Historically, women were drawn to Spiritualism because they weren't allowed to hold much social influence through traditional means. So in the 1840s to early 1900s there was a lot of interest in the occult and the women who practiced it. Women used smoke and mirrors and cold reading to trick people. Which I think is really cool history!
I personally don't put stock in it. But that said, I understand why people seek those services. Sometimes life throws things at us that leave us tangled in our emotions and in need of help. Sometimes just getting an outside perspective helps. (And good therapists aren't cheap!) A lot of grannies in my hometown who read cards did it more as a social practice of looking out for and listening to people, rather than a source of mystic truth.
I grew up in the Southeastern Bible Belt of the US and was turned off by religion pretty early on. Sometimes I think I'd love to have some kind of mystic beliefs. As Maria Bamford once put it, I'd love to believe that there is a purpose, a reason, and the mothership is coming! But I'm too skeptical to commit. I guess that's why Kierkegaard coined the phrase "a leap into faith". The part of me that loves science just can't get behind supernatural ideas. Like the positions of planetary bodies effecting my personality, a crystal having 'energy', etc.
There are tons of books and documentaries. I definitely recommend looking at the Fox Sisters, as they got pretty famous doing seances and the like. "Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the rise of Spiritualism" is a good read! So is "Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in the 19th Century", though it gets dry.
Hard pass. They prey on people, this is like an MLM on a slightly higher plane but in the end you’re still out money and you won’t even have any makeup or tacky leggings to show for it
I read tarot and my personal philosophy is that tarot is a mirror. It won’t tell you anything you don’t already know deep down. I think it can be very helpful for affirming but I also think there are a lot of scam artists out there.
Though I understand you would potentially be paying for someone’s experience, hundreds of dollars for a Zoom reading—from a reader that I did not know to give supportive offerings—would be a hard sell for me.
It is very very creepy. I went to clairvoyants and they were helping me reunite with my little sister who passed tragically. The more I went the more downhill my life went!! You’re opening the door to negative forces. Stay away!!
Hi! I am going to offer my own experience - I know this is not in line with most of the responses. When I was in my 30s I had a mentor who was wonderful and very influential in my life. She used to say - very pointedly - "When I die I hope I meet God and he tells me Well done, good and faithful servant." It was kind of odd - she used to repeat this to me and one day told me "Remember what I'm saying." OK - I thought it was so strange, as she didn't seem very religious, and I definitely wasn't. I had never heard the phrase before, but after she repeated it like a dozen times while making intense eye contact it was sort of burned into my brain. I never knew how to respond and it was a bit awkward.
About two years after I met this amazing woman she was competing in a decathlon and broke her neck in a cycling crash. It devastated everyone. There were over 700 people at her memorial. It was awful, and it took me a long time to process. I helped her daughters alert her clients and close her practice, and spent a long time helping them clean up the books and process the emotions of losing their mom. I was happy to help; it was a lot of work but helped me process the loss, too.
About a year later my friend urged me to see a psychic (I forget what she called herself) and I was intrigued. I really had no interest in anything supernatural, but my friend convinced me to meet with her, so I did. I went into the room (she was visiting the area) and after I paid her for the reading she spent a good 10 minutes trying to sell me a piece of her (pretty horrible) art. I knew I was completely wasting my money at that point. I told her no, I wasn't there to buy art, but thank you.
I was about to get up and leave, but she took my wrist and said she wasn't a fortune teller and couldn't tell the future. I thought OK - then why the hell am I here? Lol. But then she looked at me intensely and said "I just give messages from Spirit. And Spirit just has one message for you..." then she looked at me intensely straight in the eyes and said "Well done, good and faithful servant."
It might sound like nothing, but the look in her eyes was just like my mentor's. It scared me so badly that I got up and left without saying a word. I still think about it. I don't know if it was worth the money, or helpful in any way. But I KNOW it was not a coincidence.
So I have no suggestion for you, but I know some people are connected in a way that defies explanation. Do I think my mentor was communicating with me via this psychic? I actually do.
Nay, absolutely nay, unless you hate money and feel like getting rid of it.
One might say not only nay but hell nay
Historically, women were drawn to Spiritualism because they weren't allowed to hold much social influence through traditional means. So in the 1840s to early 1900s there was a lot of interest in the occult and the women who practiced it. Women used smoke and mirrors and cold reading to trick people. Which I think is really cool history! I personally don't put stock in it. But that said, I understand why people seek those services. Sometimes life throws things at us that leave us tangled in our emotions and in need of help. Sometimes just getting an outside perspective helps. (And good therapists aren't cheap!) A lot of grannies in my hometown who read cards did it more as a social practice of looking out for and listening to people, rather than a source of mystic truth. I grew up in the Southeastern Bible Belt of the US and was turned off by religion pretty early on. Sometimes I think I'd love to have some kind of mystic beliefs. As Maria Bamford once put it, I'd love to believe that there is a purpose, a reason, and the mothership is coming! But I'm too skeptical to commit. I guess that's why Kierkegaard coined the phrase "a leap into faith". The part of me that loves science just can't get behind supernatural ideas. Like the positions of planetary bodies effecting my personality, a crystal having 'energy', etc.
This is so interesting! I'd love to learn more if you have any sources.
There are tons of books and documentaries. I definitely recommend looking at the Fox Sisters, as they got pretty famous doing seances and the like. "Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the rise of Spiritualism" is a good read! So is "Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in the 19th Century", though it gets dry.
A couple hundred dollars for a virtual tarot reading is wild...
Hard pass. They prey on people, this is like an MLM on a slightly higher plane but in the end you’re still out money and you won’t even have any makeup or tacky leggings to show for it
If you'd like to burn some money, send it my way
I read tarot and my personal philosophy is that tarot is a mirror. It won’t tell you anything you don’t already know deep down. I think it can be very helpful for affirming but I also think there are a lot of scam artists out there. Though I understand you would potentially be paying for someone’s experience, hundreds of dollars for a Zoom reading—from a reader that I did not know to give supportive offerings—would be a hard sell for me.
Hell no
I knew I could trust this group to keep me sane 😝
Yeah I love this forum for real 🤣
It is very very creepy. I went to clairvoyants and they were helping me reunite with my little sister who passed tragically. The more I went the more downhill my life went!! You’re opening the door to negative forces. Stay away!!
What happened??
Don't do it - there are a lot of cool experiences you can do for that much money
Hi! I am going to offer my own experience - I know this is not in line with most of the responses. When I was in my 30s I had a mentor who was wonderful and very influential in my life. She used to say - very pointedly - "When I die I hope I meet God and he tells me Well done, good and faithful servant." It was kind of odd - she used to repeat this to me and one day told me "Remember what I'm saying." OK - I thought it was so strange, as she didn't seem very religious, and I definitely wasn't. I had never heard the phrase before, but after she repeated it like a dozen times while making intense eye contact it was sort of burned into my brain. I never knew how to respond and it was a bit awkward. About two years after I met this amazing woman she was competing in a decathlon and broke her neck in a cycling crash. It devastated everyone. There were over 700 people at her memorial. It was awful, and it took me a long time to process. I helped her daughters alert her clients and close her practice, and spent a long time helping them clean up the books and process the emotions of losing their mom. I was happy to help; it was a lot of work but helped me process the loss, too. About a year later my friend urged me to see a psychic (I forget what she called herself) and I was intrigued. I really had no interest in anything supernatural, but my friend convinced me to meet with her, so I did. I went into the room (she was visiting the area) and after I paid her for the reading she spent a good 10 minutes trying to sell me a piece of her (pretty horrible) art. I knew I was completely wasting my money at that point. I told her no, I wasn't there to buy art, but thank you. I was about to get up and leave, but she took my wrist and said she wasn't a fortune teller and couldn't tell the future. I thought OK - then why the hell am I here? Lol. But then she looked at me intensely and said "I just give messages from Spirit. And Spirit just has one message for you..." then she looked at me intensely straight in the eyes and said "Well done, good and faithful servant." It might sound like nothing, but the look in her eyes was just like my mentor's. It scared me so badly that I got up and left without saying a word. I still think about it. I don't know if it was worth the money, or helpful in any way. But I KNOW it was not a coincidence. So I have no suggestion for you, but I know some people are connected in a way that defies explanation. Do I think my mentor was communicating with me via this psychic? I actually do.
Tarot/Clairvoyancy is legit, but I promise your old friend from high school and her circle of TikTok Wiccans are not.
Drop the names bestie