Wellbeing

What’s Your Future?

Can a psychic reading really give you the tools you need to turn your life around? Staunch sceptic Jini Reddy is pleasantly surprised

Can a psychic reading really give you the tools you need to turn your life around? Staunch sceptic Jini Reddy is pleasantly surprised
When 34-year old healer, natural health expert and yoga teacher Katrina Love Senn received the gift of a reading with psychic Stewart Pearce from a friend for her 30th birthday she got a little more than she’d bargained for: “He told me about my work: specific things such as how it would develop in clarity over the next three years and then the form it would take – books, lectures and workshops which would be taught all over the world.

“Most remarkably, he accurately predicted my next relationship. Stewart told me that the new friendship I was developing with a man called Damien would develop into something much deeper.” Roll-on a few years and the couple are deeply in love and happily married, and Katrina has just published her first book, Losing Weight is a Healing Journey, £9.99, Lightning Source.

Similarly, when 45 year-old private PA Lisa Agasee was in her 20s, she went to see a psychic who predicted that she’d meet a man whose name began with the letter ‘D’, and that he’d mean a lot to her. “None of the men I knew at that time fitted that prediction. But when I was in my late thirties, I had a relationship with someone whose name did begin with the letter ‘D’. Later, I remembered the prediction – and, yes, he has been the one man in my life who has meant the most to me.”

You could say that both women hit the psychic ‘jackpot’, receiving spot-on readings.

But contrast their experiences to the clairvoyant I went to see (after a break-up), who seemed to be suffering from a bad case of PMS and told me mine was the ‘strangest reading’ she’d ever given in 30 years – and not in a good way. I was left feeling miserable. The funny things is she’d predicted some good stuff – but because she was so lacking in compassion, it didn’t mean as much to me.

It got me thinking about how visiting psychics has, these days, become a quite common form of therapy. Even the rich and famous are at it: Diana, Princess of Wales, and Nancy Regan, wife of former US President Ronald Regan were known for their regular jaunts to psychics, and many of the psychics I contacted for this feature say that their clients include high-flying businessmen who seek their approval before sealing a deal.

What’s the secret?

Wanting to know what’s in store on the romance front, whether you’ll land that job, have children, or if your health will improve – the desire to know what’s around the corner, to receive good news (especially when times are tough), can be a powerful motivation for visiting a psychic. But is it the promise of a glittering prediction alone that has us investing in the words of a stranger – or does the value of a session rest in having compassionate, caring attention lavished upon us, being able to share our deepest longings with someone who won’t judge us, and feeling strong and empowered?

Graeme Hill, who used to work as a music PR until he experienced a dramatic opening up of his natural psychic and mediumistic abilities, says that people come to him as a last option: “When their lives have become too painful, they reach out for help and I like to think with my clients that it’s here the shift begins,” he says, adding: “Passing on information to a client, and to see that person cry, heal and feel loved is one of the most beautiful things I do. Even if I tell someone what they are about to do is going to take them down a rocky path, they tend to know it already and it’s comforting to have a neutral source confirm things.”

“When their lives have become too painful they reach out for help”

Change your beliefs

London-based clairvoyant Amber Sibley, who does a unique kind of psychic reading, using colour, body-painting and symbols, says it is making a connection to a world beyond the physical realm that often provides the most comfort: “I believe people seek readings because it’s a way to touch spirit, possibly in a way they don’t think they will be able to do themselves.”

Meanwhile no-nonsense CEO-turned-clairvoyant Davina MacKail, who works mainly through the tarot and hand reading, is adamant that what she offers is not fortune telling: “I provide people with intuitive guidance of the conversation between their unconscious and conscious minds.” she says. “Generally clients that come for readings can be vulnerable – that’s why they’re seeking help in the first place, because they’re stuck, confused, lost, feeling powerless etc. My job is to manage their expectations and to give them the courage and belief that they have more choices than they think and the power to change their lives for the better.” (Indeed, her rapid-fire and accurate insights into my character and career, plus useful advice left me feeling buoyant and as though I’d had a great counselling session.)

Which is all great. But what happens when predictions, voiced with absolute conviction, don’t come to pass? I have to be honest here – not one of mine has yet. Indeed, the feeling of not getting your money’s worth is one that induces scepticism in even the most open-minded. So what exactly is going on in this scenario?

Davina McKail, like many of the psychics I spoke to, talks of free will and destiny. “I believe we have what I would call an umbilical cord of destiny that draws us inexorably towards certain people and experiences. But we also have human free will and choice. So while we are always linked to our destinies by an invisible energetic cord, we have infinite choice in how far we wander from destiny’s path. It’s a bit like a dog going for a walk on one of those extendable leads. They’re always linked to the owner (destiny) but have the free will to explore all sorts of other nooks and crannies.

“If we develop our consciousness to a high enough degree I also believe we have the power to override our destiny, so even that is not an ultimate given. Predictions do not always come true because the future is created every second of every minute of every day by numerous energetic choices. A reading is literally a snapshot in time that shows you the energies and options currently available to you, and from there a person makes choices that will immediately bring a different potential future into being. This is why the whole area of prediction has to be very carefully looked at because equally a prediction can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, which in terms of unscrupulous psychics and certain vulnerable groups can potentially become a recipe for dependence and disaster.”

Clearly there are gifted and conscientious psychics – and those who play guessing games, doing cold readings, or who seek to exploit, as in every arena in life. So it pays to shop around. As Katrina Love Senn eloquently puts it: “I think it is important to work with people who are clear channels and who ‘walk their talk’. I also believe that being intuitive is a gift that everyone has, and is something that can be developed and strengthened with the right support and tools. Any psychic or healer that you see should help you to take responsibility for your own life and help you connect more deeply to your own inner wisdom.”

Want to get the most out of your reading?

Take a look at Graeme Hill’s psychic-choosing advice:

Research your psychic – do they come recommended?
What do are you seeking? For example, do you want a yearly forecast, or to make contact with a loved one through a medium or tarot, runes, or angel cards?
Go with the psychic that you get a good feeling about – so use your own psychic instincts.
If you’re are looking to make contact with a loved one in spirit – silently ask them to join you on the day and time you have booked.
Do NOT tell the psychic the reason for booking an appointment. On the day, go with an open heart and try not to give anything away. It’s our job to provide information – not yours!

Case Study

Entrepreneur Monica Chia, 52, from Wimbledon, London visited psychic Cassandra Eason last summer, when she’d come to a crossroads in her life.

‘I’d reached the end of a relationship and my business wasn’t doing well in the recession. Cassandra told me that my luck would change and that my business would start to improve and be more successful. She told me that my chosen career path isn’t an accident – I’d had a similar career in a different life, which was also successful. She said I’d travel alot and meet someone very soon who was introduced by a friend. And that it would take him a while to get to know me but that it would be a lasting relationship with marriage. I left feeling uplifted, reassured and amazed how much she seemed to know about my life when we’d never met. Her prediction for my business came true, as did the travel – I’ve just come back from a trip to southeast Asia. On the relationship front, I did meet someone very shortly after the reading, but it wasn’t through a friend and in terms of going the distance, it’s too soon to tell.’

For a reading with Cassandra, visit cassandraeason.com