Araddha Ekanto's Telekinetic Powers Debunked!

I don't know why I am even bothering here, but what the hell, Araddha Ekanto sent me the below video as proof of Telekinetic powers. Clearly they are using air from the movement of the hand to push objects. Clearly the first bits of paper are obvious, but then they move a can, first see their video.



And here is my video, doing the exact same thing, that I filmed without doing any practice, I just drank a can of pop, put the can on a rough surface (as opposed to the smooth surface they used which means even less friction, waved my hand, and voila!

Replication pic.twitter.com/EnT8jjYk1d

— Jon Donnis (@JonDonnis) December 1, 2015

Point is, if you see bullshit like this, there is ALWAYS a simple explanation.

Backup of their video if they now decide to remove it to hide the ridiculous

UPDATED: Most Haunted Ratings for Most Haunted Live and the following three Most Haunted episodes

Ratings are in for Most Haunted, and it paints a grim reality.
Despite getting HUGE numbers for the live Halloween show on Saturday, the next nights regular Most Haunted lost more than 330,000 viewers! And the next week they lost a further 37,000 viewers and finished as the weeks 4th most watched program on REALLY TV, even Escape to the Country beat them by nearly 30,000 viewers!

Surely that is proof that the fans finally turned on Most Haunted after the debacle and cheating of the Live show.

I wanted to update this page, as week ending 15th November ratings are in, and Most Haunted didn't even make the Top 10! Now I no longer watch Most Haunted so there is a chance it wasn't aired, but IMDB has it as airing on that day! So if it did air, it must have had less than 141,000 viewers, and didn't make the top 10! This is a complete disaster of ANTIX, and proof that the fans really did desert them after the Most Haunted Live debacle!

You will notice that Karl Beattie no longer tweets the ratings of the show since the Live show! Funny that! 

For Entertainment Purposes Only: Whose Fault Is It When A Psychic Scams Someone?

The New York Times published a story this weekend about Niall Rice, who was taken for $718,000 by two Manhattan psychics, and has recently taken them to court. While it’s likely that one of the psychics will spend a year in jail for fraud, it’s unlikely that Rice will ever get any of that money back.

The story itself is both heartbreaking and confounding. Rice was in a vulnerable position and was convinced by these two “psychics” that terrible things would happen to him, and that he’d never find love again if he didn’t give them piles of money.

It’s easy to blame the victim in cases like these, and it’s hard to imagine yourself in their shoes. It’s easy to think “there’s a sucker born every minute,” and this could never happen to you or I because we’d laugh in the face of anyone asking us for that amount of money. It’s easy to say that it’s Rice’s fault for being dumb enough to give them the money in the first place. I can say with confidence that this is not something I’d ever do–but I’m also a pretty hardcore skeptic who is not in any kind of emotionally vulnerable position. I also don’t have $718,000 to begin with. I’m not who they would target.

In order to convince people that they have magic powers, professional psychics become adept at “cold reading,” which allows them to “read” people and make assumptions about their lives that are more likely to sound true. Thus, they tend to be pretty adept at identifying who is most likely to cough up the most amount of money.

The people that get targeted in these schemes tend to be people who are in extremely vulnerable positions. Rice had just gotten out of rehab and was devastated by a breakup. Many times, these “psychics” contact families of missing children, offering to divulge the child’s whereabouts for a fee (which is the most horrific and evil thing I can imagine a person doing). The elderly are often the ones targeted by mail-order clairvoyance scams promising riches beyond their wildest dreams. The people who talk to “mediums” are often devastated by the loss of someone they love and willing to shell out good money for the illusion of having them back for a moment.

Rice’s story is not unusual. Several psychics have been sued for fraud within the last several years. Some cases have been successful, but only because they were based on financial irregularities that would otherwise be illegal. It’s an industry that’s completely underregulated. Pretty much anyone can claim to see the future and demand loads of cash in exchange for telling people some bullshit. I could do it right now. I could start a business in which I pretend that I’m psychic, and there would be people who would believe me and give me money for that. That’s messed up! I should not be allowed to do that!

There are very few ways in which I will ever disagree with the ACLU, and this is one of them. I don’t believe this is a “freedom of speech”  issue, as much as it is about protecting vulnerable people from predatory scumbags who want to take advantage of them. We protect people from con-artists selling land in Florida and the Brooklyn Bridge, we send people to jail for running Ponzi schemes–there should be some way to protect people from so-called psychics.

To be entirely frank about my own biases here, I think that “psychics” are at best delusional and at worst predatory monsters. I don’t believe anyone has magic powers. I don’t believe they can see into the future, or talk to your Great Aunt Miriam, or cast a spell that will make your ex want to love you again. From the Fox Sisters, to Uri Gellar, to Sylvia Browne–basically every person who has become famous for having paranormal abilities has been outed as a fraud. Why would a random person with a shady storefront be any less of one?

I think the same thing of people like Joel Osteen and Pat Robertson and other preachers who tell people that their lives or their health or their financial situation will improve if they give them money. I think the same thing of people who sell “homeopathic dilutions” that are just sugar pills with literally nothing in them. It’s frustrating to me that people are allowed to take advantage of vulnerable people, just because they say they’re doing magic or are particularly in touch with god or something. I wish all these practices were illegal, and I am eternally furious that they aren’t.

I do think that there are ways to regulate “paranormal services” and protect people from being defrauded as severely as Rice was. The warning “for entertainment purposes only” isn’t enough–it doesn’t protect consumers, it protects the con-artists from being liable when they screw people. If it’s for entertainment purposes only, then these people should not be allowed to guarantee results of any kind. If you are promising results, you should be required toproduce results or give people their money back. I don’t order something on Amazon thinking that “maybe” it will arrive in the mail–either it arrives or I get a refund.

My ideal scenario would be to require psychics and their ilk to prove that they actually are what they claim to be, but that’s unlikely to happen. For 19 years, the James Randi Educational fund offered a large sum of money–eventually a million dollars–to prove that they had some kind of paranormal ability under scientific conditions. Unsurprisingly, no one ever won.

It should, most importantly, be illegal for psychics to contact people directly on their own, especially families with missing children. In situations where it’s found that a psychic or other paranormal worker has purposely reached out to a person in a vulnerable position, or promised a service they did not deliver on (like bringing an ex-lover back), they should have to both return the money they conned out of them, and go to jail.

Unfortunately, most people who are defrauded by psychics (i.e., everyone who has ever seen a psychic, basically) are too embarrassed by the fact that they were taken for a ride to actually sue them. This is why we need some other protections in place to keep this from happening. I don’t know if it would be possible to regulate the amount they’re allowed to charge for their services, but that would be a start.

In conclusion, please do not give your money to anyone who claims they have magic powers. You’re better off flushing it down a toilet, because at least the toilet won’t come after you later claiming that it can get your old boyfriend back if you flush a thousand more.

[New York Times]

Written by Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse

Originally published at www.thefrisky.com and republished here with kind permission of Robyn Pennacchia

BadPsychics Classic - "Dave Anderson appears on BBC World Service"

Video from the Archive when our very own Dave Anderson appeared on the BBC World News!

Jon Donnis Answers Your Criticisms - "Ghosts do not exist"

Quite often in the comments section of this site, or on my forum, I get criticised for things I have said, and I always try to reply directly to that criticism, as I like to show people the personal touch. I do not fear criticism, and If I am wrong about something then I welcome people to challenge me, question me, and take me up on it. This is what true skepticism is about.

So today I received some criticism, and I wrote a length reply which I would like to share with everyone, since I get asked this quite often, I would like to clarify and really answer the point that the person made.

In the comments section of a review I had written about American Entertainment TV show Ghost Adventures, the following was left...

blah28 March 2015 at 05:28
"You state that due to the Ghost adventure crew starting the investigation with a belief in the supernatural, then they lose credibility: "it instantly means everything they say and do lacks all credibility, even if they are suspicious and bring up some good points." And yet, you then state your own presuppositional bias by stating that you "know that ghost don't exist." 

Using your logic, this means that you lose credibility as well."

Here is my response to that...

You make a fair point, so let me respond and explain.

On one side you have someone having a start point of belief, acceptance and bias.

On the other side (me) you have someone with a starting point of disbelief, non-acceptance and bias against.

So what is the difference?

Well my opinion is an opinion based on facts, based on science, based on hundreds of years of growth and knowledge about how the human body works.

From the moment a human is conceived to the moment the last cell of a dead body degrades, science knows and understands every single moment inbetween, using biology, physics and chemistry, we can chart every moment of every single change as we go from that fertilised egg to the last decomposed human cell.

No religious teacher found that out, no psychic ever discovered any of this, instead thousands of scientists over hundreds of years have.

So lets fast forward slightly to what happens when we die. And again due to science we know what happens when someone dies, the organs tend to shut down first, blood stops flowing around the body and most importantly to the brain, a lack of blood and therefore oxygen starves the brain, and eventually the electrical impulses in the brain stop, when this happens, we are dead, no turning back.

No human has ever come back from being truly dead, although the definition of what constitutes being dead has changed as SCIENCE and medicine have improved, no one has ever come back from true brain death. (You can ignore the story of that Jesus bloke, it was made up by a bunch of naughty Greeks decades after the alleged miracles happened.)

So we know everything that happens when a human is conceived to the point of death.

Now the afterlife. Evolution has meant that the human race struggles with the thoughts of death, due to our self awareness. Throughout human history, it has been shown that we give things supernatural meaning when we do not understand them, whether it is how the sun appears in the sky with the moon, to Earth Quakes, Tsunamis, you name it before SCIENCE explained it, we gave it a supernatural meaning, every single time, the same goes with modern phenomena, we see something move in the corner of our eye, or even if we have a full blown hallucination, we give it supernatural meaning until we truly understand it. Hear a knocking in the night, when no one else is around, must be a ghost right? Not the wooden beams or floor boards creaking as the temperature drops.

I've lived in hot countries where the houses are made of concrete, funnily enough you never seem to get reports of ghosts making noises in the night!

So for me to say that ghosts do not exist, is an opinion based on hundreds of years of proven scientific study, and not a single piece of evidence exists to say that ghost do exist.

So for me to have that position, is surely a fair one, to be skeptical of claims which break the laws of physics should be the starting point of EVERYONE who is investigating a situation where something "unexplained" has been reported.

Remember Unexplained is not the same as unexplainable.

If someone comes along and says that they are going to investigate a pond because someone has claimed that in this pond there exists an invisible creature that not only can travel through time, but cure illnesses while smoking a cigar and singing the theme to The A Team. In any possible situation should you start off with a position of belief? Of course not because the claim is ridiculous. But what if a million people all claim the same thing? All with no evidence, no proof, no theory, just a baseless claim, should you then start off with a position of belief? Still of course not.

You could line up a million people at night, get them all to look at the moon as it is low on the horizon and all of them would say the moon looks bigger! And ALL of them would be wrong. The moon is the same size, and and more importantly the same size in the sky! Yet 1 million people are wrong. And better still it can be proven they are wrong with a simple trick of getting an empty toilet roll, holding it up and looking at the moon through it, suddenly the moon goes back to its normal size. Science can explain the "Moon illusion", as it includes something that is testable, something that is physical and can be examined. And the fact that a million people can all being wrong, proves that we should never trust our own eyes as we can be fooled.

So when I say ghosts do not exist, this is not some throw away comment, this is a comment based on a  scientific understanding of the the universe.

So ask yourself now, if one person says they believe in ghosts and one person says that ghosts do not exist, who really has the most credibility?

Finally Physical Mediumship, Seances, Ectoplasm Can Be Proven!

Yes it is true! Physical mediumship, seances, manifestations from ectoplasm, all of that can at last be proven 100% scientifically without any danger to the medium!

Let me put you all into the picture, for over 100 years, mediums have sat in the dark, and conducted seances. While in the dark, and when I say dark I mean pitch black, or sometimes with a dull red lamp turned on and off. A medium will sit behind a curtain, and then ectoplasm will exude from their orifices, and by orifices I include nose, mouth, ears, anus and vagina! (Yes that is what spiritualists have claimed), and this ectoplasm will manifest into the dead. So it could be a full figure, or just a disembodied hand, sometimes the ectoplasm would pick up objects and float them around the room, or even speak though a spirit trumpet.

Now of course all of this sounds ridiculous, and in 100% of cases whereby it has been filmed either on purpose or secretly, it has shown fraud. Either the medium stood up having escaped his bonds and waving the things about or even pretending to be the dead spirit himself, or an extendible rod has been used to control the flying tambourines or whatever. Or it has shown that these manifestated spirits are no more than dolls, that are being manipulated by the medium or an associate.

The excuse has always been that these are frauds and real mediums produce real manifestations, so where is the video of the real manifestations? Well the problem is that ectoplasm is a sensitive "material", and that any exposure to light can cause the ectoplasm to retreat at speed back into the medium, and cause horrific internal damage. Although there is not a single documented medical case in history that shows any such thing, this is what the spiritualists claimed.

So along came infra red filming capabilities, surely this was the answer! Oh no wait, ectoplasm doesn't like infra red either! Now lets ignore the science of infra red because well it is everywhere and comes off everything, and its a bit too "sciency" for me, and despite the fact that scientifically mediums have no excuse to claim infra-red can affect ectoplasm since it is a nonsense claim, lets still take it at face value. So what can we do?

Well here is the answer! Science has finally given spiritualists the perfect tool to film in full HD, in full COLOUR, and in complete pitch black conditions! And without any of those annoying infra red lights!

I present to you the Canon ME20F-SH

It is released in December, and yes will cost a lot of money, but just imagine, you have the chance to be the first medium in history to categorically prove spirit manifestation in the seance room. There is literally no excuses left now.  This camera can film IN PITCH BLACK in FULL colour! and in HD!

No more grainy dodgy footage, you don't even need to use a silly red light!

Now of course if no mediums buy this camera, and no footage of ectoplasm is filmed, then once again I have been proven right and it's all a load of crap! So any mediums wont to prove me wrong, and change the world in the process? Some how I think not!

"The camera is able to capture full HD colour video in pitch black conditions with an ISO of 4,000,000"

UPDATED: Karl Beattie admits he had cable attached to him on Most Haunted Live

In one of the more bizarre videos of recent times, Karl Beattie has explained what the cable was that was attached to his waste that was used to pull him up the stairs which he then claimed was paranormal!

I really don't understand this, as he is admitting he had a cable attached to him, which was tight, and Stuart was off camera.

Here is the video from the live show of him being jerked off by someone off camera using the cable/rope. (By the way it was Stuart)



And here is the video of Karl admitting he had a cable attached to him! Again don't follow the logic of this since it is simply admitting he had a cable attached to him which could be used to pull him up the stairs (by Stuart)



Ok so according to Karl his camera cable shows up as white in night vision!
Only problem is he is lying.

Mal Function ‏on Twitter sent this in
At 25mins, 57 seconds of the live show - Karl's camera... in night vision.

Amanda Jane Kendall sent in the following....
"From the room that Karl got pulled back too. When they thought a bed had been moved Yvette moved it back, and look whats under then bed!"

Your move Karl! Already proven you as a liar now!

This banner was put up on a house down the road from Most Haunted Live!

Just down the road from where they were filming Most Haunted Live last night, one resident decided he didn't like them filming, so he put up this giant banner outside of his house. The police tried to get him to remove it but he refused!

Brilliant!

Most Farted - The Best Most Haunted Parody Around!

Watching Most Haunted Live last night, and seeing them talk about bad smells etc, I was reminded of the classic Most Farted videos.

I hope someone will do a Most Farted version of the show last night, I would, but I cant be arsed to sit through it again.

Anyway enjoy these classic videos.




And http://popnoodles.com did their own version too.

Most Haunted Live Halloween 2015 - Exposed!

So they decided to do another Most Haunted Live, unfortunately UKTV (Really) refused to give them any kind of use-able budget, so they had no choice but to get rid of any live crowd or studio setting and do it low key at someones house instead! Also I am guessing Sky TV Own the rights to the original Most Haunted Live format, like they do the normal Most Haunted format, so whether they wanted to do a live show in a studio with an audience they couldn't anyway.

Well, usually I would watch the show and expose it, but now we have this magical thing called Twitter, which was actually more interesting than watching the show.
The reason was it was 99% people taking the piss.

And what also made my job easier was that people were spotting the moments of fakery, and posting videos and links on Twitter.

A couple of great examples was Karl appearing to have the knife concealed in his sleeve during the seance.

Jason akamrdaddy on Youtube:
"Watch him take the knife out off his trousers and throws it on the bed...u can clearly see him huntch over as he takes the knife out and then jerk his arm quickly in a throwing action....plus he had to be the first one in there....wonder why...look at the body language after he did it....arms out hands open...look I haven't got anything....lol...its that or a ghost did it...what's more believable"

(Please note, we incorrectly had a shot of Glen with what looked like the knife in his pocket, we mistakenly attributed this to being Karl, as the head was cut off.  I doubt Glen was involved in any fakery)

One of the most blatant cheats of the night, was when Karl got pulled UP the stairs by mysterious forces! Or Stuart as we like to call him. Unfortunately he didn't manage to hide the rope that he had tied to himself, and Twitter went mental when they spotted it!

Here is a video posted on Youtube by renegadeeng that exposes it!



Another clip posted by jason fallows on Youtube that shows it a bit better



And another look at it



So how do they defend the indefensible, well here is what Yvette had to say about the rope.

And just one look at the #MostHauntedLive on Twitter, and probably about 99% of people have FINALLY realised I was right all along, and that Most Haunted is faked, a spoof, a joke.

Fact is they got caught out tonight, as they have so many times.
But if you accept that the show is faked, and a spoof, you can enjoy it for what it is.
Otherwise stop watching!

I like this man who lived a few doors down from where they filmed, he made his views known in the best way possible!

By Jon Donnis

What Happens When We Die

Happy Halloween folks!
We finally know what happens when we die courtesy of the American Chemical Society!

The Numbers Preventing Psychics Being Real

I wanted to have a brief look at why we never see the headline "Psychic Predicts Lottery Win And Wins £100,000,000 The Following Day", now I am sure there will be a lottery winner somewhere in the world who claims they are psychic, purely by statistics this will either have happened or will happen, but one thing I can guarantee has never happened and will never happen, is for a psychic to predict they will win the lottery or some high odds gambling bet, and then win it! This is because no one can predict the future, since the future hasn't happened yet!

Here is a great story with the famous headline Psychic Wins Lottery
The problem with it is that she just happens to work as a psychic, and AFTER winning claimed she "had a feeling" Months earlier! Not quite the amazing story it tries to be is it! If this was considered proof of psychic abilities, than I bet you could ask every Lottery winner ever, and they would nearly all say they "had a feeling", sorry unless you make the prediction BEFOREHAND, I don't accept that.

In fact more convincing was Derren Brown's amazing trick whereby he picked the numbers "live" and then won the lottery! Watch below, and no don't worry Magic Circle, I wont expose how it was done, but for anyone curious there are plenty of debunking videos on Youtube




Don't get me wrong, I can predict the future and know I will be proven right, but I do that using common sense and logic, I am talking about predicting a future event that has very high odds.

So for me to say "I predict a member of the Royal Family will give birth to a baby girl within the next ten years", there is a pretty good chance this will happen, since it is a very big family, and people have babies. However if I was to say "I predict that on February 27th 2019, Prince Charles will become King Charles" that is incredibly unlikely to come true, (if it does people please remind me of this article!), And that is the problem with psychics and future predictions, it all comes down to odds, and realistically speaking, psychics never beat the odds.

Lets take a quick look at the odds of winning various Lotteries

Lottery Draw Country Odds of winning the jackpot

Lotto - United Kingdom - 1 in 45,057,474

Lotto - South Africa - 1 in 14,000,000

Powerball - South Africa - 1 in 24,435,180

El Gordo de la Primitiva Spain- 1 in 31,625,100

EuroJackpot - Europe - 1 in 59,325,280

EuroMillions - Europe - 1 in 116,531,800

La Primitiva - Spain - 1 in 139,838,160

Powerball - United States - 1 in 175,223,510

Mega Millions  - United States - 1 in 258,890,850

SuperEna Lotto - Italy - 1 in 622,614,630

I think you get the point.

Psychics convince people they have powers, by predicting things that have very low odds.

So they will tell you the sex of your unborn child. This is literally a 50% chance, or 1 in 2.

They will be right half the time. And the half of the time they are right, their clients will tell the world, "hey Jon the Psychic KNEW my child would be a boy" Where as the one who got it wrong, is soon forgotten.

So ok the lottery is way too hard for a psychic to win, as they would need genuine powers to do so.

Their usual excuse is that their powers don't allow them to make huge amounts of money! But what about smaller amounts of money, afterall they do take payment from people, £50 here, £20 there. It all adds up.

So surely the best place for a psychic would be a casino, at such a place they would be betting to win lower amounts. But what would the odds be in a casino if you do think you are psychic?

 Well if you wanted an easy game to win, Blackjack has the best odds, as you are only playing against the dealer. But that is hardly proof of psychic powers is it? 

Poker, nope that is no good, as not really a game of odds, but a game of skill.

What about Craps, well you are betting on the roll of a dice, so odds are about 50/50, again not good proof that you are psychic.

Now roulette, this is a game that you could prove yourself on. Lets forget about betting on red or black, as that is nearly 50/50 (don't forget the green 0)

So if you bet on a normal number it is 36 to 1. So how about this, if you were to get this right 3 times in a row, and you claimed your were psychic, I would find it incredible hard to say you weren't.

Now one name I always get thrown at me as proof of someone who could predict the future was our old friend Nostradamus, or Michel as I used to call him.

Not sure who he is? Read this from Skeptics Dictionary...

"Michel Nostradamus was a 16th-century French physician and astrologer. His modern followers see him as a prophet. His prophecies have a magical quality for those who study them: They are muddled and obscure before the predicted event, but become crystal clear after the event has occurred." Source: http://skepdic.com/nostrada.html

One of his famous quatrains is below.

The year 1999 seven months

From the sky will come the great King of Terror.

To resuscitate the great king of the Mongols. Before and after Mars reigns by good luck. 

So reading that, what do you think he is predicting?

So the year 1999, that's clear, then seven months, so that would be July.

Something happening in the sky, so that could be a plane crash, a meteorite, a huge storm, some kind of natural disaster. Something about a King?

Ok it is vague to say the least.

Many have claimed it predicted the death of John F Kennedy Jr.
On the 16th "John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy."

So that is the year and month right, but JFK Jr was not a King, nor a King of Terror, and no link to anything else. 

On the 27th Pro Skater Tony Hawk is the first skateboarder to land a "900", he is the King of skateboarding? And a 900 is in the air I guess?

ANA Flight 61 was hijacked in Tokyo, Japan, on the 23rd, but it didn't crash. And Japan is about 3000km from Mongolia. So no connection there.

On the 23rd Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan is crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father, but his father died of natural causes, so nothing really special there.

So the only thing that comes close is JFK Jr. And that is the problem with predicting the future, and especially when being so vague about it. Be specific and you will be wrong because the odds are simply against you. Be vague, and almost anything can be twisted to fit what you said, which is pretty much how ever prediction made by Nostradamus is treated.

The point is the psychic industry is clearly flawed, flawed to such an extent that it does not work, no psychic will ever predict a win on a high odds gambling bet, and then win. Whether it is the Lottery, a casino or an online casino site such as Lucky Nugget that offers a simulation of a real casino experience. No psychic has ever predicted a major future event and got it right.

Yes there are stories of people who have "drawn the future" but even when these are investigated, it is the odds that end up working in their favour. Draw or paint one picture that shows and event, if that comes true, then that would be impressive, but in every case, we always find out that the "psychic" has in fact drawn or painted hundreds if not thousands of pictures, and then when an event happens, they just try and find one of them that kind of matches what has happened! The more events you draw, the more you lower your odds of eventually being proven right.

So remember folks, you can't predict the future, it hasn't happened yet, you'd be better off spending your money on the roulette table, than predicting the future, as at least in the casino you have an actual chance of winning!

By Jon Donnis

Derek Acorah's Show "An Absolute Farce" - Call in Radio Reviews on Neil Prendeville on RedFM

I was told about the Neil Prendeville on RedFM radio show.

They had a call in since Derek Acorah had appeared in Cork last night, but the show was so bad that people were laughing.

You can listen to the show below, the phone calls start at about 15 minutes in, a good phone call there, and also again at 27 minutes, and also at 1 hour.

Point is that Derek Acorah is still bombing, getting heckled, and making a fool of himself.

Oh dear Derek, time to Retire me thinks!
If you cant see the player below. Just click the following link to listen.
RedFM Podcast

Scariest Places: Warwick Tudor House Inn

Take the Cake proudly present Scariest Places, the Most Haunted spoof around...

Join Annette Pielding, Merrick Alora, Simon Healy, Leslie W.H.Smith and Dan the Cameraman for a spine tingling ghost investigation.

The Scariest Places team venture to Warwick Tudor House Inn for their final 24 hour investigation to find spirits. Will they come across any genuine phenomillies? or will they finally give up and go home...

Written by
Michael D Roberts
Directed by
Michael D Roberts
Produced by
Ashley Waterhouse

Please Follow, Like and Subscribe...
www.facebook.com/takethecakeproductions
www.facebook.com/MerrickAlora

Watch "Christian Prophet" Shepherd Bushiri walk on air.

We got sent in this incredible piece of footage from our good friends at TVisCOOL the video shows "Christian Prophet" Shepherd Bushiri walk on air.

Now I have watched this video maybe 50 times now, and for the life of me I can't figure out how he does it. Therefore I will class it as the single most convincing piece of evidence in history to show proof of supernatural powers.

So please watch the video and let me know if you can figure out how it was done, leave your opinions in the comments section.

Right now, I need to go find me a Bible, and start to pray!

-----------
From TVisCOOL

"In one of the most incredible pieces of footage we here at TVisCOOL have ever seen, you can watch Christian Prophet Shepherd Bushiri walk on air! Yes you read that right folks, the man walks on air!

And you know, I really think this is real, as surely there is no possible way he could fake this!

I am a believer!"






(BadPsychics.com Disclaimer: Obviously I don't believe in this video as I am not an idiot)

The Psychic Scroungers BBC Program about convicted frauds, psychics Timothy Abbott and Janette Abbott

A husband-and-wife team working as psychics cite disabilities to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds in benefits, but they don't see the fraud team, and their antics are caught on camera.

Watch on the BBC iPlayer until the 7th October.
Click below to go to the BBC website to watch. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bgb8s

Also forum member Harry filled us in on the latest from within the SNU and their opinions on these convicted frauds.

"I'm told that many spiritualists are standing behind Tim Abbott and his wife. The Spiritualists National Union however have a bit more intelligence and have distanced themselves. This has caused a split.

The split goes right to the top of the SNU tree. Minister David Bruton is the current president of the SNU and is opposed to Tim and Janette being allowed to perform their mediumship in SNU churches. Unfortunately for Minister Bruton the SNU top brass cannot dictate to the churches who to book and who not to.

Tamworth spiritualist church, which is part of the SNU network of churches, booked Tim Abbott and his wife Janette to appear earlier this year (after Tim had been released from prison). But because Minister Bruton is the president of the national body he asked Tamworth church to cancel the booking since it would look very bad considering that Minister David Bruton does in fact live in Tamworth himself and is a long time member of Tamworth SNU church. The president of Tamworth spiritualist church ignored his pleas and went ahead with the booking, so Minister David Bruton cancelled his membership of the church.

THAT'S RIGHT, the PRESIDENT OF THE UK SPIRITUALIST NATIONAL UNION LEFT HIS OWN HOME TURF CHURCH because the local CHURCH PRESIDENT would rather give Tim Abbott and Janette Abbott, both convicted fraudsters, a booking! CRAZY huh?"


More info on the original story can be found at
http://www.badpsychics.com/2015/03/fake-psychic-timothy-abbott-jailed-for.html

A Warning about Gail Cuffe aka Psychic123UKreadings

The following article was sent to me, the author wishes to remain anonymous due to the aggressive nature of the psychic being talked about, as such you can direct all your abuse to me on Twitter @JonDonnis Please enjoy my little disclaimer below, as we all know how much these psychics like to use Disclaimers!


DISCLAIMER:
The following article is the opinion of the author and may not correspond with the opinions of BadPsychics.com

This article is for Entertainment purposes only, and/or for scientific experimentation

---

Regular readers of Bad Psychics might remember the article that was published some time ago about Deborah Davies (Higgins).

Well, in summer 2013, a curious post appeared on Ms Davies’s Facebook page:

Leaving aside the issue as to why one psychic would need to consult another, it’s fair to say that any such recommendation from Deborah Davies should be treated with caution - given her own track record. Indeed, Deborah Davies and Gail Cuffe (the owner of Psychic123UKreadings) seem to have a lot in common. Both come from the Stockport area, both run Facebook pages with around 150,000 followers, and both have given readings that are less-than-convincing.


As an example, let’s take this reading which appeared on Ms Cuffe’s Facebook page recently:

If you can get past the spelling mistakes and lack of punctuation, you can see that this reading is nothing more than a load of vague waffle. It is so general that it could apply to anyone or anything.

1.    Most of us will have some sort of ambition that we have yet to fulfil.

2.    January is usually a financially difficult time for all of us, especially following the expensive Christmas/New Year period.

3.    The number 9 and a man with the same initial (in this case “J”) are so common that they’re meaningless. The number 9 crops up in everything from shoe sizes to barcodes to telephone numbers, while I can think of at least ten people I know whose first name begins with “J”. 


A closer look into Ms Cuffe’s record as a psychic reveals further inconsistencies. For example, she likes to state that she has over 25 years’ experience. This is a little odd for someone who is only in her early/mid forties. Especially since she has claimed this in 2012, 2013, 2014 and in August of this year - as this screenshot shows:

Incidentally, the aggressive message from her on the bottom right was in response to an observation that despite allegedly having 25 years’ experience, she only set up a limited company a year ago and has not yet submitted returns for it - as the DueDil website indicates.

After her message was made public to allow her to clarify her own business situation, it was followed up by another belligerent missive:

Now, please note the first few lines. If she really had psychic powers, wouldn’t she know who was behind the page? 

This aggression is nothing new for her. The earliest verified trace of Ms Cuffe dates back to 2005, when she started selling readings via eBay. She did this until about 2012, when eBay banned the sale of psychic/paranormal goods and services.  Her main line involved making pregnancy predictions and casting magic spells - purportedly to bring the customer luck, fertility, and fortune.


This appealed to a lot of women who were trying for a baby - some of them quite desperately. Ms Cuffe soon gained a reputation among the prospective parents, but it was not altogether positive. If a customer wasn’t happy with Ms Cuffe’s service, she would respond in a rude and unprofessional manner:

This was picked up on various forums and people began sharing their experiences of her. It was alleged that Ms Cuffe’s actions went beyond leaving rude responses on eBay. Here are a few examples, the first of which is taken from this forum here.

Another customer claimed that she had actually received abuse, threats and even a curse from Ms Cuffe, after simply enquiring politely whether she had received the wrong reading.

While yet another customer got an extremely foul-mouthed response from Ms Cuffe after questioning whether she lived in the UK. 

As if this wasn’t enough, people also started to compare the readings that Ms Cuffe sent them - and discovered that they were similar or identical.

As we can see from the excerpt of this reading, it is like a horoscope. Again, like the other reading above, there’s nothing specific about it. It’s just a lot of waffling generalisation about someone who is strong and determined, but who can feel “down” on occasion. I’m pretty certain that we all know someone who falls into that category - if it doesn’t apply to us personally.

As for how Ms Cuffe responded when complaints were put to her, the indications are that she simply carried on in her aggressive manner - occasionally by threatening to sue the other people or by getting her followers to report any negative Facebook posts about her.

This is where the story gets interesting, though. After Ms Cuffe was no longer able to sell her psychic services via eBay, she moved her business to her Facebook page. Perhaps inspired by her then-friend Deborah Davies, she gained a huge number of “likes” by heavily advertising psychic readings or spell casting - sometimes for free and/or at discounted prices. However, by continuing to run her business in a less-than-professional manner, the customer queries started to pile up.

And unfortunately for her, some of her customers then started to mix her up with Deborah Davies!

This came to a head when Ms Cuffe started offering “magic spells”. The deal was that the customers would send Ms Cuffe money and in return, Ms Cuffe would cast a magic spell to bring them love, fertility, fortune, etc. After she had cast her spell, she would send them an e-mail containing one word - which they then had to chant in order to activate this spell. 


Sadly, there were several people who did believe this. When the spells either didn’t work or they never got the e-mail from Ms Cuffe with the “magic activation word”, Ms Davies suddenly found herself inundated with e-mails. As you can imagine, she wasn’t too pleased:

And after that, it became pretty clear that the friendship between Ms Davies and Ms Cuffe was over. Despite once championing Ms Cuffe as “the only medium" she would recommend, Ms Davies then decided to “out" Ms Cuffe in January this year.

There is a supreme irony in Deborah Davies criticising Gail Cuffe for sending identical readings - because she has been accused of doing exactly the same thing herself! Do check the earlier article about her (linked to here), where Ms Davies effectively admitted giving out duplicates and then tried to blame it on the customers picking the same cards.

However, that aside, we should not forget that there appear to be vulnerable people out there who have been genuinely hurt by the actions of Ms Cuffe. It should be mentioned that statistically, most women who try for a baby manage it within a year. However, for those who don’t, it can be absolutely devastating. The desperation to conceive a child then leads them to consult psychics - even though this may seem like a daft idea afterwards.


Just see this one comment as an example:

Of course, you are all free to make your own mind up about Ms Cuffe. However, if only for what allegedly happened to the last woman alone, I would strongly advise avoiding her like the plague.

Psychic Reading with Emma Kinsey from Sheffield - June 2015

I was recently contacted by a woman who had received a psychic reading, but after realised that she simply wasn't happy with what was said, and thought that despite the bad experience something good could come of it, so sent me a copy of the recording so that I could analyse it, and share it with the world, and hopefully help warn other people not just about this medium, but also the tricks they use.

Emma Kinsey

So if you have had a reading, or are thinking of getting a reading by Emma Kinsey, have a listen and read through this reading and perhaps this will either educate you as to the methods and even better put you off.

The reading was conducted in mid June of this year, at roughly 4pm in the afternoon, and was done over the phone. Payment was made via Paypal, and the cost was £35 for about 28 minutes. The cost has since gone up to £40. That is a LOT of money for half hour of asking questions while sat on your arse at home.

I would just like to quote Emma Kinsey's Disclaimer from her site

Disclaimer 

Emma Kinsey will not be held accountable for any interpretations or decisions made by recipients based on information during readings. All information is given to the client to use as there own free will. 

These readings are for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. All information and/or advice given to you by Emma Kinsey should not take the place of any medical, legal or financial advice given to you by any qualified professional. All sessions by Emma Kinsey are not a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

Please understand, that by putting the words "Entertainment Purposes Only", Emma Kinsey is admitting that her mediumship and psychic claims are an act, that they are not real, and that they are purely entertainment, these are HER words, and an admittance that she cannot communicate with the dead. There is NO legal requirement for her to say this, it is 100% her own choice, if she tells you any different she is lying. 

Here is a transcript: The medium words are in BOLD, the clients is in normal text, and my opinions are in RED.

So have you had one before?

I’ve had two readings with you before.

Yeh, so you are aware of what happens then, yeh?

Yes.

Ok, so what I'm going to do is shuffle my cards for you then darling and I want you to tell me when you want me to stop alright?

Ok.

Okie dokie.

Ok.

Ok love, right I'm just going to put them out, just bear with me.

Thank you.

Right, ok what I’m going to tell you is first of all I've got a gentleman stepping forward to me from spirit so the more information that he gives to me I will give to you.

Ok yeh.

Now as he's coming forward he is making me aware he is connected to dad or dad's side of the family ok. When they come forward they give me names or they give me initials when they do that they are talking about themselves or they're talking about somebody connected to you here, right darling.

We start with a pretty standard intro to the reading, the medium has gone with a Gentleman character to start with, connected to the clients father or his side of the family. They then lay the foundation for the cold reading to come, by leaving things very open by saying any names or initials will be for themselves for somebody connected to the client, in other words the medium is saying that they can throw out any name, and it is up to the client to basically think of ANY person they know that it might refer too. Mediums like to keep things as vague as possible, so that the client makes the connections and the medium has less work to do.

Yeh.

Now would anybody have a J initial connected to you at all?

My dad and my mum.

Question number 1. I get the feeling this medium will be using a LOT of questions as part of this cold read, and the client will be giving the medium all they need. So they start off with a J initial, it is bizarre that the dead are only capable of giving a single letter instead of a full name, and they choose J, which is most likely gonna turn into a John or Jack, two of the most common names in English history!

Perhaps she should have answered with "Yes I am gonna pass this reading onto a J name, that being Jon Donnis"

Are they both still here love as in living?

Yes.

Question number 2. If the medium was really in contact with the dead, this is probably one thing they should already know. I will try to keep track of how many questions they ask. Remember people, if the medium is asking a question, that means that YOU are giving them information. A real medium if one existed would not need to ask any question at all!

So now the medium has asked two questions, and found out a fair amount of info to work with from the client, that being that both the parents are alive, and that a J initial could be connected to either.

but I feel this gentleman is connected to dad or dad's side.

ok.

As he comes forward he keeps making me aware of like the heart or the chest area this man and his breathing so I feel he would have suffered in that area before he would have passed ok sweetheart.

Clearly heart disease is the single biggest killer of men in the UK, but to make sure the medium also mentions the chest area and the breathing, which in turn covers the Lungs, as well as all manner of chest related illnesses, which in turn all affect the heart.

By doing this the medium gets this info into the clients head, so after the reading the client wont recall exactly what was said, but will remember that the medium told them that this dead person died of lets say a heart attack. Sounds really specific when recalling it, when in reality the medium just pointed to the general area. This is called cold reading, and the client is making fit after the event the things that were said, and when repeating the story to friends of what the medium said, it all sounds amazing, when the truth is it was vague.

Yeh

Now is there anybody got an initial M in your family as well, M?

That’s my middle name, my middle name is Amanda but my family calls me Mandy.

Question number 3. Again the medium is NOT stating a fact, they are asking a question, and super super vague too, the client makes the connection with the letter, and even then has to work hard to make it fit. The medium had NO IDEA AT ALL, what the M letter would refer to, just threw it out there and let the client make the connection.

What happened to the J name also? That was soon forgotten. Now lets say that this clients dad was called John, after the reading, they may recall the medium KNOWING that her dads name was John, when in reality nothing of the sort happens, but this is how human memory works, we make connections and forget the nature in which we either received the info or gave it away.

That is why you should always record any reading, so that after the event it can be analysed, and if needed the methods exposed.

Ok if you've got a middle name ok darling. Now has anyone got August birthday or an August passing at all?

Birthdays, is myself and my dad.

Question number 4. So again the medium asks a question, and the client makes the connection.

Go up to ANYONE in the pub, and ask them if anyone they know has got a August Birthday or an August passing, and I guarantee you they will answer yes.

This is one of the single most vague questions I have ever heard a medium ask!

Right that’s fine.

And I remember you're an August person.

I am darling I am in August as well, we're the best kind of people. Ok I know August is yourself and your dad but is there anybody just had a birthday or about to have one because this man is singing happy birthday to me here?

Um I don't know.

Right, I don't whether its one that's gone or one that's coming up somewhere so just take the birthday from him.

Yeh.

Wow this is some pretty poor stuff here, just some babbling, repeating back the August date, and then throws another vague comment about someone having a birthday recently or about to have one.

Now he keeps giving me a grandfather link, is your grandfather in spirit on your dad's side?

Yes he is.

Question number 5. Ok now we are getting to the nitty gritty, remember the medium already ASKED if the clients parents were alive, and got a yes, so now goes for the generation above, there is a good chance that the grandfather will have passed, so this is an easy question to ask, as will almost definitely get a positive response, especially considering the already gained knowledge that the father is alive.

Right do you know a John at all?

No.

Question number 6. They do now!

So why does he keeps shouting the name John I know its not his name but you haven’t got a friend or family member?

No and you've mentioned this to me before

Just consider this for a moment, the medium has chosen one of the most popular names in history to go with, and gets a miss, that is quite funny. Maybe the spirit was shouting John at the medium trying to warn her she was about to get exposed as a fraud on BadPsychics!

Perhaps if the spirit had shouted DONNIS, then it would have been easier to figure out!

Oh have I?

Yes so I'm still racking my brain for the John

That awkward moment when the medium realises she is using the same script on a client that they have used before! Whoops!

Just remember then darling it may well be somebody you are connected to in the future if you cant think who it is now right.

Yeh.

You know, I really want to give this medium a HIT now, since I am Jon, and this client contacted me! Ok ok, I accept it as a coincidence but still!

Now does anyone get like headaches or migraines or anything like that?

Sometimes my mum.

Question number 7. Another question asked, and another answer given by the client.

Again after a reading like this the client will recall that the medium TOLD them that their mother suffered with headaches, when reality is they asked a question and the client made the fit. So many times I have been told by people "I had this reading and the medium knew that my mother suffered with..... so how could they possibly have known that", and that gets thrown at me as 100% proof that the medium was legit, but when I ask for a recording, if one exists it always shows that a question was asked.

Yes because he just putting healing for someone getting headache or migraines he’s telling me ok.

Yes.

Why does he need to tell a medium he is "putting healing" if such a thing was possible, why not just do it without telling anyone? And then the mothers headaches would just stop!

What a nonsense thing for the medium to use, and clearly a scripted segment.

Have you been very busy recently?

Oh gosh yes.

Question number 8. Yes it is another question, pure cold reading often goes like this.

1. Let me ask you an open question.

2. Get answer

3. Repeat back to the client as if you knew all along.

Yeh, because my just head feels like its about to explode you know with a lot of stuff going on basically is what he is showing me here.

Yeh.

And so it happened, the medium asked a question, got the answer, and then repeated back as if they knew all along the client was being busy.

Right ok I know you're working from home but do you have your own business darling?

No.

Question number 9. Another question asked, these types of questions are good for a medium to ask, because regardless of the answer the medium can continue the reading and twist to suit.

So if the client yes yes, the medium seems as if they already knew, if the client says no the medium can just ask another question to see if they would want to do what was mention in the original question.

Have you ever wanted it?

Its something I have considered but I'm not sure what in.

Question number 10. So the medium was wrong, they therefore ask another question to manipulate the reading. Again after such a reading, the client may recall that the medium KNEW that they were considering starting their own business, when reality is two questions were asked.

Yeh just not sure what yet at the moment, its alright, he just keeps giving me that that’s all, so if its not right now it may well be in the future you will work for yourself and have your own business in some way.

Ok yeh

Have you been feeling quite confused recently as well?

Yes.

Question number 11. Remember the system from ealier, ask a question then repeat back to confirm as if they knew all along.

Because he is putting a hell of lot of confusion around you! Now is there a relationship around you at all?

There was but I'm not quite sure what's happened to it.

Question number 12.

Ah right ok because he keeps giving me the relationship ring, was that recently though?

Yes it was.

Question number 13.

Ok I don’t know whether its sort of like one minute everything was ok the next minute it wasn’t.

Yeh.

Note the way the medium responds here. "I don't know whether it's sort of like....." this is classic stuff, as it is so vague the way they speak, and the way they leave it open, so that depending on the response from the client, they can continue the reading, it really is fishing 101 here.

Yes, that's how he's showing it me. I don't know I feel that this person has been a little bit of a fool really recently where your concerned because that’s what he's telling me to say but I do feel there is confusion from that side as well on that person's behalf. You don’t know if if anybody is around that person that would influence them for some reason?

I don’t know could be but I don't know, I don’t really know what happened. that’s the thing.

So after getting the affirmative answer from the client, the medium them can expand on it and fill in some gaps from what the client has told them.

Also Question number 14 at the end.

I just feel like there's confusion from their part, but I don't whether there is a third person relationship wise it could just be a family member I don’t know but sort of either influencing that person or taking them away from that they should be doing if

you know what I mean.

SO many possibilities thrown at the client in a very short period of time, nothing definitive is stated, just many vague comments, in the hope one of them will fit and the client will consider that a hit.

Now did you meet this person out of the blue?

Completely Emma he approached me when I got off the tube.

Question number 15. Another question! Blimey this medium is blatant.

Thats out of the blue darling yeh. Your grandfathers saying people don’t just appear for no reason!

No I know.

SO the medium asks a question, gets an answer, and then twists is as if the dead grandfather knew and then made a comment to the medium about it.

This same Grandfather who could only throw an initial or two and then the name John which missed, can now say full sentences!

So it was obviously for a reason. Was it for a few months?

It was literally three, three months.

Question number 16. And again another question, the client tells the medium, can you guess what the medium will do next!?

Yes because he was just showing me like a few months or something.

Yes.

And there you go, now if the medium had just stated something like "I am being told this relationship was for 3 months", then that would be of interest, but instead they ask a question which leaves things open for interpretation and manipulation.

Right can you tell me if there has been any issues about his mother or anything?

I don’t know I think he might be quite close to his mum but I don’t know.

I don’t know I’m just sort of feeling here like the third person here or someone else involved could be something to do with the mother, so I don't know, so just remember I said this to you

Yes I think its the mother of his children.

Question number 17. The medium is clearly trying to infer that this boys mother has been interfering in the relationship, but the client gives the whole thing away by saying it was the mother of his children, so of course now the medium will repeat this back. Big mistake in a reading.

Ah it might be the mother of his children instead then. I don’t know, I feel like he didn’t know what to do for the best.

Ok yeh.

Did he sort of cut himself off from you?

Question number 18. I am gonna lose count of all these questions.

Yes he cut himself off then he came back then he cut himself off and yes very confusing. He's a single person which makes a change but yes he did.

Your granddad's saying he doesn’t know why but he thought cutting himself off was the right thing to do but on you, you know he was doing it with the right intentions if that makes sense.

Yeh.

Has he been in contact recently at all?

Question number 19. This medium really wont take a chance on anything will they? It is just question after question after question!

We finished talking last week Thursday where he said to me he wanted a relationship didn't/did didn’t/did, I got drunk sent him some text messages and he said that’s it lets just be friends so I said to him no actually we're not going to be friends that’s a ridiculous thing to say. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry sorry all the time about me getting drunk but that I wont contact him again then because there's no point we'll leave and he replied with three kisses and that’s been it.

Yeh, but I just have a feeling you will hear off him again.

Ok.

I just feel you hear off him again I just sort of feel there is unfinished business with it do you know what I mean?

Yeh.

Did he sort of like you said did he approach you because I feel as though you caught his eye?

Question number 20. 

Yes that’s what he said to me I caught his eye when I stepped off the tube he waited for me to come outside but he said he spotted me as soon as I stepped off the tube.

Yes that's what I feel. Ok, I don’t know what it is but I'm just feeling he's in limbo for some reason, limbo.

Question, answer, repeat as if already known.

Ok.

and I don’t know whether it might be the mother of his child. I’m not saying he wants to be with her but I don’t know whether she's causing him issues or problems.

Yes.

which might have made him feel that you know he didn’t know what he was going to do if that makes any sense but has he been up to your house at all?

Question number 21.

No, we were going to come here but he hasn’t yet.

I don’t know I just feel he might be something where he's coming to your house if he hasn’t as yet then. So just remember it. I don’t feel I can say that that’s the end of it darling because I don’t feel that’s what I’m being given. I have just turned your cards and what I will say is I have got a snake there ok which obviously a snake to me normally in my cards is like somebody you cant trust or something like that but I'm not sure whether its actually him what I mean is I don’t know whether this is the person that’s around him.

Right, yeh

He doesn’t live with that person does he?

Question number 22.

No.

Right, I feel something about the house or something where that person is living, not him, the ex partner.

Yeh he’s given her the house and her as far as I’m aware and her and the children live there.

So I don’t know if she has caused a lot of grief about this house though, I just keep seeing it. Just remember because it may well come out ok. But you definitely have news coming in from a gentleman in your cards so you may well hear off him again. I don’t know what it is but I do feel that something clicked with you two.

Yeh.

A future prediction, kept vague, lots of maybes, ifs and buts etc. Nothing substantial here really. Just waffle to fill the reading up and waste time.

Do you know what I mean that’s what I’m saying its like he has got lots to be substantial way to be a relationship. Its just a shame that he done that but I just feel he’s under pressure and I feel that you will hear from so just remember that I said that darling alright.

Now is there anybody that’s coming up to or around the age of 40, because your granddad keeps showing me a 40 – a golden 40, now that could be a 40^th birthday or a 40^th anniversary somewhere?

I don't know... don't know.

Question number 23. Another question asked, a number thrown out in the hope that it hits somewhere.

Ok, well just take it for now and it may well come in in the future then ok. It might be somebody you are not aware of you might get invited to something ok.

So the medium fails here, and just leaves it with the client. Now why would the dead grandfather mention a 40th birthday/anniversary if the client would have no idea? Clearly the medium just chose a big birthday number, and threw it out in the hope she would know someone it could fit, either a birthday or anniversary, so really vague when you think of it like that, And then to say it might happen in the future, well of course it will happen in the future!

Have you been thinking about moving house?

No no!

Because in your cards, you've definitely got a house move in the future so if its not right now don’t worry but it may well come up in the future darling, but that may be more to do when you are actually living with someone I feel.

Yes.

Question number 24. Another question asked, gets a negative response, but then changes it to a future prediction, most people will eventually move house.

Now also keep in mind that if the client had answered the question with "Yes I just moved house" the medium would class that as a hit also, purely on the basis that they mentioned a house move! Either way it was another miss.

Now with your work at the minute you've not been getting a little bit down about your work or its not been difficult for some reason has it?

Yes I have, definitely.

Question number 25. Remember when the medium asked earlier if the client had been busy? Well know this is being used as prior knowledge to ask another question which is sure to get a positive answer.

Yes because in your cards I’ve got a lot of stress in your work. Is there anybody you have been having like problems with or somebody that you don’t get on with too well?

No, there have been a couple of people but nothing major but its more about whether I want to still do this job or not that’s the thing.

Question number 26. Remember that earlier the medium assumed and asked the question that the client worked from home, yet since the medium got a negative response from that, later in the reading the medium can confidently ask the question using stress from being at work with other people. So earlier on the medium assumed the client worked for themselves from home, so using that knowledge can now ask what is an opposite question and almost guarantee a positive result.

I understand that, I can see that, all I'll say to you is remember because these are your future cards there might be somebody who is little bit of a pain the backside there because you got the whip on that which may be an argument or not seeing eye to eye with someone but I feel that’s to do with work.

He keeps showing me a business in the future but I do believe you will do you haven’t had a pay rise where you are or anything like that have you?

No I haven't we had bonus but not a pay rise which we are disgruntled about.

Question number 27. Another question asked, yep you can see the next bit coming cant you!

Yes you just got the 4 leaf clover where work is concerning coming in and that’s money connected with work you see. I definitely see a change though I don’t feel that is what you will be dong for ever.

No neither do I.

So you see when you learn the general techniques that they use, it becomes very easy to spot and you can even predict how it will work. But if you do not know, or are not able to analyse things from an objective viewpoint, then of course these types of things are easy done to fool people not prepared or not familiar with the methods. This is why I keep pointing them out, so in the future you may just remember what I have said and start to spot the methods used yourself.

Do you know what I mean its not something that’s forever but financially you will be ok, you've got good finance cards for the future darling alright!

Yeh.

Has there been any health issues with anybody that you have been worrying about

for any reason?

Question number 28

No, no.

Because he just talking about health issues, I don’t know why but in particular he was showing me the back area or somebody's back.

Well I have got back problems and so has my dad.

So a question was asked that covered people other than the client, medium missed on this, so uses one of the most common ailments in human history, the bad back, as the next vague comment to throw out, this will nearly always get a hit, as it did here. I have a bad back, most people I know at some point have a bad back, in fact you could say the vast majority of people over 35 have some kind of back issue.

Ah right it might be yourself or your dad then that’s what it will be because he has asked about putting healing for that.

Thank you.

So medium asked a question, got theanswer, then repeats it back as if they knew all along.

Do you find this job a bit mundane now?

Yes

Question number 29. Do i really need to say what will come next?

because he just keeps talking about mundane same old same old.

Would you have remembered your granddad darling?

Question number 30.

Not very well because they lived in America so I didn’t really see him a lot I only remember from when I was small so I wouldn’t have known him really in my adult life.

No that's fine because he just makes me aware that he was around you you at some point so maybe that's when you were younger then.

And is there anybody who has knee problems as well?

Question number 31.

I have and my gran, my mum's mum has got knee problems.

Ok, because he is putting in healing for that so again like I said it could be yourself.

So lets just look at this here. the medium asks a vague question regarding health, and whatever the answer, the dead spirit is sending healing.

I guess this is done so that after the reading when the client remembers things, it will be something like "The medium knew I had a problem with my back and knee, how could they possibly have guessed something so specific" Yet clearly this was a question asked that could have referred to anyone.

Now I don’t know whether he is talking about you or somebody else but he's talking about somebody who struggles to sleep.

My dad.

Ah, so he has problems with that does he?

Yes.

Question number 32. Oh come on, really, the medium has to be that obvious.

Right ok darling, has he suffered with that for a while?

Question number 33. Has this medium made a single solid statement in this entire reading?

He has but he will say as well Emma because he stayed with me for a while and he will say oh I’ve not slept a wink and I'll be like funny that your snoring kept me awake but there are times when he does struggle and he has had for for quite a while sometimes.

Because his dad is trying to help him with that, that’s what he’s telling me alright.

So the dead grandfather is not only gonna send healing to everyone, he is also going to try to help his son sleep!

Talking of different like areas have you thought of moving to a different for any reason?

Not at the moment but sometimes you think about it but I am happy in my home so yeh.

No that’s fine, I don't necessarily feel like that these changes are just you doing it. I feel that when this person comes in or when you are with this person because you will definitely be in a full-blown relationship again because its in the cards, now I'm not saying its not the one that just walked away because I still feel hes quite relevant and if it wasn’t him it will be someone else but I just feel in the future you may well move areas from where you are alright but that's not nothing to worry about but like I say I still feel this other person is quite relevant.

Do me a favour, I want everyone to re-read that last paragraph, ok done it? Ok read it again. Can you see how many contradictions there are, it covers just about every possibility you can imagine!

You don't know a Dave or David do you?

Um my uncle David I know, my dad's brother.

Ah that will be his son then, that’s fine, ok

Question number 34. Another question, and guess what it is another insanely popular and common name in David. Again the question is asked, and the medium repeats back as if they had the knowledge after all.

You don’t have a dog do you?

No.

Question number 35. Notice how this question is asked. It is a very crafty way of asking a question using negative language, a person can answer this either yes or no, and both will seem like the correct answer.

Has anybody in the family got a dog?

Only on my mum's side, her mum's got one but nobody I know family-wise

Question number 36.

Oh right ok, this dog that your mums got then he's not got any health issues for any reason has he?

Its old but she got a replacement dog I think ready for when this dog passes away.

Yes I just feel like there is a leg issue with the dog because he is showing me a problem with the leg for some reason so that could be the old one then.

Could be.

Question number 37. So question asked, client answers, medium repeats back as if known all along. And ALL old dogs have problems with their legs! It is what happens when you get old!

Just remember it because he is just making me aware of the leg.

You see I feel like he's messing with the wrong one this gentleman where you are concerned because you are very strong headed he is telling me, and its like you wont sort of what's the word you wont sort of swoon to him if that makes sense.

Yes it does totally.

Yes that’s right so you shouldn't you know what I mean that’s what I say he will have to be him coming to you that’s why I feel like that will happen because it wont be you going to him.

No.

Did you have any issues with him about commitment before this happened anyway?

Question number 38.

Yes just before this happened out of the blue he just said to me I cant give you want you want I cant give you a relationship I cant give you love and I didn’t know what he was talking about I thought where has all this come from so just the week before we had all this conversation then he was saying I still want to be with you I still want see you, I still care about you but I cant have a relationship with you at the moment, you've mistaken my friendship and then it was all that and then he settled down a little bit and then he was like I still want to be with you and if we sleep together even though I cant have a relationship with with you, you will be the only one I sleep with I was like whoa hang on a minute that’s not happening.

Exactly its all or nothing isn’t it at the end of the day.

Some times I wonder how this can even pass as a psychic reading, it seems more like a conversation between people in the pub.

Yeh and we haven’t slept together and then obviously we then had a few days when we were ok then I got drunk and sent him some lovely funny text messages.

You sound just like me that’s what I do.

and that’s when he said.... so I don’t know where this whole relationship thing came from I don’t know.

It sounds like to me like for some reason he has a commitment issue or wobble or something but sometimes they need time away to think don’t they and all I will say to you is I certainly feel that you are still on his mind I think you know that but at the same time its what YOU want at the end of the day and this is your granddad saying its what you want, its all or nothing is what is coming in...

(inaudible)

I don't know why but I feel sometimes you've got to treat him like a child kind of thing.

Right yeh,

Does that make a bit of sense?

Yeh

(inaudible)

I just feel you have to put him in his place but at the same time I just feel he is very confused in his own head, and I don't necessarily think its about you I feel its just other things going on, alright.

Yeh

Again repeating back an opinion based on what the client has told the medium, nothing new or specific is stated here by the medium at all, and again comes across as a conversation you could have in the pub.

Your granddads talking about I (inaudible) You did make him much happier.

I felt that, he said to me that when I'm with you, because he's a policeman and he said when I’m with you I just feel like everything is ok you just make me feel so calm and you just make me feel... just, I love being with you.

He was telling you the truth because you cant always tell on the phone (inaudible)

Ok the sound is a bit dodgy here so I cant make out what is said.

Have you got children darling?

No.

Question number 39.

Are you wanting them?

No I cant have any.

Question number 40. 

Ah is that what it is right ok. I don't know if its you or somebody else, but have you ever had a miscarriage at all?

No.

Question number 41. Ok I hate when mediums go down this route, it is an old trick, and one that really disgusts me that they use.

Has anybody in your family?

I'm not sure I don't think so

Question number 42.

He’s talking about miscarriage or something like that, just remember it darling it might be something going further back if its not something you can think of.

Why would this clients dead Grandfather be talking about miscarriage? And especially when the client has no knowledge of it.

Many mediums will go down the miscarriage route, due to the fact that many many women have miscarriages, and even if they don't know they had one, the medium can insist they did but they didn't even know they were pregnant, use a heavy period as an example.

I really do think it is one of the sicker parts of the scripts they use and does disgust me.

Have you ever been to Australia??

No, no but my best friend has.

Question number 43. 

He is showing me that one day you may well take a trip there but he keeps showing me.

Yes definitely because one of my very good friends at work is Australian and she wants to go home.

Oh, maybe its connecting to that then. But I do feel you will go at some point.

Question asked, client answers, medium repeats back something that can be used as a future reference based on what the client just said.

He's talking about somebody whose got high blood pressure.

Yeh that’s my gran on my mum's side.

Why doesn't the medium say "your gran on your mothers side has high blood pressure" why do they insist on leaving it so vague and open ended? Oh wait, it is because they are NOT really speaking with the dead, they are just making vague guesses and asking vague questions. 

Well he's got healing for her.

Can I get some of that healing please as I got a back back at the mo!

There is a little lady who keeps stepping forward but she's not from your dads side, she's from your mother's side but she is giving me a grandmother link but it must be a great grandmother to you.

Yeh it will be.

She's not overly tall she's a shorter lady.

Yes she was short.

Great Grandmother is a guaranteed hit for having passed over, and to then state she was a shorter lady, has anyone IN THE WORLD who is reading this right now, have a TALL Great Grandmother? Seriously anyone?

Quite a small lady as well and I don't know if anybody has ever said to you that your similar to her in some ways but she is talking about she's similar to you but I don’t necessarily feel its looks I just feel like the strength part of it.

Ah right ok, she was a very strong woman, very strong.

Has anybody got a ring of hers here you know she keeps giving me a ring.

Question number 44. A very common occureance is to keep and wear a ring of someone close to you who has passed.

No but my my mum's got a ring of her father's, and she wears that around her neck.

That's probably what it is then.

So the medium asked a question, got her assumption wrong, and then states "that's probably what it is then", as if it all makes sense after the client has told her the answer!

Somebody would think about her quite often, and acknowledge her in their head, I don't know whether that's you or you mum or your nan but someone acknowledges her quite a lot.

It could well be my mum because my mum has recently has gone back to live in Jamaica where she grew up.

So the medium here is saying someone out of 3 generations will remember the 4th of that generation in their head! Well of course someone would! To say that no one would acknowledge her in their head would be more surprising!

Ah right yeh that will be your mum then.

YES BECAUSE THE CLIENT JUST TOLD YOU!!

You know he talking about that, your granddad again, you need you need to go with the flow, don't stress about things darling, things will fit into place. In the meantime just try not to worry about things, you do worry a lot.

Yes I do.

Of course she worries alot, that is why she has seeked out the advice of a medium and is paying a lot of money for a reading! In general people who do not worry or have stress etc dont waste their money on charlatans!

You know its important that you know this as well, because he is saying if somebody accepts you they accept everything about you and if they don’t accept everything about you then they are not good enough.

Yes, yes.

Notice how the medium keeps coming back to the clients relationship issues, issues that the client was the one who told the medium all about them! The medium has not made a single correct STATEMENT about this womans issues at all. Everything has come from the client, and the medium when struggling with other parts of the reading uses this as the easy thing to come back to, to make the reading feel like the medium was doing better than she really was.

In the psychic industry this is known as the "Anchor Point", a point in the reading that the medium can always return to, to get the reading back on track. And this is used by pretty much every medium.

You know you're fine as you are you don’t need to change in any way and you need to remember that.

Thank you and that's probably picking up from a conversation that I was having with somebody and they said don’t change who you are.

No exactly and you cant because you are who you are and you are unique aren't you, and at the end of the day if somebody loves you they accept anything about you. I’m the same as you when I get drunk or whatever, and my partner just gets used to it now I mean I’m not going to change, I like a drink and that’s how I relax and its never going to change, it took a while but he's used to it, you just cant change who you are, its impossible, so just remember that because he keeps saying it.

That’s good because actually funnily enough, I kept thinking if I speak to him again and I've said this out loud I will tell him that I will give up drinking and I wont text.....

No darling no, because what's the point because its not going to make you happy is it at the end of the day and that’s what you do to relax and you shouldn’t have to do that anyway. The thing is you're probably drinking more because he's winding you up so that’s his own fault, that’s the way I look at it whenever I have a drink its because he's wound me up so if he didnt do it it wouldnt be a problem.

No worries thank you.

General pub conversation again there, good for filling time which the client is paying for!

He keeps showing me decorating. You haven’t been decorating your house have you or changed your house around at all?

I have in recent months yes.

Question number 45. Its that old classic "have you been or are you thinking of decorating", every medium has this in their script, such a common thing. 

That's fine, have you got a garden, do you put flowers in or anything like ?

Question number 46.

No, not in the garden but I literally recently, for the first time ever, planted my own flowers in my little balcony.

because that’s what I'm see seeing planting flowers

So why didn't you state that first instead of asking a question?

and they're beautiful!

Aww lovely, ok ok, you know I feel like the next 2 to 3 months are going to be significant where this gentleman is concerned so all I would say to you is to watch this space and I actually feel that you obviously love him or you like him a lot but I feel you are the type of the person that can cut yourself off but he’s actually not, he's very sensitive actually and he wont be dealing with this well, if you know what I mean.

Ok.

Couple of random questions to pass time before back to the Anchor Point.

because he is talking about him being extra sensitive so he's more sensitive than you think.

Oh god Emma, that’s what I said to him because he is a big bloke, and he's like I’m all man, and I said to him you are the most sensitive man I've ever met in my life.

You're totally right, he’s not, he might look like that but it doesn't mean he is like that inside you know. I think there is more to know about him. I wouldn’t rule him because I do feel you will hear something from him again and to be honest I do like him, I just feel he's quite mixed up at the minute and I would just give him the benefit of the doubt.

Ok.

Like I said in the future you will move not saying overnight but when you do move you will be happy but I do think it will be with someone. You are not going to be staying there forever but I definitely see something where you will be working for yourself its weird how these things happen someone could approach you and say … (inaudible)

don’t think too hard about it you will be smiling … (inaudible) but I don’t see you being there a lot longer, I do see changes of work.

And funnily enough I was thinking shall I just give it up.

(inaudible)

You will be guided, your granddad is guiding you, but definitely you will have your own business, its going to come from somewhere and you may well think just think give up, and it will work out for the best. You've got your granddad and you've got great-grandmother looking after you up there.

And they're both the ones that came through the last two times.

Were they ah right, when I get back to speaking to people. Just stay positive and things will come right. That’s nice to know they are around you and helping you Well its been a pleasure talking to you

Thank you.

Right at the end there is an awkward moment whereby the client reveals that the medium has used the same two "characters" on two previous readings. And this is one of the reasons why this person came to me for help and advice and to look through the reading for them.

It took 3 readings with this medium before the client realised something was up, that being that the medium was repeating things and clearly using script questions and statements.

Looking through the reading an incredible 46 questions were asked, and since the reading came in at 28 minutes long, that is more than a question per minute.

The general flow of the reading was pretty classic in that the medium asked a question, the client answered, then the medium repeated back what they had learned as if they knew all along.

I hope after reading this people who are not so aware of some of the methods can understand that mediums ask a LOT of questions, and in a certain way. However good you think a reading is, if you listen to it back it will never seem as good as you thought. So lesson today is if you really have to have a reading, record it. And after listen to it, and note down on a piece of paper how many questions were asked. Because a real medium wouldn't have to ask any questions, in fact they would only ever make specific statements.

By Jon Donnis