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Copyright © 2002 by Marina Michaels. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, please see my contact information page.
Not all psychics are created equal. As with any field of endeavor, some psychics are more suited by nature and temperament to being psychic than others. Some have gone into the field for money, others for glory, and a rather small number because they are truly called and want to share the information they are receiving. Alas, there are many charlatans, hucksters, and snake-oil sellers among the New Age field, in part because it is so easy to fool people when you can't produce hard physical evidence of the truth of your assertions.
Which is not to say that you should expect hard physical evidence. Because of the subjective nature of psychic phenomena, hard physical evidence is not very common. Instead, expect to have subjective evidence that rings true for you.
Also, a muddy channel carries muddy water—this is true in the scientific and psychic realms as well as in the three-dimensional world of water streams.
In the scientific world, scientists are not objective if they have an agenda: For example, if they have been paid to prove or disprove something, or if they personally believe or disbelieve something, and therefore slant their experiments, they are not being objective. Or they might interpret their data in a way that shows their bias, then present their interpretations as further data. Although the ideal is for such things to never happen, unfortunately they happen all too frequently.
Likewise with psychics. Ideally, they too should be free of preconceptions or filters or biases or baggage, but in the real world, they are not.
Make no mistake—all psychics—for that matter, every single person alive on this good green earth today, without exception, including the various Swamis and Babas and Reverends and Doctors and such (perhaps even more so for some of them), have preconceptions, judgements, denials, biases, and baggage. I call all of this "filters." No one would be here if they didn't. The trick is to find someone who knows what their filters are, someone who has enough honesty and integrity to lay aside the filters or to at least point out where the filters are.
So how can you tell the honest ones from the dishonest ones? How can you separate the wheat from the chaff? How can you separate the snake-oil sellers from the genuine article? Do not despair; it is possible. However, it requires a little homework on your part, such as reading this article and following its advice. And yes, the more inherently psychic and telepathic you are yourself, and the more you have learned to listen to your inner voice—that voice that has never steered you wrong—the better off you'll be.
Here are the things to consider. Think of this as a consumer advocacy article, like an article on buying a car, only the topic here is finding a psychic without buying a lemon.
First, and perhaps most pragmatically, consider the source. What are they selling? What is their ultimate goal? Are they trying to help people or just make a lot of money? Making lots of money is fine, but if you want a good psychic, even if this is their goal, they should also have service to others as a high priority.
Especially, does the psychic seem most interested in making lots of money, or in helping people?
Some people argue that spiritual gifts should be free—that the gifts are of spirit and were given to the psychic, and so the psychic should share those gifts freely with all others. And there is a certain appeal to this philosophy. But this argument ignores the fact that, spiritual gifts or no, the psychic lives in a physical reality that includes the need to eat, sleep, wear clothing, and so on. Were psychics to give away their readings for free, they would rapidly lose home, car, and clothing, and would find eating a daily problem. Not to mention the fact that few people consult homeless psychics. Just as you don't expect your barber to cut your hair for free (though he or she might sometimes give haircuts as gifts or for charity), or your grocer to give you free food (though again he or she may sometimes give food as a gift or for charity), likewise, you shouldn't expect psychics to give of their time and talents without payment, though, once again, many psychics sometimes give free readings as gifts or for charity.
So making money is not necessarily a sign of a poor psychic. It is the psychic's primary goal for providing readings that is a better indication of the quality of the reading you will receive.
For example, most of the 900 psychic lines are not likely to produce a high caliber of psychic, though there are a fair amount of genuinely psychic people working those lines. This is not to say that the more you pay, the better a reading you'll get. (Especially since you can end up paying a lot to those 900 psychic lines.) One of the best psychic readings I ever got was free, from a woman who didn't practice the art professionally. But it is to say that, if you choose to call a 900 psychic line, be sure to first check out both the service as a whole and the psychic you wish to consult using as many of the methods on this list as possible.
If you are looking into a psychic who is not a phone line psychic (perhaps a local psychic, or someone you found on the Internet), again, the amount charged is not necessarily an indicator of the accuracy and usefulness of the information you get. Some psychics have another source of income and just charge to keep from being besieged with requests or from being exploited by psychic groupies. Before I started charging, I had a couple people who were constantly badgering me to give them free readings. They seemed to view me as their own personal 24/7 psychic. These were not people who were even friends, but instead were people I had encountered casually. They would call me up any time, day or night, with some emergency, and demand (not ask) that I give them a reading right then. When I finally told them that I would be glad to continue as their psychic, but that I really must start charging for my time, I never heard from either of them again. Not a peep.
One thing to watch out for is anyone, genuine psychic or no, who tries to use fear, intimidation, disempowerment, uncertainty, doubt, or any of a range of similar tactics to get you to (a) fork over your power and (b) fork over your money, usually, but not necessarily, in that order. Avoid these people.
One of the oldest schemes is for some fortune-teller to tell you that you are under a curse of some sort, or that "evil spirits" are causing whatever it is that has brought you to this person. This usually leads up to you being asked to bring in money—lots of it—for him/her to either hold for you or to exorcise for you or to pay for some kind of exorcism or curse removal. Don't do it. Whether you are promised your money back or not, you are highly unlikely to ever see it again.
What often happens is that the money is either not enough, and the fortune-teller demands more, or the scam turns into a kind of blackmail, where you are told that, if you don't hand over more money, the evil spirits or their cousins will be sicced on you. If you like a little excitement, agree to do it, then contact your local bunko squad. A friend of mine once helped put a "Madame X" into jail for just such a scheme, and had a lot of fun doing so. But if this isn't your cup of tea, back out as gracefully as you can. (And watch an amazing change come over him/her when s/he realizes the fish is escaping the net. It can get ugly, so be strong.)
Most of this is plain common sense, but sometimes, especially if people are under stress, plain common sense isn't very common.
Legitimate psychics usually run themselves like the business that they are. Saying that it is a business does not in any way detract from the validity of the psychic part of it; it just says that this is their livelihood (usually), and they treat it responsibly, as they should. This means they advertise (possibly only through passing out business cards, or through word of mouth), they have some kind of office or area set aside for their work (in their own home counts), they have the equipment they need (if they need equipment), they provide you with references if asked, with confidentiality, and with materials or information to prepare you for the reading beforehand, and they continue to hone their skills in many ways.
Given that, one of the sources for finding a psychic can be in a local listing of psychics; in the North Bay Area (Northern California), there is something called The Share Guide, which lists psychics of all stripes, as well as other kinds of people: body workers, holistic medical people, therapists, and so on. You can also try The World Channeler's Directory, though there are no guarantees with any of these sources that the psychics you find are legitimate or good.
Of course, not all psychics advertise; I don't, for example (aside from making it known on this Web site that I do readings), because (a) I prefer to speak in front of groups or to channel material and publish it and (b) I believe that those people who will benefit from a reading with me (and vice versa; see the discussion below) will come to or be led to me through a variety of ways, and since I am far more interested in quality than quantity, I am willing to let people flow to me. (I reserve the right to change this policy later.)
Advertising doesn't guarantee that someone is either legitimate or for you, however, so follow my other recommendations as well when choosing a psychic; don't expect that because someone advertises regularly they are good or good for you. Some of the most widely-published and well-known people in the New Age movement are charlatans or worse. I won't name names, though, since I don't consider it useful to do so, and in any case I think it is up to each person to make their own decisions about their teachers or potential teachers.
Another good way to find someone who is more or less legit is to ask friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, or what have you who they have seen or are seeing, and what their opinions are of them. Perhaps a friend of yours has seen a psychic and is happy with what they received. Or perhaps your friend felt they were ripped off. (And, by the way, you may be surprised at who among your friends has seen a psychic. Many people keep it pretty hush-hush, out of fear of being laughed at or of being considered gullible or even stupid. It is kind of like owning a gun. You may assume, especially if you live in a state like California, that no one around you approves of gun ownership, let alone owns a gun. But be open-minded and ask around, and you may be surprised at how many of your co-workers own one—or several!)
When you get the recommendation, be sure to ask the questions listed under Ask questions of the references.
If you have found a psychic on your own, you can try asking the psychic for references. However, be aware that (a) most psychics have strict privacy rules in order to protect client confidentiality, (b) most clients would prefer not to be identified. I, for example, do not even keep a record of my clients or of their readings, and so couldn't give you names even if I wanted to, which I do not. So it may be difficult to get references. One thing some psychics do, and which I have started to do, is to collect the comments given to me and make them available so others can see what has been said of me. This practice can help, but the bottom line is that you normally will need to trust your own instincts and intuition. However, if you can get references, get two or three, and call them. Ask the kinds of questions provided in the next section.
When you are calling references, or speaking with a friend or co-worker who consulted with a psychic, or even speaking with the psychic her or himself, ask the following kinds of questions. (Some of these questions might need to be modified when you ask them of the psychic, though I also give some guidelines under Interview the psychic.)
The 900 lines pretty much preclude this; you can pay anywhere from US$2.00 to US$3.95 and more (I've seen $16 and more) per minute to talk with a psychic, and you usually aren't going to want to spend much money interviewing the psychic. Hopefully, if you are using a 900 line, you have already asked around and gotten a good recommendation (you can ask for specific psychics on these lines).
But if you are considering seeing a psychic in person or having a reading done over the phone but not by a 900-line psychic, the psychic should be open to you asking some pretty probing questions without you having to pay for the interview. (Though, obviously, not the questions you seek psychic answers or a psychic perspective on, and please be considerate of the psychic's time.)
Certainly, you can and should come up with your own list of questions to ask; here is a list to start with.
You can probably think of other questions to ask that will provide you with the kind of information you would need to feel more comfortable about going to see a psychic, or the particular psychic you are interviewing.
If in any way you feel uneasy before getting a reading, one of two things might be true: It could be that you sense that you are about to receive some information that could change your life, and you aren't quite sure you want to get that information yet. (I say "yet" because I can almost guarantee you that the information will come to you somehow, someday.) The other thing is that the psychic might not be right for you for any of a wide variety of reasons, including that s/he is a charlatan or is an evil person masquerading as someone who intends well toward others. (Yes, I believe in evil.)
You'll have to ask yourself some searching questions to try to determine whether you simply have pre-new-ideas jitters or whether you are getting a warning from your intuition. I think you'll know. (But then, I believe we are all psychic.) The basic rule is, if you have a bad feeling about it, don't do it. Trust you own intuition over anyone else's advice—but make sure it is your intuition, and not your fear, speaking.
Once you've had a reading, the next important step is to evaluate the reading.
If you go see the psychic and your reaction, during or after the reading, is something along the lines of: "I expected that, I didn't really hear anything new, but now, darn it, I will have to follow through on something I didn't want to do because now I've had an independent confirmation," or a more outraged "S/he has to be absolutely wrong! It can't be that way..." (and so on—that is, if your reaction is a hearty denial), then probably the psychic was legitimate and had something useful for you. This is especially true if you can't really find any judgement in what the psychic said to you, and you find instead that the reaction was entirely your own, to the information, not to the message-bringer. In such a case, I recommend that you allow the information to simmer before you do anything hasty.
Of course, if the information was bang-on for you, and you came away from the session feeling invigorated, happy, charged-up, glad to be alive, and so on, and the information was wonderful—"felt" good at a fundamental level—then you have been lucky enough to find a really good psychic who is a good match for you. But don't just let it sit there—use the information, and also wait to see how it "ages." Do be aware that the very nature of psychic readings is that the reading itself—starting with your decision to get one and proceeding from there—can affect—does affect—the future. That is, the information you receive may not come true because you may choose to do things differently than you might otherwise have.
One warning here: If you are happy with how things turn out with your new decisions, the temptation can be to attribute the changes to everything but the information you received, and to discount the value of having gone to see a psychic. Please don't. Do credit yourself with making the changes, for it was you, and not the psychic or anyone else, who did make those changes. But do also give credit to both yourself and the psychic; yourself for having had the courage and open-mindedness to go see a psychic, and for having made changes based on the information you got, and the psychic for having given you a good reading.
Along the same vein, if you were warned that something bad was going to happen, and then it didn't, or if you were told that something good was going to happen, and it didn't, be aware of two things:
If you go see a psychic and either during or after the reading you have a bad reaction to who the psychic is (regardless of the accuracy or other applicability of the information presented) or to how the psychic presented the information (did you feel it was judgmental? telling you that you were wrong or bad somehow, if ever so subtly? Telling you that you are doomed in some way? And so on), then probably the psychic is not for you. Try another psychic. After all, why should any of us pay someone to invalidate us? What we really need are people who can encourage us to feel good enough about ourselves and to arm us with enough good information that we can go forth into our worlds and do something useful and productive. This isn't to say that the psychic is evil (though they could be), but it is to say that the caliber of any information coming through such a person is usually low, and not very useful and can probably be safely discarded.
If a psychic or channeler is anything less than very chary of giving advice, take a look at the information being given with a very jaundiced eye. When I am consulted, I tend to give the kind of information that makes it possible for the person consulting me to make an informed decision. I'll give probabilities and possible outcomes of different actions without placing value judgments on any of them—that's up to the person consulting me. I consider this the respectful thing to do.
It is in any case my usual way to not dispense advice or judgments, but I find when I am channeling that I can bring through a kind of loving energy that makes no judgments even about things that I, when not channeling, find appalling. For example, I once did a channeling for a man who was a convicted pedophile. Personally, I have absolutely zero compassion for such people. Yet the message I channeled for this man was, even among the non-judgmental channelings I tend to do, a model of compassion. Because of the general nature of the message, I obtained permission from the person I did the channeling for to publish that particular channeling.
When channeling, I also find it difficult to even think about trying to give advice; the entities I channel have a very high regard for the free will that our creators gave us. If you find that a channeler is trying to manipulate you subtly or outrightly into doing something that doesn't feel right within your own heart, drop them and either find another channeler or search in your own heart for the answers. All your answers arise from there anyway.
Discernment in any case is vital when you approach a channeler (or any psychic). I have already written one essay on the topic of discernment. When choosing a psychic, discernment is essentially one of the main tools to use (along with common sense). So I could and may still write an entire essay alone on discernment in the spirit world.
Remember that "like light attracts like light"; a knave is unlikely to channel an angel, though the knavish entity who is being channeled may well claim to be such.
The bottom line is that your truth is your truth, not someone else's in either sense of that phrase. Your truth is not necessarily someone else's truth, and someone else's truth is not necessarily yours. According to my truth, you best serve both yourself and others when you adhere to what you feel is true for yourself. It doesn't matter how famous or well-known a channeler and his or her entity is. If what is being said doesn't match up with your own internal sense of rightness, out it goes. This goes for my own materials (channeled or otherwise) as well—if it doesn't ring of truth for you, ashcan it. And yes, I follow this principle well, having learned it the hard way. And of course, if this paragraph doesn't ring true for you, toss it. :-)
This leads to the most fundamental rule of consulting a psychic or channeler:
Never, ever let anyone, whether a channeler or anyone else, tell you what to think, what to do, or how to run your life.
Accept advice, certainly. Listen to what others have to say. But always make your own decisions based in what you feel is the right thing to do.
This includes everything I say in this article and at this site. Let your own heart, mind, and soul be your guides.
Bear in mind that, as with all human endeavors, there is some variability even with the same psychic or channel; s/he has good and bad days just as we all do, and hopefully s/he improves in his/her art as time passes, so that earlier materials from the same channeler can look very different from later ones.
Given all that, if you decide you liked the psychic or channeler, spread the word...
If you were not happy with your reading for any reason, and you think the psychic was ethical and did his or her best, try to drum up the courage to tell him or her what you didn't like and why. Try not to complain to anyone else until you've done this. This gives the psychic a chance to correct things that may be driving away others as well, and to offer to make it up to you if he or she feels that is appropriate. Any legitimate psychic should be willing to hear what their customers did not like! If you don't get satisfaction, ask for your money back. Again, any legitimate psychic should be willing to refund your money. Now, it is true that there are some people who are unethical enough that they will get a good reading but ask for their money back anyway, and every business person knows that they will get such customers, but I hope you are not one of those, and that you will only ask for your money back if you truly feel you were not given good value for your money.
On the other hand, if you liked the psychic enough to return to him or her again, do please recommend them to others. In this business, word of mouth and direct personal contact are very important—most people don't want to consult a psychic without having some personal assurance that it isn't going to be a terrible mistake, because the results are less tangible than, say, a new carburetor. (Usually! Though I have some psychic stories I can tell, such as the time I saw a spirit light a fire, or the time I worked for a client from 9 AM to 11 AM, and then it was 9 AM again. ...)
When recommending a psychic, don't worry about whether the psychic is "right" for someone else; that will all sort out in the wash. I guarantee it. A person will go to a psychic for their own greatest good, and they will know at some level whether the psychic you are recommending is "for them." The same is true for you, too, of course, You may have had a psychic recommended to you by "all" your friends, and yet for some reason you are not interested at all, or you consulted the psychic and were left feeling lukewarm, disinterested, and you can't really put your finger on why. There are many reasons why a psychic can be "for" some people and not others.
In fact, if seeing a particular psychic just doesn't seem to be happening, or seeing any psychic isn't falling into place, let it go for a while, then try again. If there still seem to be a lot of barriers in the way, it could be that this is not your path (to see psychics), or that you need to resolve some things in your own mind before you are ready to see a psychic. Don't sweat it. Let it happen. It's a zen kind of thing.
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Copyright © August 2002 by Marina Michaels. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, comments, or just to say "hi," contact information page.