Mediumship

[Arch Stanton]

This topic always makes me think of The Biggest Douche in the Universe episode of South Park. It was spot on.

 

That episode also gave us the brilliant Rob Schneider trailers. Derp.

[Smeg_&_The_Heads]

I'll add this as well about 5 years ago my brother (who has only got the mental age of a 3 year old) got ill with a brain tumor so was sent to Addenbrooke's and when he was there he told me that his friend Jason had been (Jason had died a few months earlier unknown to us on the same ward) and Grandma and Granddad had been now Grandma had died about 3-4 years before he was born and he'd never seen her but a year later we got some pictures of her from a cousin and as soon as he saw it her shouted Grandma at it.

[nate diggity]

I'll add this as well about 5 years ago my brother (who has only got the mental age of a 3 year old) got ill with a brain tumor so was sent to Addenbrooke's and when he was there he told me that his friend Jason had been (Jason had died a few months earlier unknown to us on the same ward) and Grandma and Granddad had been now Grandma had died about 3-4 years before he was born and he'd never seen her but a year later we got some pictures of her from a cousin and as soon as he saw it her shouted Grandma at it.

Well that's me convinced.

[David]

On the subject of Acorah, we've been to see him twice at the Fairfield Halls, and it was really interesting comparing the audiences for the two. The earlier one we went to was full of people who were clearly totally into it and he was given shit-loads to work with and it was an entertaining if utterly absurd performance. The second one though was full of people who had now bought more into the taking the piss aspect of wanting to be entertained by him and mocking him and he barely got anything all night.

 

He almost broke down, it was fascinating. He came back out after the interval, and I swear, he actually barked at us all like we were schoolkids telling us that all the spirits that he had lined up wanting to get in touch with people were ashamed of everyone in that audience. Looking back it's as funny as fuck - but NO-ONE was laughing when he said it because there was something genuinely unnerving and unhinged about the guy. "He's a fucking nutter," as my wife put it as he was barking at us.

 

If you get the chance to go and see him one day, take the opportunity. It's an extraordinary spectacle watching him perform.

To be fair, anyone who goes along to something like that "to take the piss" is quite clearly a cock. Why bother? It's like those twats you see who buy tickets to see wrestling and spend their time laughing at the performers and looking down on the rest of the audience.

 

What guys like Acorah do is quite clearly showmanship. Anyone who saw his stuff on Most Haunted must have known that.

 

Still, if that's your gig and you get into it then fair enough. Go along and get a few hours of entertainment, and if the medium you see is good you'll come away questioning your beliefs for a while.

[MungoChutney]

For entertainment purposes I think some of them are fascinating and being a bit of an amateur magician myself I find the theatrics enjoyable.

 

However, that's all it is, entertainment. Whether it's cold reading, shotgunning or the slightly more dubious trick of warm reading they use skills that others don't have and present them as 'the gift'. The other thing that works to their advantge is that usually at least 90% of thier audience WANTS to belive what they're seeing is real as opposed to someone who goes to see a magician and is impressed simply because they know they're being fooled but they don't know how.

[Devon Malcolm]

I'll add this as well about 5 years ago my brother (who has only got the mental age of a 3 year old) got ill with a brain tumor so was sent to Addenbrooke's and when he was there he told me that his friend Jason had been (Jason had died a few months earlier unknown to us on the same ward) and Grandma and Granddad had been now Grandma had died about 3-4 years before he was born and he'd never seen her but a year later we got some pictures of her from a cousin and as soon as he saw it her shouted Grandma at it.

 

If you've got any more 16th hand stories of utter bollocks to share with everyone, please feel free to not.

[Chris B]

The fact that there's an industry based on conning money out of people who are grieving just reminds me that, as a species, we're basically cunts.

[wandshogun09]

I do sort of believe in ghosts or some kind of spirits.

 

The only reason I think that is because of something my mom told me. I don't remember any of this I was way too young but when I was little, about 3 or 4 I'm told, I got up in the middle of the night and said to my mom that my uncle was in my room. (My uncle had very recently died, I didn't have a paedo uncle sneaking in my room). My mom said I didn't seem scared but it freaked her out. Apparently I said he had a bag of sweets in his hand and was smiling, he always brought me and my sister sweets. Obviously when my mom came into my room there was fuck all and I was crying cos he'd gone.

 

I was too young to make that up, I'd never even heard the word ghost and didn't even understand that he'd died at the time. To me he'd just not visited for a bit.

 

I've not seen anything since and I'm always skeptical of anything paranormal but that story makes me think there must be something.

 

So yeah I believe there's something, I just don't buy that certain people have the powers to contact them whenever they feel like it, it's ridiculous. Why would a knob like Derek Acorah be blessed with magical powers to talk to the dead, why can't we do it?

[Surf Digby]

Well that's me convinced.

Well, this should seal the deal for you then.

[Azrall]

Apparently when I was a kid, about 4 or 5, I used to wake up around 1am and scream blue murder that someone was in the room. My Dad, being my Dad, got pissed off with being woken up at 1am constantly, decided he was going to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently at 1am, the bookshelf in my bedroom was like walking into a freezer. He claims that he never told a soul about it or something. And then my Nan mentioned the same thing about 15 years later. I personally don't think there's anything in it other than the fact the heating was broken.

 

As for mediumship, i think it's utter crap purely because I find it retarded that "ghosts" would only speak to certain people. I mean if my Granddad wanted to tell me something from beyond the grave, surely he'd come tell me himself rather than through some batty old bastard charging

[Loki]

Ghost stories always start "in the middle of the night, I woke up and..."

 

Your brain is just misfiring. Happens all the time - I often, as I'm drifting to sleep, think I can hear the radio on very quietly. It's not a ghost fiddling with my radio though, it's just the brain moving in and out of dreaming, and getting bits of dream and bits of reality mixed up.

 

I don't believe in ghosts really. But I DO believe that there's a shit load locked up in the human brain that we're almost completely unaware of. Things like telepathy, telekenesis, that side of the paranormal DOES interest me, although as with everything I require evidence before really believing. I think the phenomenon of speaking in tongues suggests there's vast quantities of info locked up in the human brain that usually is never touched.

[Keith Houchen]

Maybe Mike Castle can add to this thread with the story of his mates being the worlds worst parents.

[wandshogun09]

Ghost stories always start "in the middle of the night, I woke up and..."

 

Your brain is just misfiring. Happens all the time - I often, as I'm drifting to sleep, think I can hear the radio on very quietly. It's not a ghost fiddling with my radio though, it's just the brain moving in and out of dreaming, and getting bits of dream and bits of reality mixed up.

 

Haha yeah you're right and I'm usually the first to call bullshit on ghost stories but why would that happen to a 3 year old? At 3 my life consisted of eating sweets, shitting and watching the Turtles. Surely there was nowt going on in my brain that could make me imagine shit like that.

 

EDIT - actually maybe you're onto something with the dream thing. I could have been dreaming about my uncle cos everyone was talking about him after he died.

 

I think you might have cracked it, this therapy session has been good.

 

So yeah back to my first thought....ghosts don't exist. Fuck anyone who says otherwise. Next time my mom brings this up as evidence ghosts exist I can say it was a dream. I should have thought of this before.

[Loki]

Just call me Dr Loki. I'm listening.

[David]

Just call me Dr Loki. I'm listening.