Have you ever visited a fortune-teller or a psychic? Would you?
What methods did the fortune-teller use to predict your future? Were their predictions accurate?
Are fortune-tellers and psychics a bunch of BS’ers?
1 Like
No.
No.
Yes…
4 Likes
Psychic/fortune tellers are the scum of the earth. As scummy as prosperity gospel preachers in my book. They often take advantage of grieving and desperate people. I recommend looking up James Randi. He was a professional magician who explained all the psychic’s tricks. Atheist tend to be a skeptical bunch and If you’re wanting to find believers in such things you’re likely to have better luck on a christian forum. I’ve only met a few atheist who believe in psychics, but lots of christians, even though the bible expressly forbids indulging in it. Fleecing the flock was the church’s job and they didn’t want the competition.
7 Likes
Nope. No way. Definitely.
Fortune tellers and so-called psychics are either deluded and believing their own lies, and/or they are cynical predators separating gullible and desperate people from their money. It’s as simple as that.
2 Likes
So many are excellent at reading a person’s tells. I wouldn’t want to play poker with any of the financially successful ones!
5 Likes
Absolutely not. Fortune Tellers are nothing more than scam artists who go around ripping people off in exchange for their bullshit.
1 Like
True story…
Many years ago there was a very popular Palm Reading/Psychic business in a neighboring city where I grew up. The owner/operator psychic lady had been established there for as long as I could remember. Across the highway from the business was a Mexican restaurant where me and my team buddies would often eat while on duty.
Well, one evening we stopped at the restaurant for our lunch break, and as we walked toward the entrance, one of the guys gestured back toward the palm reading shop and said, “Hey, did you guys hear that the psychic lady died recently?” One of the other guys replied, “No. What happened?” He answered, “She was killed in a car wreck.” Still walking toward the restaurant and without missing a beat, I remarked, “Wow. She must not have been a very good psychic. You would think she would have seen the wreck coming and avoided it.” Would you believe they all started booing me and telling me, “Damn, man, you’re cold!” 
(Edit for premonitions of hindsight.)
7 Likes
The psychic Sylvia Browne didn’t see her death coming either. She died 11 years earlier than she’d predicted. I guess it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise since she repeatedly made wrong predictions. She had the nerve to make predictions on TV so there was no taking it back. Twice she told the parents of kidnapped children they were dead when they were later found alive, and once she told a parent their little girl was alive when she was later found dead. She wrote over 40 books, many best sellers, and was booking high priced psychic readings despite all her failures. She incorporated her own take on christianity into the mix. A disgusting, vile, human being.
2 Likes
Yes, but never again. I did my research in that lot.
Everything from Tarot cards, Ball (as in crystal, whoa there Cog) reading, “Cold Reads” Ouija/Seances, you name it I had it done.
No, their general predictions as in my personality/likes/dislikes were fairly accurate but that is because of involuntary reactions that can be read by a good professional. Predictions of the future/messages from the dead were uniformly rubbish.
I did receive some fine injury/death threats when I published my detailed article. You would think they would have known, right?
Well, duh-uh. Of course they are fakes. That the human mind can predict certain actions of other humans only requires clairvoyance (clear sight) in other words the ability to read other humans and their reactions. It is called “far sighted” in the Gaelic “fad-fhradharcach” the Farqhuars were noted for it.
5 Likes
I’m gifted in hindsight.
Seriously.
3 Likes
Here’s a bit of irony, I suppose. Prior to escaping my religious indoctrination, all the psychic and Pagan ritual and demonic possession stuff always made me incredibly uncomfortable. No matter how curious and interested I was in learning about it (it always fascinated me in some odd way), it made me very ill-at-ease being around it. However, nowadays I am totally unphased by any such things. Matter of fact, I am completely comfortable around it all, and have even happily participated in a few Pagan rituals along the way. Really cool experiences, and the Pagan community can be quite a fun group. (And for those new folks here that don’t know, my wife is Pagan.)
Oh, and same goes for all the other religions. I can now mingle among groups of Christians and feel fully relaxed and at ease. Walking into a church now is no different for me than walking into the house of a friend, whereas before I avoided going anywhere near one as much as possible. All that anxiety and uncertainty from the past has fully vanished, and it feels GREAT. 
6 Likes
I’ve visited one on a few occasions as accompaniment to a long ago girlfriend.
I left seeing it as eye roll inducing entertainment; she was always perplexed by this, and that I wasn’t taking the information seriously.
(Girlfriend was also batshit crazy, though a well paid stripper who roomed with two coworkers, was gifted with smallish breasts, and had no qualms about mainly needing an on call toy.)
The price seemed a small one to pay for a twenty something male to enjoy such otherwise idyllic living.
1 Like
Damn, Doc. My deepest sympathies to you. The horrors you must have endured. How did you survive that, you poor bastard?
1 Like
Anyway, back on topic…
Personally, I view the whole psychic/palm rrading/fortune teller stuff as a combination of entertainment and intellectual/“academic” interest. Entertaining because I actually enjoy watching people who perform such activities. Not to mention seeing the reactions of the “clients” for whom they are performing said activities. As for the intellectual/“academic” interests, fake or otherwise, it DOES require specialized skills to be successful at reading/manipulating people well enough to gain needed info from them and convince them what they are hearing is legitimate. Having spent over twenty years of my life having to “read” people for potential threat levels, I find the psychology behind it all quite fascinating.
For example, my wife often conducts readings and such for family, friends, and acquaintances, and I love sitting there watching as she does so. It’s just cool to me. Moreover, she is AMAZING at being able to “read” people and determine (quite accurately) many things about their personal lives. It’s uncanny. Oddly enough, however, she is not too sharp at detecting potential danger. On the other hand, my senses are fine tuned to pick out potential threats, but I will often miss details about people that she easily notices. Basically, if I do not see a person/thing as a potential threat, I pretty much dismiss it upon making that determination. Like I said, though, I love that type of psychological stuff.
2 Likes
I took some fortune telling classes, but they were called physics.
4 Likes
YES. And I flustered the shit out of her. Went there with a girlfriend who wanted to go. $20 for a reading. I sat there deadpan and gave the woman no feedback at all. When she made inquiries, I told her, you are the fortune-teller. What do the cards say? She got nothing right. ZERO! Not a single hit.
That was $20 for me and $20 for the girlfriend. Since I had never been to a psychic, I justified the expense as a ‘One Time Experience.’ Awwww fuck! I used those damn capital letters again. I do shit like that sometimes. Damn! I have to remember to quit pissing people off. 'Noun, it’s a thing. It’s a ‘One Time Experience.’ It’s exactly the same as ‘Halloween.’ LOL
The survival part was eventually involved, to be sure. One did catch the ‘batshit crazy’ part, didn’t one?
Ah, the twenties era of life. A simpler yet more confused time.
Speaking of situations involving people who do law enforcement stuff…
Uh, I really hate to have to tell you this, but I knew you were going to say that…
Edit: naked thought, put on some clothes
Yep. Had a couple of those myself over the years. Good thing for me I was a thrill seeker.
1 Like
I paid $5on cashapp to some stranger on instagram to give me a brief reading. It was money well spent. Not because I believe that they have psychic magic powers but because they were really accurate and it made me amazed and gave me a real cheap thrill. It also stimulated my mind and made me wonder what exactly their trade secret is. So if it’s cheap enough I think you should just for the experience and entertainment value of it.
1 Like