Thread: Am I a psychic or a bullshitter?

10/10, would read again.

Can't believe it took me this long to find the comedy sub forum on DV.

As an ex-tarot card reader, you'll be surprised what it tells you and sometimes ahead of time. Anyone can read tarot card, but it takes practice on oneself.

I am thinking that you want validation, but I think you are full of shit. Sorry. All psychics are. I have only met one who was the real deal. Unless you are like her you are about as psychic as the next guy. We are all a little psychic. So keep doing it, it is a good skill. But don't get full of yourself and start charging. Tarot cards are not psychic. Do you have to be psychic to interpret dreams?

The funny thing about this kind of topic, is things like this. Many people talk they are psychics and all sorts of things, but not a single prize was won so far. Makes you think about it, even considering there's always the argumentation of "we don't need to prove a thing".

Originally Posted by Dannon Oneironaut

I am thinking that you want validation, but I think you are full of shit. Sorry. All psychics are. I have only met one who was the real deal. Unless you are like her you are about as psychic as the next guy. We are all a little psychic. So keep doing it, it is a good skill. But don't get full of yourself and start charging. Tarot cards are not psychic. Do you have to be psychic to interpret dreams?

ever heard of prediction dreams?

Originally Posted by Dannon Oneironaut

I am thinking that you want validation, but I think you are full of shit. Sorry. All psychics are. I have only met one who was the real deal. Unless you are like her you are about as psychic as the next guy. We are all a little psychic. So keep doing it, it is a good skill. But don't get full of yourself and start charging. Tarot cards are not psychic. Do you have to be psychic to interpret dreams?

Why not charge? Why not charge to interpret dreams?

I wouldn't charge yet, I'm not skillful enough, but I don't see anything wrong with charging in general, even if I'm not really psychic (which I think is a stupid attitude about the whole thing). Just because I charged, that wouldn't mean I believe in the flying spaghetti monster all of a sudden. I was also thinking of picking up hypnosis. If I hit the road they'd be good boardwalk skills.

OK, well we have different ideas of what good character is. Why not charge for being full of shit if you are?
My feeling is that if you were more psychic than the next guy, you would not have posted this thread. You seem to want people to say yes you are psychic and to go ahead and do it. And you use rationalizations. This is just an ego game. But if that is ok with you to be a cheesy phony psychic and boardwalk hypnotist than go ahead. lol. Why don't you take some time to develop real skills and knowledge, psychic or otherwise, by giving up your ego and finding out who you really are? Don't be seduced by the ego to adopt a cheesy self-image that flatters your narcissistic fantasy. Do you want people to look up to you and say "Wow! How did you know that? You are so psychic and amazing!" ? And knowing the whole time that you are full of shit! You would regret such an act. But go ahead. Some people only learn from mistakes.

Originally Posted by hathor28

ever heard of prediction dreams?

Yes, and we all do it sometimes. For somebody to think that they have a special gift when they are just like everybody else is douchey, especially when they charge for it. Especially since the whole thing is for self-importance. It reflects a inferior ego that gets gratification by being deceitful. But most likely his ego is deceiving himself as well.

Originally Posted by Dannon Oneironaut

OK, well we have different ideas of what good character is. Why not charge for being full of shit if you are?
My feeling is that if you were more psychic than the next guy, you would not have posted this thread. You seem to want people to say yes you are psychic and to go ahead and do it. And you use rationalizations. This is just an ego game. But if that is ok with you to be a cheesy phony psychic and boardwalk hypnotist than go ahead. lol. Why don't you take some time to develop real skills and knowledge, psychic or otherwise, by giving up your ego and finding out who you really are? Don't be seduced by the ego to adopt a cheesy self-image that flatters your narcissistic fantasy. Do you want people to look up to you and say "Wow! How did you know that? You are so psychic and amazing!" ? And knowing the whole time that you are full of shit! You would regret such an act. But go ahead. Some people only learn from mistakes.

You make me laugh. Mastering the mind is my primary calling, which you would refer to as "giving up ego." But everyone sees the world differently, and these differences in perspective do not go anywhere simply because one can see through their ego. I know two people who have died recently, and I've given tarot readings to people close to them. (as well as direct psychic readings). And I tell them it's all bullshit, and it's just for fun. They can take out of it what they will. They received good advice, a lot of which I can't explain where reading the cards ended and where reading their personalities took over. I also do something where I channel messages for people, granted I'm not connecting to ashtar command or anything. For these, I have trouble discovering where reading a person ends and making shit up takes over.

And sure, people get blown away, but you're acting as though my ego is invested in it. The reason I do not call myself a psychic but continue to remind myself that it's bullshit is so my identity does not become invested in it, so it does not become about ego. Too many of my friends get defensive if you criticize psychics, and I have no interest of turning into one of them. I'd rather be humble and skeptical while continue working on my gift. I give zero fucks if anyone thinks I'm psychic. I'm already certain that I'm not, and certain I want to continue practicing the skill anyways. I don't expect you to be able to wrap your head around it though.

I think the mystic goal of becoming free of ego is based on a misconception about what the ego is. Trying to eliminate the ego effectively becomes a process of getting better at hiding it from oneself. And as you have success with that, you loose the objective corrective feedback you might have formerly have had and your ego really goes out of control. Maybe all a person can really do is become more honest with themselves.

I don't think there's a clear line between psychism and reading people well through external signs, or between psychism and bullshitting. Of course you want your psychic perception to work in harmony with your other senses and the rest of your social intelligence. Separating them completely would be both impossible and undesirable. And intuition seems to me to be largely a matter of making something up that coincides with the truth. Its exactly like bullshitting, except that your intuitions are not likely to be very reliable except insofar as you qualify cross-check and qualify everything to avoid over-reaching. That process involves self doubt though, which severely constricts the flow of imagination. So people who are outwardly 'psychic' are generally not very honest, and that's key to their success. They aim for an appearance of plausibility and achieving desired effects. Its not that they're consciously trying to trick people, they just never question whether that's what they're doing.

I think that the question of accepting payment for psychic readings is one that doesn't have a perfect answer. On the one hand, the desire to get paid distorts the process. On the other hand, psychics need money just like everyone else. I think the ill effects of getting paid are larger than a lot of people realize though. If you're good at what you do, its not really 'you' that's doing it, you're acting as a part of something larger than yourself that extends into the other person. When you accept payment, in some sense you're representing yourself as being the one that's doing it. This seems to me to produce confusion about identity, usually in the form of some kind of I-am-a-god-among-men egotism. Also, it seems to be that psychic perception is a natural part of social interaction. If you make it into a business, then social interaction becomes a business transaction. Just acting like a friend or fellow human being becomes a business transaction. Its a kind of prostitution. In my experience, people who do this for a living seem to be remarkably mercenary and calculating in their interpersonal relations, notwithstanding the aura of trustworthiness that they cultivate. Better in my view to be an amateur rather than a professional psychic, or to not be visibly psychic at all.

I also think that its best not to represent what you're doing as being one thing if you're really doing something else. Just do what you do and present it as what it is, you don't have to 'decide' if you're psychic or not. Admit openly that your intuitions might occasionally be way off base, and even when accurate may be incomplete in a way that suggests the wrong course of action. People have all kinds of arrogant rationalizations about lying for the benefit of others, and eventually they're lost in their own bullshit. Better not to bullshit. That's how it seems to me anyway.

Great responses guys!
I don't think mastering the mind is the same thing as getting rid of the go.
Shadow of wind: the ego is very tricky and does like to hide. And it comes and goes. One minute it isn't there and the next minute it is there. That is why we investigate all of our perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, concepts, emotions, sensations, for a sense of self. Most people don't have to investigate at all. The sense of self seems like a blaring fact. So if we just start there, and see that it is an illusion, then keep investigating subtler and subtler levels of reality, even in dreams, etc...
I do believe that we are all psychic and this skill can be cultivated, But I guess I am just making sure that nobody is dressing up the ego with the special identity "I am a psychic!"
Tarot cards and dreams and I ching and any oracle all work, they are not bullshit. They work because the images speak to a deeper level to us than the ego. Interpreting dreams also. Archetypal images, myths, etc.... Great stuff.
Mastering the mind is a great ambition and skill, but not the same as getting rid of the ego. In fact we cannot get rid of the ego because the ego is an illusion. If we just see it as an illusion, and know our true identity (hehe, can of worms here) then the ego comes and goes and we do not identify with it. It is like a shadow, insubstantial, or a reflection in a mirror, insubstantial, just break the mirror or turn on the light! Can't do anything to the ego directly.

I think it is. Mastering the mind means vigilance over your thoughts. Being vigilant over your thoughts means you can stop thinking the ones that hurt, burden or impede you. The ego is made out of these thoughts.

I read tarot and runes professionally from 1996-2002, with enough clients to pay my bills for those years. I only quit when I got cancer and couldn't focus anymore. I can tell you one thing, its as real as the day is long. Something tells me you're not full of shit Go for it. Don't worry about what people think. When they see that you're the real deal, trust me, they will quit their doubtful bickering.

I can tell by looking at people what they're going through and if I've been through it before I can offer good advice. I mean sure, I can't explain why my spidey sense tingles when I'm about to get mugged or confronted by a cop or something. And I'm not trying to rationalize that dogs are so good at hearing they instantly know when the intention hits your brain that you're on your way home. There's obviously a lot more to reality than we currently understand. We still can't explain the flight patterns of birds and it's been pretty well agreed that when we do, we will understand something new about physics. Maybe my ability to read people isn't as simple as a skeptic would like to think it is. But even if it's not, I'm not willing to invest belief.

well if anything, i still think youre kinda psychic

I think you're psychotic.

Oh, psychic too.

And a bullshitter.

I'm not sure if I'm psychic but I'm definitely a bullshitter. I have convinced multiple people that I'm illuminati.

lol

I sometimes get premonitions and sometimes I'm good at telling how someone is feeling.

I don't consider myself psychic, and yet there was this one inciden that made me wonder whether something supernatural had happened. Based on this I think that some unexplained stuff happens, and I bet it happens more frequently to some people than to others, and who am I to judge someone for thinking that they are psychic or that they are a bullshitter.

This is what happened to me: This happened while I was a college student and did not own a cell phone yet. I decided to walk from my residence to my boyfriend who lived about half an hour walk away. While I was walking, I was daydreaming and did not notice that I took a different turn, which was still ok, but it just meant I was walking down a different street than I usually took to get there. While walking down that different street, I encountered my boyfriend who unbeknownst to me had decided to make a surprise visit to me in the meantime. If I had taken the road I usually took, we would have missed eachother.

Coincidence or psychic event? I don't know. It was weird anyway. For me this was a one time event, so I would not call myself psychic, and it may just have been a weird coincidence. But I can imagine that there are people for whom this sort of thing has happened more often. And as I said, who am I to judge them for believing that they are psychic or for believing that they just have some really weird luck.

I don't buy into coincidence. That doesn't mean I understand synchronicity or telepathy or their nuances. I remember one time I was skating with my friends and they got pretty far ahead of me. I passed a yard sale sign and for some reason, I had a strong inclination to go check it out even though it was out of the way. I followed the signs and ended up seeing my old roommate's jeep parked on the street, so I asked the girl if my roommate lived there, and sure enough she did. Nothing too meaningful (to my knowledge) came from the event but the instinctive, causeless desire to go check out the yard sale is difficult to explain. I've had the same intuition spring up for different reasons, such as an impending mugging. But I ignored the intuition then and followed my principles instead. Bad idea.

Ego is the one who is "mastering" the mind. You cannot control your thoughts. That is egoistic to think that YOU can master the mind. Do you know what your next thought is going to be? If you have to remain vigilant that is the ego remaining vigilant. Without the ego, no thought can hinder you, there are only thoughts when you need them, they have no ego to stick to. There is no "thinker" of thoughts. Do you know what your next thought is going to be? It is all cause and effect, stimulous response. If the ego is not there, there is nothing to cause unnecessary thoughts and no thought can be believed in.

>.>

You have the wrong idea of what I mean by mastery. All I mean is that I remember that my thoughts are opinions, reflections and not encapsulations of truth. I remain vigilant because the tendency is to forget this fact. I remain aware of what I'm thinking. You are also merely speaking from your own perspective. I understand you wish to help people, but please do not confuse your own, individual interpretation of my language with a sign that I am somehow less advanced than you or more ignorant than you. You'll impede yourself and your attitude will create a reactive attitude in me that is less likely to listen.

Well any misunderstanding is either from a lack of clarity, or different terms of language. My intention is not to think that we are not equals, but to clarify language. Since language can cause so much confusion, I think it is important to be clear about certain things for the sake of understanding. Sometimes the words we use reflect the point of view we have, other times it is just we pick the easiest words to convey a general sense of what we are talking about. So I am just clarifying the words as if they reflect a point of view, but if they are just the simplest words to find at the moment, then that is great.

I really am just pointing out how tricky the mind is! It is not personal to you, everyone should know this, and me as well! Anything done to the mind, including being vigilant, is the mind itself trying to transcend itself, which it cannot.

I remain vigilant because the tendency is to forget this fact.

This is what I am talking about. The reason it is 'forgotten' might seem it is because one is distracted, etc. and one needs to be vigilant in order to remember. But this is an illusion. But I guess it is right for the right time. It is a necessary stage and it is good. I am not saying that it is wrong. In fact, it is a temporary practice until one realizes that the reason one forgets is not because one hasn't remained vigilant, but because one feels like it is necessary to remain vigilant. If this does not seem true to you yet, then keep being vigilant! So I am not trying to push you or lead you away from your own path, but to point to where the path is leading.

You'll impede yourself and your attitude will create a reactive attitude in me that is less likely to listen.

I understand that and my intention was not to come across that way. And I appreciate that you tell me this rather than simply jumping into a reactive attitude. I am the same way.

I am just stressing stressing emphasizing to beware of the ego, which is nothing other than what we are. When I saw the OP I thought: "Ego". So I just want to point out that the mind IS the ego and it is illusion and that there is no 'ego' which is psychic. The ego will claim it, definitely. And it will think that it is being vigilant. And it will think that it is 'mastering the mind'. Even when people become enlightenment their first thought is "Wow! I am SO enlightened right now!" lol. But it is laughed at. Because now we don't have to be vigilant to see that the ego is trying to own enlightenment! And that it is the ego which has been vigilant the whole time to try to co-opt every experience, from the most mundane all the way into enlightenment. But enlightenment is like lucid dreaming, we don't need to be vigilant. If we are vigilant, or if we forget, we are not actually in control of that. We are not in control of when we 'remember'. It is dependent on when conditions are right. You cannot choose your next thought, by the time you choose it you already thought it. You cannot know what your next thought is going to be. So we cannot know when we will forget or when we will remember. Because it is all the dream character doing these things. The dream character cannot remain vigilant to see that it is not a dream character.

It may seem I am preaching. Sorry! It just flows out of me and I am not even talking to anybody in particular. More like prose or poetry or a journal when that happens. Above all, DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING I SAY PERSONALLY! Because I am just a dream character as well! lol.

I often use simple words to describe more complex concepts than I have the energy or desire to explain carefully, but I also think use of language is different since you thought mastery implied control and I do not think it does.

You also seem to have a different concept of vigilance, as well as a different concept of mind. For me, the attention actually can remain vigilant. This is known as mindfulness. It occurs when the attention watches the thoughts from a distance rather than automatically agreeing with all of them.