I sat patiently in the room; across from me sat the medium. There was no sound at all. It is hard to explain how I felt; it was a mixture of excitement and dread at what I would hear. I had heard the typical stories and seen the typical programs that said mediums were a fraud. That they played on your emotions grabbing onto anything they could from your reactions at what they said and what they observed of your person. Even the questions they asked were designed to find out what you were all about. I was not sure what was going to happen next. The medium sat in front of me quietly, motionless, breathing meditatively as if recharging their battery after the last reading. Eventually, the medium leaned over and grabbed a stone of some sort. I was not sure what it did. In my research I had come across ideas that certain stones or crystals produced certain effects on the holder. They could heighten awareness, hone concentration, or produce a link between individuals. For all I knew it was just another way to validate the experience. The medium began to speak to me, “What is it you are here for?” The first question was leading, there was no way to just say yes or no I had to answer with something more. I just said, “I don’t Know.”
I was hoping that would be sufficient enough to move forward. Sensing my reluctance to answer fully the medium just said that we would do a broad reading and then maybe we could get down to what I was there for. Maybe some deeper truth or question would present itself. And so I sat there answering a few question from time to time, not revealing any deep truths. More often than not the questions were on the mark and the things the medium said about me were accurate. My personality profile was perfect, though hard to imagine the medium would have known pretty much everything about me by just sitting there. The session then slipped into something like life counseling. I was told I should use common sense in everything I do, that I would come into some money in the future, that there was some sort of tropical landscape coming up, and that if there were any relationship issues it was worth working out. This was everything that the debunkers of mediumship had warned of. I thought that anything that was said could apply to anyone and that come six months or two years from now I could apply what was said and say I had heard that from the medium. Could this be the validation of mediums as frauds? These were not the things that I was told that I was fascinated with. Through all of that there were a few things I picked up on, a few all too specific points that I could not refute. Nothing on me would have informed the medium of them, nothing I said would have revealed to the medium something to latch on to and exploit. Two things specifically amazed me, 1) that I was to have a dentist appointment, and 2) that I was going to get an oil change on my car. Now when it comes down to it these should be regular six month to a year appointments that anyone would have. It may have been a lucky guess that I would immediately grab on to and believe. The thing is that it was Wednesday when I had the reading; Monday I had a dentist appointment that I had cancelled, and Friday I had an appointment for an oil change. Was this enough proof to say without a doubt the medium’s gifts were genuine? I waited six months to write this article because I wanted to see if anything I was told came true. I was told that in time I would only have one job not two; at this point in time I still work full time and write on the side. I was told that once I had that oil change it would lead to six months of financial ease. At the time of this writing it seems to be that I was at no time at ease about our financials. A sum of money was to come my way but other than regular paychecks I have seen nothing of substance. No vacation to tropical paradise is on the horizon, nothing has been coming easily to me, and I was supposed to be disgustingly healthy for six months but the two day flu I had sort of proved that false. The medium never guessed that I was there for pure research. I figured that my intentions would have been revealed as soon as I walked in the door. As I sit here six months later thinking back I still want to believe in it all. There were points where I thought anyone could have been sitting in my seat because it all applied to a general audience. Other times there were things that were said that were too specific for anyone else. Probably there will never be irrefutable proof that it is all real. As for me I am still going to believe that there are things on this earth that will probably always stay in the shadows. I anxiously await my next reading to see what I am told. I still hold out hope that it does not all have to come down to a draw.