Page 67 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - October / November 2018

Can Psychics Really Talk To The Dead? 67

Here to Hereafter: Can Yet their powers have never been proven under
controlled scientific conditions, and their track
Psychics Really Talk to the records of success are spotty at best. In a 2002

case, Browne, a regular on the "Montel
Dead? Williams" show, told the parents of missing
child Shawn Hornbeck that their son was dead.
By Benjamin Radford His body, she said, would be found in a wooded
area near two large boulders, and that he had
been kidnapped by a very tall, "dark-skinned
In the Clint Eastwood film "Hereafter," Matt
man" who wore dreadlocks. In fact, Hornbeck
Damon stars as George, a man who has the
ability to communicate with ghosts. George, and another boy were found alive five years later
in the home of a Caucasian, non-dreadlocked
who retired from the contacting-the-dead
Missouri man named Michael Devlin who had
business (calling it a curse instead of a blessing)
kidnapped them.
is reluctantly drawn back into doing readings
There are even entire towns whose
for people who have recently lost loved ones.
populations claim to get messages from the
People in nearly every culture have long
dead. For example, each year more than 20,000
believed that communication with the dead is
people visit New York's Lily Dale Assembly, the
possible, and throughout the ages many people
oldest and largest Spiritualist community in the
have claimed to be able to speak with the dearly
departed. Ghosts and spirit communication United States. The dozen or so permanent
resident mediums offer their psychic services to
often show up in classic literature, including
tourists.
mythology, the Bible and Shakespeare's plays.
Despite more than a century of research,
For well over a century, many mediums
science has yet to validate the afterlife, ghosts or
have been caught faking spirit communication.
psychic powers. Of course, speaking to the dead from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or
Harry Houdini exposed many psychics as frauds
requires no special skill or ability; it's getting a crafty science to discover where or in what
who used trickery to make vulnerable people
response that's the hard part. Shakespeare noted manner anything that is supposed to have been
believe in the reality of spirit messages. (For
this in "Henry the Fourth, Part I," when stolen or lost may be found."
more on this, see Massimo Polidoro's book
Glendower claims to have psychic abilities: "I The law doesn't mention anything
"Final Séance," Prometheus Books, 2001).
can call spirits from the vasty deep," to which specifically about promising to commune with
Whether real or faked, the messages
his cousin Hotspur replies, "Why, so can I, or so the dead — something the language on Baird's
supposedly conveyed from the great beyond
can any man. But will they come when you do website also carefully dances around, stating
have changed dramatically over time. A century
call for them?" [] that she teaches people to be "more intuitive"
ago, mediums "in touch with the spirit" during
and gives them a chance to "ask your loved ones
séances would write pages and pages of
"automatic writing," the psychic's hands TV Medium Accused Of questions on the other side."
allegedly guided by ghosts to convey lengthy Ripping Off Grieving
handwritten messages. Psychic industry a lucrative one
Curiously, ghosts seem to have lost their Family Who Paid $525 For
will (or ability) to write since that time — or Only a handful of people have been prosecuted
even communicate effectively. These days the Reading Never Received for being psychics under the witchcraft law in
Canada, which is being considered for repeal by
spirits (as channeled through mediums) seem to
the Senate, as financial fraud is a much easier
prefer a guessing game and instead offer only
Continued from Page 41
ambiguous, vague information: "I'm getting a case to make and is more commonly used.
"In over 30 years of practice as a
presence with the letter M, or J in the name? A
An intangible service prosecutor, I can't think of a case where such a
father, or father figure perhaps? Did he give you
charge was laid," said Bob Sigurdson, who
something special to remember him by,
Parhar said it's also unclear whether or not retired from the Crown's specialized prosecution
something small?" In Victorian England, it was
someone could claim a psychic or medium had service.
fashionable in many circles to conduct séances;
committed fraud if the appointment did occur "The bottom line is you still have to
Ouija boards, three-legged tables, candles and
but the customer felt they had been scammed, as prove a fraudulent intent … whether or not
other accoutrements were used to try to contact
the service they offer is intangible. witchcraft or fortune-telling is legitimate, if you
the dead. In the U.S., belief in communication
"A lot of people believe in psychics and have someone going around taking money on
with the dead rose dramatically in the 1800s
it can be argued that the psychic themselves the promise to fulfil this obligation … certainly
along with the rise of Spiritualism, a religion
that's offering the service may or may not it's possible one could be charged with Criminal
founded on hoaxed spirit communication by
believe in the validity of what they're doing. It's Code fraud."
two young sisters in Hydesville, N.Y. Despite
more clear-cut when we look at things like The psychic and medium industry is an
the fact that the sisters later admitted they had
financial fraud," she said. unregulated one in Canada, but it can be big
only been pretending to get messages from the
But the nature of the service could come business. A report from market research firm
dead, the religion they helped start flourished,
into play during sentencing if charges were IBISWorld found the U.S. psychic industry was
claiming more than 8 million adherents by
brought forward. bringing in about $2 billion a year, and was
1900.
"It would be taken into account by the forecasted to continue growing over the next
If spirit communication is real, one
court as an aggravating factor that this person is five years. []
might think that countless unsolved homicides
possibly preying on people that are trying to find
and disappearances could be easily solved
some type of closure in the death of a loved
simply by contacting the dead and getting
one," Parhar said.
specific, incriminating evidence about the
There's also another, much more obscure
circumstances of their deaths.
part of the Criminal Code that can be used to
In "Hereafter," George repeatedly views
prosecute psychics and mediums — a law
his ability as a curse. But in reality, those who
against witchcraft.
claim to be psychic mediums (such as James
Section 365 of the criminal code states
van Praagh, John Edward, Alison DuBois, and
that it's against the law to fraudulently pretend
Sylvia Browne) eagerly exploit their "curse,"
"to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft,
making millions of dollars on book deals,
sorcery, enchantment or conjuration, undertakes,
appearances, private readings and TV shows.
for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or pretends