The following are however being honored: (a) dates for which I am currently scheduled to appear for readings at Blue Raven, (b) gallery-styled readings (every other month) at Blue Raven.

What is it you want to establish, to achieve by developing your intuitive and psychic skills? What is it you are hoping to gain? Tune in to station WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) and ask the bottom line question: Why do I want to be psychic?

Often the answers people give to this question puzzle me:

I want to make money; I have no job and need a new career; I want to know what the winning lottery numbers are, etc. These answers have become the most prominent in recent days. People are looking for anything, and I do mean anything, to boost their income. They may have never had a solid intuitive or psychic impression which they can clearly remember, yet they are absolutely positive they want to become psychic … strictly for monetary gain. I don’t know about you, but I think surgeons make pretty good incomes and such an income would be nice; I however have no skills that would qualify me for the job. Would you want me operating on you just because I needed or wanted the income? No! While there is a far cry between being a psychic and a surgeon, I use this as an example (albeit extreme) to make my point: the same applies for psychics; do you want a psychic reading from someone who has zero skill in the field and whose only purpose for being there is to bilk you of your hard-earned money?

I want to be special, to stand out, to be the center of attention (and other similar responses). Yes, these are real answers I’ve been given when asking others “Why do you want to be psychic?” If your answer falls anywhere in this category, what you need more than developing your skills is a sense of self, to learn to love yourself, and to know you already are special just because you are you. People who offer such replies are almost always in need of something much deeper in their lives. These responses are cries for help, and developing psychically is not going to fix the underlying issues.

I want to know what’s going on with my spouse, children, friends, neighbors, co-workers, boss, etc.  Just what would you do with their private, personal information if you had access to it through intuitive or psychic means? This kind of response always elicits a strong reaction in my internal warning systems, more so than even the two categories we’ve already looked at. More often than not, those who fall into this group tend to be manipulative, sneaky, cruel, attacking, and/or very self-absorbed, among other things. They tend to be gossips, and tend to like to “know” things about others to use as “handy weapons” against others. They tend also to be distrusting of the very people they want to be able to psychically invade, so to say.

Like with the previous group of people, those in this one need help that developing psychic skills won’t give them.

These are just a sampling of the myriad immoral and selfish reasons to open psychically. There are however much better, much healthier reasons for wanting to open to and enhance these inherent abilities with which all humans come into this world:

I have had some experiences and would like to learn to control them; I believe I have some skills in this area and feel I am being led to better them so I can help myself and others. OK. Nowwe’re getting somewhere. Perhaps you, as have thousands of others, have had some intuitive or psychic experiences that have deeply effected you or others. Perhaps you know you have psychic talents, but have no idea how to really use them, to control them, to turn them “on” and “off” of your own volition. Perhaps you’ve had a string of unexplainable coincidences, have had premonitory dreams. Perhaps, while completely conscious (and not under the effects of alcohol or drugs – illegal or prescribed) you had a vision which later came to pass.

Maybe you’ve never had any such experiences (that you recall) and yet are perpetually drawn to awakening your psychic abilities in order to improve your own life, and the lives of others. If you fall into this category, it’s time to step into the waters, slowly, gently or maybe you feel ready to jump in fully, completely. But what is the next step?, you ask yourself. Keep reading this series, On Being a Psychic Medium, and perhaps the information I have to offer will help you find your way.

Until then, may God bless and keep you.

(Coming soon: On Being a Psychic Medium: Are You Sure It’s What You Want?)

Using Tarot in Evangelism
© John Mark Ministeries

Massive recent cultural changes have led many frontline workers in mission and evangelism to adopt new and sometimes startling methods. It may seem bizarre but Christians are using Tarot cards to share gospel truth with New Age seekers. John Drane explains how, why and addresses the big concern: Can Tarot with its strong occult links – really be used for good or is it not the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing?

John Drane’s defence of using Tarot among people attracted to the New Age scene is highly controversial. Christianity+Renewal asked him to defend this approach. Is this taking things too far? Is Drane enlightened or deceived? Is this culturally relevant evangelism or is it unwise and down-right dangerous for all concerned? This article seek to promote informed discussion on what Professor Drane regards as a legitimate attempt to share gospel truths to people who are exploring New Age ideas or dabbling with the occult. Huge numbers of unchurched people respond to adverts in national and local newspapers and magazines to get Tarot readings over the phone or in other ways. Their motives are similar to those who consult their horoscope or have their palms read. They seek guidance and information. These forms of divination are clearly doorways to danger. But John Drane and others have decided not to stand outside a psychic fair warning attenders of the dangers of dabbling with the occult. Instead they attempt to engage with pagan culture head-on. Like Paul who quoted pagan sources to explain the gospel to the Athenians Drane and his colleagues attempt to tread this difficult route.

It was in 1997 that I first met briefly with Ross Clifford, principal of Morling College, Sydney, the theological college of New South Wales Baptists. I knew nothing about Australian Baptists, though I had the impression that they were a pretty conservative bunch. Imagine my surprise, then, when Ross asked me if I’d ever thought of using Tarot cards to explore Christian faith. Through my own contacts among New Agers, I knew many people who used the Tarot, so I was absolutely fascinated as Ross told me how he, his friend Philip Johnson, and the students at Morling had been using Tarot to share the Gospel in psychic fairs and other unlikely-sounding places. When I then met people who had actually become Christians as a result, I knew this was something worth further investigation.

Discovering the Tarot
At the time, I was travelling on from Sydney to California, and when I got there I decided to take a closer look. My first surprise came when I tried to buy a set of cards. Three hours after entering Alexandria’s bookstore in Pasadena, I finally emerged with my purchase. By then, the server had uncovered the reasons for my interest, enquired about the life issues I wanted to address, asked how I saw my spiritual side developing – and a whole lot of other questions of a similar nature that he insisted I answer before I could be allowed to buy what I had gone for. ‘We must be sure you’ll get a spiritual tool that will be really helpful for you’, he said as he took my money – though he certainly wasn’t in it for that, at $10 for an afternoon’s work! The difference between this and going to a Christian store struck me right away: I could have bought a Bible in two minutes flat, but I doubt whether anyone would have dreamed of asking about the state of my soul!

The cards I bought were the Rider-Waite Tarot, invented around 1910 by Arthur Waite, an English aristocrat. This is to the Tarot what the Authorised Version is to the Bible: others subsequently designed different types, but the basic pattern of themes always follows that established by Waite. As I looked at the cards, I soon understood why my Australian friends were so excited, for the illustrations on the cards are mostly taken from Bible stories. Indeed, all the significant ideas of scripture are here, covering everything from Genesis to Revelation: Creation, the Fall, the Tower of Babel, the Temple, prophets, the crucifixion, judgment, after-life, and many more, all depicted in graphic detail. It was obvious to me right away that any Christian who knew their Bible well could easily share the Gospel using these cards.

Can it be that simple?
But – and for many, this is a big ‘but’ – this is the Tarot. Isn’t this about fortune telling, if not even more dangerous occult concerns? How could something with that reputation be used to share the truths of Christian faith? Was it not the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing? That was the big question – for my Australian collaborators as well as for me – and it is the major reason for this article. Our book doesn’t address any of that: it simply uses the Tarot to invite readers to consider the claims of Christ. But we want other Christians to feel comfortable using it as a resource in their own witness, which is why we need to explain what we think we are doing, and why it is worth doing this way.

Back to the Bible
It’s important to me that whatever we do in evangelism today – especially something as radical as this – should have some obvious continuity with scripture. In the book of Acts, Luke records different ways in which the apostles preached the Gospel. They often visited synagogues, where people knew the Hebrew Bible, and where the most obvious question was whether Jesus might be the Messiah. But they also spoke with people who’d never heard of the Bible, as in Acts 17:16-34, Paul’s visit to Athens. That situation had many similarities with today’s supermarket of faiths. Luke actually says that Paul felt really uncomfortable with it all – yet he also insists that, even here, God was still present not just in a general way, but specifically in the ‘altar to the unknown god’ which Paul used (quoting from entirely ‘pagan’ sources) to share the story of Jesus.

This passage challenges the assumptions some Christians make about how God operates. Significantly, Paul took it for granted that God was already at work in Athens, though there were apparently no Christians there. Even in a place saturated with devotion to alien deities, it never occurred to him that this might be a no-go area for God. Could it be that by assuming that the New Age is a no-go area for God today, we are not only limiting our own evangelistic opportunities, but also adopting a very unorthodox theological stance – for if this is God’s world (and that is on the very first page of the Bible!), how can there be places from which God is excluded? And if we think there are, what kind of small God are we worshipping? Could it be that the Tarot is one of today’s altars to unknown gods?

As I reflected on all this, I also considered other stories. Take Philip, for example, sent by God to meet an African in a desert, and who asked the simple question, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ (Acts 8:26-40). As it happened, he was reading the Bible. Today’s people are reading – among other things – the Tarot. Maybe we could ask the same question: do you understand what you are reading? If all these images come from the Bible, then there must be a deeper meaning than what lies on the surface. The interesting thing about this approach is that, though the Bible is the last place most people today would dream of looking for spiritual guidance, once they become interested to learn more about the Tarot’s message, the Bible is the very place they need to go in order to uncover its secrets. I have repeatedly found that, whenever I have spoken with spiritual searchers along these lines: they start off wanting to know more about the Tarot, and end up reading the Bible.

But isn’t it all evil?
There’s still the matter of the Tarot’s reputation for sorcery and divination, and in the book we describe Tarot history in some detail. It was invented by Italian nobles in the 14th century to be just a set of playing cards. It was French Protestant pastors in the early 18th century who first used them for fortune telling, believing they embodied some esoteric mystical lore from ancient civilizations. These speculations had no historical foundation whatever. What happened was that something that was originally morally and spiritually neutral was taken over and used for other purposes. That kind of thing happens all the time. Christians have abused the Bible in the same way, to justify everything from the Crusades to slavery, apartheid, and the spoiling of the environment. But we don’t stop using the Bible because it can be corrupted: we pay more careful attention to focus on its ‘real’ message.

Actually, the occult use of the Tarot is not the dominant approach today. Many Tarot readers describe themselves as therapists and counsellors. The Bible stories featured on the cards do literally deal with all of life’s big questions. I spoke on the Tarot at an evangelism conference in the USA, and a participant started jumping up and down, waving his own set of cards until I had to let him speak. He said that he had been a psychiatrist for 30 years,and regularly used the Tarot in diagnosis. “All I have to do,” he said, “is ask a client which card depicts how they feel right now, and which one shows how they would like to be -a nd I have a pretty clear insight into what is going on in their lives.” He was excited, as a believer, now also to have a Christian angle on it.

The Gospel in an unlikely place
So what is the ‘Christian angle’ that emerges here? I’ve already mentioned the many prominent Biblical themes that feature. But there is one other thing. The Tarot has more trumps than regular playing cards, and one card is the most powerful of all: the Fool. Arthur Waite himself described the fool as ‘a prince of the other world on his travels through this one’ and the card shows an individual who holds the key to life in the next world, bearing gifts for those he meets, and yet rejected and unrecognised by those on whose behalf he loses his life. As we comment in the book, ‘The one who uniquely fits what has been foretold is Jesus of Nazareth: he brings eternal gifts, dies for others, and comes from above.’ The uncompromising way in which the Tarot points to the all-powerful One who comes in foolishness and weakness – yet bringing salvation – was the thing that convinced me that this is indeed a key ‘altar to an unknown god ‘ that, if appropriately used and understood, can be an effective evangelistic tool in relation to today’s spiritual searchers. We wrote the book to help these people find Christ. We’re not suggesting that every Christian should go out and get a set of Tarot cards. It’s a specialist ministry, and definitely not for everyone. If you’re not sure how to react, then the three of us could certainly use your prayers. Probably some of your friends and family could use the book.

John Drane’s co-authors of Beyond Prediction: the Tarot and your Spirituality are Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson.

Ross Clifford is Principal of Morling College (The Baptist Theological College of New South Wales, Australia). In 1991, he and Philip Johnson founded the Community of Hope, as an outreach to New Agers.

Philip Johnson is CEO of Global Apologetics & Mission, a Sydney-based organisation concerned for evangelism among devotees of new religions. He also teaches Philosophy, Cults & World Religions at the Presbyterian Theological Centre in Sydney, and is a visiting lecturer at Morling College.

In 1993 Philip and Ross Clifford began experimenting with the use of Tarot cards to present the Gospel to New Age seekers. Since then they have led many workshops in New Age festivals, and also have an extensive ministry among Wiccan and neo-pagan devotees.

Professor John Drane teaches practical theology in the Divinity School at the University of Aberdeen, and is a consulting editor of Christianity+Renewal. Beyond Prediction: the Tarot and your Spirituality (£8.99) Lion Publishing ISBN: 0 7459 5035 3 It’s a specialist ministry, and definitely not for everyone.

http://www.christianityandrenewal.com/archnov2001b.htm

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© John Mark Ministries. Articles may be reproduced in any medium, without applying for permission
(provided they are unedited, and retain the original author/copyright information – and perhaps a reference to this website ! http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/13596.htm

Many people have called, written, and emailed me asking questions regarding our future. What can we expect? Will we have another Great Depression? Will it be worse than the Great Depression? Will this situation turn around any time soon? Should I be doing this, that , the other … The questions have been innumerable.

Yes, things will improve. In fact, this current financial crisis will result in amazingly wonderful things. But let’s first take a look at the current, more immediate situation:

Yes, things will continue to tumble. In spite of the stimulus package being proposed (and it will pass once a few more minor modifications have been made) will not stop the downward spiral. The impact our dear President Barack Obama intends for this package to create will be only half-fulfilled, which is truly greater than most can hope for. However, more jobs will be lost (in the millions), more companies will go under, and people will continue to lose homes and other valuable possessions. We have not yet hit rock bottom, as the old cliché goes. It isn’t over yet, but it also isn’t necessary to put your head between your legs and kiss your rear goodbye, for great things are around the corner.

In about two years time, we will begin to see the lifting of this economic crisis. It will be slow starting, but once the relief begins, we can expect it to continue in a positive direction.

Within a few months of hitting the proverbial rock bottom, we’ll begin to see an amazing boom in the economy, both in the USA and abroad – and it’s quite likely to be an historical boon (and boom), the likes of which we have never before seen.

Tremendous progress will be made in green energies, the housing market will begin to flourish, technology will take ever-increasing turns toward environmental friendliness, government will see major positive overhauls that benefit everyone, rather than just the rich, the playing fields in terms of jobs will even out, and oil consumption will be lowered worldwide due to the introduction of new and easily sustainable and easily renewable resources (many of which have not yet been discovered). In approximately ten years Americans will no longer be the number one consumers of oil / oil-based products, likely dropping to number three or four on the list. America will be on the absolute leading edge of these new and wonderful technologies and resources.

During and following the current economic crisis, we’ll see amazing returns to the things that most matter in life: God/Spirituality and family. We’ll see more and more people spending time with their families – setting aside much of the “transportable technologies” such as cell phones, i-pods, lap top computers, etc for quality time with their loved ones. We’ll see people returning to the understanding that we need to get out of our houses and into nature and acting upon those impulses.

There will be an increase in home gardening in terms of food products (and this will aid in increasing the overall health of many because the damaging chemicals currently in food products will not be applied to the food sources we cultivate in our own yards. This will create higher standards imposed by the FDA for store bought foods, and in following, this will have tremendous implications for the welfare of our people, and also the health-care system).

Jobs will be so plentiful in the USA that there will not be enough people to fill them!

Great things are coming for those of us who can ride out these current financial tidal waves, so grab your surf boards and enjoy the ride!

A couple days ago a lady came for a mediumship reading. She looked somehow weighed down, her aura was holding long term grief and tension, and her eyes, while smiling outwardly, were truly dark and deep beneath. Shortly after the reading began, a young Spirit came through and introduced himself to me as her son. Anyone looking at this lady could have seen the years of heartache simply slough off her. Minute by minute, her smile became more and more genuine, her energy freed and flowed bright and spontaneous.

Though mediumship is never a cure for grief, it is amazing how healing one simple contact can be. This lady walked out appearing as a new woman, given greater hope just for the knowledge that her son, though in Spirit, is still near.

Thank you, God, once again, for reminding me why You have called me to this service.

The good thing about these abilities is that anyone can learn to open to Spirit. The not-so-good thing about these abilities, is that anyone can learn to open to Spirit. It’s a double-edge sword, and not all psychics have the client’s best interests in mind.

Developing psychically brings with it much responsibility, much more than most people realize. There are those who hang on your every word, who try to get you to become responsible for their lives, who – for whatever reason – believe everything that comes through psychically is carved in stone. Yes, there are people who live their lives by what they receive in a reading! Such people need counselors more than they need a psychic, they need to learn that they are ultimately in control of their own lives and of the decisions they make.

Others can develop another type of dependency on the medium – in this group we find those who use communication with deceased loved ones to avoid dealing with their grief. They come back again and again and again to have a communications reading. [Any medium worth his or her salt will never allow this to happen.] Mediumship is not a replacement for dealing with grief! Even mediums go through the grieving processes when their loved ones die.

Psychics receive all kinds of information during a reading and we must be very careful in how the information is delivered, or whether to deliver it at all. Sometimes we receive information with the understanding to not pass it along to the client. Why? Sometimes it’s because it helps the reader understand exactly where the clairant is in the moment so the reader can more effectively assist the client during the reading. Other times it doesn’t seem to serve any immediate apparent purpose.

Psychics who have learned to control their skills – i.e. have learned to turn them on and off at will – still occasionally receive psychic insights without intent to do so: when we first meet someone, when we touch an object, while reading a book, or talking with a friend (or even a stranger) on the phone. Do we automatically pass on this information? Absolutely not. The person has not solicited us for a reading. We must gauge whether or not to softly approach the person and ask whether s/he wants the information. Though some do, most do not.

Then we have those who want to be our friends because we are psychic. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had clients come in and at the end of the reading tell me they’d like to “get together sometime, maybe do lunch.” More often than not these are people who are attempting to become your friend in order to receive, they think, free readings. Many current friends and acquaintances will do the same thing once the psychic divulges his or her skills. So setting boundaries, clearly, is extremely important.

Whether a professional psychic or not, confidentiality is another aspect psychics face. To me, someone asking about a client’s reading or a psychic divulging the details of a client’s reading to anyone is akin to me walking into your doctor’s office, asking for your records, and them being handed over to me without question. It’s a serious matter of privacy.

Being or becoming open to psychic skill requires many levels of responsibility, and herein I’ve listed only a few; so when people tell me they want to develop their skills, usually my first response is “Why?”

(Coming soon: On Being a Psychic Medium: Why?)

Following the reading, I received an letter (email) from each of the ladies, one of whom compared me to John Edward, whom I admire immeasurably. Below is my response, in part, to that letter. You will find the client’s correspondence to me on the Testimonials page of this blog. It is located at the top for ease of finding.

—– My Response —–

Please forgive my long delay in replying to this letter from you. It just struck me to the core … in a good way … and has taken time for me to process. Especially the bit about being better than John Edward. I mean … whew … what can I say? As you know John Edward is someone I greatly admire. His skill is incredible, from what I have seen on TV and read in his books, plus his informational CD series. I often jokingly say, “He’s my mentor, but he doesn’t know it,” (to which my friend F. often replies, “Or maybe he does!” lol). I admire him not only for the work he has done, but for also helping to openly pave the way for others like him to do their work with dignity and honor and respect. He, and others, of course, have given people like us (true mediums) paved pathways upon which we can now more safely tread.

Your positive comparison of me to him was deeply honoring and humbling, made more so because of the fact you have had a personal reading with him. I do not, by any mean or stretch of imagination, take your compliment lightly or for granted. I know John Edward isn’t perfect, he makes plenty of mistakes (as do I), it’s just that I look up to him in a big kind of way. I assume that since your sitting with him years ago, he has probably improved quite so. But I have nothing to compare it to. =p

(message truncated) 

I just want to reach and help as many people as I possibly can while I’m on this side of the veil, to do Gods work in a good and healing way. To be as accurate as I can possibly be at all times, while also accepting that not all readings will be as strong and ‘easy’ as the one with you and C. [I am really having to be kind to myself, to be patient with myself, because since that one reading, I have had a habit of comparing many of them against the reading with you and [she]. lol. I know that such intense readings are rare, but seeing what it meant for you and her – that’s what I think would be great for everyone! And so I have to keep in mind that as soon as I desire a specific outcome, I have allowed my ego to get in the way. What a fine line this work can be. Oui!]

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What a ride! What a fantastic and amazing ride it is!

Yes, she is the Carole Lynne who authored the fantastic book “How to Get a Good Reading from a Psychic Medium” which I am constantly recommending to clients, colleagues, and friends alike. This truly is a must-read for anyone seeking a psychic/psychic medium. Save yourself from a potentially bad experience by reading this book before you seek out a reader. It’s an $8.00 investment that could save your wallet a great deal of cash and your heart from tremendous pain.  You won’t find a better book on the subject! I know, I’ve looked … for far too long. =p

Whether you’re a psychic, a medium, think or know you’ve had psychic experiences (and we’ve all had them whether we acknowledge them as such or not), or are simply interested in the subject matter – you’re welcome here. So grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, and sit a spell. And feel free to join the conversations.

I’ll do my best, with an already tight schedule, to answer any questions you may have along the way. Thank you for blessing me with your presence! I look forward to meeting you.