How To Choose A Psychic - Or Not

Every year millions of hours re spent in private psychic consultations. People choose their clairvoyant, make an appointment or speak online immediately, and all this is done often and without much thought. Why do users turn to clairvoyants? The list of reasons is long and wide. Some seek solace in times of grief; others are looking for excitement and fun. While the motivation for the consultation is rarely discussed, it is the outcome of the transaction (for that is what it is) that interests me more.

Clients are unlikely to prepare themselves for their sessions by asking such questions as "what do I hope to get out of this?" or "how will I get value for money?" but these are just the questions, I suggest that should be asked. Who owns the psychic realms? Who are the gatekeepers and are they charging a fair price for access? Generally, the supernatural planes are not discussed in such terms and yet I think it is for this very reason that so many charlatans are allowed to flourish. The question of whether all psychics are equal is a question for another time. that’s a different issue. What I’m calling for is more accountability and guarantees regarding quality of service. Is it too much to ask? With the advent of online psychic websites it is now possible to choose from a smorgasbord or talent.

Photos, audios, bios and even testimonies are the order of the day. But have you ever looked behind these sites, at the small print? It makes for interesting reading, or not, depending on whether you are a user or non-user, sceptic or believer. Some disclaimer statements refer to on-selling personal information (I wonder what that means, given we are talking about oftentimes very personal information not only about the client but also those who are drawn into the session from the metaphysical spheres). There is even talk of psychic sessions being for entertainment purposes only. Tell that to the grieving widow or the distressed parent. I doubt if they’ve signed up for a round of diversion and amusement. Such people are oftentimes vulnerable and lacking in judgement. Is this a case for more openness in the industry?

Websites can reserve the right to edit or omit any feedback items which they consider inappropriate, whatever that means. Seemingly this allows them to control the image which they project. Not very reassuring I would suggest. I’m not talking about content here. Where are the regulations and consumer protection? There is always the old dictum ‘buyer beware’ but that is not enough. The psychic industry is huge. It involves numerous people - on both sides of the transaction - and yet it’s almost impossible to get any data on the industry. How much money is ‘invested’ in this type of ‘entertainment’? How many individuals derive their income from this source? How many people use the services of psychics and how often do they outlay their cash? And just as importantly, are the end users satisfied customers? Sure, feedback is subjective. Sure, it is open to misinterpretation but what is the alternative. Silence! It’s been the only option for too long. I don’t know the answer to these questions but I’m going to try and find out. Someone has to.

Article Source: How To Choose A Psychic - Or Not About Author: The writer recently graduated from Monash University, Australia with a Master of Education degree. The subject of her dissertation was parapsychological experiences, and this work was based on an online survey which is still referenced on Wikipedia. Rosemary is currently writing a book on psychic experiences and would also like tips on what to look for when choosing a clairvoyant. Rosemary can be contacted through her blog sites. http://rosemarybreen.blogspot.com/ http://howtochooseapsychic.blogspot.com/

Action in Cyberspace

When I launched my Paranormal Survey onto the net I had no idea what the response would be - or how large - for as far as I could see this was the first time such an endeavour had been undertaken on such a scale. So, undaunted, I launched to questionnaire in September and left it open till the end of the year. From time to time Id check to see how the numbers were going. Of course it started off slowly but, once it gained momentum, the word spread, and the marketing campaign kicked in, the response to the survey was overwhelming and heartwarming at the same time.

My survey was handled by a third party - a company called SurveyMonkey. I used their infrastructure to format the survey, set the parameters and design the overall look and feel of the onscreen questionnaire. I tested and modified it before going live by using friends as the guinea pigs. They were patient and effusive with their comments and as it turned out, so were more than a few of the survey respondents. I couldnt count the number of times that survey participants left me a note thanking me for the opportunity to tell their story. Many expressed a sense of relief to be given the chance to document their anecdotes; others spoke of this being the first time they felt able to bear their souls and talk from the heart about incidences that had obviously impacted them greatly.

In stark contrast to the deeply personal narratives sits the quantitative data. It seems somehow wrong to reduce the participants to numbers - but that is the nature of research that deals in numbers. On the one hand quantitative data gives the reader (and the researcher) a handle to hold onto - facts to easily quote, an elegant way of managing a mass of data. But, it also veils the personal, the intimate, the heartbreaking stories behind the numbers.

I'm very pleased I chose to use a new research model - Mixed Methods Research. There is a lot of heated argument (or to be more polite, discussion) within academia about the merits of this method but, having used it so successfully, I'm in no doubt that it has its place in research. The book which became my permanent point of reference and one I'd recommend is entitled "Mixed Methods Research" by John Creswell and Vicki Plano Clark. This is widely regarded as the bible of this particular research model and for those contemplating formal research - be it in psychic studies of otherwise, it is well worth investigating.

Mixed Methods Research requires the gathering of both statistical and qualitative data - and therein lies its elegance. Statistics hide the true face of the topic under review - the human element - and in the current instance, it was the personal impact of parapsychological experiences that I was looking to document. Using the Mixed Methods Research model I achieved this and a whole lot more........

Paranormal Books and Websites

Themes emerged from the self reports that I collected for my paranormal thesis.

Given my sense of knowing from my earliest moment, I was keen to see if those who had experienced the paranormal would report experiences that dated back to their early childhood. I wasn't disappointed. People confided intimate details about experiences that happened very, very early in their lives - before the second year of life. So, Im not alone in my early knowing!

I was curious to know whether more males or females report paranormal experiences - and statistically my research confirmed that there is a gender bias. In the past, it was shown that men tended to answer online surveys more frequently than women, but more recently this balance has swung the other way and my study confirmed this too. More women than men responded to the call to participate in my anonymous survey and the difference in the level of paranormal experience reports was statistically significant in favour of women.

All good stuff really and every bit of formal research helps, especially in an area like academic paranormal research where so little work is being done. Partly, there is a shortage because it's a matter of funding; partly it's a matter of career suicide for members of the paid academic fraternity (of which Im not a member, so I have nothing to lose).

During the course of my study I read a lot of books and articles and journals. Some of these are readily available online; many are only available through university libraries and the international network that binds them. Of course, over the years while waiting for the world to turn far enough for the paranormal to come out of the shadows, I read a lot of paranormal books, searching for confirmation that I wasn't alone in all this.

I'd like to share some of my references - from both of these sources. Some you may be familiar with, others are more obscure. I'll also start to place links to websites and blogs that I recommend.

One of the first serious books I read was Parapsychology by Richard Broughton. I'll review it next blog. In the meantime, here's a link for you to have a look at.

A Background to my Paranormal

I wasn't born psychic but I was born knowing. But, like most people, I didn't know what I knew and I didn't realize that not everyone was like this. That's one of the things that my paranormal study revealed - the number of adults who, as children, felt different from their peers. Very different! That sense of difference, and in some cases the acting out of that difference, had a marked impact on people's lives. In the survey, participants confided about their early encounters with the paranormal. Some were embraced and encouraged by their families and friends. Others were ostracized and made to learn early in life to keep their own counsel. Subliminally or consciously they learnt to keep quiet about the things they saw, heard, smelt and felt that were not part of the physical world. Oftentimes, this sense of isolation has stayed with them.

The paranormal wasn't talked about much back then - how could it be? There wasn't a lot of time and it certainly wasn't a topic that featured much. Remember, that's all there was back then. This was the world before technology took hold. Words like cyberspace, email and Google hadn't even been coined and the Internet was still in the making. No social media: no blogs; no Twitter; no internet forum or podcasts; no Facebook, Digg, Flickr, or YouTube. Just the radio, the t.v., the newspaper, the library and a sparsely stocked bookshop. That's all. Very little opportunity for information sharing; even less chance to discuss paranormal experiences. 

Back then, things tended not to be dealt with at an international or even a national level. Life was very much played at the local level and for some people local meant very localized. In our house, there was talk of old aunts and their magical powers and ghosts in dimly lit hallways, but psi wasn't something that was dwelt on. There wasn't time. My parents were doing their best at making a life for their family - working full time, running their own business and raising two daughters. The paranormal was neither encouraged nor discouraged. It was always just there.

It's against this background that my desire to understand the other side of life lingered - sometimes simmering to the top, oftentimes bubbling away unobtrusively.

(PS I googled Cummins, where I was born and this is about the only photo that came up.)

Paranormal Researchers Downunder

There are three parapsychologists that I know in Australia. Coincidentally, I went to school with the first, Michael Thalbourne. He and his colleague Lance Storm are based at the University of Adelaide (my alma mater). The third is Hannah Jenkins, from the University of Tasmania, who was one of the examiners of my dissertation on spontaneous paranormal experiences. Each Saturday Hannah hosts an hour long radio program called the Edge of Reason which you may be interested in checking out.

http://www.edgeradio.org.au/listen.php

It's Not Easy Being Accepted!

Half a decade ago when I decided to 'ground my dream' and gain qualifications based on paranormal studies I found it very difficult to identify academics in Australia who would even admit to being interested in what Einstein called spooky action at a distance. I soon came to understood that studying psi is regarded as a career limiting move - especially among the academic fraternity. Fortunately for me, I didn't have a career that I thought could be damaged by delving into the unknown.

I did manage to flush out a few closet psychics and make contact with others who are, even today, still proud to hang out their parapsychologist shingle. I'll reveal who these are next...

Paranormal Researchers Downunder

There are three parapsychologists that I know in Australia. Coincidentally, I went to school with the first, Michael Thalbourne. He and his colleague Lance Storm are based at the University of Adelaide (my alma mater). The third is Hannah Jenkins, from the University of Tasmania, who was one of the examiners of my dissertation on spontaneous paranormal experiences. Each Saturday Hannah hosts an hour long radio program called the Edge of Reason which you may be interested in checking out.

http://www.edgeradio.org.au/program.php

Looking Back, First

My most recent journey into the realms of the paranormal began about five years ago and only ended earlier this month (April 09) when I completed my masters degree at Monash University. The topic of my thesis was the paranormal and the basis of my study was an online survey into parapsychological experiences. Even today this study is still referred to on Wikipedia.

Anyway, by way of introduction to me and this research topic here is a copy of the Press Release that was circulated by the University at the time to alert the media and interested people to the existence of this internet-based questionnaire. (Dr Jane was my Supervisor.)

Surveying the Paranormal    

Monash University is investigating the paranormal using an international, online survey. The poll titled, ‘The Nature Incidence and Impact of Spontaneous Paranormal Experiences’, is asking people about their experiences of premonitions, out-of-body and near-death episodes, telepathy and apparitions. 

The supervisor of the research study, Faculty of Education senior lecturer, Dr Beverley Jane, said the aim of the research is to gather information about people’s experiences of paranormal events that cannot be explained using the current laws of science. 

“This includes out-of-body and near-death experiences, premonitions, telepathy, and apparitions,” she said.  “We are interested in knowing more about what people are experiencing, how frequently these phenomena occur, at what age they start, and the impact they have on those who experience them. In particular, we would like to survey people who have had paranormal experiences but have been reluctant to talk about them, until now.”

Dr Jane reported that nearly number of people from all over the world have already responded to their questions online. “They are sincere and they want to report what they have experienced,” she said.

The survey forms part of a research study into the paranormal by Monash Masters student, Ms Rosemary Breen.  There has been an explosion of interest in the paranormal in recent years, so much so that it is now considered mainstream and part of everyday contemporary life for many people,” Ms Breen said.  “It is also the central tenet of most cultures, and some of the earliest reports of paranormal phenomena are found in ancient scriptures including the Talmud, the Koran, Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, the New Testament and Old Testament of the Bible and the Kabbalah.” 

A recent Gallup poll indicated that three out of four Americans hold at least one paranormal belief, and a UK newspaper poll showed that 60 per cent of Britons accept the existence of the paranormal.  However, little is known about contemporary spontaneous experiences, and official surveys are rare. .

“The potential benefits of participation in this study include adding to the volume of academic literature on spontaneous paranormal events, and helping raise the level of understanding about the immediate and long term effects of such phenomena on the individual and on society,” Dr Jane said.