The other day I was going through my facebook feed and I happen to stumble upon a post about how the world famous psychic, Sylvia Brown, predicted that there would be a world health crisis in the year 2020. Now, until I saw this post I’ve never really given much thought to her, but I thought, “Wow! She really predicted this?” I became curious about her so I did a little googling and I found that she had many readers and supporters, but I also found that she had many criticisms as well. The people who criticised her said things like, “she’s only right part of the time” and “her predictions don’t always come true”. This got me thinking about the nature of divination and psychic prediction.
For clarification, divination and psychic prediction are not necessarily the same thing. Divination means to speak with the divine or to speak with the spirits. Psychic prediction, of course means to give details about the future through our psychic ability. However, divination has evolved to also mean to see the past, present, and future using such things as the tarot, runes, scrying, etc. So, with that, how much of our prediction doesn’t come to pass and should we consider that fraud or taking advantage of paying clients?
To answer this question, we need to first take a look at the nature of psychic awareness and doing a reading. There are many different ways that we might perform a reading. When we use the tarot or runes, we are using a device with pictures or symbols and doing our best to interpret the meaning while at the same time sensing the energies. There have been many times I would draw a tarot card like the ten of swords that means “endings”, but rather than a dire interpretation, the energies were telling me that troubled times were coming to an end and good things were coming forth. If we are using a tool such as a scrying bowl or magick mirror, we are allowing our divination tool to help clear our minds and let psychic impressions come to us in a free form manner.
Sometimes, a person who is inexperienced at performing divination may misinterpret the tool or the energies themselves. Another mistake beginners of divination often make is that they are allowing their own preconceived ideas and notions to interfere with the reading. For example, if a reader sees the three of swords, which traditionally means “heart break” they may immediately interpret that as an end to a relationship. It could mean that, but it could also mean many other things as well. Sometimes, it’s just a passing feeling of sadness and has no effect on current relationships. This is why it is important for anyone wanting to learn divination to practice reading the energies of the person asking questions as well as the meaning behind the divination tool.
There is a psychic ability that is called claircognizance. Claircognizance is when the knowledge of something from the past, present, or future just “pops” in your head. You just know something without really knowing why you know this. For me, when this happens, it is brought on when I am very connected to the Universe, the spirits, and the energies of the earth. This is a very valuable psychic ability, but there are a few things to be aware of. You might be right, but you might also be wrong. This is why it is important that you verify psychic phenomena such as this. If I have a strong psychic knowing about something I do not always share this with other people. Partly because I may be wrong and I do not want to steer someone in the wrong direction. Another reason is that just because I know something doesn’t mean the person it’s about is ready to hear it. Also, sometimes we have the “knowing” feeling and we are off base and incorrect. Maybe we misread the psychic impression or maybe it’s our own ego projecting something. Either way, it’s arrogant to simply assume that another person MUST be aware of our psychic impression. In my 20’s I ran an occult store and I had all these newbie psychics trying to enlighten me with their psychic impressions. Sometimes they’d say, “my guides told me to tell you (blank).” Never mind the fact that I have been performing psychic work almost my whole life and speaking with the spirits is something I do every day.
Divination can be a tricky thing. Like the t.v show Doctor Who, I do believe that some events are Fated and become a fixed point in time such as the assassination of JFK and so forth. However, other than huge events that are meant to change the world, time and space are fluid and changeable. For me, the whole reason I do divination is to see what changes, if any, I need to make on my current path. If I do a reading for myself (yes, you can read for yourself but it does take more discipline and focus) and I see good things coming, I will continue doing what I am doing to receive those good things. But, if I see challenging things, I may change my strategy or make other decisions about my path for a better outcome. When we do a reading or get a psychic impression about something please remember that even if you are right things change. If we change our current actions then our future outcome must change as well.
The last thing I want to talk about is actual psychic fraud. I have been to a fortune teller for fun only to have her tell me that someone placed a curse on me and for $300 she will make the very expensive candles and remove it for me. Never mind the fact that I have been practicing witchcraft for many decades and I can do it myself for free if there was a curse. In reality, it was outright fraud. This is a very horrible thing to do to someone who is having challenging times in their life. To take advantage of people like this is very unethical. Personally, I feel that this is one of the worst types of people in the world. Unfortunately, this happens all the time. I will say, if you get a reading and you are not sure about the information given to you, you should get a second opinion.
If you are new to divination, the key to success is practice practice practice. Just like with anything else, you have to harness your skills with your craft. We all learn differently, but for me I can say that the way I learned was to learn the meanings of the cards, runes, etc and then practice reading friends and tuning in to their energies. Be humble in your readings, but also be confident that you are journeying down your path of divination the best you can. Another thing, allow room in your readings for things to be unclear or you to be wrong. I don’t think any clairvoyant or psychic is right all the time. The world changes too fast for that.