"It was amazing - she knew everything about me!" said Susan, sharing her experience with a psychic she had visited two years prior. "She said I'd get the job I'd recently applied for, my missing cat was safe and would come home soon. And she could see me in London before the year was out, I'd always dreamed of going there."

Then came the question so often asked "Why didn't any of it come true?"

Unfortunately Susan's story is far too common - a reading by a psychic that seems to be incredibly accurate but fails to deliver.

To the unitiated, the psychic and the spiritual medium appear to be one and the same, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The psychic works on the thought level; the physical and emotional energy that we build around ourself.

What happens when the psychic gives you a reading is they pick up on your thoughts and emotions; that which you have built up and they simply give what you have already created or that which is most powerful within your mind.

But what about the information they can provide about things from your past? All this is within your thoughts and memory. If you lived in a house with a white picket fence when you were young, then memories of this will remain in your thoughts.

Predictions of the future are simply an expression of your desires, the thoughts you send out. They may or may not come true.

If you listen carefully, you will notice the reading is all about you.

One the other hand, the spiritual medium talks about "them", those who have experienced the earthly death and now "reside" in spirit.

The spiritual medium aims to provide evidence, not proof, that there is life after death and therefore when they claim to have made contact with a person who has passed over, they must build their case to support their claim.

It is unacceptable for any spiritual medium to say "I have xxx here" then expect you to blindly believe them without building their case; if they can't, then at best, take it on face value only.

Most of the best mediums in the world use a simple system called C.E.R.T. ;

Communicator - the name of the person and/or their relationship to you

Evidence - this is supporting their claim by giving as much information as possible about the person they claim to be in communication with. It should leave you with little, if any, doubt that the link has been made. This could include a physical description of them, how they passed over, where they lived, what job they did, intimate information only you or very few others would know about etc.

Reason for coming to you - This may be something short or something more detailed. They might give some very subtle guidance but it is never, ever about telling you what to do or how to live your life - these are decisions you must make.

Tail - close off the message.

As you can see, this is in stark contrast to the psychic reading.

Something else to listen for is what's called "fishing". This is where the psychic or medium starts asking you questions "Is you mother in spirit?" Which is usually followed by them congratulating you on giving the correct answer! Unacceptable.

If the medium is in contact with Spirit, then should know who is there, otherwise they don't haven't acquired the necessary level of development and shouldn't be giving the reading in the first place.

The undeveloped medium can also fall into the trap of being satisfied with a positive response to the "Communicator" despite only having given minimal details, then falling back into delivering a psychic message. It's very common these days if you listen carefully.

Remember, no medium can give absolute proof of survival, they can only give you some evidence and it is entirely up to you to decide if it is true or not. This will most likely not come from one reading alone, but many over a period of time, combined with your own personal experiences.

In the end, use your own common sense and do not act on anything a psychic or medium tells you without proper consideration.You have free will and you should use your own common sense.

Best wishes

John Blackburn

For more information, visit http://www.monash-spiritual-centre.org.au