A Linguistic Analysis of How "Mediums" Lie

 

 

How does Tyler Henry, the "Hollywood Medium", perform his “psychic readings”? Which linguistic and psychological strategies are involved? This language analysis gives a scientific explanation of Tyler’s self-proclaimed abilities. The video zooms in on Tyler’s reading of Hoda Kotb on The Today Show and makes relevant comparisons to other “psychic mediums” like Long Island Medium and John Edward.

 

Links to previous analyses of self-proclaimed mediums: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikwyh... (John Edward)  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyccc... (Long Island Medium)

 

 

A Suffering Woman Who Visited A Psychic: An Astonishing Correspondence

A few weeks ago (in 2009) I received an email asking for further information regarding my post on Saint Xenia the Martyr of Kalamata. The post is here and the question with my answer can be found below in the comments (these have since been turned off). Following my reply this lady was kind enough to respond back giving me background information behind the purpose of her question. I thought it was interesting enough to share in a separate post along with my brief reply for edification purposes.


John

Thank you for your prompt response and the information. My family is from Kalamata and I speak the language very well, so will have no trouble in communicating with the nuns…. Yes I am referring to St Xenia Martyr of Kalamata…

I have been dealing with breast “c” (don’t like using that word)… And a chain of circumstances lead me to believe that it had something to do with healing a previous life… I consulted a friend who is a spiritual light worker who does past life work, and asked her to look at what issue from a past life related to this life… since I had also divorced my husband I was curious to know what relevance it had too… That was not a priority, but if it showed up on anything then so be it.

In short…this lady told me that in a past life my name was Xenia and my ex-husband came up and he was Domentianos. He couldn’t have me so he incarcerated and tortured me by burning my breasts etc, and eventually killing me. I was a real believer of the Lord. I died at age 27/28… It was in the 1400's and Argos came up....

Somehow my ex-husband carries Domentianos energy and I Xenia’s.

This was 6 months ago, and felt, that if I ever went to Greece I will look it up… 2 weeks ago out of the blue, in the presence of this lady I felt compelled to google the name Domentianos. A few things came up, but after googling Domentianos & Xenia, to my amazement saw the exact story documented and sent shivers up my spine…. There in writing was the exact description of the torture she described to me. I feel a strong sense to connect with her and need to track down anything I can....

I will keep you posted, and please should any more information cross your path, please inform me. It will be greatly appreciated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vicki:

Thanks for letting me know the circumstances relating to your inquiry and I'm sorry to hear about your illness. May the Lord grant you healing according to His will.

One thing I wanted to point out to you however concerns the information you received from your friend. I don't know what circumstances led you to believe that your illness had something to do with a previous life, but I can assure you that such thoughts are a temptation to distract you away from the heart of the issue. I assume you are an Orthodox Christian, and if so you need to know that the Church rejects such theories that speak of a pre-existence of the soul and reincarnation. By consulting a New Age psychic or medium you are only doing yourself a disservice and inviting greater harm into your life, which I'm sure is something you don't want on top of everything you are dealing with. Obviously she told you things that seem to fit nicely into a tight package that can be confirmed through a Google search, but for someone trained to spot such hoaxes like I am they are very unimpressive. I'm not necessarily saying she is purposely deceiving you, but I truly believe that there is a demonic element in her advice to you that is in essence very deceptive.

From an Orthodox Christian perspective, the New Age uses occultic elements to tap into a world of demonic illusions. By telling you that you were Saint Xenia in a previous life she is feeding you with the greatest harm possible to live a proper spiritual life in Christ. A proper spiritual life in Christ requires humility and love, not the arrogance and hate she is trying to feed you. First, there is no pre-existence of souls and no reincarnation as I said, both of which are doctrines that have been condemned not only in Scripture but in all the writings of the Saints throughout the centuries. I know for a fact that the priest to whom Saint Xenia appeared in New York, Fr. George Nassis, would have rejected this doctrine as well. Secondly, for her to tell you that you were a Saint in a previous life tempted by a ruthless tyrant that supposedly was your current husband is probably the most cruel and ruthless thing I have ever heard. I don't know your husband, but do you seriously believe that in a previous life he was a ruthless murderer of thousands of Christians and that this explains your divorce and your illness? Listen, I'm a divorced man myself, but not even I would believe such things about my ex-wife to justify my divorce. The truth of the matter is that people get divorced for either justifiable or non-justifiable reasons that have everything to do with our decisions in this life. By making you a victim of a previous life, your friend is imprisoning you to a fate that you did not choose, thus eliminating your free-will which is a gift of God to humanity. Obviously demons would rather you were a victim of fate than free-will, but no clear thinking Christian would find this acceptable.

Furthermore, people get sick, sometimes for reasons we cannot know. If you choose to be a victim of fate, then I would suggest you do nothing about it and let fate decide what happens to you. If you choose to be liberated and implement your free-will however, then I would advise you to get a more reasonable explanation from your physician. And if you're physician can't help you, then accept it as God's will and seek healing from him through the prayers of Saint Xenia (with the understanding of course that you are not Saint Xenia).

I can go on and on about the bad advice you received from your friend that I truly believe with all my heart was inspired by demons. If you don't believe me, then evaluate the fruit of her advice. She is teaching you to believe in phony doctrines (reincarnation and fate), telling you that you were someone you never were (a Saint well known for her miracles to this day that was martyred in the 4th century for Christ), which in turn elevates your arrogance in a subtle way to the point that you were a persecuted victim and above all a Saint, and falsely justifying your divorce (whether it is justified or not) by inciting you towards greater anger and a sense of cruel victimization on the part of your husband. Let alone the fact that she got her facts wrong, since Saint Xenia lived in the 4th century not in the 15th century as you were told and she has nothing to do with Argos which is further north of Kalamata (though she does celebrate her feast on May 3rd with St. Peter of Argos). Furthermore, its easy to advise someone who is divorced and has breast issues to compare them with a person they can Google on the internet that has similar issues (though not the same by any means).

Forgive me for being so brutally honest as I know you are desperate for answers. I've dealt with many issues like yours in the past and I see the greater harm such advice brings people and I don't want you to be a victim as well. During trying times we all want and seek answers, but there are some places we don't go for answers, among which are psychics and mediums who will always give you answers that are very deceptive and thus distracting. My advice for you is to go to Kalamata and visit the monastery I wrote to you about. Tell the nuns there your story and see what they have to say about it. Don't leave out the details. And the most important thing for you to do meanwhile is, instead of believing that you carry the energy of Saint Xenia, seek her prayers for you and request God's will for your healing from her. Go to your local Orthodox Church also and seek out a priest to confess your sins to as well and seek his advice. I hope you will consider my advice, as it comes from years of experience and much love.

Be well and you are in my prayers. If you have any further questions let me know.

John

Source

An Orthodox Look At Nostradamus

By Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)

The word of God gives us very precise warnings about self-proclaimed prophets and spiritual deceivers. "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Mt. 7:15). We have to follow the Lord’s injunction: "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Mt. 24:4). In order to do this one must be guided closely by Scripture and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. These words of the Apostle Paul are very applicable to our times: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:3–4). That is what the writings of M. Nostradamus and other false prophets are — fables.

Abba Pachomios and the Phantom

And it came to pass once when Abba [Pachomios], and Theodore whom he loved, were walking through the monastery by night, that they saw suddenly a great phantom, which was full of the deepest deceit; now that which appeared was in the form of a woman, and its beauty was of so indescribable a character that no man was able to tell the beauty, or the form, or the appearance, which belonged to that phantom, and even Theodore, who looked at that phantom, was exceedingly perturbed, and his face changed color. And when the blessed man saw that he was afraid, he said unto him, “Be of good cheer in the Lord, O Theodore, and fear not,” and the holy man, having said these things unto him, commanded him to pray with him, that the phantom which was striking wonder into them might be driven away. And as they were praying the phantom came nearer and nearer and took a solid form, and when it, and the company of devils which ran before it, drew nigh, for their prayer did not drive it back, it came forward and said unto them, “Why do you labor in vain? You are unable at this present to do anything whatsoever against me, for I have received authority from God, Who sustains the universe, to tempt whomsoever I please; and I have abundance of time in which to do this, for this I have asked from God.”

What Is Occultism? An Orthodox Christian Response

By Valery Dukhanin

Let us begin with a short but true story. A child comes home from school and sees that the floor is sprinkled all over with rice. "Mama, what happened?" he says. "I am expelling bad energy from the house," she answers her son, explaining the practice of some Eastern mystic or other, where you sprinkle the "charmed" rice all over the floor. Who would have supposed that in the twenty-first century, alongside electronics, high technology and other scientific advances, the same old superstitious attraction to occultism would hang on. Everyone knows that many modern singers and actors are into Kabbalah. For example, Madonna personally founded a center for the study of Kabbalah in London, and others have followed her example — Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger, Paris Hilton, Courtney Love, Phillip Kirikorov, Lolita Milyavskaya, to name only a few. The Norwegian Princess Martha Louise in 2010 announced her dedication to esoteric teachings and spiritualism. Businessmen attentively watch the astrology forecasts, and some politicians and athletes even go to psychics and other sorcerers before serious undertakings.