As we all know, there are a lot of bad psychics out there. Or more accurately, a lot of bad people masquerading as psychics. They prey on the most vulnerable members of our society by either failing to tell them the truth, or telling them outright lies for the exact same reason or earning a lot of cash.
The word “Psychic” comes from the Greek work psychikos and means “of the mind” or “of the psyche.” It does not refer to mind-reading or fortune telling or similar mind-blowing parlor tricks. Unfortunately these are popular misconceptions, based on media mockery and the unscrupulous practices of some who use them to make a quick buck. Psychic readings can be tremendously valuable, provided that you approach them with both an open mind and a healthy sense of logic and love.
Your session should involve some give and take, and will suffer when either of these falls out of balance. If your psychic asks too many questions, you’re likely to question whether the information you’re provided is “real” or is just a natural assumption based on what you’ve already revealed. But if on the other hand you’re too closed-off to provide feedback for the information you’re receiving, your psychic may not be able to tap into the areas of your psyche that are necessary to inform a good reading.
Think of the connection you’re developing with your reader as a conduit for psychic information. If there are breaks or disruptions in this conduit, the connection becomes short-circuited, causing the information that comes through to be distorted or incomplete. There is some danger of sabotaging your own connection (through fear, mistrust or skepticism), so while you do want to approach your session with an objective mind, you still want to be open enough to allow for the best possible connection.
Don’t be put off my psychics who rely on “tools.” The psychic realm contains a vast pool of collective knowledge which is accessed in many ways. Just as there are many different spokes that lead to the same hub, so are there many different avenues with which to tap into the psyche realm. A psychic who does not use tools (cards, charts, numbers, palms, tea-leaves, or whatever) isn’t automatically better.
Just as there are guidelines for getting a good psychic reading, there are things to avoid so that you don’t end up getting a bad one. “Bad” can mean inaccurate and that’s not always avoidable. But there’s another kind of bad out there — as in duplicitous, unscrupulous and unethical. Unfortunately, you may run into a lot of that. But the following are some common scams to watch out for — particularly with on-line readings — so that both your emotional well-being and your hard-earned money are preserved: 
1. Your psychic knows things about you he or she couldn’t possibly know, even as a gifted reader. Examples include names, locations, exact dates and so on. If your psychic seemingly “knows” these things when you’ve barely said hello, ask yourself if you’ve shared this information with other readers in other sessions. In this day of computer technology, unscrupulous psychics have been known to share information or even complete transcripts. If you suspect this is the case with your reader, ask him or her about something you’ve not shared with another reader.
2. Your psychic tries to sell you a spell or “healing” to remove negative energy. This is one of the most common scams and is unfortunately very profitable because clients are led to believe their psychic has special powers. Your psychic cannot remove negative energy for you; he or she can (and should) only guide you in re-empowering yourself.
3. Your psychic takes extra time at the onset of a session to “meditate.” While it’s reasonable to assume that your psychic may need time to tune in or to work with his or her tools or guides, be wary of those who need several minutes (especially “on the clock”). This can be an indication that your psychic is looking up your personal information or obtaining a transcript from a previous session with another psychic.
4. Your psychic uses blanket statements that may apply to your situation but can also apply to countless others. Although it’s important to see your session as a two-way street (meaning that you need to still approach it with an open mind and heart), your psychic should be able pin-point certain things that apply directly to your specific query.
5. Your psychic promotes or fosters dependency. He or she asks you to check back daily, to get frequent “healings,” or requires you to purchase more and more updated services. Another common scam to watch out for is the unsolicited email about “important information” your psychic needs to relay to you. Ask yourself, if it’s that important, or if your psychic truly has your best interests at heart, why not just tell you in the original email?
6. Your psychic uses bait and switch tactics such as offering a free spell — only to require more costly “tools and materials” once the original spell-work fails to produce results.
7. Your psychic makes claims that are not only unverifiable but are designed to shroud them in an air of mystery (in order to entice you into purchasing their services). No legitimate psychic needs to use gimmicks or to make outrageous assertions. They’re not only usually false but are almost always completely unrelated to skill-levels.
8. Your psychic threatens you or leaves you feeling afraid for your own safety. This is usually related to assertions about spells, curses, black magic, voodoo and so forth. Remember that no one can take your power from you or cause harm to come to you psychically. And they can’t cause harm to your loved ones either.
9. Your psychic portrays him or herself to have special powers that can make or break your situation, or relieve you from an ominous fate. This is extortion. It’s not real. No one has any special powers over you or your loved ones. And the only thing you will be relieved of in this scenario is your hard-earned money.
10. Your psychic hounds you for ratings or offers some incentive for rating well. This is called ratings manipulation and speaks more of your psychic’s desire to attract more clients than it does of his or her interest in your situation.
A few words about ratings: Most psychics appreciate feedback after a session, as it validates the experience for both the reader and for potential clients looking for someone to put their faith into.
Even negative feedback can be helpful if it’s respectfully delivered. Unfortunately this is rarely the case. Good psychics are often rewarded with bad feedback for simply telling the truth, or for painting a less-than glowing outcome, while “bad” psychics are given rave reviews for feeding into a client’s hopes and wishes — even when those hopes and wishes are not based in reality.
In this respect you can’t always trust that the bad ratings are any more legitimate than the good ones. But there are some ways to tell.
Look for patterns first of all. Are the negative ratings few and far between or are there more negative than positive ratings? Are the negative ratings long-winded rants that smack of shooting the messenger? This is often a sure sign that they were composed in anger and posted specifically to try to shame or punish the psychic. Are the most current ratings similar to the earliest ratings? This is an important consideration. Reading a psychic’s earliest ratings can tell you whether he or she has changed names multiple times (to hide from internet complaints) or changed genders, or whether the account is even owned by the same psychic who started it. All of these are signs of questionable ethics and should give you at least pause for consideration.
If you’re unsure of the validity of psychic your reading, consider stepping back and giving it time to unfold. Most sites allow clients to leave ratings at a later date, usually up to 30-days. Don’t bother leaving a partial rating (“4 stars now and will come back and add another if the prediction comes to pass!”). This is misinformation: once a rating is left you cannot go back and change it at a later date. It’s also a dead giveaway that you’ve been getting too many psychic readings and need to just find one or two that you’re comfortable with.
Ratings are optional. You don’t have to leave them. But if you do, consider that there are many components of a psychic reading other than just “predictions.” The psychic’s insights, guidance, ability to pick up on past events and nuances, and the offering of options that can help guide you toward the outcome you’re looking for should also all play a part. If you never ever ever leave a 5-star rating unless someone virtually “knocks your socks off,” consider that your expectations may be more in line with the carnival or gypsy fortune telling schemes than with what legitimate psychic readings actually entail.
Psychic readings really are a two-way street. You really do participate in the outcome of every single situation in your life (both good and bad.) If you’re lucky enough to find a psychic who both ascribes to these principles and empowers you to find your own inner truths, you will know that you’re in very good hands.
