My experience with a medium. Feeling depressed

I am going to leave this thread up, but this post appears to be a deliberate attempt to deceive, which is not allowed on this forum. It does not have the feel of authenticity, but rather reads like propaganda. Viewer discretion is advised.

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I am feeling quite depressed/let down/disappointed. A close family member passed away earlier this year. A few of us gathered together money and paid (amount redacted) dollars to have a phone reading with Medium (name redacted) The reading was pretty bad. Obvious cold reading, mixed with generic information. Of course, my wife and mother in law bought in and believed it; no doubt having their experience filtered by an emotional need and vulnerability. I, however, despite being a believer, left feeling profoundly disappointed. I couldn't even share my honest feelings with them, as I feared hurting their feelings. So I pretended to act as if it was an amazing reading. My wife even thought their was a special message in their for me, because Medium said someone by the name of "William, Bill, or Billy", was making himself known and stepping forward. If Medium didn't randomly list almost 20 other names that had no relevance during the session, maybe I would have believed. Off the top of my head, some of the names were : Matt, John, joe, nick, Andy, randy, sandy, rob, bob, Dan, Sara. In addition to William. There were more but I cannot remember right now. He also said the person died young, and when there was seeming hesitation, he said "young by today's standards." First he said the person died tragically, then changed it to unexpected. Some things were accurate, but this was in a "sea of misfires." It was like he was throwing darts at a target and seeing what would stick. Not to mention very general information about certain loved ones still living and how they were having trouble adjusting back to work, thinking about moving, etc.. Stuff that would effect most bereaved. I always prided myself on being able to tell who was more likely a "legite" medium and those who were more likely frauds. I never believed in certain mediums. I have read all of this mediums books and was convinced of his honesty and believed he was the real deal. I was sadly mistaken. It also seemed he was going off our tone of voice and inflection. When we said no or not sure or showed hesitation, he switched gears. When we said yes or had a quiver in our voice or showed emotion, he kept going with it.

I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone , just sharing my experience and I guess looking for consolation and feedback. Has anyone else been thru something like this and had their beliefs shaken by a similar experience? It has made me question mediumship altogether. Maybe that's an emotional knee jerk reaction but it's just how I feel at this point.

Thanks for listening.
 
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I'd never pay 1200 dollars !!! (Either USA or Australian) To be honest I don't think someone would charge that if they truly believed in Spirit?

Darren Brittain charged me £30 for about 40mins face to face, and refused to accept any money when he couldn't make a connection.
 
Has anyone else been thru something like this and had their beliefs shaken by a similar experience? It has made me question mediumship altogether.

Come on Bill, after seeing that every topic that you begin has opened with an anti-proponent premise, do you really expect me to fall for this? Your beliefs were very well established before you decided to pay a thousand bucks for a reading (for your sake, I hope that this isn't true) or to make up the story. I'm sorry if it seems cynical, but in my line of work you learn to become inmune to demagogue and a cold analysis of the story when compared to your previous history leads to a contrast that does not add up.

Edit: Nevermind being "sorry", I'm calling downright BS on this one. See below for more details.
 
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I'd never pay 1200 dollars !!! (Either USA or Australian) To be honest I don't think someone would charge that if they truly believed in Spirit?

Darren Brittain charged me £30 for about 40mins face to face, and refused to accept any money when he couldn't make a connection.
The fact that he quotes GA as his medium seems fishy to me, he is one of CSICOP's targets and some elements of his "personal story" seem awfully familiar... Beginning with the price tag: http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/close...and_kind_with_psychic_medium_george_anderson/

I am quoting Bill's original post here, just in case that he edits it later:

I am feeling quite depressed/let down/disappointed. A close family member passed away earlier this year. A few of us gathered together money and paid 1,200 dollars to have a phone reading with Medium George Anderson. The reading was pretty bad. Obvious cold reading, mixed with generic information. Of course, my wife and mother in law bought in and believed it; no doubt having their experience filtered by an emotional need and vulnerability. I, however, despite being a believer, left feeling profoundly disappointed. I couldn't even share my honest feelings with them, as I feared hurting their feelings. So I pretended to act as if it was an amazing reading. My wife even thought their was a special message in their for me, because George said someone by the name of "William, Bill, or Billy", was making himself known and stepping forward. If George didn't randomly list almost 20 other names that had no relevance during the session, maybe I would have believed. Off the top of my head, some of the names were : Matt, John, joe, nick, Andy, randy, sandy, rob, bob, Dan, Sara. In addition to William. There were more but I cannot remember right now. He also said the person died young, and when there was seeming hesitation, he said "young by today's standards." First he said the person died tragically, then changed it to unexpected. Some things were accurate, but this was in a "sea of misfires." It was like he was throwing darts at a target and seeing what would stick. Not to mention very general information about certain loved ones still living and how they were having trouble adjusting back to work, thinking about moving, etc.. Stuff that would effect most bereaved. I always prided myself on being able to tell who was more likely a "legite" medium and those who were more likely frauds. I never believed in Sylvia Browne or James van praagh. I have read all of George's books and was convinced of his honesty and believed he was the real deal. I was sadly mistaken. It also seemed he was going off our tone of voice and inflection. When we said no or not sure or showed hesitation, he switched gears. When we said yes or had a quiver in our voice or showed emotion, he kept going with it.

I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone , just sharing my experience and I guess looking for consolation and feedback. Has anyone else been thru something like this and had their beliefs shaken by a similar experience? It has made me question mediumship altogether. Maybe that's an emotional knee jerk reaction but it's just how I feel at this point.

Thanks for listening.

Now, compare his "personal story" with the one in the link:

CSICOP propaganda said:
The session begins with Anderson’s announcement that “immediately a male presence comes forward... [pause, then under his breath] and two females follow.” Eve’s body language and verbal feedback help establish the sex of the deceased party with whom she desires communication. But age, unlike sex, presents nearly a hundred possibilities. Anderson: “He claims he passed on young? [Here he pauses due to apparent absence of feedback.] Excuse me, relatively young by today’s standards, yes? That means seventy down.” So, Eve’s son did not cry out: “Mom, I’m here!” or, to Anderson, “My name is Adam. I was killed at age twenty-five in an auto accident.” Instead, Adam decided to play a variation of the children’s games “Hot and Cold” and “20 Questions.” After some inane byplay with Eve (of the sort that occupied most of the session), Anderson continues: “He’s already on the defensive, saying [again], ‘I passed over young by today’s standards,’ but he wasn’t a child.” Anderson has obviously gone fishing: Husband? Son? Father?

At this point, only fifty-five seconds into the fifty-two-minute session, any “thinking” person should recognize that this “communication” simply cannot be genuine. The intact sentences that Anderson claims to relay are so ridiculous (the above example being but one) that I can only shake my head in bewilderment at the gullibility of his supporters.

Still floundering for the nature of their relationship, Anderson continues: “He says he’s your sweetheart, understood? [Pause—apparently not.] But not romantically? [Pause—Eve says, ‘I don’t know.’] I think I have two people; one states he is your sweetheart romantically, yes?” But he had earlier specified one male and two females. This sort of transparent game-playing, and Anderson’s excuses (such as, “He [Adam] said [‘sweetheart’] to be funny”) wastes minute after minute—at more than $20 each.

One needs to listen to the entire recording to appreciate the endless stream of wild guesses and proffered questions that don’t offer any specific information from or about the “next level” of existence.

Anderson’s excruciating attempts to divine the departed’s name continue intermittently until finally resolved at about the half-way point. At thirteen minutes: “He is now telling me his first name is short.” Eve offers a “yes” but no more, and Anderson abandons this attempt. At about sixteen minutes he tries again: “He doesn’t have the most common first name . . . but you can shorten it? [Actually, no.] He showed me six letters, but it’s less than that?” [Eve offers another “yes.”] A bit later: “[The] letter ‘J’—anything to do with him?” Then, “Now why did your son say ‘A, B, C, D’ and he stopped, understood?” He offers the names “Kyle” and “Keith,” both incorrect. He again moves on. At about thirty-seven minutes, after playing more letter games and with more help from Eve: success! (Though certainly not in my book.)

At forty-three minutes into the session, we learn why Anderson (and presumably his cohorts) would still choose to play such games even if they truly possessed their claimed abilities rather than spend the hour providing a treasure trove of information about the great beyond to their grieving, paying (through the nose) clients: “To me, it would be boring as hell if you walked into the room and he said, ‘Hi. I’m her son. My name is [Adam]. I died in a car accident.’ Everything would just be an assembly-line bore. This makes it very challenging...and exciting to work it out.”

And, as if he were being paid by the hour like Anderson, at fifty-two minutes Adam decides to “pull back” and depart the premises, having imparted not one iota of information about the afterlife to his beloved mom, aside from Anderson’s platitudes that he is all right and at peace. But he was thoughtful enough to provide Anderson with some time for a coffee or bathroom break before the next assembly-line client’s arrival at the top of the hour.

There was, however, one sliver of a silver lining in this mephitic affair: Eve, though $1,200 lighter in the pocketbook, is now much richer of mind. She has become a skeptic.

Yeah, the exact price tag and the "young by today standards" part was enough to see that this was likely a copy, although I give Bill some points for taking the same elements and twisting them for his "personal experience". I believe that this is another example of what Jim calls "skeptic misdirection", he is pulling at people's heart strings in order to get a sympathetic reaction and push his agenda. If its not, prove me wrong, post an image of the charge in your credit card balance (only the relevant part, I don't think that anyone here is interested in messing with your identity).

Edit: Included a quote of the content of Bill's original post.
 
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Thanks for sharing your experience, Bill. I'm sorry it turned out that way, particularly during this time after your loss of a family member.

Personally I've never been to a medium, but one of my close friends who lost first his brother and a few years later his wife, had a consultation with a medium, with a similar lack of results.

It certainly can lead to question either or both the possibility of mediumship, or its role in supposedly comforting the bereaved.

On a personal note, after my own father passed away, I had several dreams, some muddled and chaotic, others clearer and more meaningful in which he appeared. Yet my mother (his widow of course) had no such dreams, I don't think she had any dreams of him after he passed.

The whole area of contact or dialogue with the deceased is difficult to understand, it certainly doesn't seem to be a predictable and well-understood phenomenon.
 
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Thanks for sharing your experience, Bill. I'm sorry it turned out that way, particularly during this time after your loss of a family member.

Personally I've never been to a medium, but one of my close friends who lost first his brother and a few years later his wife, had a consultation with a medium, with a similar lack of results.

It certainly can lead to question either or both the possibility of mediumship, or its role in supposedly comforting the bereaved.

On a personal note, after my own father passed away, I had several dreams, some muddled and chaotic, others clearer and more meaningful in which he appeared. Yet my mother (his widow of course) had no such dreams, I don't think she had any dreams of him after he passed.

The whole area of contact or dialogue with the deceased is difficult to understand, it certainly doesn't seem to be a predictable and well-understood phenomenon
.

That is quite interesting... Unfortunatedly, I can't say the same for Bill's post (please see above).

In your case, did he ever seem "luminous"? My mother says that she saw my uncle the night that he passed on and that he seemed luminous. On the other hand, I was present when he died and did not experince that kind of thing, despite being quite traumatized (I was 9 at the moment) and being involved in the CPR process along my aunt, a RN herself.
 
Mr Flowers,

Perhaps your post has brought attention to one thing I may have overlooked.. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the medium. I am not trying to talk bad about anyone. I simply wrote the post, the first opportunity I had, without pre thought, coming from an emotional place, rather than a thoughtful one. Maybe it wasn't right to name anyone and maybe I should edit the name out, but what good would that do, if it's now been quoted in your post.

I don't know how to convince you of the sincerity of the post. I'm being honest.

With regards to any previous posts, it's the same thing. I usually don't post and have been a longtime "lurker" before signing up and posting every once in a while, and usually only do so when certain things are bothering me and I want to dialogue about it.

You do make an interesting observation though. You mentioned my previous posts and how they seem to represent a certain stance. Maybe it points out my own constant inner conflict regarding these matters, which eventually leads me to post something about it. It's almost as if I post something that's troubling me, and hope someone can refute it or make me feel better about it. It's my constant battle of mind vs heart. What I want to believe, but have so much doubt about.

Finally, regarding your idea to post a screen shot of a credit card. I'm sorry, I will not do that. I paid my mother in law and she paid for it and did all she had to do as far as paying and setting up the day and time of the reading. I'm not gonna ask her for a screen shot. I have no desire to prove to you that I'm sincere. I was just looking for some feedback or support.
 
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Oh, I already mentioned that demagogue does not work on me. But, I don't think that I need convincing, that's the beauty of differing opinions. I see too much of a pattern to let it slip, but maybe you are telling the truth.... Who knows? Just let people do the comparison and come to their own conclusions.
 
T
The fact that he quotes GA as his medium seems fishy to me, he is one of CSICOP's targets and some elements of his "personal story" seem awfully familiar... Beginning with the price tag: http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/close...and_kind_with_psychic_medium_george_anderson/

I am quoting Bill's original post here, just in case that he edits it later:



Now, compare his "personal story" with the one in the link:



Yeah, the exact price tag and the "young by today standards" part was enough to see that this was likely a copy, although I give Bill some points for taking the same elements and twisting them for his "personal experience". I believe that this is another example of what Jim calls "skeptic misdirection", he is pulling at people's heart strings in order to get a sympathetic reaction and push his agenda. If its not, prove me wrong, post an image of the charge in your credit card balance (only the relevant part, I don't think that anyone here is interested in messing with your identity).

Edit: Included a quote of the content of Bill's original post.

after looking at that, it makes me feel worse. Ur right, it is very similar and I can see why one would make the same assumption or reach a similar conclusion you have. However, all I can say is I'm being honest and after reading that and noticing the similarities. It makes me feel worse because it's almost like he has some sort of template he uses or goes off of. Just further solidifies in my mind the lack of authenticity of our personal reading.
 
Oh, I already mentioned that demagogue does not work on me. But, I don't think that I need convincing, that's the beauty of differing opinions. I see too much of a pattern to let it slip, but maybe you are telling the truth.... Who knows? Just let people do the comparison and come to their own conclusions.


Alright fair enough. But now I think I should edit the name out because I would like honest support and don't want people thinking I'm lying
 
With regards to any previous posts, it's the same thing. I usually don't post and have been a longtime "lurker" before signing up and posting every once in a while, and usually only do so when certain things are bothering me and I want to dialogue about it.
One thing I would say, and this is something which niggles me somewhat on other forums, regardless of subject matter. I'd like to see more posts from yourself, as the person making an opening post in a thread. If there's one thing which causes mistrust, whether warranted or otherwise, is to open a topic and then stand back and watch the replies pour in, with neither agreement nor disagreement from the OP. It's hard to know whether anyone is being helpful under such circumstances. My apologies if this seems a bit harsh, I may be bottling up some frustration built up from other forums I frequent.
 
One thing I would say, and this is something which niggles me somewhat on other forums, regardless of subject matter. I'd like to see more posts from yourself, as the person making an opening post in a thread. If there's one thing which causes mistrust, whether warranted or otherwise, is to open a topic and then stand back and watch the replies pour in, with neither agreement nor disagreement from the OP. It's hard to know whether anyone is being helpful under such circumstances. My apologies if this seems a bit harsh, I may be bottling up some frustration built up from other forums I frequent.

Quite, this will almost always set off the "flamebait alarm" of experienced users.
 
That is quite interesting... Unfortunatedly, I can't say the same for Bill's post (please see above).

In your case, did he ever seem "luminous"? My mother says that she saw my uncle the night that he passed on and that he seemed luminous. On the other hand, I was present when he died and did not experince that kind of thing, despite being quite traumatized (I was 9 at the moment) and being involved in the CPR process along my aunt, a RN herself.
Thanks for asking. No, I don't recall any particular luminosity. I was present when my father passed, peacefully, after a difficult illness, I noticed nothing unusual at that time.

The thing I do recall from several occasions is a sense of vivid reality, including physical touch. One of these was when my father appeared for the first time in what seemed years, and it was the same week that one of my uncles passed (something of which I was unaware at the time). This feeling of actual physical contact is almost shocking when it occurs, not because it is unusual (which it is) but because it is so ordinary, that is so much like this waking reality.
 
Thanks for asking. No, I don't recall any particular luminosity. I was present when my father passed, peacefully, after a difficult illness, I noticed nothing unusual at that time.

Thank you for sharing!

The thing I do recall from several occasions is a sense of vivid reality, including physical touch. One of these was when my father appeared for the first time in what seemed years, and it was the same week that one of my uncles passed (something of which I was unaware at the time). This feeling of actual physical contact is almost shocking when it occurs, not because it is unusual (which it is) but because it is so ordinary, that is so much like this waking reality.

Woah! I recall only experiencing "touch" in my dreams once during a lucid dream, and my first impression was "How is this possible?" (I can still recall that I "felt" the hand of a family member in the dream), experiencing it several times is certainly extraordinary.
 
One thing I would say, and this is something which niggles me somewhat on other forums, regardless of subject matter. I'd like to see more posts from yourself, as the person making an opening post in a thread. If there's one thing which causes mistrust, whether warranted or otherwise, is to open a topic and then stand back and watch the replies pour in, with neither agreement nor disagreement from the OP. It's hard to know whether anyone is being helpful under such circumstances. My apologies if this seems a bit harsh, I may be bottling up some frustration built up from other forums I frequent.

The OP was only written at 7:53 this morning, and he has already made three replies ?
I think you're being a bit harsh. Maybe a ten minute stint on the punchbag might make you feel better. What other forums do you visit ? :D
 
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One of the other dreams I had was when a friend, one of a circle who used to gather to play music and sing (along with an occasional lubricating beverage), some time after his early death, appeared in a dream. He was sitting across a table from me, looking much younger and healthier than he had in his last years. In the dream I don't think we exchanged words, but I was in tears (within the dream) overcome with emotion at this happy reunion.

Actually, though nothing is guaranteed, and everyone is different, I think it is very common for the bereaved to feel the presence of the deceased, one way or another, even when wide awake. I don't think this is all 'wishful thinking', some of these experiences are too personal and profound.
 
The OP was only written at 7:53 this morning, and he has already made three replies ?
I think you're being a bit harsh. Maybe a ten minute stint on the punchbag might make you feel better. What other forums to you visit ? :D
Thanks. Though your reply makes sense in this context, I was referring to the overall activity on this forum including earlier threads.
 
What other forums do you visit ? :D
Well, I won't bother to list them, but just say that they deal with technical subjects where while there may be a range of opinions on the relative merits of different solutions, generally the theory is solid and well-established. One can learn a lot about how people behave from such forums. Some people are excessively grateful when they receive a helpful answer. Others act deeply offended at any correct replies and only want to hear their own misconceptions validated. To see such a range of responses in unambiguous, well-established fields can be very illuminating.

My apologies for this off-topic reply. Also I'd like to apologise for any offence I may have caused in this or earlier replies.
 
I'm appalled by the behavior of E. Flowers and Craig Weiler towards Bill. As far as you know, you've just shit all over someone who is feeling hurt and vulnerable.

A decent human would keep their suspicions to themselves under these circumstances. The chance that someone might be fooled does not justify the harm of aggravating someone's depression.

Linda
 
I'm appalled by the behavior of E. Flowers and Craig Weiler towards Bill. As far as you know, you've just shit all over someone who is feeling hurt and vulnerable.

A decent human would keep their suspicions to themselves under these circumstances. The chance that someone might be fooled does not justify the harm of aggravating someone's depression.

Linda

Thanks Linda. I appreciate the support. I am being completely honest and I say that on the life of my daughter. This was my experience and what happened. I have no intention or desire to lie or mislead. And yes I am feeling very effected by this experience. It's left me doubting all sorts of things.
 
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