Clairvoyant sightings

Many psychics are capable of clairvoyant sightings and are - by their own admission - in contact with the spirit world. The information they 'may pass on' to their clients largely comes from a guide, a deceased loved one or other spiritual helper.

Very, very possibly there are some psychics walking around the world who do have psychic abilities and can make clairvoyant observations. I have never met one myself. However, the fact that I have never seen a truly psychic does not mean that they do not exist.

Although I do not believe in the phenomenon of 'clairvoyant sightings ', I still keep a guard up. Although my mind has won out over wishful thinking, I am still open to new theories or even proofs regarding psychic abilities or an afterlife in any form. If someone could convince me of this, I will gladly look into it and certainly write about it with all my love. But so far, unfortunately, this is not yet the case.

Tricks

What I do know by now is that psychics, mediums and other paranormal counselors, while making so-called clairvoyant sightings, usually use the following techniques:

Cold reading
Hot reading
Warm reading

For hall performances, this is supplemented by:

Shooting
Switching

However, these techniques need to be very well practised by the medium. This requires a good deal of empathy and adaptability as well as alertness and wit. Not everyone would be able to give a good hall performance just like that, but after a lot of practice, anyone with common sense and sufficient social skills could, in principle, learn to do it, making it look like you can actually do clairvoyant sightings. Let's first focus on the techniques cold, hot - and hot reading.

Cold reading

While doing clairvoyant sightings, this technique is by far the most commonly used by mediums, clairvoyants and psychics. And not only by them. Police officers and detectives also frequently invoke this fascinating tactic during their interrogations.

Cold reading involves giving someone a lot of information about their interlocutor, without actually knowing anything about them. The result is that the person in question - often unnoticed - fills in the missing information himself. You could therefore also very well call it 'bluffing'.

Cold reading requires good questioning technique, attention to detail, people skills, empathy and life experience. Psychics often use cold reading to impress their client or audience. Some things that apply to almost everyone and are therefore potential hits:

medicines with an expired expiry date
foods (sauces, spices, mixes etc) that are past their sell-by date
an expired agenda
a box of loose old photos not pasted into an album
a door that sticks
a broken (cupboard) door in the kitchen
keys that are no longer used and it is not clear which lock they belong to
watch that stands still
a piece of jewellery whose clasp or chain is broken
clock whose battery needs replacing
clothing with the price tag still attached
a new purchase to improve the property
a cat or dog
a holiday in a caravan
a scar(s) on the knee
a scar(s) on the abdomen
visit to the hairdresser
toothache or visit to the dentist
ever had a miscarriage

When the medium masters the technique well and his assertion was just not quite right, he will immediately respond to this appropriately after his client's denial.

For example:

Medium: 'I see a broken door in the kitchen'.

Client: 'No, no door. Just a drawer that clips'.

Medium: 'Yes, I thought so. I saw something in the kitchen that's not working properly anymore, it's clamping a bit, I thought it was the door, but so it's the drawer.'

A client who firmly believes in the psychic abilities of this medium will still take his claim to be true and later tell him at home: 'He saw that the drawer in the kitchen is jammed'. While the medium was actually completely wrong in his claim about the broken kitchen door.

Double questioning

While doing clairvoyant sightings, a good way of asking questions is very important for a medium. With this, his reading stands or falls. Often, during a cold reading, a double question is preferred where all answers are possible, both yes and no.

For example:

Are you in a relationship now or not? (Is the answer no, the medium says: 'No, I thought so, in fact I see someone coming your way soon'. If the answer is yes, the medium might say: 'Yes, but sometimes things don't quite work out between you, there are sometimes some conflicts.')
Are you currently doing sports or not? (If the answer is no, the medium might say: 'But you would like to do some more sport.' If the answer is yes, and the questioner also looks quite toned, the medium is likely to say: 'I want to warn you about overdoing it, sometimes you overextend yourself a bit too much').
Do you currently have a pet or not? (If the answer is no, the medium may say: 'But you used to have one. This animal is still regularly near you in the beyond'. If the answer is yes, then one usually also says immediately what kind of animal they have. In that case, this is a 'present' for the medium and he can say: 'Yes, I used to see a cat with you all the time').

Fishing

And then there is the technique also known as 'fishing'. While doing clairvoyant sightings, this is the most brutal form of cold reading. In this, the psychic simply asks questions that he lets his client fill in himself, after which he can say: 'Yes, I thought I saw....' and then puts a spin on this regarding what the client might like to hear.

For example:

What about sports? (You participate in sports but not enough, you participate in sports but are injured, maybe you just started playing sports, you don't play sports but would like to start doing so, you don't play sports but you often watch your grandchild's football games, or...the deceased loved one you would like to receive a message from did play sports!)
What is it about music? (You are in a band yourself, you like to make music at home as a hobby, you don't do music but have the radio on every day, your daughter has just started music lessons or your son often has his radio on too loud, or...the deceased loved one you wanted to receive a message from before you visited the medium was a huge music lover!)
What about books? (You like to read books, you forgot to return your books to the library, you have just started a new study, you want to write a book yourself, or...the deceased loved one you would like to receive a message from had lots of books!
What's up with the TV? (You like to watch TV, the TV is broken, There has been a reception failure, you have just bought a new TV or are planning to soon or...the deceased loved one you would like to receive a message from liked to watch movies and series on TV!)

After asking the question, the medium listens carefully to the way (tone of voice, emotion) the client answers and observes the facial expression of the person in question. In this way, he knows exactly whether or not he has 'bite', can go further into the subject or whether it is better to go in a different direction.

Hot reading

Hot reading always involves prior knowledge. The medium obtains information in advance about the persons for whom he will do a reading. In the old days when there was no internet, this was not easy. Nowadays, many 'clairvoyant sightings' are based on information found on social media,

Mediums used to get their inside information mainly from the client's surroundings. This often involved visiting the local cemetery to look for graves bearing the same surname as the client in question. The medium would also ask for the client's date of birth in advance, to be able to make a character analysis.

Also used were accomplices who visited the client under false pretences or approached them on the street to extract information from them. Although it involved some ingenuity, there were many ways to get some useful information before the client the medium would actually meet.

Later, especially during hall performances, earphones were often used through which an accomplice of the psychic whispered information to him about certain people he had talked to and interrogated in the toilet or lobby, for example. Nowadays, it is not at all difficult to gain inside information. Google, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are the best friends of mediums, psychics and psychics.

Warm reading

And then there is warm reading. This technique is also often used in combination with cold reading while doing clairvoyant sightings. a warm reading mainly consists of reciting fairly general information that could apply to almost anyone, also called the Forer effect.

What is that, the Forer effect?

The study that US psychologist Bertram Forer conducted among his students in 1948 would later be called the Forer effect. Forer had his students take a personality test by having them answer questions on paper. In doing so, they had to give points (0 to 5) to the statements they recognised most in themselves.

A 0 indicated that it was not correct at all, a 3 that they partially agreed with it, a 5 that they fully agreed with it. After the students took the test, they handed it in and then they were all individually given on paper the results of the test they had taken.

What they did not know was that they all got the same result. The text of this result read:

You want others to like and admire you, but are also prone to self-criticism. Although your character has some weaknesses, you can usually compensate for them well. You have considerable untapped talent that you do not take advantage of. You exude discipline and self-control, but inside you are quite an insecure worrier. Sometimes you seriously doubt whether you have made the right decision or acted correctly. You like some variety and don't like it when rules and restrictions restrict your freedom of movement. You also pride yourself on being an independent thinker and don't just accept anything from others. But you know from experience that it is not wise to expose yourself too much. You can be extroverted, friendly and sociable, but also introverted, cautious and reserved. Some of your desires are quite unrealistic.

Interestingly, as many as 95% of the students recognised themselves in this text. This is possible because everyone always (consciously or unconsciously) relates everything they see, read or hear to themselves. So too while reading horoscopes, tarot cards and other divination techniques (divination) but certainly also while visiting a medium.

Especially if one pays a lot for a medium, one also wants the information to be accurate. Otherwise, it is a waste of money. The belief (expectation) in the medium completes the circle; the medium makes 'accurate' statements and the client leaves satisfied.

Shooting

During hall performances, shooting and switching are often used. Shooting involves the medium haphazardly calling out some information about a 'present energy' in the hope that someone in the audience will recognise this fictitious person as a deceased loved one.

For example:

'I have here a man, around 50, 60 years old who died of cardiac arrest. He is greying and has a slightly set build.'

The bigger the room, the higher the number of visitors, the more likely someone will recognise this 'present spirit'. When a number of people raise their finger, the medium gives some more information, until only one or two people are left with their finger up. From these two people, he chooses the most enthusiastic one. Because...the more enthusiastic the client, the better the medium will score!

After all, the client has paid money for the ticket, is also in the lucky position of being chosen for a reading, so this person will also very much want the information given by the medium to be correct. So that person will think very carefully about the information obtained and, if necessary, relate it to someone close to him. So that, if he cannot knit it together for himself, the information is still 'correct'.

If the client in question cannot place the information at all, the medium can always say at that point: 'You may not come up with it now, but keep it in mind. When you get home the penny will probably drop and you will know what I mean by this.'

Switching

Switching is another popular and frequently used technique in hall performances. When the medium has reached someone who just completely shuts up or really doesn't know what the medium is talking about, he switches to someone else in the environment. This can be the environment of the person in question at home (e.g. his/her brother, sister, son, daughter, or neighbour if necessary) or...the person sitting next to the person in the room!

For example:

'I see a tattoo. Do you have a tattoo anywhere on your body?'

Many people have tattoos these days. Also, many tattoos are nowadays put in memory of a deceased loved one whether or not with ink mixed with the ashes of the deceased. The medium can instantly 'bite' with this, but in some cases the medium is unlucky and the person in question is not in possession of such a graphic body decoration.

When the person in question denies, the medium switches to someone in her family. 'I can clearly see a tattoo after all. Has anyone close to you had a tattoo, a family member perhaps?' Often the medium has better luck with this announcement and the person will admit that her sister (or son or daughter) has recently had a tattoo. Or that he or she wants one soon.

In that case, the medium can skillfully respond to this and add that the information he is now getting from the deceased can be passed on to the woman's sister (or son or daughter).

Even if there are no tattoos in the woman's immediate circle of friends or family, the medium will stand firm. After all, he clearly saw a tattoo and cannot escape it now. In that case, he will ask someone close to the woman if she might have a tattoo. Is this the case, the medium says to the woman he was talking to: 'Apologies, I knew I had to look in this corner, but probably the message is meant for the lady behind you.'

The medium actually got bogged down with his claims, but because he managed to convince the audience with much fanfare that there really was something about a tattoo that he needed to elaborate on, he was able to 'switch' from one person to another unnoticed without having to admit in the process that he was actually completely wrong.

He will then be able to finish his story based on cold reading combined with a touch of hot reading. The woman in the room who now turns out to be the lucky one will also do her utmost to make the information she gets from the medium 'ring true' for herself, and he will be able to receive his 'well-deserved' applause afterwards.

Again; giving a hall performance is not easy. But I must admit that some 'mediums' are particularly good at this. Actually, giving a hall performance is nothing more than a one-man show making skilful use of psychological tricks and a bit of mentalism. In short: pure theatre...

When someone believes in the paranormal and therefore expected that the medium receives his messages directly from the afterlife, he will also react less critically to information that is actually not entirely - or not at all - correct. Not only the expectation plays a role here, but especially the wants it to be true. Nevertheless, one obtains this information not through clairvoyant sightings.

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