1. IT’S JUST A WAY OF SEEING DIFFERENT OPTIONS

I read tarot, both in the past for profit and now just for fun.

Thing is, they were just a psychological tool that essentially forces you to consider an “outside” opinion to your current life issue. It wasn’t magic; it was a tool for critical thinking about your life.

2. The Part Timer

I used to do palm reading at parties to make some extra cash. I don’t believe in it, and I always told everyone it was for “entertainment purposes only.” Eventually, though, I had to stop, because people ignored my disclaimer and took it seriously. I didn’t want anyone making major life decisions based on the b.s. I made up.

It’s a shame, though. It was such easy money. Stupid parents raising me with stupid morals.

3. The Girl Who Made It Happen

Well, let’s see here…

I’ll call this gal, Anika. About 5 or 6 years ago, Anika went to see a psychic. During the reading, Anika was told she’d fall in love with a tall, dark, handsome man, and have a birth control slip-up. My guess is the psychic did a bit of cold reading to determine tall, dark, handsome men were Anika’s thing.

Anika took these words to heart. She got a summer job working for the city. There, she met a tall, dark, and handsome man I’ll call Philip. Now, Philip had a thing for read heads, which Anika most certainly was. Unfortunately, Philip was married to another woman. This didn’t deter Anika in the least; after all, the psychic told her she’d fall for a man who fit a certain description.

They began a torrid affair. At some point, they opted not to use condoms. As far as I know, Anika was on the pill, but, there’s a possibility she “accidentally” forgot to take it for a bit. From her version of the story, there were enough holes to surmise this was deliberate, but, as many know, the pill isn’t 100% effective.

After one of Anika and Philip’s sexcapades, Anika discovered she was pregnant. She put Philip in a position where he had to leave his wife and propose to Anika. Philip did propose, but there was a lot of resentment, because Philip felt Anika had gotten pregnant on purpose.

There are enough people who know both Anika and Philip to attest to the possibility Anika did in fact get knocked up to steal Philip from his wife.

Anika told me herself this all happened because the psychic had predicted it, and psychics are real, because everything she said would happen, actually happened.

This is why I maintain she fulfilled the prophecy herself.

If I left out any details, let me know.

4. The Tarot Reader

Read Tarot but not for profit and generally only for myself. Thing about it is, that each card is representative of an “archetype” in the Jungian sense. Whether its the Major Arcana (major life event/influence/person-personality of influence) or the Minor Arcana ( more everyday events/people of influence) each card has a specific situational ‘meaning’. I’ve always wondered if there was an influence from the subconscious/collective unconscious in the SHUFFLING of the cards.

I’m 15 years in, and still skeptical. But there is a definite value of MEANING to the way the person who is being read for/individual doing his own reading in assigning values to the cards that come up. In short, it allows the individual to ‘dream’ while awake, and allows the conscious mind access to a the unconscious to come up with a solution or deeper understanding of the situation.

When you’re dealing with that much of a bigger and more depthfully knowledgeable part of yourself (the unconscious mind) then sometimes that translates as ‘fortune telling’. When in fact, you are actually consciously processing something that the unconscious mind already knows/ is already aware of with all of its intuitive power.

Wouldn’t ever package and sell it as psychic abilities to other people. Seems like there would be something profane about that. But I have had some pretty strange and precise results, that led me to get the truth out of people who were doing bad by me. My humble two cents.

5. The Skeptic

I read tarot cards too. I’m extremely skeptical, but I can’t help but be baffled at how relevant the cards are to certain questions I ask. For example, if I ask about a new relationship, I’ll get a bunch of “cup” cards (i.e emotional ones), and usually the “lovers” card, too. I’m pretty logical and began reading them because a friend of mine was doing the same and I wanted to find out whether or not it was all bull for myself.

6. The Gypsy Daughter

I come from a long line of gypsies. My mom is the first fully Americanized one, and growing up, she always taught me that that stuff was 100% real. My great grandma would teach her the craft as a kid, and my mom’s always been really into being “mystical” and “spiritual”, so I think she took it as fact. As much as I love her, she is sort of one of those “enlightened” special snowflake mommies with LIVE LAUGH LOVE stuff all over her house and total confidence that ghosts and spirits and magic exist. I don’t think my great grandma intended it that way though. It’s a gypsy con.

Once I got old enough to think for myself, I started realizing that while the con has practical value, there is nothing in it really. I remember teenage girls who would call themselves pagans “calling on the cards” and creating self fulfilling prophecies with them and stuff. Tarot and palm readers are most valuable in terms of being advice givers to gullible people. If they can lead you to expressing yourself in the right ways, they can point you in what will hopefully be a better life direction.

It’s been a long time since i’ve messed with any of that stuff, but in my prime as a teenager, I would be that girl telling other girls to break up with their shitty boyfriends and get their acts together. It does have it’s place, bullshit or not.

7. It’s A Conversation Starter

I read tarot. I don’t, at all, believe in any inherent spiritual or mystical value held within them. They’re cards with pretty pictures on them. Those pretty pictures inspire thoughts, and those inspirations I grab from the cards dealt, I weave into a narrative. If it applies to the person who I am reading, they feel a really profound effect, and we talk it out. I give them advice, and we just chat about what’s going on in the person’s life. If the reading doesn’t apply to them, I’ll turn it around to them and ask them how they interpret the images, and try to read what they’re subconsciously steering the conversation toward, and have a similar conversation.

8. The Paranormal Researcher

In college I started a club dedicated to the research of paranormal activity. I have always been a skeptic and always wanted to find my “proof.” This is how we went into most situations and investigations. Many times, more often than not, things could easily be explained away. If there was an explanation for anything – even if it was a one in a million chance – then we would not label it as paranormal. With that being said, I’ve seen my fair share of unexplained things and with that said I’ve seen my share of downright horrifying things too.

I’ve had my experiences with psychics too. There are A LOT who will feed you bullshit, but I met two who’s abilities I couldn’t ignore. I even tested them myself by having them tell me the exact same information about a client without either of them knowing about the test OR EACH OTHER’S EXISTENCE. The information wasn’t vague either. Names, body descriptions, facial features, road names, etc… It was information I couldn’t ignore.

Currently, I do not research anything with the paranormal. I know what I know and believe what I believe. I respect everyone else’s opinion. In my opinion, I believe that the paranormal is something that we should not mess with it. It is part of the reason why I am not in the field anymore…I still do some consulting, but rarely do field work. I wish I could tell everyone that the whole thing is bullshit…I would be able to sleep better at night.

9. Like Her Ancestors Before Her

I read tarot cards; have for almost twenty years. My grandmother taught me, her grandmother taught her, and her grandmother taught her. Not sure how many generations this goes back beyond these.

I absolutely believe in them as far as being a tool, and how they help tap into your intuition and subconscious. Using them with book definitions will give vague results that can be easily applied to the eager participant.

10. The Hobbyist

I read tarot and do astrology, but as a hobby. I’m less interested in taking people’s money and telling them how to live and more interested to see how accurate I can be.

I had one experience reading a chart for a friend’s mother, whom I knew nothing about. The chart indicated that she had become a lesbian later in life (Lilith in Cancer in a progressed chart, scandals with women), which I didn’t say during the reading out of fear…and that she’d faced a miraculous medical recovery in early childhood, with some connection to the father, which I did say. She started crying and told me that when she was seven, her father beat her so badly that the doctors didn’t think she’d walk. I found out later that she was, in fact, gay. I don’t believe to have any powers; I’m strictly a translator of symbols. I learned my ‘trade’ by reading lots of books and practicing.

11. The Believer

It’s not something I can easily ‘control’, so I can’t make a living out of it, but I get impressions with some people, either about the past or the future, or just overwhelming feelings of dread, sadness, excitement, etc that often correlate to what a person is experiencing or some hidden problem. As a child I also had a ‘friend’, that was really a voice, that would sometimes speak to me (though I couldn’t call him on my own, he turned up whenever) and often told me things that did ultimately happen.

I call myself psychic because that’s what it seems to be. If I could control what I have I would, but I don’t know if I could ever make money out of it. It just seems wrong. However, I suppose I have a ‘trade’ in that a few people know about it and sometimes I try to help them with things if I can. I’ve always wanted a teacher who could help me to learn to control and use what I have (if it’s even ‘mine’) but never found anyone genuine.

12. The Grandmother

My grandmother told fortunes in the cards. Not Tarots, that is so gypsy, a regular deck of cards. She had many regular (as in every week) people come in for a reading. She always read for me and was very accurate even though I wouldn’t see the connection until after most of predictions had happened. She lived with me for the last eight years of her life and I listened to many stories and sometimes amazing things she had been through. I am writing some of the better stories of how she learned to read and who taught her. She was born in 1906 in Toombs County, Georgia and her family sold the land the Vidalia onions were first grown. They moved to Picolata, Florida and great-grand father ran a Turpentine farm which had Jamaicans as workers. My grand-mother was 16 and she befriended a woman who was married to the leader of the workers and was a Priestess in their religion (which was a mixture of Catholic and Obeah). She learned from her the skills which she had until the day she died.

13. The Horoscope Writer

I write the horoscopes for the school newspaper under the name Madame Zelda, cliche right? They are completely made up, I just think of things that are vague probable to happen. I just throw in buzz words and phrases like “your root chakra is malfunctioning” and “your moon is currently residing in ___ house”. I do a lot of research about the zodiac personalities, too. I assume no one believes it, I sure don’t. However, I have heard people say things like “Dude, my horoscope came true! How weird is that?”

14. Collective Consciousness

First of all, I don’t make money doing this and I don’t try to say I KNOW anything. That being said, what I do believe in is collective consciousness and the ability for some people to receive information/impressions/etc nonverbally and not through direct communication channels with another person. Here is a study (link) this is actually a subject with more and more research being done. Mostly, when I do card or runework, I just tell the person what I’m “seeing” (they’re really more thoughts and impressions) throughout, then we talk about it. It’s more talk therapy than anything. I’m not an “advisor” nor do I think I really have talents . I do believe that we have SOOO much more to discover about the brain and how it works, as well as how our brains effect our surroundings (ie: the whole, “the act of observation of a thing or an event serves to change it” aspect of theoretical physics). Our brain is a powerful and mysterious machine.

15. Turning Tables

A great aunt could turn tables.

When I was about 8, we went to her house (she lived far away and I saw her once a year at most) and decided one evening to have a table turning session “for fun”.

Can’t remember how she got the thing going, what they all talked about, but I do remember distinctly my Dad challenging the table to give the combination of the safe of the store he managed. The table did give the right numbers.

Then he asked how much staff he had in this or that department. The table had it right.

Then we got the table to waltz. No kidding. We pushed our chairs and had to trot along while that heavy oak table turned at a good clip.

My Dad told me that when he was kid, he remembers seeing the table walk down the stone steps of her farmhouse.

Never read up on it. Not a clue as to what this all about. But I did see a table “waltz” and I know for a fact it cannot have been people manipulating it (I’ve been doing a lot of sculpture and I have good notions of what it takes to budge what kind of material and weight).

16. It’s All Mind Games

Palm reader/cold reader. It’s all mind games. I picked it up from reading a book on cold reading and learning what the different lines on the hand “mean.” I’ll do it at parties for fun and never try to lie about having powers. I’ve had people tell me professionals have told them the same exact thing. All I do is make general positive statements that could be true for anyone. Or assume common instances (There’s a break early on in their love line I’ll say I see something about a past break up. If it sticks I’ll follow up with it looks like it was a rough one and if that hits I’ll say it was for the best or something.) In between each affirmation from the person they usually will divulge some more info to go with and you make you’re next reading on that issue based off what they’ve given you.

17. The Online Psychic

I used to be an online psychic where some hipsters would pay me up to $5.00 a minute to read their dreams for them. When I went through the websites orientation the scary German woman in charge told me that my analysis was wrong but “because it was cute and sounded legitimate” she gave me the job. Easy money but i felt a little bad about it. Anyway, moral of the story: don’t trust it. It was mostly just luck and logic for me.

18. For Me It’s Real

I’m a tarot card reader. For me it’s real. I’ve had too many experiences to say otherwise. I recall one reading where I told the guy about a old rusty truck. I had the mental picture in my mind of a rusting truck but then, this is where it gets freaky. The picture changed more from sight to smell and hearing. I could smell the truck and hear the things in it.

It was like having a dog’s senses. Come to find out that he did have a dog that stayed out in that same truck.

I believe in psychic power and the ability to read Tarot Cards. I also believe in ghosts because some of the experiences that I’ve had.

I’m not always right but it’s real, coming from a real source of power. Yet there is always that little skeptic that is inside me that is saying “This isn’t real. This is made up.”

It’s like when I do a reading like the one above, it gives me faith in myself and an understanding that we don’t know everything. There is more out there if we are willing to look for it and see it for what it is.

There are a lot of con artist out there just as there our preachers that are fake.