Sylvia Brown

[the Princess]

What do you think????

I have serious doubts about her.

[Desertrose]

1. I think there is some truth & a lot of "showmanship"

She's obviously psychic but that is not the same as being "spiritual" and/or being in one's integrity.....again, partial truth to get people "hooked"....

Seems when there is a lot of money & fame involved, for me, credibility is called into question... I've seen more than a few who start off ok but eventually get caught up in thier own "press", you know??

[onecent]

2. When she gives readings (or whatever y ou call them) it's

like she almost has an air that says "I'm so good at sellin' this stuff...and you all believe me...and if you don't....well I'm still making thousands...."

The air she has about her just drives me nuts. I believe there is some stuff going on in the world that we "can never explain"...I think she makes it more difficult for the nonbelievers....because she is such a pukefest.

She NEVER ever looks directly at anyone...she's aloof...it's almost sinister..yet people fall for her shit. I do belive I have been contacted "several times" and I sense things, and i receive "many" signs... but she almost makes a mokery of it.

[Pallas180]

21. ONECENT please know

I'm not a fan of Sylvia, BUT

""She NEVER ever looks directly at anyone...she's aloof..."

when psychics are givng "readings", they usually do not look at the person, they look inward (they're in an altered state of consciousness right there in front of you and their eyes rest on a "nothing" place so that they can "see" or "hear" - catch what is coming to them, more clearly without being distracted.

[devinsgram]

3. Wann't there something not long

about her being arrested for fraud several years back with her first husband? I'm sure I heard or read it somewhere.

[yellowdawgdem]

4. imo

Sylvia is a really good psychic, one of the best. I don't see anything particularly bad about her. Except I do think that she has burned out since when she first started doing so many readings for people. And maybe she needs a real good rest, if that can be had these days.

[lady lib]

5. Did she predict Bill Bradley would win the 2000 election?

And didn't she totally miss 9/11 in her predictions? Now that doesn't mean she's a fake, of course, but it does make me at least doubt her ability. I like John Edward and James van Praagh. Is Edward's show still on?

[Quakerfriend]

6. Haven't seen Edwards in quite a while

I think he's off the air.

Love James VanP.!! He's my favorite. Does he still have a show?

I think Brown is so-so. I think that she comes off as aloof, but it seems that a lot of the negative she 'sees' takes its toll. Also, I believe that she tends to look away from folks she is reading because this is the way she handles what energy she is picking up...nothing more.

[lady lib]

7. James VanP's show was cancelled a year ago

and (interestingly) he did not see it coming. I was really disappointed because I think he's the most talented psychic I've seen. He gave a lot of details and he really seemed to care about the people he read. Just an amazing and talented man.

[the Princess]

9. Brown predicted

Gore would win the election in 2000. I saw her do this on Montel. She then excused her miss by saying "Well, who remembers about the electoral college?!"

She then predicted (again on Montel) that the 2004 election would be a clean sweep for the Democrats. But this time it was never mentioned again.

She's a fraud and she is so freaking arrogant. And she charges like $700.00 for a 15 minute reading.

[purduejake]

15. Well, we did win both elections.

But they were stolen. No doubt about it.

[autorank]

8. I think anyone claiming to speak to dead people is a vile scam artist

And I mean no offense to real artists.

She's a depressed, bitter person. She does not talk to dead people. What a naive and limited conception of life after death...folks just the other side of somewhere waiting to talk to us. That conception of the afterlife is the equivalent of Biblical literalism. Go screw yourself Sylvia and all the other fakirs who take advantage of loved ones in grief by promising something that they know if bogus. And shame on you Larry King and all the other media whores who give these people air time and shows.

But, hey, that's just one man's opinion.

[Michael Sharp]

12. you got it dead wrong (pun not intended)

It is possible to communicate with the other side. Sylvia Browne is not the only one to do it. Many do and many more will do it in the months and years ahead.

The only difference between someone who is alive and someone who is dead is that one is inhabiting a physical body and the other is not. Besides that, we are all connected in Spirit.

or I should say potentially connected anyway.

ms

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

13. Very true. I have a dear friend who is a very gifted medium who

does communicate with those who have passed over, proving her abilities time and again.

I personally have had my own communication with my beloved who is no longer on this plane. I often see him in my mind's eye, and he has also made his presence known here, physically, many times.

We live in a multidimensional Universe, and our plane is just one part of it.

[Pallas180]

20. Autorank, I know you respect my knowledge and sometimes even

my writings.

I don't speak to dead people. But when I used to do psychic readings, spirit - (grossly called dead people or ghosts by some) of loved ones for whom I was doing the reading, would often come to give a message which I would hear and repeat to the relative in front of me. If the person didn't recognize who it was, the spirit would show me something or tell me something to tell the person that would help them recognize the person "passed over" who was talking (through me) to them.

When I see John Edwards on television doing the same exact thing that I did, and slightly cocking his head to hear, and asking a question such as, well did you have an uncle who had a limp or something wrong with this leg? - I know he's for real, because that's how I get the "messages" also.

For sure there are scam artists who prey upon the bereaved and ask exorbitant amounts of money to contact the "passed over loved one."

Most psychics (mediums) - real ones - don;t go after or call the loved one who has passed over. The spirit either comes unbidden or doesn't. These occurrences regularly happen at psychic fairs where psychics work in a group and are paid $15 or $20 for a 15 minute reading.

As for Sylvia, her ego outgrew the admonition that one should have humility with these gifts. I don't care for her personality or "manner of delivery" but I don;t know that she's a phony. I do know her books are boring as hell and full of I, I, I ego.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. My thoughts

Penn and Teller have a "Bullshit" episode that blasts some of the people mentioned in this thread, but never mention Browne. They have that insufferable, Randi 'whatever' the skeptic. I like that he does some good work, but he is such an asshole about it!

I think Browne, like most psychics, has hits and misses, much like any other 'profession.' however, I think she has become too self-involved. It would be OK sometimes to say "I just don't know." But, making a statement like that would be a blow to her pride.

I think there are some talented "gifted" people out there (a few are here at DU...just take a look around!!).

[NJCher]

11. I've read her books

Why shouldn't a particularly gifted psychic be able to make the kind of money that top professionals in any field make? I don't hold it against her that her readings cost a lot.

I do think that she should lay off the political predictions. Any type of prediction that is done for those New Year type things should be off limits for any psychic. This stuff comes to you or it doesn't and in trying to fulfill the demands of the question, psychics feel like they have to come up with an answer. The answer should just come and not be forced.

I've read a number of Sylvia's books. One thing that impresses me about her is that she doesn't pretend she's always right. In the books, she writes about mistakes she's made with her predictions.

Anyone who has the guts to put in print that she was wrong here and there gets my respect.

I do agree that she might be pushing her fame too much and she should back off and take a rest.


Cher

[NuttyFluffers]

14. reading her books now. i like her.

i especially like how she points out that 100% perfection is an impossible expectation of everybody on earth -- so why should psychics be any different? she explains this view saying only god is perfect, but because humans on earth are flawed beings the message has a strong chance to be corrupted, misinterpreted, altered by the conscious, etc.

one of the few professions (and prophesy is one of the oldest there is) that people have zero tolerance for the medium's humanity. amazing how they are treated like radios or televisions -- "you got a direct line, why you fuck up sometimes?" *smack* "i want perfect reception quick!"

edgar cayce doesn't have 100% accuracy either, but he has damn high accuracy, far higher than the normal human has that's for damn sure. but because he is wrong once means we should completely dismiss him? science is often wrong, but willing to correct itself and work towards the right answer, but since it was wrong more that once should we completely dismiss it? perspective, perspective, perspective.

that said, i love her exhausted, blase attitude. it just cuts through the faux mystery, rambling bull, and irritating sceptic heckling that the entire group of people who do this have to face. i mean, as a job, speaking prophecy has to be one of the least desirable, especially because of all the trappings and annoyances that come with it. her attitude makes it more bearable and human.

[Andromeda]

17. I'm a big fan of Edgar Cayce's.

No, he wasn't 100% accurate but you're right, nobody is. I have some of his books and never cease to be fascinated by him.

I really do believe that Sylvia Brown is psychic but when you are put on the spot to instantly "perform" a psychic feat it's hard to respond in a free and natural way because of the pressure. Images don't always come when you will them to.

For myself, things have to come in an unexpected or unusual manner and not when I'm pressured. Everybody is different though.

[devinsgram]

18. I have also been a fan of Cayce,

but if you remember Cayce said he could not use his gift to help himself, especially financially. He did not die a rich man. When he tried to use the gift to help himself out financially, he would fail. An example of that would be the location of oil wells. If he was partnered with someone on a venture, it would go bust, but if just gave approval of locations inquired about, they would be a success. After a while he realized that his gift was to help others, not himself. There is a big difference between Cayce and Browne.

[Andromeda]

23. That's right.

I know of a lot of psychics who have helped others but can't seem to get that good fortune for themselves.

Cayce just couldn't seem to pull it together for himself.

Although I'm not really a follower of Sylvia Browne's I know she has used her gifts for financial gain. I'm not sure if that's wrong though. If she's helped a lot of people and made their lives better then I don't see that some financial reward is a bad thing.

If I had a strong premonition on winning Lotto numbers, played them and won a couple of million dollars, you could definitely say I benefited financially from my "gift." (Hasn't happened, darn it!)

In my experience though, most astrologers and psychics have terribly complicated lives and even though they are able to advise others quite competently, their personal lives and finances are not always ideal.

[Quakerfriend]

19. Me too! Edgar Cayce was wonderful!

I always remember my mother telling me, when I was a little girl, about how he would 'study' for his school tests by putting the book under his pillow when he went to sleep at night.

The next morning he would have assimilated all of what he needed to know for the test.

Too bad, this 'method' never worked for me!!:9

[Andromeda]

25. Me either!

:):):)

[Andromeda]

16. I have her book on Angels,

and it's interesting.

Brown did predict that Bill Clinton was "toast" when the Gennifer Flowers sex scandal broke during the 1992 Presidential campaign.

Any psychic can be wrong but I believe a lot of her fame and reputation is just hype.

[Pallas180]

22. When psychics fail, it's because they interpreted and put in

their own opinion, rather than giving exactly what they saw or heard.

They see a flash of a picture or catch parts of sentences or words -- if they fill in or interpret what they saw or heard instead of describing it exactly, that's when they can get into trouble - that is if they are really functioning psychically and not just some joker .

[Andromeda]

24. Hmmm, I agree with that.

The pundits were having a feeding frenzy about Clinton and Flowers at that time so Browne thought it was probably safe to say Clinton would lose the election.

Political forecasting is so difficult. I can honestly say I'm more wrong than right when I try to predict how an election will turn out.