The ineffable strangeness of the creative process

Recently I was at a dinner party where one of the guests, a medium and healer, offered to read Tarot cards. I'd never participated in this kind of thing before and found it very interesting. We were each advised to shuffle the cards and then cut the deck into four piles while thinking of a question. The question I framed in my thoughts was, “Should I finish the book I'm working on?”

The book in question is a thriller along the lines of the other ones I've written over the years. But even though I've already written a good deal of  the book, I'd been having a lot of trouble with it and was starting to think it just wasn't going to work out, I decided to let the mysterious Tarot cards tell me what to do–though I didn't necessarily intend to follow their advice. After all, as Alice would say, “Who cares for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!”

Anyway, the medium drew the top four cards from the deck and told me I was going in the wrong direction and needed a change of perspective. When she was not entirely satisfied with what she was getting, I prompted her by asking my question out loud. At that point, she elaborated that the book I was writing needed to be rethought, and that I should step back, look at it from a new perspective, and try a different approach, or I would be unhappy with the results.

Of course, you could say that the initial answer was too vague to be meaningful, and that the second answer was tailored to the information I had provided. Nevertheless, I couldn't disagree with the answer I got, so I decided to take it as a legitimate message. Regardless of where it came from, it still felt right to me.

But that left me with a dilemma. It's easy enough to talk about taking a step back from the project and coming up with a new approach, but it's a lot harder to actually do it. I spent a good deal of time over the next couple of days trying to see the book in a new light, filling many pages of a notebook with ideas on how to rethink the story, and basically beating my head against the wall, without anything to show for it except a pounding skull. I reached the point where I just couldn't stand to think about it anymore. I was exhausted, discouraged, and thoroughly sick of the book.

So then I tried something new. I addressed any spiritual entities that might be responsible for the Tarot card message, and I did so in rather impolite terms. “Okay, you guys,” I said, “you're telling me I need to rethink the book, but you're not giving me any help. I need some new ideas here, or a new point of view, and obviously I can't do it on my own, so it's up to you. If you really want me to do this damn book, you're going to have to figure it out for me, because I am done. You got that? I've had it. I'm tired and I'm going to bed, so if you want this stupid book to ever get written, then you guys show me how to do it. Otherwise, just shut up about it.”

With that tirade out of the way, I did indeed go to bed. And as I lay there in the dark, it all came to me–a new structure for the story that would solve the plot problems that bothered me, make the characters more interesting, and provide a smoother narrative flow. I can't say exactly how it came to me–I don't really remember–but I think I saw the pieces of the story rearranging themselves into a new and more pleasing pattern. I do remember thinking that maybe I should get up and write it all down before I forgot it, but then I decided I probably wouldn't forget, so I just went to sleep.

The next morning, I remembered all of it quite clearly and wrote it down, filling four notebook pages . What I had was a drastically revised synopsis of the early and middle parts of the novel–the problematic areas. Of course,  the actual book still remains to be written, or rewritten, but the basic story seems to work now, and it didn't work before.

Did the Tarot cards really send me a message, or did I just hear what I wanted to hear? Did some higher spiritual entity–a guardian angel, or my higher self–provide me with the solution to my creative block, or was it the workings of my subconscious mind? And does it even matter, as long as I got the answer I needed?

I don't know, but to be on the safe side, I apologized to my spirit pals. “Sorry I was rude to you last night. I can get a little impatient about these things. Thanks for coming through for me!”

:-)

Comments

[j9]

Great story, Michael. I don't think I wrote about this earlier, but I did say that I had recently glanced through "Ghosts of Long Island 2" because a colleague gave it to me and it was about some of the places where I live and grew up.

I was struck and annoyed while reading it that all these people have had these "experiences" and visions, and other than a few dreams that I've had that turned out to be factually real-time occurring to people I loved while I was dreaming it, I've never seen a ghost or heard bumps in the night and it made me jealous.

So recently, one of my school's grounds keepers died suddenly from West Nile or something that pretty much ate through his brain over night, and I said out loud when closing the book. "Why don't you give me some sort of sign Louise. I'm right here. I miss you and I'm listening."

Without trying to make this too long, one of the stories I read about was about the Grist Mill near where I grow up. and in the last two paragraphs, the author talked about the tenant at the Mill not wanting anything to do with being interviewed for the book, but he happened to walk in during the interview process of the woman who owns the mill and he (the tenant) agreed to tell two stories of strange things that had happened to him while living there.

That night, I went out with an old friend from Middle School who invited another old friend (a man) whom I had not seen since I was 12. While we were having dinner, it was mentioned that this man lives at the Old Grist Mill.

I startled and pointed and said "your the guy". He said "what?" I said "your the tenant that didn't want to give the interview to the ghost interviewers". He said "how do you know that? I wanted to be anonymous" and I said "no worries, you were anonymous" and I recounted the two stories to him that he told.

So, my other friend says "how did you know about this" and I said "because, I just read it less than 5 hours ago."

Now, is this a coincidence, or is this the sign that I asked Louise for? I'd like to think that the mathematical probability of me meeting someone I just read about within hours of reading about it is near nothing. So it makes me wonder.

[Paul]

I wonder whether Tarot cards are a 'prop' of some kind like a crystal ball, tea leaves or staring at flames and that any messages come from the person doing the reading using such props as a way to change their state of mind (assuming there is anything to it at all)

[Michael Prescott]

Interesting story, j9! It sounds like more than a coincidence to me.

[Paul]

Take your thermal underwear sbu :)

[Paul]

Sorry wrong thread. My bad.

[Matt Rouge]

Michael,

Also, as to whether it's your subconscious, the spirit, a combination of the two, or something else, I think it's impossible to say with our current level of knowledge about how these things work. Again, I think you will find that there is a very nice subjective/objective thing going on. For example, the information you got for your book was quite Prescott-ish, I bet. Did the spirits take care to impart ideas that seem "really you," or did they just *inspire* your mind to produce? Of course, it's also possible to get ideas that seem "not from me" by this route.

Cheers,

Matt

[Pearl]

For many years I worked in a creative job which entailed coming up with new ideas on a regular basis . On many occasions I struggled to think of what to do. One day I asked out loud for help and the result came almost instantly. After that , every time I was stuck for an idea, I just asked for one. It always worked. I do believe that if you ask for help you will always get it .
I was delighted to read it worked for you too Michael. It has confirmed what I already knew.
I'm sure we all have angels, guides , helpers - whatever you want to call them - ready to assist us when asked.

[Matt Rouge]

Oh, I forgot to add that I've read Tarot since 1993. Tarot is just a divination system--an effective one, but the cards aren't magic in themselves. The principle under which they work is the same as the I Ching, runes, or a pendulum. I think most diviners will agree that it is not spirits who make it work--and work it does. I am always surprised by the consistency of the answers I get over time. Opinions vary as to what makes it work, but I think it is the "pressure of reality" (past, present, or future) on the seemingly random system that makes it act in a non-random way. That said, it is possible to specifically request spirits to influence the results.

Cheers,

Matt

[Steve]

Thanks for posting this Michael.

I have been thinking about this sort of thing a lot lately. It seems to me that people may not really understand that they are not just a physical being and that it is the nature of our culture to think of the soul as something that you have, when we should be thinking of the soul as the something that you are. We are the soul in my book.

To go even further, I have had this change in thinking over the years that we are not even a soul alone and on our own, but instead we are a piece of the Higher Self or as the Michael Messages would say we are "fragments" of a larger entity. I really think that may be true.

When I was much younger and had never heard of a Higher Self, I knew that it existed and that was the name that I knew it by. I knew it from lucid dreams that helped me to grow up and mature into a somewhat stable adult. When the "other" spoke to me in dreams, I knew that it was myself or the complete self and that I was a piece of "it" living this incarnation.

As an adult. there were experiences that led me to believe that my Higher Self is experiencing multiple concurrent lifetimes and that I am a part of that experience even though I am conditioned to see myself as this simple and singular physical being. The idea that we are just facets of a larger entity is, at first, difficult to comprehend but it seems perfectly sensible to me now. Most people would think that you are goofy for thinking that but consider how many things that you read or hear about that all seem to point to essentially the same conclusion.

I have had help from this "other" and the time that I did actually see this being, in waking life, it appeared as a generic humanoid figure and was visible only to myself. That experience seemed to say to me that the generic humanoid appeared as a stand-in for the complete Entity (I'll call it that for now). And the path or life path that we are on is one that is important in ways that we usually cannot understand at the time we are walking it, but it is important enough for the Entity to exert some influence that will steer us toward working on something that is probably quite important.

There is a lot to think about with this subject.

[Richard Norris]

There is actually a whole layer of Kabbalistic meaning behind the cards, and some would say that the cards are represenative of higher-level beings, like the angelic intelligences. Maybe the angel of Jupiter heard your impertinence? But of course all of this is occult, really, and that is a whole 'nother rabbit-hole.

[Matt Rouge]

Steve,

Great post, and I agree.

Cheers,

Matt

[Matt Rouge]

BTW everyone,

Michael was talking about his writing here. Being a frequent guest on this blog, I thought it important to understand and appreciate one of the things that is most important to our host: his fiction. Plus, the books just sounded good.

So I asked for a Michael Prescott book for Christmas and received two. I just finished "Next Victim." It's awesome! Great characters, incredible detail when it comes to FBI and police procedure, and passages that teach you what the "thriller" genre" is all about. More twists than a liquorice stick and twice as tasty!

If you have not yet read one of Michael's novels, it's time to give it a shot!

Cheers,

Matt

[Michael Prescott]

Thanks for the plug, Matt!

[Steve]

Sorry, Matt, for getting off subject but I thought Michael had asked a question of his readers. Maybe it was just rhetorical:

"Did some higher spiritual entity–a guardian angel, or my higher self–provide me with the solution to my creative block, or was it the workings of my subconscious mind?"

Won't happen again. Cheers.

[Douglas]

Like others have said, there is nothing magic in the cards IMV, they are tools, props, like crystal balls, runes, I Ching, sticks, or whatever else you care to use.

Many psychics use them to get the information and intuition flowing, and indeed many psychics go on to discard the props themselves and go direct. It all depends on the individual in question.

I also don't think it's a problem with a reader asking you for more info. My experience of tarot cards is that it is a two way process, with info flowing both ways. The reading involves a mixture of 'normal' and 'paranormal' processes in my view. The reader will often rely on their own insight on your specific problem, which the variety of cards can shed a new and interesting light on - nothing overtly paranormal, but at the same time, the reader's intiuition also comes into play and at this point there may be some genuine paranormal input as intiuition is the 'bridge' so to speak between regular and 'higher' aspects of reality.

I think it is your higher, or wider, self that is offering additional information, it is the act of the self offering information to the self. Many people can dress this communication up in different ways eg messages from angels, the spirits, etc, but IMV the advice comes from the self to the self.

[Matt Rouge]

I think Douglas is right that there is nothing wrong with asking the reader for more information. A sitting should be a goal-oriented process, not a test of the reader/psychic's abilities.

When I read, I use all five senses, the cards, reason, and my psi ability to give the sitter the best information I can. I do ask plenty of questions, too.

[CLAUDIO PISANI]

Hi, Michael.

Good story, in other words you've discovered what I'd already experienced this summer. Premise: I'm 60 y.o. and since my 30's I have suffered of back-pain due to a slipped disc. This summer my scooter pulled me suddenly while I was trying to get down from a sidewalk and my spine was twisted by its weight (about 200 Kgs).
I saw the stars and the planets in the sky, even if it was midday! For a whole month I had to take NSAID's and cortisone to go at clinic in a decent shape. Each movement was very painful, descending also along my left leg. One day I asked my Spirit-Guide: "Gimme back the spine I had as a kid!!!" I was very angry at Him... The day after, my pain had disappeared! More, also the old pain (it was less acute, a kind of stiffness)I've felt during the last 30 years had disappeared! May be that strong tug had squeezed my hernia that after a month had been expelled into the vertebral fluid, or it was a kind of miracle...dunno, but it's very odd that it happened exactly when I've asked for healing.
By now, 5 months after, I'm really OK and I've understood a basic thing: if you want something ASK IT! No prayers, no humble requests: you MUST CLAIM what you want!
BTW, They will never help you in case of egoistic or earthly claims (I didn't won the lottery!). In my case, I was of no or few help to my family and to my patients because when you've a strong pain you can't be concerned on people's problem.
I think that this is the reason why my request was satisfied and Spirits gave me what I wanted, or may be, even more.
Guess that in your case, that book will be very helpful for many people, so you must write it down!

Claudio (From Italy)

[CLAUDIO PISANI]

Steve.

Bruce Moen says the same, he saw his "Higher Self" as a "disc".
Have you ever visited his website?
http://www.afterlife-knowledge.com/

Claudio

[Michael Prescott]

Thanks for your comments, Claudio! Yes, sometimes you can't help being frustrated with the higher-ups.

[Douglas]

Bruce Moen, Robert Monroe, Seth, Elias, Silver Birch, all seem to be on the same wavelength in talking about how our earthly selves are actually a small part of a much larger entity.

I believe it is the larger entity, our higher, or wider, selves that we communicate with in information exhanges such as tarot and other forms of divination.

Some have suggested that the Being of Light in NDes may actually be our higher self, its possible - a feeling of 'homecoming' is often reported when NDEers merge with the light, although the light is sometimes described as having its own identity - that may be the NDEer objectifying the experience of course.

[CLAUDIO PISANI]

The better comparison has been given us by Silver Birch: the diamond!

[Rick49]

As the Buddhist aphorism,"Only Don't Know", points to the Not Knowing/Knowing state of accepting/resting in the Mystery of "This". No words or concepts or metaphysical explanations are needed..

This is where we must always return. Hold your beliefs lightly. Anyone who is sure that they know, doesn't know. What happened, Michael, is what happened. We live into "just that".There is a gratitude, joy, and even humor in your story. What more is there?

It's taken me 32 years and roughly 45,000 direct clinical hours face to face with The Human Condition in order for me to say, for myself, "I Don't Know". and then I laugh.
Enjoy!

[Aaron Paul Lazar]

Very cool, Michael. No matter where the inspiration came from, now you are "unstuck" and the story will flow! Super!!!

[Roger Knights]

There's a cheap price, $1, for a short while on a great book about spiritualistic fakery a century ago, "A Drowned Maiden's Hair":

http://www.amazon.com/Drowned-Maidens-Hair-Melodrama/dp/0763638129/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327607871&sr=1-1

[Roger Knights]

PS--That 's only for the Kindle version!

[no one]

Claudio, thanks for the Bruce Moen link. I had not previously heard of him. It was very nice to find someone who's experiences and concepts are very much similar to my own. I feel validated - sometimes a dangerous thing, but nice to enjoy for at least a little while.

[someone]

Hey Michael just wondering; you wrote an article about an interesting study done by E.W.Kelly and somebody else who's name slipped from my mind. Would you happen to know if there has been any correspondence and where I could get my hands on the articles. Thanks.

[Claudio]

Hi, No one.

Even if my English isn't great, I would like to share with you your experiences. Did you practice Bruce Moen's method?
Lot of PUL!
Claudio

[no one]

Claudio, no I didn't practice Moen's method. I just learned about him from you.

Many years ago I began to have spontaneous OBEs. I attribute their beginning to some Taosist mediation practices I was heavily into at the time. My Kung Fu instructor has stated that these practices were to calm the mind and give it clarity as well as to to raise "Qi"; all of which would make me a better fighter as well as a more enlightened person. He also added that in days of old these practices were said to result in various "super human" (read paranormal) abilities, but that other than "mental quickness" he had never gained any of these. One super human ability he mentioned was "soul flight".

I did begin to notice quicker reflexes and a sense of well being and mental clarity after practicing a while, but I viewed "soul flight" and such as quaint ancient Chinese lore. Then after many months of practice I started having OBEs. The first time or two it happened i was terrified. I thought I had literally died. Only after further reading and mustering up the courage to induce these these experiences on purpose did I come to see the experience as classic OBEs and related to the meditation and probably what the ancient masters measnt by "soul flight".

Some other side effects were precognition and some weird stuff like blowing light bulbs. After a good meditation session I noticed that If I flipped a light switch on or off it all to fequently blew the bulb. It got to be a running a joke with my roomate/girl friend at the time.

At any rate, based on my experiences with the OBEs and some other mind expanding approaches, over the years I developed a personal understanding of human awareness; both while incarnated and after death. What I developed seems to correlate well with what Moen describes (the different levels, etc).

BTW, Claudio, your English is fine!

[CLAUDIO]

Hi,no one!
Very interesting story, especially the light in your eyes,I've never heard it before!
Bruce teaches that you don't need OBE's to explore, but you are now comfortable with this tecnique,so...go on!
It is not so important, if we want to explore a new land,if we go there by feet, by cars or with any other possible mean, the most important thing is the results of our observations are the same!
Much Love, Lightand Serenity.
Claudio,
PS: I'm still self learning your language!

[Michael Prescott]

"Hey Michael just wondering; you wrote an article about an interesting study done by E.W.Kelly and somebody else who's name slipped from my mind. Would you happen to know if there has been any correspondence and where I could get my hands on the articles. Thanks."

Sorry - offhand I don't remember the article. I haven't corresponded with the authors, though. I'd remember if I had.

[Ray]

Irrelevant off topic post, the Felix Group announced on their website that they will soon release ectoplasm photos in "good white light". I cannot wait to discuss these photos with believers and skeptics. I am a "skeptical believer" myself so this should be interesting

[Douglas]

I'm looking forward to seeing how good the new pictures are. I remember Zerdini being quite disparaging about the Felix Group, as the early photos were not that great. Surely he recognises that a group takes time to develop?

I don't think much of their space alien channelings but then they are only passing on what they receive. That aside, some of their other results seem to be quite good, so i dont automatically dismiss ALL their results, just because i don't happen to hold much credance to the alien messages.

I should also add, Before Zerdini becomes too skeptical, that this is the man who was on here recently defending a medium who was caught out of his chair during a seance when the light was put on, and was apparantly happy with the explanation that 'the spirits made him do it'!

[Jack]

I am unable to post
I get
cannot accept your post.

[Jack]

Is there a limit to the length of a post?
I wrote a quite long post but did not get a "captcha" when I pressed :preview" hence my immediately preceding post.

Mt long post was about Hannen Swaffer's book
ADVENTURES
WITH
INSPIRATION

[Ray]

I wonder if the next CEO who is taken down for fraud can use that excuse when the company is caught red handed fudging numbers,

"The spirits made me do it. They care for nothing but the bottom line!"

[j9]

Spirits make me do a lot of things. Unfortunately, it's not the same kind of spirits we are talking about ;)

[Paul]

That looks like a snide remark to me Douglas. Zerdini seems to me to have a great deal of direct personal experience of mediumship in many forms over decades. The remark regarding the medium in the chair shows your ignorance of the circumstances and why zerdini regards it as potentially genuine. So it's not as though he is cynical about mediumship in general. Either you knew this and are disingenuous or you didn't, in which case perhaps you need to do a bit more background research. If you think Zerdini's comments have been unfair why not discuss them directly? There have been many opportunities to do just that on here.

What Zerdini doesn't seem to do is 'whoop whoop' over everyone claiming to demonstrate genuine phenomena. Quite rightly IMHO. There are plenty of mediums who Zerdini has identified as genuine. If the felix circle can produce evidence that's great. There have however been good quality photographs of what was claimed to be ectoplasm and even levitation for decades, some folks accept them and some don't. I don't think it will be any different for the felix group. Cynics would argue that if anything, it is easier to fake photos today then ever it was in the past.

If you think Zerdini is wrong - there is an easy way to shut him up. Provide evidence consistently in conditions that are not susceptible to fraud with reliable witnesses. If a circle can't convince someone like zerdini who claims to have extensive experience of the phenomena and certainty that it exists, what hope for anyone else other than the disciples who want to believe from the outset. If they are 'developing' as you say then maybe they should keep it quiet until they have something that will stand up to rigorous scrutiny?

[Douglas]

Paul, I'm not really serious, I respect Zerdini but I do admit I was a bit annoyed with some of his comments re other mediums, while at the same time turning around and asking us to believe what was described earlier - I know if the situation had been reversed then he would have had no time for such explanations - that just smells a bit like hypocracy to me.

[Paul]

I don't think zerdini is bothered whether we believe him or not really Douglas. He seems to be saying what he saw and heard. I don't think anyone should simply accept it without questioning his staements and some have. I don't get why you see his comments as apparently hypocritical.

[someone]

I was the article "Mediums rare" (it might be better to call it a blog post srry for the confusion if any) The hit rate was 14 out of 38 . One medium got perfect. Hope this jogs your memory, if not its fine.

[Thor Klamet]

After my wife finished training as a therapist she did a certificate program called Internal Family Systems (IFS) in which a person is conceptualized as various "parts" which can cooperate or conflict with one another and which can be spoken to and asked questions. It's a client-centered therapeutic process that also has value for anyone.

Anyway, sounds like you were talking to one of your "parts."

(I've been reading your Shakespeare stuff and referenced an old post of your about Polonius.)

TK

[Michael Prescott]

Okay, I remember "Mediums Rare." Thanks for the reminder.

I don't know of any new developments, but I haven't specifically looked into it.

[zerdini]

Thanks, Paul, for your kind remarks regarding my comments re the Felix Circle.

@Douglas:

I have had extensive correspondence with Kai Muegge (“Mr Free”) in the physical mediumship thread of the Spiritualist Chatroom forum between Sept 11th 2010 and Sept 21st 2010.

He describes himself as follows:
“My Name is Kai Muegge, I am Social Pedagogue and Journalist, 42 years of Age. I am orderly Member of the German Press Journalists and Documentary Filmer of Profession.............”

It is illuminating to read the aims and objectives of the Felix Circle as described by Kai.

My final post was as follows:

Sep 21, 2010 1:28 pm

"Hi Kai

Why do you not address the issues I've raised? viz. "If you have read the UK literature why do you not mention materialisation as described in the Mallaburn Circle, the Richards Circle, the Red Cloud Circle, etc and, in more recent times, Gordon Higginson's circle.

"I also note that you make no mention of the American materialisation mediums some of whose seances are described in the PM thread.

"All of these seances were held with some form of lighting enabling everything to be seen quite clearly."

and "Jo wrote:
Stewart Alexander and David Thompson are not materialisation mediums, neither is Warren Caylor.

Quite correct. Jo should know as she has sat in their circles."

the bill Meadows Circle stated in front of 36 sitters in the question round after the sitting: Every single of the upcoming voices were DIRECT VOICES.

"Because Bill Meadows circle doesn't understand what Direct Voice mediumship is is no reason for you to quote their statements as gospel. If during your 32 years of investigation you had come across Leslie Flint you would know what Direct Voice mediumship was."

[Ray]

The book tests have been discussed to death on here but a new development...I see on the wiki article on Gladys Osborne Leonard that a criticism from Eleanor Sedwick only found 36% of the tests successful. I went to the source of this claim
http://books.google.com/books?id=o5j3mxF71fMC&pg=PA55

and it appears to be a little misleading. First, what criteria did Sedwick use to determine success? Second even the article notes that chance would only account for a 5 percent success rate, so even if 36 percent were considered successful it still seems significant. I tried to dig up further info on her analysis of the book tests but this is all I could find. How many tests were done in total ? She analyzed 552 of them. My point is, this critical reception is entirely misleading because the average person will see this and do no followup and dismiss the test as dubious. I'm curious if anyone has more info on Sidwicks analysis? Thanks

[Roger Knights]

Tonight (Tuesday) at 11 PM Pacific (2AM ET) on Coast to Coast radio:

"NDEs & the Paranormal
Tue 02-07
Widely acknowledged as the world’s leading expert in the field of near-death experience, Raymond Moody M.D. will discuss how he was able to bridge the gap between science and the paranormal. He'll reveal the surprisingly thin line between the living and the deceased, and evidence for our deepest hopes: that our existence continues beyond this life."

[j9]

Hi, I said that I would report what happened at my Medium reading with Richard Schoeller of Long Island. Richard saw three people in the room, none of whom seemed to fit anything to concretely connected with me, and after about 10 minutes Richard said "I am unable to do a reading for you. The connection isn't strong enough and the communication isn't clear enough, and it shouldn't be this hard." He then declined payment as the time was so short, and he said that I could either come back and try again another day, or he would refer to another medium. I asked if it was me and he said absolutely not that he feels the connection with me, but is not able to get a clear connection with who was "with me".

I think the fact that he did not take payment was nice, but I was disappointed.

I at least expected my cat. lol

[Paul]

Well that sounds honest. Did he ask question or anything like that j9?

[j9]

If you want some detail, at first he said he had a maternal great grandmother in the room with us. My mom didn't know her grandmother, so I wouldn't have been able to confirm anything about that.

Then he said he had a father like figure, but not a father or a grandfather, also on my mother's side. We decided that this was my Uncle on my father's side. He then asked if it was my father's brother and if he had had a heart attack and died suddenly and accurately said that the brothers had some family fight before he died, which they had. Then Richard said he lost communication.

Then he said he felt he had my Dad's Mom but lost communication with her.

Then he said, "normally, it is easy. I would tell you I see a woman standing next to you who was a girlfriend who died of Lung Cancer very suddenly, and I would see it clearly, so I don't think I can read for you."

Then I said, "Well, that one is pretty accurate, I did have a girlfriend who died of lung cancer very suddenly" He said, he would go with that and said that "you were unable to go to her funeral, but were involved in the process in some way" which is true, she lived half way across the country, I visited twice and happened to call the day that she was dying as well and was able to speak to her 12 hours before her passing.

Then he said he lost connection with her (I thought that was curious to begin with because he started out by making a hypothetical situation up to tell me how a reading should work and it ended up being accurate. except he insisted she had darker hair and she was a natural blonde.

So, again, i was disappointed. I was hoping for more confirmation.

Once I had a medium tell me that they felt "two men, a father and son, who smell of smoke" Both my passed grandfather and his son came from a long line of firemen.

He also said he thought I had children, but wasn't married (I didn't where my rings. They are at a friend's house) My husband is away a lot and he thought that was it. But then again reiterated that he didn't think he could be successful on that night for a reading for me.

Whole thing took about 15 minutes and he insisted that no donation or fee be paid and left it up to me as to how I wanted to proceed with a recommendation or another try.

[j9]

PS, I asked him about my cat and Richard said "At this rate, i would probably say it was a dog" lol

[Paul]

I agree with you (and him) - he can't read (at least) for you :) - he does sound pretty honest although converting a hypothetical person to a real one looks suspiciously like grasping at straws to me lol. You clearly spotted it though :)

I have seen a few mediums and haven't had anything I would call evidential of survival from any of them. What has been helpful to me is reading about some of the mediums of the past and the research - it gives me some kind of benchmark to compare what I heard with what appears to be (or have been) possible.

[j9]

Thanks Paul, why does everyone keep talking about Mediums of the past? How do we know the writing about them is objective? And if there were valid mediums in the past, why aren't there now? He seems like a very nice man. Others say he is a gentle caring person who just wants to help people. Do you think some of these people who say they are mediums could just be delusional? I think some are charlatans, for example, I think John E. is not all that he seems.

The reason that I think this is because, I have heard many instances from friends and acquaintances and seen on his show where John says that the "spirit communication is coming from this area" and it turns out that the person he is looking for has moved seats and raises their hand from a completely different location. This seems to me to be indicative of a type of tracking. He seems to give the "oh, no wonder, they said you were here, but you moved" excuse. But I wonder if they microphone. I was told that they are very specific about getting you in and sitting you exactly where you are told. This makes me very uneasy. Why should they care where you sit.

[j9]

The only other person on LI that I would go to is George Anderson. However, he is very, very expensive, and I don't want to risk the disappointment.

[Ray]

Hi J9. Before you give up hope in mediums I would give Georgia O'Connor a try...there was a lot of evidential info given during the reading that, with great effort, could have been researched but she relayed some things I didn't know that ended up to be true. She's not too expensive either and she encourages you to just say yes or no.

[J9]

I'll look it up! Thank you so much!

[j9]

Hi, I made an appointment with her today. Thanks Ray.

[Michael Prescott]

"I was told that they are very specific about getting you in and sitting you exactly where you are told."

This allegation has been made on the Internet, but people who attended Edward's appearances have told me that they could sit where they liked; there was no advance seating. I saw a time-lapse video of the room filling up for one of Edward's shows, and everyone chose their own seats. So I'm inclined to think this is a skeptical canard.

Personally, I think Edward is probably legit. OTOH, I cannot say the same about Sylvia Browne.

[Paul]

Hi j9 - I think you answered your own question regarding references to mediums of the past - the apparent dearth of similar mediumship in the present. I don't think this evidence should be dismissed but it cannot be conclusive on its own. If you choose to read it and about the people reporting it you can form your own view of the value.

There is no way I can think of to be certain that the reports of those who tested them are genuine or reliable. Just as your own testimony would be of no use to me (no disrespect intended). It seems to me, that to be certain, one needs good quality personal evidence.

[j9]

@Michael, that's good to hear. My cousin went with her mom after they lost my uncle, and they said they had specific seating. That's why I didn't question it. However, doesn't mean it is the same at every venue.

@Paul, I will do my research, and, of course, I have not taken any offense!

I'll give another report after my appointment with the person that Ray recommended.

[Michael Prescott]

Interesting. I'm surprised they had assigned seats. Perhaps this is a more recent policy. It does raise questions, but some of Edward's hits are so precise, I doubt any amount of prior knowledge could explain them.

I wrote three essays about Edward some years ago, which include some of the "hits" that particularly impressed me:

http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/essays.htm#A

[Ray]

We will have to compare notes J-9, I scheduled another one with her next Sunday and I am bringing a proxy sitter for someone else to see how far we can take this :) Mine isn't as much about connecting as it is looking for additional personal evidence...the connection is just a nice bonus. Also, I was impressed from Michael's initial reading he described on his blog so I decided to give her a shot.

I had another one of her "hits" come true today although I almost forgot about it. My wife is pregnant and we went for one of our routine checkups today and the doctor came in and introduced himself as Dr. Nils Stenman. He was very nice and professional but rather blunt and you could tell he was sort of put off by my wife's neurotic questions to him. At that point it hit me because in my reading Georgia said that my dad wanted me to know that my wife's doctor will 1. be German (which he was, still had a heavy accent if the name doesn't give it away) and 2. may seem a little curt and that he might conflict with my wife's personality a bit but not to worry. We had not seen this doctor up until this point and had no idea he was even on staff. We usually get a different person for every checkup.

I did not mention Georgia's "hit" to her until we got out of the appointment but she was complaining that the doctor didn't "get" her, haha. Again my skeptical side is looking for rational explainations:

1) There are many German doctors and doctors do have a tendency to be rather straight and to the point so it could be a lucky guess.

2) she could have researched where I lived and found that it is 1 of a few places for woman to have pregnancy appointments and could have looked at a staff picture. This seems highly unlikely and would require a 1 and 100000000 shot in the dark.

3) Psi isn't a possibility because neither of us knew this doctor was at our center at the time and never met him. Doesn't of course rule out super psi.

Number 1 seems most reasonable to me, if it were indeed a lucky guess. That is why my thirst was but barely quenched and desire to do more personal testing.

Sorry I know this is anecdotal and means nothing to anyone else but it does make you think...

[Paul]

It may not be evidential to anyone else Ray, but it is interesting nevertheless.

[Bruce Siegel]

Hi Ray. Interesting story, which I thank you for sharing. Are you sure Dr. Stenman is German? Nils is a Scandinavian name.

[Michael Prescott]

According to one site, people with the family name Stenman came to the US primarily from Sweden, Germany, and Norway. So as far as the surname is concerned, either origin is possible.

http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=stenman

Nils is a Scandinavian name, but seems to be fairly common in Germany also, as a Google search for Nils + German suggests.

[Bruce Siegel]

Thanks for checking that out, Michael. Besides all that, now that I think about it, it seems likely Ray can tell a thick German accent from a Scandinavian one.

[Ray]

Hi Bruce. I had German in college so I used to the pronounciations but for complete confirmation I will find a clever way to ask him without being rude.

[j9]

I have a funny German doctor story (I am married to one (a German, not a doctor), but he grew up in Australia)

I was living in Munich when I had my son. And, like Ray says, we mothers get neurotic with our worry and questions.

One day, I noticed a deep indent at the top of my sons buttocks while changing his diaper and I went on the internet (which is a dangerous thing) and found a picture of what was called a sacral dimple that "could indicate underlying abnormalities to the spinal cord" (also said mostly harmless, but you know what I ran with.)

The pediatrician happened to be right across the street...so I went running over there with my son in a panic and said "Herr Doctor, Herr Doctor, was ist das?"

The doctor looked at me and said "Das ist ein butt crack"

Never went searching the net again for an answer to my problems :)

[Michael Prescott]

That reminds me of John F. Kennedy's famous speech to the German people, when he announced, "Ich bin ein butt crack." At least I think that's what he said.

[j9]

lmao, Thanks!