There's Trouble Right Here in Front Royal...Again?

Wow. Front Royal, VA, is in the news again, and not for being a top tourist spot. And so soon! I would have thought that after the whole divination thing they would have decided their town had had enough bad press for a while. 

To be fair, this appears to be just a fringe element of the population of that fair city. But now they've gone after a sixteen year-old high school student who has not only started her own business, but who also supports other local businesses and gives money to charity. 

Tiana Ramos has had trash thrown at her--literally--and has been threatened by a local Catholic group for advertising in a local newspaper. The group threatens to boycott the shop. Other people make disparaging comments about the way the employees dress and make the idiotic assumption that they're going to look slutty to attract only male clients. 

There are lots of people in the world that deserve your anger, your ire, your vexation, your pissiness, call it what you will. But this business, "Naughty Girls Donut Shop," does not. If anything, Tiana Ramos deserves your support, your encouragement, and your business. 

The citizens of Front Royal have the opportunity to do the right thing by embracing this local business and stamping out closed-minded people whose parochial views do not reflect the whole of our society. And I certainly hope they will do it. 

I live about an hour from Front Royal, but a number of us in this area plan to make pilgrimages out there to support Tiana's business. If you're out that way, I encourage you to do the same. 

Tiana, if you're listening, YOU ROCK. Keep pushing forward and don't let ANYONE discourage you! 

The Long Island Medium: Is She a Fake?

Being a psychic, tarot card reader, or medium is not an easy job. You have to tell people things they don't want to hear, for one thing. People also have pretty high expectations of what you're going to be able to tell them. But perhaps the most difficult challenge some days is the reputation that we have as a profession: People question our integrity constantly, and while I don't think that's a bad thing per se, we have to prove ourselves time and time again. Have one off day and your client can decide that you're not "for real" anymore.

The article here from Jezebel contains allegations that the Long Island Medium, Theresa Caputo, is a fraud. While this particular piece is recent, there are allegations that go back a number of years. One site in particular claims to have a source codenamed "Kim" that says Ms. Caputo admitted she makes stuff up and doesn't really talk to spirits. Theresa is also accused of "cold reading" clients, a common claim among those who denigrate psychics on general principle. 

According to Wikipedia:

Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, mediums and illusionists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do.^[1] Without prior knowledge of a person, a practiced cold reader can still quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing orfashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. Cold readers commonly employ high probability guesses about the subject, quickly picking up on signals from their subjects as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, and then emphasizing and reinforcing any chance connections the subjects acknowledge while quickly moving on from missed guesses.

Let me start off by saying that I don't believe everything I read on the Internet, and I hope you don't either, because if that's true, pro wrestling really is fake and I'm totally crushed. I say that tongue in cheek, but you understand what I'm driving at. I'm not going to string someone up because of a few articles. 

With that said, we all know what can be done with the magic of television. Like every reality television show, "Long Island Medium" is edited. Of course they're not going to show you the times when she's off the mark. They're going to show you when she has a tremendously positive impact on people. 

We also know what can be done with information. With a few keystrokes you can find out quite a bit about someone you've never met and easily fudge the rest. Some of Caputo's detractors allege that her knowledge of people comes not from the deceased but from background checks performed by her staff, with live shows carefully choreographed for maximum impact. 

One of the allegations this site makes is that Ms. Caputo is "all about the money". A number of the arguments are somewhat compelling, but this one makes my bullshit meter go off. We all like to get paid, and if you have the ability Theresa supposedly has, you're out to help people but you want to make some money, too. She has the right to charge people whatever the market will bear. So on this one I say "Don't hate the player; hate the people who show up and pay her to perform." You can't cite that as a reason she's a fake. That's like hating professional athletes because we pay them millions; who do you think makes their jobs so lucrative?

To be fair, Ms. Caputo has an awfully big target on her back. She's the star of a very popular television show, and her practice is very lucrative. People are willing to wait for years for a consultation with her, and they pay top dollar without batting an eyelash. Speaking as a psychic, that's a good problem to have if you can manage it. But the more in the public eye you are, the more you are on a pedestal and the more people want to knock you off of it. 

I'm sure there are a lot of people who are extremely upset she has any kind of public acclaim, such as those who claim that psychics and other intuitives are "practicing the black arts" and other horseshit like that. (Incidentally, if you look up "Theresa Caputo Fake" on Google, you'll find a video that starts using bible verses to back up its claims.) So groups like that would want to bring her down, too. 

Of course, you'll also find plenty of other YouTube footage, like these from SciFake, that claim to prove Theresa is not for real. But even that isn't definitive proof; psychics can have off days, too. It's there for your edification. I encourage you to check out both sides of the issue. 

As a practicing psychic, my biggest problem with Ms. Caputo is an ethical one: She confronts people  to tell them what spirits were saying to her right off the street without getting someone's permission, or at least that's the way it appears on the show. For me that's a huge no-no. Unless someone asks you for a reading, even if you never pull out cards to get the information--it just comes to you through your intuition--that information doesn't belong to you and it's unethical to share it or ask about it. But Theresa appeared to help a lot of people and give them peace as they were going through tremendously difficult times as well. While I don't go out of my way to watch her show, I don't make it a point to watch, either. If it's on I won't turn it off.

So is Theresa Caputo a fake? I honestly have no idea. The information is compelling in some respects, but constitutes specious logic in others. One very close friend shared the possibility that maybe Theresa is gifted, but that she had to feed the publicity machine and in doing so started using other methods to "help" her. That's one of a hundred possible scenarios, ranging from "She's the real deal!" all the way to "She's a total fraud!" The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. 

One question I can answer is "Would I have a personal reading with her?" Speaking personally, I'd say no; I'm not willing to spend that kind of money or wait over two years for a slot. And for the record, these recent allegations wouldn't have changed my answer to the question. 

If it turns out that Ms. Caputo is a total fraud, then she has a HUGE karmic debt to pay off, and she will no doubt find herself in a world of shit from people who believed in her. Karma, as we all know, can be a bitch, but in deference to ladies everywhere, karma can also be a bastard. :)

In the end, you'll have to decide where you stand. But I encourage you to read everything you can and draw your own conclusions. Ms. Caputo just inked another season of "Long Island Medium", so she won't be going away anytime soon. 

News Flash: Psychics Can Be Wrong Sometimes

In many types of writing, you're supposed to to put your bottom line up front. So here it is: Psychics, even the really talented ones like Sylvia Browne, can be wrong. 

She told one of the Cleveland kidnapping victim's mothers during a reading that her daughter was very likely dead. Thankfully that wasn't true, and the victims in Cleveland were freed and brought home. You can check out the article here.
 
You may be wondering why, as a professional tarot reader, I'd draw your attention to such an article. It's because that's the reality. For any number of reasons, we can be wrong. We're not infallible, but then again, no human being is. Also, the Tradition of the Witches Circle has a basic tarot class going on right now, and this lesson is always a good one.

Any kind of divination, which includes psychic reading/clairvoyance, tarot reading, rune casting, and any other form of divination, is a "snapshot in time". We see what is going on in that moment. But the future is dynamic and changes constantly. I have confidence in my ability, but I'd be lying if I said I always get it perfectly.

Like any other profession, psychics have a bad days. We're human and we're subject to the same foibles every one else is. We get tired, sick, or depressed. We get distracted or unmotivated. We have biases, especially when we know our clients well; when the client is a loved one it can be especially difficult. And sometimes, we just miss things. Or the Divine/Universe decided we didn't need to know, so we didn't "see" it and couldn't tell you.

The point is that even though I enjoy a very loyal clientele, and love reading cards more than most things on this planet, I urge anyone who consults a reader to take the reader's advice into perspective of the larger picture you have of your own life. It shouldn't be your only resource, however. Solicit opinions and get information from those around you that you trust.

For example, if a reader tells you that you could be fired, ask some hard questions at the office. Get feedback from your boss and others to see if this is something you really should be worried about. Let's say you have a tarot reading that you'll be fired in six months. But you take the reading seriously and start taking more initiative at work. Six months later you're still gainfully employed and got Employee of the Month last month. GOOD FOR YOU! You heard what you needed to hear so you could be successful.

If you do any kind of divinatory reading for other people--my example below will be using tarot, but substitute as you will--here are a few guidelines I follow:

• I don't read when I am sick, extremely tired, in a bad mood, or feeling depressed. It not only impacts how well I can connect with the Divine, but it can have a negative impact on the delivery of the reading to the client.
• I don't drink alcohol when I'm doing paid readings. If I'm reading for a friend, I never have more than one.
• If I feel uncomfortable reading for someone, or do not feel I can be objective, I decline. Stand your ground on this one. It's very rare that I don't read for someone, but when I say no, I stand my ground.
• I ask permission before bringing divinatory items--like cards or runes--into someone else's home/space. If they're not comfortable, then respect their wishes; it's very important not to let your ego drive the bus on this one.
• Unless it is explicitly stated that you may share a reading and with whom, I keep what I "see" to myself. You're just getting the message across and a client's personal information isn't yours to share.
• I remind clients that this is a "snapshot in time", and that the information should be taken in that context.

Thanks as always for tuning in!

UPDATE: Here's a response from Sylvia Browne about the reading. She says she's been "right more than wrong", and that "only God is right all the time." Well said, Sylvia! 
    

How much is too much for a reading?

A friend sent along this article to me today about a psychic who is taking advantage of the bad economy because more people need financial guidance. Of course it is completely appropriate that it showed during Capricorn, the season of long-term financial planning. Saturn would be SO EXCITED.

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-02-05/living/psychics.economy_1_psychics-ouija-boards-clients?_s=PM:LIVING

She charges $135 an hour, and for an hour-long psychic reading in New York City--sometimes they go longer--that's a pretty decent price. If you consider her geographic location, that sounds about right to me. I used to live in NYC, and the sticker shock there is pretty amazing. When you can drop $100 on drinks in practically a heartbeat--and trust me, you can!--people won't bat an eyelash when they need advice. I saw a reader in Seattle charging $90 an hour, and considering her location--Pike's Place Market--I thought that was a little on the high side but still fairly reasonable.

What really took me by surprise was the $20/minute that this one company charges. WOW. I don't know anyone who would pay that much.

OK, let me back up and rephrase: I hope that NO ONE who reads this blog would EVER consider paying that much for a psychic reading of any kind. I don't care how accurate you say you are; that's ridiculous and completely unreasonable. You don't need guidance that badly!

This is NOT a shameless marketing attempt, good people. I am simply trying to give you some perspective. When it comes to metaphysical readings of any sort--tarot, psychic, etc.,--you should pay a reasonable price. For most experienced tarot readers, it's about a dollar a minute or so. A little more, maybe, taking the location into account. Also, remember that if the venue does not belong to your reader, s/he will pay a percentage to cover rental expenses as well as other expenses--gas, tarot cards, credit card fees, etc. So the reader doesn't pocket it all, either.

I know I've talked about this before but it bears repeating: A more expensive reading does not mean that it will be more meaningful, accurate, enlightening, etc. If you feel uncomfortable paying the price, don't be pressured to part with your cash; step back, regroup, and wait until later or find someone else.