FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Psychic Explorations
It seems almost impossible these days to flick through the television channels at any time of day or night without coming across some programming related to clairvoyance or spirituality, from the Crossing Over show with John Edward, through Ghost Hunters and Dead Famous, hosted by Gail Porter, right to the Psychic Channel - an entire station dedicated to live tarot readings and conversation about to clairvoyance and clairaudience.
The television channels that broadcast this stuff do acknowledge their responsibility by stating at the beginning of each show that the programme in question is for entertainment only and that differing opinions exist as to the true nature of clairvoyance and clairaudience, but I still get the impression that this is legal jargon spouted to avoid truly acknowledging the potency of programming of this nature. For example, from the very start of the 6th Sense show (with Colin Fry) everything about the way the programme is presented is designed to lull the viewers into an almost hypnotic state - a state that makes them vulnerable to suggestion. The music is calming and soft with a floating melody on solo flute over some light strings, the visual imagery is basic and rhythmically slow-paced and then Fry speaks throughout the show with a tone not only of total confidence but also with a contrived sense of remarkable serenity.
And, yet, I find myself getting sucked in like all the other punters this is designed to draw closer. Perhaps it's just the inevitable human need to deny our own mortality that makes us want to believe what these people are saying is true - a repression more deeply engrained than any other. However you choose to explain it, though, watching the likes of Fry and Edward speaking to grieving families and allegedly passing on messages from loved ones who have passed away is intensely moving. I hold my hands up and state that I WANT to believe that what I'm seeing is a genuine communication between these television presenters and people who are, as Edwards puts it, in the spirit world. But in the cold light of day, I'm afraid that these psychics' methods seem all too similar to those who practise hypnotism and 'magic'. But entertainers like Derren Brown explain how their methods fool people into believing something that is both fantastic and ultimately not real whereas the Edwards and Frys of this world will not accept that they are doing anything of the sort, let alone deal with the ethical questions surrounding making money from the most emotionally vulnerable sections of society.
All this doesn't stop me from being curious, though, because as an intelligent, open-minded individual I want to analyse the world around me and come to conclusions about its nature based on the empirical data to hand. Equally, I have lost people in the past who are very dear to me and so I'm naturally inquisitive about what happened to them, where they are now and what lies ahead for all of us. The truth is, I want to have something to hope for the future and I want to believe that my loved ones are watching over me. But, of course, it is this very hope that the psychic arena preys so heavily upon.
In my quest for more information and with a view to dismissing clairvoyance once and for all as what Penn & Teller describe as 'Bullshit', I decided that I'd contact a psychic for a personal reading. Surely, afterall, if there is any truth in it then I will soon find out - have a word beforehand at my family grave about the things I need my loved ones to bring up in the reading in order to validate the experience and then be satisfied one way or another once the reading is done. So, I called up a local clairvoyant in Bradford who was initially pleased to hear from me and to explain that half an hour of her time would be £20 but that that would not really be enough time for the spirits to join her - for this an hour would be required and, even then, she can't guarantee that anything will happen. She then got talking candidly about her abilities to see into the future and to contact those who have passed away and about how many of her clients were people with problems they needed to get resolved. She talked so much so that I felt able to say to her that I could understand why people are sceptical about these practises, what with it tending to attract people who have emotional needs to fulfil through this approach (I was actually referring to myself). And then strangely this woman's tone changed as she went on the defensive about how she sees no need to 'prove' her abilities and that she isn't willing to be "tested". That wasn't really what I meant, of course, but hasten to add I didn't book a session.
John Edward's website is a good indication of what these people are about aswell : there's certainly a lot more cross-sales promotion going on than actual informative content. Perhaps I should have stuck with my initial understanding of clairvoyance in the first place : these people often think that they're genuinely gifted in all matters spiritual and some of them do seem to have a unique ability to gather information about their clients through gestures, vocal tones and the like, but when all is said and done noone has ever successfully proven that any truly clairvoyant ability exists, let alone that an afterlife (as portrayed in the mainstream religions) is anything but a manifestation of humanity's inability to accept its own mortality.
The television channels that broadcast this stuff do acknowledge their responsibility by stating at the beginning of each show that the programme in question is for entertainment only and that differing opinions exist as to the true nature of clairvoyance and clairaudience, but I still get the impression that this is legal jargon spouted to avoid truly acknowledging the potency of programming of this nature. For example, from the very start of the 6th Sense show (with Colin Fry) everything about the way the programme is presented is designed to lull the viewers into an almost hypnotic state - a state that makes them vulnerable to suggestion. The music is calming and soft with a floating melody on solo flute over some light strings, the visual imagery is basic and rhythmically slow-paced and then Fry speaks throughout the show with a tone not only of total confidence but also with a contrived sense of remarkable serenity.
And, yet, I find myself getting sucked in like all the other punters this is designed to draw closer. Perhaps it's just the inevitable human need to deny our own mortality that makes us want to believe what these people are saying is true - a repression more deeply engrained than any other. However you choose to explain it, though, watching the likes of Fry and Edward speaking to grieving families and allegedly passing on messages from loved ones who have passed away is intensely moving. I hold my hands up and state that I WANT to believe that what I'm seeing is a genuine communication between these television presenters and people who are, as Edwards puts it, in the spirit world. But in the cold light of day, I'm afraid that these psychics' methods seem all too similar to those who practise hypnotism and 'magic'. But entertainers like Derren Brown explain how their methods fool people into believing something that is both fantastic and ultimately not real whereas the Edwards and Frys of this world will not accept that they are doing anything of the sort, let alone deal with the ethical questions surrounding making money from the most emotionally vulnerable sections of society.
All this doesn't stop me from being curious, though, because as an intelligent, open-minded individual I want to analyse the world around me and come to conclusions about its nature based on the empirical data to hand. Equally, I have lost people in the past who are very dear to me and so I'm naturally inquisitive about what happened to them, where they are now and what lies ahead for all of us. The truth is, I want to have something to hope for the future and I want to believe that my loved ones are watching over me. But, of course, it is this very hope that the psychic arena preys so heavily upon.
In my quest for more information and with a view to dismissing clairvoyance once and for all as what Penn & Teller describe as 'Bullshit', I decided that I'd contact a psychic for a personal reading. Surely, afterall, if there is any truth in it then I will soon find out - have a word beforehand at my family grave about the things I need my loved ones to bring up in the reading in order to validate the experience and then be satisfied one way or another once the reading is done. So, I called up a local clairvoyant in Bradford who was initially pleased to hear from me and to explain that half an hour of her time would be £20 but that that would not really be enough time for the spirits to join her - for this an hour would be required and, even then, she can't guarantee that anything will happen. She then got talking candidly about her abilities to see into the future and to contact those who have passed away and about how many of her clients were people with problems they needed to get resolved. She talked so much so that I felt able to say to her that I could understand why people are sceptical about these practises, what with it tending to attract people who have emotional needs to fulfil through this approach (I was actually referring to myself). And then strangely this woman's tone changed as she went on the defensive about how she sees no need to 'prove' her abilities and that she isn't willing to be "tested". That wasn't really what I meant, of course, but hasten to add I didn't book a session.
John Edward's website is a good indication of what these people are about aswell : there's certainly a lot more cross-sales promotion going on than actual informative content. Perhaps I should have stuck with my initial understanding of clairvoyance in the first place : these people often think that they're genuinely gifted in all matters spiritual and some of them do seem to have a unique ability to gather information about their clients through gestures, vocal tones and the like, but when all is said and done noone has ever successfully proven that any truly clairvoyant ability exists, let alone that an afterlife (as portrayed in the mainstream religions) is anything but a manifestation of humanity's inability to accept its own mortality.
