Psychic reading

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Psychic reader booth at a fair. Psychic reading.jpg
Psychic reader booth at a fair.

A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information through the use of heightened perceptive abilities; or natural extensions of the basic human senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and instinct. These natural extensions are claimed to be clairvoyance (vision), clairsentience (feeling), claircognisance (factual knowing) and clairaudience (hearing) and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. [1] The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs. [2] Though psychic readings are controversial and a focus of skeptical inquiry, [3] [4] a popular interest in them persists. [5] Extensive experimentation to replicate psychic results in laboratory conditions have failed to find any precognitive phenomena in humans. [6] A cold reading technique allows psychics to produce seemingly specific information about an individual from social cues and broad statements. [7]

Contents

Types

There are many types of psychic readings practiced. Although psychic readings might not incorporate the use of any tools, a professional psychic may have one or more specialized areas of expertise. Some of the more common readings include Tarot reading, email psychic reading, palm reading, psychometry, aura readings, or astrological readings.

Astrology

Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs and terrestrial events. [8] [9] [10] The position of the stars, planets, sun and moon when one is born are believed to affect one's personality, shape how relationships work in one's life and predict future events such as one's economic success.

Aura reading

Aura readings involve the observation and interpretation of auras. [11] The aura is purported to be a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person. [12] Psychics have offered aura readings for many years. [13] They claim to have a unique ability to see or sense individual's auras, however no evidence has ever been provided to substantiate this claim.[ citation needed ]

Cartomancy or playing card reading

Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. [14] See also Tarot reading below.

Cleromancy

Cleromantic readings usually involve casting small objects and reading them by their position, orientation, and mutual proximity. There are numerous variants used throughout the world.[ citation needed ]

Distant readings

A distant reading, "traveling clairvoyance", or "remote perception" can be conducted without the reader ever meeting the client. [15] This includes letters, telephone, text messaging, email, chat, and webcam readings.

Correspondence readings are usually done via letters, later emails and filling in special forms on psychic websites. [16]

Telephone readings are live readings where both psychic and client hear each other by connecting via premium rate telephone line. In the last years, with restrictions on premium rate numbers, more common are pre-paid callbacks, in which case client leaves his/her credit card details over the phone to an operator, after which gets a call on a specified phone number. Telephone readings became most popular with the growth of live advice TV shows as main means of advertising, and is commonly used by companies rather than individual psychics, due to high setup costs.[ citation needed ]

SMS and chat readings is a quick question-and-answer format of reading allowing exchange of basic information between psychic and client.

Webcams and online video communication may also be used for this type of reading.[ citation needed ]

Lithomancy and crystallomancy

Lithomancy readings usually involve especially suitable gems or stones that are immersed in water, or tossed as a set and read by mutual proximity. [17] Its origins are unknown, and there are numerous different methodologies used by various cultures throughout the world. A recently more common variant is crystallomancy also known as crystal gazing. [18] Using quartz as a crystal ball [19] it is stereotypically depicted as Romani fortune telling.

Numerology

Numerology is defined as the study of the occult meanings of numbers and their influence on human life. It is essentially a reading of an individual based specifically upon numerical values such as their date of birth, letters in their names, etc. Numerology can be used in psychic readings.

Palm reading

Palmistry is another popular method of psychic readings, involving characterization and foretelling of one's future through the study of the lines, shapes, wrinkles and curves on the palm. Palmistry does not require psychic ability, as it generally uses cold reading abilities and previous knowledge of the subject.

Psychometry

Psychometry is a form of psychic reading in which the reader claims to obtain details about another through physical contact with their possessions. [20] Psychometry readers often ask the subject for their favorite and most meaningful objects, such as wedding rings, glasses, car keys, etc., for the reading. The belief is that objects which are in close proximity to a person for extended periods of time hold some of that person's 'energy'. This method has been used in attempts to locate missing persons. [21]

Rune reading

Runes are the letters of a set of related alphabets used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet. There is evidence to suggest that they also had magical or divinatory uses. In modern settings, stones or tablets with runes inscribed on them are cast on a mat or cloth to discern future events or path a problem or issue will take. [22] Runes are also used by some witches and other practitioners of divination. [22]

Tarot reading

Tarot cards have been greatly popularized, but can be often regarded solely as entertainment. Traditional decks are available in chain bookstores. New decks also frequently appear in New Age bookstores. Though not requiring psychic abilities, Tarot cards can be used as a psychic or cold reading tool and Tarot readings are common at psychic fairs. [5] [23]

Challenges

Skeptics have challenged the veracity of the claims of psychic readings, largely through disclosure of the methods. Psychologist Richard Wiseman's 2011 book Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There noted the tricks of the trade, and Wiseman noted in a podcast appearance that the disclosure generated negative feedback from the psychic community. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clairvoyance</span> Claimed form of extrasensory perception

Clairvoyance is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant.

Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University botanist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as intuition, telepathy, psychometry, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, empathy and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.

Parapsychology is a field of research that studies a number of ostensible paranormal phenomena, including telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, and apparitional experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortune-telling</span> Practice of predicting information about a persons life

Fortune telling is the unproven spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychic</span> Person claiming extrasensory perception abilities

A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, such as psychokinesis or teleportation. Although many people believe in psychic abilities, the scientific consensus is that there is no proof of the existence of such powers, and describes the practice as pseudoscience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmistry</span> Foretelling the future through the study of the palm

Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice palmistry are generally called palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists.

Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. during a line of questioning. Cold readings commonly employ high-probability guesses, quickly picking up on signals as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, then emphasizing and reinforcing chance connections and quickly moving on from missed guesses. Psychologists believe that this appears to work because of the Barnum effect and due to confirmation biases within people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific skepticism</span> Questioning of claims lacking empirical evidence

Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism, sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refers to the examination of claims and theories that appear to be beyond mainstream science, rather than the routine discussions and challenges among scientists. Scientific skepticism differs from philosophical skepticism, which questions humans' ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how they perceive it, and the similar but distinct methodological skepticism, which is a systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Hyman</span> American professor of psychology (born 1928)

Ray Hyman is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and a noted critic of parapsychology. Hyman, along with James Randi, Martin Gardner and Paul Kurtz, is one of the founders of the modern skeptical movement. He is the founder and leader of the Skeptic's Toolbox. Hyman serves on the Executive Council for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

In parapsychology, psychometry, also known as token-object reading, or psychoscopy, is a form of extrasensory perception characterized by the claimed ability to glean accurate knowledge of an object's history by making physical contact with that object. Supporters assert that an object may have an energy field that transfers knowledge regarding that object's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediumship</span> Spiritual practice

Mediumship is the pseudoscientific practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. The practice is associated with spiritualism and spiritism. A similar New Age practice is known as channeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Tape theory</span> Theory about ghosts

The Stone Tape theory is a pseudoscientific claim that ghosts and hauntings occur when historical information is released from rocks and other items. The idea of materials holding information from emotional or traumatic events aligns with views of 19th-century intellectualists and psychic researchers, such as Charles Babbage, Eleonor Sidgwick and Edmund Gurney. Contemporarily, the concept was popularized by a 1972 Christmas ghost story called The Stone Tape produced by the BBC. Following the play's popularity, the idea and the term "stone tape" were retrospectively and inaccurately attributed to the British archaeologist turned parapsychologist T. C. Lethbridge, who believed that ghosts were not spirits of the deceased, but were simply non-interactive recordings similar to a movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Franklin Prince</span> American parapsychologist

Walter Franklin Prince was an American parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research in Boston.

In psychology, anomalistic psychology is the study of human behaviour and experience connected with what is often called the paranormal, with few assumptions made about the validity of the reported phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Besterman</span> Polish-born British researcher, bibliographer, biographer, and translator

Theodore Deodatus Nathaniel Besterman was a Polish-born British psychical researcher, bibliographer, biographer, and translator. In 1945 he became the first editor of the Journal of Documentation. From the 1950s he devoted himself to studies of the works of Voltaire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph F. Rinn</span> American magician and skeptic of paranormal phenomena

Joseph Francis Rinn (1868–1952) was an American magician and skeptic of paranormal phenomena.

<i>Psychic Blues</i> 2012 memoir by Mark Edward

Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium is a memoir by Mark Edward about his time working as a psychic entertainer. Published in 2012, the book covers Edward's controversial career as both a performer and a skeptical activist.

Piet Hein Hoebens was a Dutch journalist, skeptic, and critic of parapsychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal Forthuny</span> French art critic and mystic

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References

  1. ↑ Reading Archived 2010-08-24 at the Wayback Machine – Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Parapsychological Association (2010-04-14)
  2. ↑ Nobel, Carmen (April 10, 2008). "Vision Quest". The Boston Globe .
  3. ↑ Stollznow, Karen (2010-04-12). "A Psychometry Reading The Naked Skeptic". csicop.org. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  4. ↑ "psychic". The Skeptic's Dictionary – Skepdic.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  5. 1 2 Haskett, Wendy (August 15, 1987). "Psychic Fairs Aim for Aura of Fun in Mind Reading". Los Angeles Times .
  6. ↑ Ritchie, Stuart J.; Wiseman, Richard; French, Christopher C. (March 14, 2012). "Failing the Future: Three Unsuccessful Attempts to Replicate Bem's 'Retroactive Facilitation of Recall' Effect". PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e33423. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...733423R. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033423 . PMC   3303812 . PMID   22432019.
  7. ↑ Dutton, Denis (1988). "The cold reading technique". Experientia. 44 (4): 326–332. doi:10.1007/BF01961271. PMID   3360083. S2CID   2382430. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  8. ↑ "astrology". Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "astrology". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Bunnin, Nicholas; Yu, Jiyuan (2008). The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons. p. 57. ISBN   978-0470997215.
  11. ↑ Whitworth, Belinda (2003). New Age Encyclopedia: A Mind Body Spirit Reference Guide (Revised ed.). New Page Books. p.  34. ISBN   1-56414-640-5.
  12. ↑ Jack, Alex (1990) [1976]. The New Age Dictionary Second Edition. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, Inc. p. 14.
  13. ↑ Grimaud, Emmanuel (2018). "La face obscure de la clairvoyance. Petite histoire des machines à mesurer l'aura". Cahiers d'anthropologie sociale (in French) (2). Paris: l’Herne: 138–142. doi:10.3917/cas.017.0152. hal-02491295 – via HAL open science.
  14. ↑ Huson, Paul (2004). Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage. Vermont: Destiny Books. ISBN   0-89281-190-0.
  15. ↑ Beloff, John (1997) [1993]. Parapsychology: A Concise History (reprint ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 24–25. ISBN   978-0-312-17376-0.
  16. ↑ "Online Psychic Readings". Psychic World. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  17. ↑ Besterman, Theodore (2005) [1924]. Crystal-Gazing. Cosimo Classics. p. 6. ISBN   1-59605-388-7.
  18. ↑ Besterman, p. 3
  19. ↑ Kole, Andre; Holley, Terry; Gomes, Alan W. (1998). Astrology and Psychic Phenomenon. Zondervan. p. 75. ISBN   0-310-48921-0.
  20. ↑ Spence, Lewis Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Part 2, Kessinger Publishing, LLC (February 1, 2003), p. 754. ISBN   0-7661-2817-2
  21. ↑ Kessler, Robert; Schachtman, Tom (1993). Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI. St. Martin's Paperbacks. p.  270. ISBN   0-312-95044-6.
  22. 1 2 "Runes and their meanings". Paranormality. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Dullea, Georgia (October 31, 1993). "Tarot Goes 'Po Mo'". New York Times .
  24. ↑ Skepticality (5 July 2011). "Paranormality". Skepticality.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
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