amount of money won, and considering that if someone was a match to that they wouldn’t have to be psychic (they would just win with whatever numbers they had), AND considering that all the people who saw that headline would also have to be a match to it, it sort of brings down the odds of that happening. Also remember that not all people who are psychics are doing it professionally. So, even if a psychic person wins, it may not necessarily lead to that headline. Just saying.

So, what about Awesome Matt?

Don’t worry Awesome Matt, I haven’t forgotten about you. Now that I’ve explained what psychics can and can’t tell you, it should become clear that none of the practitioners you went to could’ve accurately predicted exactly when your roommate would be leaving. They shouldn’t have tried. As far as knowing exactly how it would happen, that you would kick him out, that’s not something that they easily could’ve seen. We can tell if your manifestation is close, but we can’t usually see exactly how it will come about. What you want can manifest in an infinite number of ways. Sometimes, your participation will be a part of that manifestation and sometimes it won’t. If your action was part of the show, that doesn’t make the manifestation somehow invalid (as in, the psychic said he would move out, but I had to tell him to do it, so it doesn’t count.) It does count. You see, it wasn’t about your roommate moving out, it was about you resolving whatever was keeping your crappy roommate in your reality. For you, actually verbally telling him to get out was part of that process. This doesn’t negate the experience.

Bottom line

The concept of psychic abilities has gotten a really bad rap, but not entirely undeservedly so. I believe that the main “problem” with psychics is that too many of them are focused on parlor tricks rather than on their true purpose, which is to guide, teach and uplift. Whenever a psychic forgets the spiritual root of their abilities, either for personal gain or to try and prove something to those who don’t believe in this stuff, they often push themselves to do things they can’t do and end up looking ridiculous, while simply proving their critics right. This is generally what you see on TV. The issue is that the real thing is often so unimpressive. It feels more like therapy than a Vegas Show. It’s so much more subtle. The only one who can determine if it “worked” is the person getting the reading or session. It’s about a shift in feeling, the gaining of a new perspective, a raising of vibration. It’s not about proving anything. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for very good television.

Should you go and see a psychic? By all means! It can be fun, educational and, if they’re good, a powerful and uplifting experience. But, as with all experiences, use your intuition. If it feels off, then that’s not the practitioner for you. They’re either faking it, or simply of a lower vibration than you want to work with. And don’t just blindly follow what they tell you to do. If you see your psychic as more of a spiritual mentor than an omnipotent being or predictor of an iron clad future, and you look for someone that fits that bill and really feels good to you, you’ll get your money’s worth. I predict it. Ha.