I am naturally skeptical of Erin's claims

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by Angela

It's an outdated one. You've long since developed far more sophisticated inner resources to keep you safe.

Quite true! Old habits die hard though

[Syndicate]

Good times, guys, good times.

I never meant to start a war, by the way!

[rickrock]

Originally Posted by Syndicate

Good times, guys, good times.

I never meant to start a war, by the way!

I dont believe it was a war Hopefully you found something useful out of everything. Your turn?

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Syndicate

Good times, guys, good times.

I never meant to start a war, by the way!

When you choose to be defensive, you choose to be at war.

[rickrock]

Originally Posted by angela

when you choose to be defensive, you choose to be at war.

haha!

[James81]

Originally Posted by Angela

When you choose to be defensive, you choose to be at war.

Brrrrt!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by James81

Brrrrt!

?????

[James81]

Originally Posted by Angela

?????

I don't think being defensive is ONLY a product of war mentality.

Being defensive can mean you are just trying to survive (whether the threat is authentic or perceived). And I don't think that "trying to survive" is the same thing as "being at war."

Being defensive can also mean that you are on guard. Whereas, being at war, I think, implies that you are actively engaging someone else. Sometimes, a defense is meant for protection. Precautionary. that kind of thing.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by James81

I don't think being defensive is ONLY a product of war mentality.

Being defensive can mean you are just trying to survive (whether the threat is authentic or perceived). And I don't think that "trying to survive" is the same thing as "being at war."

Being defensive can also mean that you are on guard. Whereas, being at war, I think, implies that you are actively engaging someone else. Sometimes, a defense is meant for protection. Precautionary. that kind of thing.

Ah, I see. This is so much more communicative than "brrrt!"

If you're defending yourself against a threat, you're fighting the perceived source of that threat -- you're at war with it. If you're trying to survive, you're fighting death. Likely, too, you're at war with yourself, as I think was happening in this thread -- an inner conflict being projected outward.

I don't agree that being at war means active engagement (in the sense of being on the attack, or being in the middle of a fight). Remember the Cold War? Everyone on guard, everyone defending, everyone being offensive without realizing it consciously.

[catalyst]

While posting about being skeptical of psychics on a forum of a psychic is asking to get flamed - but seeking psychic advice in my opinion does not fall into personal development (for smart people). That being said, I predict a bunch of posts to follow denouncing all the non-believers, and some stuff about subjective reality.

[Ecce Homo]

I denounce all non-believers and... subjective reality, blah, blah, blah... and stuff.

Catalyst, you are a psychic!

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by catalyst

While posting about being skeptical of psychics on a forum of a psychic is asking to get flamed - but seeking psychic advice in my opinion does not fall into personal development (for smart people). That being said, I predict a bunch of posts to follow denouncing all the non-believers, and some stuff about subjective reality.

Then follow your opinion and don't seek it! No one's stopping you, just do what you please!

[rickrock]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

Then follow your opinion and don't seek it! No one's stopping you, just do what you please!

I like your new photo

Catalyst, although our views dont match I respect your opinion

[catalyst]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

Then follow your opinion and don't seek it! No one's stopping you, just do what you please!

Yes, I don't seek it. I don't have any problem with anyone who does find value from psychic readings, but personally I don't know if I would even want to know the future or my past life. That'd be much too stressful for me

The present moment is all that matters to me.

[Angela]

My reading with Erin had absolutely nothing to do with predictions of the future or past life stuff. It was all intuitive guidance, suggestions for tapping into internal and "external" resources.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by catalyst

Yes, I don't seek it. I don't have any problem with anyone who does find value from psychic readings, but personally I don't know if I would even want to know the future or my past life. That'd be much too stressful for me

The present moment is all that matters to me.

Saying that you don't find it relevant on a PD for smart people (emphasis on smart people) site, is like saying you don't find people who do find value in that sort of thing not-smart. That may not have been your intention, but it certainly came through in your original post.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by Angela

My reading with Erin had absolutely nothing to do with predictions of the future or past life stuff. It was all intuitive guidance, suggestions for tapping into internal and "external" resources.

If you feel comfortable sharing more information about that, I'd be really interested. Not personal details or anything, but the style of a testimonial.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

If you feel comfortable sharing more information about that, I'd be really interested. Not personal details or anything, but the style of a testimonial.

Mine is included on Erin's testimonial page.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by Angela

Mine is included on Erin's testimonial page.

Oh! Awesome!

[elucidate]

Honestly, I can understand the OP's skepticism here. Erin's fees are ...ahem...exhorbitant, to say the least! I think it's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. There are alot of fakes out there who charge through the roof.

That isn't to say her services aren't worth the money, though i personally would not fork out that amount, no matter HOW good the person was according to her testimonials, unless I was ridiculously rich or really desperate for a reading...but that's me.

I KNOW that these things are real and just normal, not supernatural. It's good to be a little skeptical, as long as you are an open-minded skeptic who at least makes some effort to investigate and experiment with these things and see what happens. If you are open to it, you will have better results than being overly skeptical though. Anything is possible.

I can also see why Steve would feel like he has to come to Erin's defense, though, I would think there would be no need to defend her, since the OP wasn't really attacking her...he/she just expressed not unreasonable skepticism.

[Mynder]

I would agree if there was no easy way of gathering information on what Erin does, and how people think about it.

Even if you don't believe testimonials pages (often faked anyway), here you have the very people who wrote them sitting around the forums.

You have heaps of articles written by Erin that will give you an impression of how she approaches things, and that you can use to decide whether you resonate with her personality or not, whether you trust her or not, etc.

Then there is the search function here in the forums, that will allow you to search for "testimonial", "my reading", and similar phrases to check what other people said.

The thing is...if you take all this, and simply say to yourself "it could all be fake, so I can't trust it" - then no power in the world will convince you otherwise.

However, if somebody demands proof without even bothering to do this research, or still does not trust the information, even a free reading, laced with this kind of distrust and resistance, is unlikely to allay these fears.

For what it's worth, I also did have a reading with Erin, and she has strong abilities that are reflected in the ease with which she sifts through information she gets for her sitter. Accurate information. My opinion.

Plus the other testimonials, e.g. by Angela, both on the website and here in the thread. If this is not enough...what is?

[RomanHD]

Originally Posted by catalyst

While posting about being skeptical of psychics on a forum of a psychic is asking to get flamed - but seeking psychic advice in my opinion does not fall into personal development (for smart people). That being said, I predict a bunch of posts to follow denouncing all the non-believers, and some stuff about subjective reality.

Not believing in any of the psychics/LoA/psi/occult stuff is one thing, but calling people who do believe "not smart" is something else.

There are plenty of published studies which hint that telepathy, for example, might be real. Look into the works of Dean Radin. It's not conclusive, sure thing, but that means it's NOT CONCLUSIVE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

If there's not conclusive evidence for either viewpoint, well, I don't think you should be calling the believers stupid.

[JoePike]

There are alot of fakes out there who charge through the roof.

Elucidate...I'm not sure I agree with that. I think most 'fakes' make their money through high volume of 'sucker sitters', not by charging an arm and a leg per reading for their (non) services. I'd be very interested to know if anyone here paid for a reading from a psychic with prices comparable to Erin's who considered the person a fake afterward.

[desertrat]

Syndicate if you are unhappy with Erin or other psychics try your self. Get a tarot deck ,crystal ball , tea leaves , or what ever works for you. Learn to meditate , you never know what you might find . desert rat

[desertrat]

P.S. My thought are the only think I know are real , ever thing might a manifastation of my thoughts .

[Syndicate]

I can see how my thread could be taken as an attack but I assure you I never intended to be. I came to Steve Pavlina's site to find VOLUMES of practical information that I can put to use right away and see immediate results. His credibility as a pioneer in the self-development field is evident through his passion and from my own research of him. Now, after learning about Erin, I simply would like to learn more, not only about what she can offer, but also about what qualifies her to be considered a 'psychic'. Is there anything wrong with that? My skepticism shouldn't affect her business in any way. I am only interested in bringing up a topic here that, quite evidently, many people are interested in.

Personally, I can't see anything wrong with being skeptical so long as you are open minded as well. I consider myself a Deist. Deists believe that that reason and observation of the natural alone is enough proof that a higher power and that we exist beyond our physical life. I am a skeptic, but I am also very open to new ideas. I can't prove that what I believe true, in the same way that I can't prove that all psychics are inauthentic. Nor would I claim that Erin can't do what she says she can do. I would never dare to.

So, yes, I come here with a bit of a bias, but I believe that I am open minded. I have been very interested in lucid dreaming, outer body experiences, and have even been using Hemi-Sync over the past 10 years or so. I know for myself that things exist beyond the physical world, but do I believe in things like demons, as posted on Erin's blog? Hell no. I am over the Christianity and Lucifer phase. I don't even believe that there are 'bad' people in the world. When I see somebody claim that, for example, demons exist, or that they have honed their ability to speak the dead and can charge to do this, I naturally become skeptical and I am immediately interested in learning more about their credibility and how they came to their conclusions.

Like I said many times, I am more interested in finding out about what Erin's claimed abilities are, mainly because I am interested. I used to believe in psychics like Sylvia Brown growing up, reading all of her books, listening to her CDs, and the like. In the last five years or so, she has pretty much shown that she is a complete joke who preys on the weak, with all of her false predictions, misreadings, and so on and so forth. You can search the Internet for enough evidence in favor of this. She is a business woman, at best.

Again, I can't understand why people who have the ability to communicate with the dead don't pursue what I would consider to be one of the most fulfilling careers possible, helping with unsolved mysteries. Not only would this be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) ways that you could use your unique talent, but it would also show that you do possess some ability that everybody has access to with effort. Would this not open the eyes of so many people in the world to ideas of psychic abilities, the paranormal, etc.? I don't understand why more self-proclaimed psychics don't do this.

There is one more point that I would like to restate:

Claiming to have the ability to talk to the dead or, more specifically, to the dead relatives of persons who are grieving, is such a huge claim that any skepticism shouldn't be an issue. It should be welcomed if they are in fact legit. This is especially true when a fee is being charged for a service and there is no way of having your money returned if you feel that the service you received was not authentic. I know that there are self-proclaimed psychics out there who claim to be talking to the dead when they aren't.

EDIT:

For example, I am reading this post here: Demons, Entities, and Possession Oh My!

What I am interested in is how does Erin come to these conclusions? How can a person claim that, for example,

A demon is a non-corporeal entity that has never been human (and never will be human) that lives on another plane of existence. Demons are evil sons-of-bitches that seek only to hurt and harm tasty folks like us.

or that,

Possession happens when a demon gains entrance to our plane by hopping a ride on a human. They move the human’s soul aside and take up residence in the human’s body.

I am not in any way suggesting that these things are not true. I am interested in the reasoning behind how Erin claims these things to be true. Are they just beliefs of hers that we should consider? If so, information and opinions are great. If they are claimed to be fact, then I immediately become interested in how she came to these conclusions. I am not trying to be a troll and I am not asking for trouble!

[bluedragon]

All of you who are skeptics should also check out Hay House Radio. Many of the best psychics in the world are out there, as well as medical intuitive, some of which are medical doctors and can sense energy and past events over the phone from total strangers, and they are dead-on accurate. They always tell people things without waiting for the caller to tell them anything useful, they don't actually need anything but the caller's name and geographic location to tune in. I find it pretty impressing.

[Lucidism]

Originally Posted by Syndicate

I am more interested in finding out about what Erin's claimed abilities are, mainly because I am just interested.

She claims she can speak to the dead and to your spirit guides. [source]

She has also claimed in her blog that she has had many types of visions, like those of serial killers. [source]

My intuition has never had a "good" feeling about Sylvia Browne, or many other psychics. I think you're right that a lot of them are scammy. Though, I also feel the same way about some lawyers and mechanics!

As for Erin's abilities, my feelings are neutral. It's quite clear she's a good person and I don't suspect she's lying about her abilities.

[Syndicate]

She has also claimed in her blog that she has had many types of visions, like those of serial killers. [source]

I see this article is from 2007. I would be interested in learning about what sort of work she has done towards helping unsolved mysteries since then.

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by RomanHD

Why would you not help me? You take the time to write tens if not hundreds of words to tell me various things, so how hard can it be to recommend a book?

Here's an exercise: See your front door. Now, you have had a psychic experience of your very own. Next, inhale, hold, tense up, exhale, relax and let go of your body and mind, be super quiet. Watch for images. There, you have it. And what ever comes, let it be - don't analyze to mean anything - just notice what shows up. If you analyze, you will be not so open. Allow it all to show up. And have fun!!! It HAS to be fun and playful. Anything that shows up that is unusual is what to notice, notice what is different. Do it as much as you want, but if you get bored doing it don't do it, it must be a fun thing to do. It doesn't work if you are serious and in a constrained focused mental frame.

Also, which "believer" would not want to turn a semi-sceptic like me into a "believer"?

I am not a believer. I have no interest in turning you into one either. Belief is OVERRATED!!!