Many years ago, my friends and I would attend a few Spiritualist Church camp's Wednesday night readings each summer to hear what we could hear. We tried to be respectful of religious aspect of the service, but I'm afraid we were a naughty bunch of heathens looking for a good time. Still, there was always "something" said or revealed that was close enough to truth that it brought us back.
One summer night, the poet Diane Ackerman was there with a posse of loud and confident women. I heard one describe the evening as a field trip. That was how it was for my gang, too. A field trip. This is where I should include that smiley face emoji with a clenched toothed smile. 😬
I'm a staunch agnostic, so I am never convinced it is real, but I am also never convinced it isn't. I take what I can get, and I enjoy the process. When the psychic is faking or trying too hard to convince me, I smile (a little too hard) and ignore the BS. When s/he is spot on, I get big eyes and know I won't be able to sleep that night. There is usually some spine tingling accuracy thrown in to justify the payment.
I once went to a psychic “party”. Someone read my jewelry - no gems to tell, another read my palm - I will live forever, then came the card reader - some goosebumps there. It was a fun day and that is always good. I am a believer in possibilities, not preachers.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this is a really fun thing to do with a group of girlfriends.
DeleteInteresting! Although I've not been to a psychic, my great great grandfather on my mother's side was president of the Theosophical Society in Boston in the early 1900s, strongly believing in psychic phenomena. Perhaps that is why my mother's parents were married in the Unitarian Church in Boston.
ReplyDeleteWow. I wonder if he ever met Madame Blavatsky?
DeleteI've never sought out a psychic, but twice psychics have encountered me and had something to say.
ReplyDeleteWell THAT's interesting. I'd love to hear that rest of those two stories!
DeleteI too visit psychics for amusement. At the same time there have been things that have happened to me that I cannot completely dismiss that there may be some who authentic. A witch in Salem came awfully close. He was able to describe my children physically and also their personalities. None of them look like me so that was a feat.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. I've had some interesting readings, too. One where I couldn't sleep for about three nights.
DeleteI have always been a skeptic when it comes to psychic/mediums. BUT I found the real deal in Fara Gibson. You can find her on Facebook. I did a reading early on before she was really known. We did it over Skype. She lives in Arizona, I live in Georgia. The only thing she knew about me was my name. She made a believer out of me. She told me specific intimate things that there was no way she could have known. There were no generalities or leading on. My older sister had a reading with her as well and was told things that there was no way she could have known. Again, it was over Skype and my sister lives in NC.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Kathy!
DeleteMy Mom used to give people readings but never charged... if she had something important for them to hear she would just ask if they were okay with her telling them. She was always eerily accurate as hell so I am a firm believer that some people possess a gift of the phenomenon that is psychic and can't be readily explained. There are fakers tho' and those of questionable abilities... I think either way it's Fun so long as you can handle whatever is imparted... I wouldn't want to have sleepless Nights. But when Mom was alive, if she gave me a Warning, I ALWAYS heeded it... her family have a long lineage of such abilities and premonitions. I've had some but I just heed it for myself since apparently it was just for me to foreknow... served me very well.
ReplyDeleteLove it!!!
DeleteI’ve also gone to psychics for fun. And yes, a couple really seemed to be legit. But still, I’m skeptical!
ReplyDeleteIt think it is good to be skeptical about these things.
DeleteI've been to 2 psychics. Both complete duds. But I have had two visions and I and a girlfriend slept (purely platonic!) with a ghost once. Now that's a story. :)
ReplyDeleteWell there are a couple of blog posts you need to write! I had a vision once. Very strange experience that came to me at the crossroads of my life and changed my direction forever.
DeleteOh yes, there is that obvious attraction to visit a space or a person where for an hour or so we can suspend the laws of nature and believe anything we like.
ReplyDeleteMy problem usually is the exchange of money beforehand which dampens my wish to be persuaded.
I'm not even going to tell you how much I paid for this reading. Ridiculous amount. The psychic lives in a super expensive house in an exclusive neighborhood. Must be a lucrative job.
DeleteI have a family full of dearly loved ones who believe utterly in the afterlife in the spirit world. I went to psychic once 40 years ago, and then to a person who "channels" Sri Yukteswar. Each had interesting things to share, but I'm not much of a delver into that world. I understand the attraction, especially when some tidbit of connection rings true.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with Sri Yukteswar. I'll have to look him up.
DeleteMight this be a step too far? Is it too late to change your blog title? What does it convey? That you are getting older (We all are; since you choose to mention it so prominently perhaps you imagine it is happening more quickly to you.). That you are a woman (Only relevant if you feel it's necessary to ensure that no one mistakes you for a man. Is this likely?) And that you are the result of an act of reproduction between years this and that.
ReplyDeleteMind you, title changes can be traumatic. I have had four blog titles, the latter one Tone Deaf adopted as a shaken fist when I posted only about music. Now that I am making music (as a student singer) it's unfortunate. Just a thought.
You and I are a long way apart in the courage department. Four Nubians with strong ropes would have been necessary to get me in front of a psychic. As to attending Spiritualist Church - only while anaesthetised. What do I fear? Embarrassment, and not just for myself, I can suffer the heebie-jeebies from the embarrassment of others. This hyper-sensitivity is useful when writing fiction (where I can keep it under control) but less so in everyday life. I envy you your detachment - and that of your daughter. Your ability to treat these encounters as a branch of entertainment which, nevertheless, carries a possible frisson from the inexplicable, is admirable.
It is fashionable to put out stories about the supernatural where the sceptic gets his comeuppance. You may remember a fairly recent Woody Allen movie (starring Colin Firth) where just this happened. As a rationalistic atheist I wonder about my reaction to some sort of supernatural "revelation" which was personal to me, beneficial and inexplicable. Since there is long history of final explanations I think I'd say, "Someone of a scientific bemt, cleverer than me, will eventually explain this." After all, we experience dreams which give the impression of a reality that can please and/or terrify us. We don't feel the need to invoke the supernatural then.
I hope I don't seem to be raining on yourparade. In fact I'm awarding it a Congressional Medal of Honour.
Great comments, Roderick. In fact, I hate my blog name (Aging Female Baby Boomer) and wonder what I was thinking when I came up with it years ago. I was nearing retirement, feeling old and irrelevent, and used it as a way to own what I was and what I was becoming. I don't feel the same now. so perhaps a name change is in order. We'll see.
DeleteI think the difference between me (an agnostic) and you (an atheist) is simply a matter of commitment. I tend to agree with you, but cannot commit to a belief that I can't know until it is too late. So I'm hedging my bets.
You sometimes refer to Calvinism in your blog. Is that the religion you were raised in? Remember that I am a pre-Vatican II (fallen away) Catholic. Although I don't "believe" any more, we are all victims of the religious hold of our youth. If I'm a little more comfortable with psychics it may just be that the Church of my youth was one step away from all this. Mystics, visions, focused prayer. Reminds me a lot of magical practices. And I completely assume that there is a scientific explanation for it all. A physicist once told me that he loved his field of study because of the "Wow" factor. THAT I could understand.
There is nothing aged about the way you write (nor - even more important - your selection of subjects). You are relevant to me in that you are always a fresh and engaging source of facts and opinions, and it is clear I am not alone. You have outgrown the slightly apologetic, slightly defensive tone of your original blog title. Do no more than ponder a replacement until you finally grow into a new and more becoming cocktail dress; alas, no doubt, a sexist analogy. Along the way do a post about choices that didn't make it. Like these, for instance:
ReplyDeleteColette's herself again (Always good to bring in WS).
More than oranges and hurricanes
Sun-following
Out on the Atlantic
Ripening not ageing
As to atheism. There will always be mystery since the tasks facing our powers of understanding are infinite. Each step forward brings further questions but never mind. Look back and note the progress we've made. For that we need a, possibly temporary, working mode. Occam's Razor helped me. What is the simplest and most likely explanation of our condition? Why not - pro tem - the mechanical and deducible processes which have brought us to this point where we, as sentient beings, may simply seek to improve ourselves in all senses, for the betterment of those yet unborn. With help from others who share our conclusions and speak our language. Without leaning on the inevitably argumentative aspects of the supernatural. That we may say, without boasting, that each of us is sovereign.
How observant of you to have noticed my Calvinism. It is however nought but a literary construct. But I'm overdoing the length of my comments.