Are Phone Psychics Real or Fake? - 11/28/06

Dear Lipstick Mystic,

As part of a research project I was looking into phone psychics. Are phone psychics real or fake? Do you have any information about this? Thank you.

-- G. B.

Dear G.B.,

You're definitely on the right track in questioning the accuracy and legitimacy of phone psychic hotlines. Getting a psychic reading over the phone should be fun and inspiring, but some psychic hotlines are not legit. It makes it very hard for the average person to find a genuine psychic who will do a wonderful phone reading.

Part of the problem is that anyone can pick up a deck of tarot cards, read a beginner's guide to astrology or palm reading and learn enough of the "basics" that they can sound pretty convincing. Couple that with a strong persona that sounds good on the phone, and you have your "phone psychic" right there. Many unethical companies will hire these people instead of screening or testing them for genuine psychic ability.

But being psychic has nothing to do with reading tarot cards, using astrology, or reading palms. These can be tools that help to focus someone's concentration as they pick up genuine psychic information, but it's a mistake to automatically equate "psychic" with "tarot reader." They are different things.

Real Psychic Ability vs. Just Being a Tarot Reader

Think of it this way. Being psychic is an ability or talent, much like being musical and having a good singing voice is a talent (versus being tone deaf and unable to recognize different musical frequencies.)

Reading tarot cards is an activity, much like knitting or sewing or playing football.

People tend to confuse the two.

So if someone simply says "I read tarot cards" this is instantly equated with that person being psychic, when the two things are not the same. Don't automatically assume that just because someone knows the traditional interpretation for tarot cards like "The Lovers" or "The Chariot" that he or she is a genuine psychic.

The number of genuine psychics who have spent enough years refining their abilities so that they can access it on demand when they do professional readings is a relatively small segment of the population. On the other hand, the amount of people picking up a deck of tarot cards, learning enough of the "language" so they can fake their way through giving a reading and make it "sound" right, is pretty large.

There are a lot of people who read tarot cards who are also genuine psychics. But psychic abilities vary widely. Someone might have just a tiny bit of ability that is unpredictable and erratic, and her accuracy might vary depending on her nerves, energy level, and how much sleep she had the night before. But there are also people who have done their "homework." These folks may have given hundreds or thousands of readings for free long before they ever charged a dime to refine their abilities. This what I did in my late teens. These people's accuracy will be high and they are completely different from someone who is at a beginners' level of ability.

Finding a Real Phone Psychic

It's rare that the founders of a psychic hotline take the time to screen applicants for genuine psychic ability and training, but there are a few out there. The only one that I can personally vouch for is one I used to work for for several years. I worked for them as an astrology writer, and they offer various written astrology reports and genuine horoscopes. But they also have about 70 real psychics with varying degrees of specialty (some are tarot experts, some are energy sensitives or mediums, others are astrologers.) These counselors know what they are doing and have a good deal of expertise, from what I've found. They do live psychic readings over the phone.

This company is Astrocenter.

They run an ongoing special on phone readings. You can sign up with them and either get a free five minute psychic reading over the phone or go for ten minutes for only $2.99 as a new customer. After that, you can buy more minutes for as low as $1.25 per minute and either use those up right way to receive a longer phone reading or save them for use at another time. Astrocenter makes getting a phone reading fun and easy.

If you've been burned by fake phone psychics before or you've never had a psychic reading over the phone but would like to try one, I highly recommend the folks at Astrocenter. You can look over their list of practitioners and choose the person you'd like to speak to, which is also good. You can check out their photos and bios online. Getting a psychic reading over the phone is highly personal, so you'll want to choose someone you have a "good vibe" with.