“You’ve got some bad past life energy around you and you need to get rid of it or you’re not going to find love. I have some (insert: bath salts, oils, crystals, candles, etc.) that can help. You need to purchase this. It’s $1,000 and I take credit cards. If you don’t buy it today, the price goes up” said a local, transplanted psychic to me.
I knew the second I walked into her office that I shouldn’t be there. I knew it. It felt wrong. It felt slimy somehow. Maybe it was my emerging spidey sense that set me off; maybe it was because she ate her (smelly) fast food hamburger and fries during my session. Maybe it was because she raised the price of the tarot reading when she discovered I was interested in learning about love. Or maybe it was because she put an egg timer – a TICKING egg timer – on her desk. Whatever it was, I was put off by her conduct and attitude. It wasn’t friendly or welcoming; it was cold and aloof.
“Uhhhhh” I stammered, as my eyes opened wider, “I, I don’t have that kind of money.” She replied, “Your choice, but you won’t get rid of this energy without it” thusly playing into my fear that I wouldn’t find love (without her help, that is). I left without purchasing whatever product she was selling but I had allowed her word arrow to hit its mark; I believed I wouldn’t find love even though, on some level, I knew better.
While I no longer believed a certain ‘energy infused’ candle, bath salt, etc., was the key to my happiness nor would it remove negative energy, I was still bothered by what was said. I turned to the only person I trusted with stuff like this; Susie.
Susie, with her gentle, calming, loving voice that was full of compassion said, “Oh honey. No. Please don’t buy into any of that. You WILL find love. There is no potion you need to drink or any type of elixir you need to buy. You’re fine. Just keep believing, trusting and walking your path.”
I felt, even back then when I was just beginning to be cognitively aware of my spiritual journey, the difference in their energy. One dealt in fear, the other in compassion. But, as with all things that change one’s life, that encounter helped shape how I would relate to my future clients.
Prior to this experience and prior to me finding Susie, I had gone to another local, but transplanted psychic. I had been seeing her for about a year when she suggested I buy a crystal she had found especially for me. She said how she knew saving money was important to me but that this crystal would help with so much. I had built a relationship with her, or so I thought, and did what she suggested. I paid, gulp, an embarrassingly large amount of money for a crystal that was probably worth $20. All because I believed in her and believed in what she was telling me.
My gut was telling me not to buy the nauseatingly expensive crystal, but I trusted this psychic and thought she had my best interests in mind. At the time I was in a lot of emotional pain and was reaching, blindly, for any port in the storm. Sadly, she was reaching for her pocket book.
In the following months, she suggested I spend $1000 on two white tapered candles that she had meditated over and infused with psychic healing energy. That’s where I drew the line even though she was saying all the right things. The ridiculously priced crystal was supposed to be the end all of end all so why would I need candles? When I asked that exact question, her eyes widened and she said, “Oh! The crystal will take care of everything but these candles are in addition. They are issue specific.” That’s when our ‘relationship’ ended. I felt betrayed and worse, I felt like a fool.
As with any profession, or in nature itself for that matter, there are predators. Some are obvious, like the psychic I described in the beginning of this story and some are not so obvious or even insidious, if you will, like the last one I described. I can’t blame a person for trying to make a buck but I have a real problem with others using intuitive gifts to exploit people’s vulnerabilities/dreams/wishes/desires. I have a HUGE ethical and moral problem with that.
People who seek the wisdom/services of psychics or intuitives are usually searching for answers and may be in deep emotional pain; they are often very vulnerable. They may easily trust in those that seem to have accurate information they (psychics) have no reasonable or comprehensive way of knowing.
How do you know if your psychic or intuitive is ethical, morally responsible and/or has integrity? One way might be to see if they use fear or manipulation to motivate you into buying services or products. Are they pushy? Do they say, “If you don’t return for x number of visits, the bad karma won’t be lifted” or “If you don’t buy this, your problems will continue.” If so, the proverbial shoe may fit.
But it wasn’t all a head slap moment for me. I came to realize it wasn’t the crystal that helped me; it was believing the crystal would help. That belief changed my thought pattern and helped attract a different, lighter energy. Geez though, talk about an expensive placebo or in this case, an expensive paper weight. Oy!