I've never had a reading done but I have run into people who do various kinds of readings who have made uncannily accurate observations about me.  For example one woman, who I had never met before, pinned down my birth sign after talking to me for maybe 5 minutes.  I don't know if that speaks to such people having any supernatural ability or if it merely shows that they have exceptional observational skills.

I never have and advise against it. I think it's usually nonsense but occasionaly the "psychic" may be dabbling in the occult/demonic realm. It's safest to stay away.

No psychic has ever stood up to scrutiny.  Unless they admit they are entertainers, they're frauds.  That said, the stuff they claim to know is not really much different than the things religions claim to know.

I like the line "Why do they ask your name when you call the  psychic help line. Shouldn't they already know your name and the reason for your call?!"

double post

I went to see a psychic a few weeks ago.

It was uncanny the stuff she told me about my brothers.   She also told me to stop hating the song "I thank God for Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks because it is really true and it would become my favourite song in a few months.

She told me I would meet my soul mate in Red Deer in February.  We would together forever.  So we will see.

They aren't my cup of tea, but I have a good friend who has been going to them for years.  I think that they are sort of a substitute for professional therapy (which varies in greatly in quality).   She seems happy with going to them.   

Does the United Church have a "policy" or an advisory about having readings done? I have gone with friends - for fun only- and been taken aback with how several things played our correctly over a period of years. Information she gave me is very specific. I somehow feel that this is "wrong" to do but I found great comfort in some of the things she said - they were certainly not anything that I am not stronger for having heard.

How is a psychic different than a prophet? Do I dare to ask that question?

First, there is no question that you can think of, that you should feel ashamed for asking.  Any religion or religious figure that tries to limit what you can question, can be dismissed in an instance as a fraud and should themselves feel ashamed.

Second, it sounds like what you experienced was a "cold reading".  The link goes to the website of famed magician and skeptic James Randi, who explains the techniques used for cold reading and how these "phychics" trick you into giving away information and how their readings are vague, yet they make it seem as if they have some hidden source, while what they are telling you could apply to almost anyone.

Going back to your question, "How is a psychic different than a prophet?", there are plenty of similarities.  Prophets like Joseph Smith are a dime-a-dozen - there are lots of self-proclaimed "prophets" out there today.  Some prophesies just have greater staying power than others, but all a prophesy is, is something that hasn't yet happened (Jesus returning), or something that was obviously going to happen, or easier still, prophess that something that did happen, is going to happen.  That last one is a slam-dunk, so religion loves to use it.

There are, likewise, plenty of psychics.  When tested under a controlled situation, they always bomb.  Always.  James Randi has been dangling $1 million in front of their noses for years, and they can't come close to claiming it by demonstrating psychic powers.

In the end, you've listed two groups that are filled with professional con artists and the mentally unwell.  They share much in common.

Depends on which definition of prophet you mean. "Prophet" really doesn't mean someone who foretells the future or sees hidden things (both of which psychics do), though that may be part of prophecy, hence our tendency to use the term that way. Really a "prophet' in the traditional sense is one who speaks truth, often, but not always, truth coming from their particular divinity.

Mohammad, for instance, didn't do a lot of predicting. His primary role was speaking truth that he believed was handed to him by God.

Isaiah is often portrayed as making predictions, but when you look at him in context, IMO, he is really calling attention to injustice, telling what the world could be look if God's justice prevailed, and offering encouragement to the faithful. The notion of him predicting Christ's coming is a reinterpretation of that message by Jesus' followers.

Martin Luther King Jr. is regarded as a prophet by many, not because of any predictions he made (which were more vague, encouraging messages than real predictions) but because he called attention to injustice and led people to fight against it.

So, I would argue that while many today might equate "psychic" and "prophet", it's really not true to the traditional role of prophets and prophecy which are more about speaking truth and calling for a better world than about predicting specific, or even general, events.

Mendalla

The difference between a psychic and a prophet is a prophecy is free. Psychics are $180 per hour. Neither come true.

I've never been to one . . .

World-renowned intuitive medium John Edward on the Dr. Phil show the other day told people to pay all their bills in 2012 because the world is not going to end on December 21, 2012 .

We have a fairly well known one (in our City) downtown, who's been around for years. She's an old charlatan with an uncanny eye for detail and a good judge of human character. (I have known her quite well for many years, and while she wouldn't self-declare as a fraud, well, you know what you know.)

Astrology is another matter, and one that I have some strange faith in. (Not the crap you get in the newspaper, but a suggestion of character possibilities based on the exact date,  time and location of birth and the location/motion of the planets at that moment.) Side by side with the idea of relatively fixed Myers-Briggs/Jungian types. You can link Tarot in there as another way of organizing archetypes.

Apologies for this appearing twice.... it took a long time to post but I guess that was because it did it twice.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't understand your last paragraph. Would you please explain?

Just a bit of detail on my "reading" - the lady told me that I would receive a package ( she was very clear what was in the package but I am not prepared to make that public) at 10:00 the next morning from someone that I woudl never expect to receive a gift from but someone that I knew. It happened and it was then that I began to wonder if psychics were more than just entertainment.

Either she got the information somehow, or it was a lucky guess that was probably based on the time of year when people receive packages, such as Christmas time, and the knowledge that couriers usually deliver in the morning and pick up in the afternoon.

If she has psychic powers, she'd be the very first to be shown to have them.