I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy reading the Postsecret website. People are encouraged to put their secrets onto a post card and mail them anonymously to Frank Warren, the creator of the site. Sending anonymous secrets to a stranger so they can be read by all seems to be emotionally cathartic for the sender. It also helps the reader realize that other people are experiencing similar difficulties (or joys) in life.
The last Postsecret post card that I wrote about was from a minister who said (indirectly) that he felt other ministers knew that religion was a scam, a scam he was in on.
This card is something like that, from someone who is respected for a non-existent ability to talk to the dead. I feel sorry for this person because he is trapped by his (or her) “respectable” position. Perhaps he or she is making a living talking to the dead; like John Edward or James Van Praagh.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if this card actually was from Edward or Van Praagh?
Hm… Maybe I don’t feel so sorry… those creeps have made a bundle by raping the emotions of the bereaved.
I once believed in mediums. I used to think the Ouija board actually worked. I’ve since realized I was only fooling myself. And I’m not the only person to come to that sort of realization. Even skeptics can deceive themselves that ghosts exist. And although it is easy to fake psychic powers, or fake being a medium, (link 2) it is also easy to believe in your own fake fortunetelling.
Of everyone that a “ghost whisperer” or psychic has to fool, the easiest one to fool is yourself.
And if you make a living at talking to or promoting ghosts, or being a psychic, I guess you have to find a way to live with yourself. Perhaps you are merely “telling stories” for entertainment value – but you should be prepared to offer a disclaimer. CSI writer Philip Howard related an anecdote about that:
A listener once asked a popular national storyteller if she believed the ghost stories she related. “I believe they paid for my children’s college educations,” she replied.
I enjoy a great ghost story.