One day, as I was riding in the car down a certain street, we (as usual) just happened to catch the red light. I was bored, looking out the windows at all the places I'd ridden by a hundred times before; the cheap pizza place, the aging shopping center, the house-converted-into-an-insurance-office. My eyes wandered over to read the sign on a garishly painted bright pink building. The sign showed a gigantic hand, some tarot cards, and a few stars. Big, bold lettering on the sign proudly proclaimed, "PSYCHIC. Walk-Ins Welcome." And all of a sudden, I burst out laughing.

What's so funny? Normally, a walk-in is nothing more than an unscheduled visitor to a clinic or other such institution, right? Well, yes, most of the time. You see, "walk-in" is a New Age term for a spirit, a Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost type of spirit that 'walks in' to a body when the person inhabiting that body doesn't wish to live anymore. Which is ridiculous, of course. (Now would be a good time to note that I am a diehard skeptic when it comes to all things paranormal.)

Everyone has, at one time or another, seen something on television that says, proof positive, that psychics are real and credible. CourtTV's Psychic Detectives is one example, showing real-life psychics saving the day, solving "unsolvable" cases of murder or kidnapping. I won't dispute the fact that psychics are real. I totally believe in their existence; I just have a hard time believing in their predictions.

National Geographic Channel's series Is It Real? discusses such things from both points of view, the believers' and the skeptics', and does quite a good job of staying objective and letting viewers draw their own conclusions. From this and several other similar shows, plus books and discussions with those who study cults, I have several examples, based on actual 'psychic' predictions or readings. From them, I have drawn conclusions that show that psychics have no credibility, whatsoever:

1. A psychic is asked to describe a place, say in Downtown San Francisco. She does her psychic thing, swaying rhythmically and whatnot, then starts to talk. "It's a... it's loud and noisy." She'll say. "There are... quite a few cars. I see... graffiti, yes, lots of graffiti. And there's an alley. It's dark, and small, and there are newspapers and empty beer bottles lying around in it." How many downtowns in the United States are precisely like that? 99.99993 percent, on average. Conclusion: most psychics' descriptions of places are so general that they could fit pretty much anywhere, proof against there being any 'paranormal' intervention.

2. A psychic is asked to describe a murder. He does his psychic thing, goes to sleep and dreams. "I dreamed of lots of cups, full of water," he says. "In my dreams, cups filled with water mean anger. I also saw three sheep in my dream. That means a bow and arrow was used to kill someone. The sheep were in a big green field, which I take to mean that this man was killed with a bow and arrow on his front yard." Yeah, and the airplane in my dream represents my desire to clean the bathtub. Conclusion: many psychics attribute absurd meanings to ordinary things, essentially snipping the edges of the puzzle pieces to force them to fit. Paranormal phenomenon? I think not.

What does the credibility (or non-credibility) of psychics have to do with that sign I described in my first paragraph? If a psychic is real, he or she really ought to know the alternate meaning of the term "walk-in"! And judging by the sheer number of psychics whose establishments proclaim "Walk-ins Welcome", I'd say that the psychic business is going nowhere fast.

So, if you still believe in psychics, how do you know if the psychic you chose is credible? Just read their sign. And, no, sign is not referring to the Zodiac!

May the Force be with you,
-- i12bajedi