Sunday, June 09, 2002
Crossing Over
So, can a former ballroom dancer turned psychic really communicate with the dead? Well, if you watch Crossing Over with John Edward you'd certainly think well, ummmm, mayber, sure, it's so real. So how do John, or hell, how do anyofem do it anyway? Well, it's a time honored tradition to prey on the emotions of greiving people and alot of it has to do with the psychology of belief. Now does anyone honestly believe that the dead are seeking out Mr. Edward to pass along message to their loved ones? Well, yeah, apparently there's all kinds of people who do or at least have an aching desire to believe.
So again, how does a so called meduim communicate with the dead and be so accurate. If you believe your horoscope then you'll believe anything eh. There are 3 main methods of devining the dead. The first is called "Cold Reading" and this is where the psychic isn't so much doing the reading as the subject is. You ask alot of general questions and see which ones stick ... something like ... I see grief, is it a parent, perhaps a child, someone close though ... Then they can get into how they died with general questions about the head or chest and it's quite mathematical from there ... ie... there's really only so many ways a person can die and 99% of them are pretty common. Method number 2 is "Warm Reading" where they utilize known psychology. Things like where people usually have tendency to keep a picture of a luved one in their wallets or will wear a piece of jewellery from the deceased. They will ask to perhaps have the ring of the deceased (that was obviously hanging on a chain around the subjects neck) and of course the subject is amazed as if the psychic knew it specifically. The last method is a "Hot Reading" where information is obtained on the subject ahead of time. This is much more common on tv of course. Sounds simple enough eh.. Of course it takes loads of practice. There are many more ethical individuals who'll perform the trick for you and then tell you exactly how they did it.
I've mentioned the Amazing James Randi here before. His JREF foundation offers anyone 1 million dollars to anyone in the world whom can demonstrate any psychic or paranormal ability under proper observing conditions. The prize has yet to be claimed ...
So, can a former ballroom dancer turned psychic really communicate with the dead? Well, if you watch Crossing Over with John Edward you'd certainly think well, ummmm, mayber, sure, it's so real. So how do John, or hell, how do anyofem do it anyway? Well, it's a time honored tradition to prey on the emotions of greiving people and alot of it has to do with the psychology of belief. Now does anyone honestly believe that the dead are seeking out Mr. Edward to pass along message to their loved ones? Well, yeah, apparently there's all kinds of people who do or at least have an aching desire to believe.
So again, how does a so called meduim communicate with the dead and be so accurate. If you believe your horoscope then you'll believe anything eh. There are 3 main methods of devining the dead. The first is called "Cold Reading" and this is where the psychic isn't so much doing the reading as the subject is. You ask alot of general questions and see which ones stick ... something like ... I see grief, is it a parent, perhaps a child, someone close though ... Then they can get into how they died with general questions about the head or chest and it's quite mathematical from there ... ie... there's really only so many ways a person can die and 99% of them are pretty common. Method number 2 is "Warm Reading" where they utilize known psychology. Things like where people usually have tendency to keep a picture of a luved one in their wallets or will wear a piece of jewellery from the deceased. They will ask to perhaps have the ring of the deceased (that was obviously hanging on a chain around the subjects neck) and of course the subject is amazed as if the psychic knew it specifically. The last method is a "Hot Reading" where information is obtained on the subject ahead of time. This is much more common on tv of course. Sounds simple enough eh.. Of course it takes loads of practice. There are many more ethical individuals who'll perform the trick for you and then tell you exactly how they did it.
I've mentioned the Amazing James Randi here before. His JREF foundation offers anyone 1 million dollars to anyone in the world whom can demonstrate any psychic or paranormal ability under proper observing conditions. The prize has yet to be claimed ...
