Aspies For Freedom

I read about that on Yahoo's Oddly Enough pages the other day.

Whilst not a believer in 'pyschic' stuff per se, I do believe that people can get 'gut feelings' about situations and people. I get them quite a lot - my brain just doesn't seem to want to let me go with them a lot of the time, and usually, my gut feeling was right... I suppose some people would tie in the whole presence of a 'gut feeling' with pyschic ability - I wouldn't necessarily say so, I think its to do with some kind of strange survival instinct left over from yonder year when we ran away from things with bigger teeth than us. That looked hungry. Or something.

I've trusted people my gut has said 'no' to, put myself in situations where my gut has said 'no' - on both occassions, my head has waived that 'no', and I've thought 'well be sensible, listen to your head'.. when the gut, for me, has always been right.

Some 'pyschics' are nothing but nasty and fraudulent though - random story... when I was 18, I badly needed money, so I replied to this ad in the paper looking for call centre workers. It was meant to be reading tarot cards to callers. And I thought "well, whatever" and went along with it. But people will phone up, pay £1.50 a minute, stay on for 30 mins, wanting to be told the guy who dumped them for their sister 10 years ago and emigrated to the North Pole is going to, one day, come back. You have to tell this relatively crazy catlady this kind of crap, and for me, that couldn't fit in with my morals. Other people didn't bother - you got commision if you kept them on over 30 mins.

I had my tarot cards read by someone who is quite well respected last weekend, and she did pick up on some interesting facts that suprised me: she said "you don't get on with women and sometimes feel like a man's head stuck in a woman's body". Well, right enough. Picked up that I have an interest in forensics. Some of the stuff she said didn't add up - like some creepy guy who was basically stalking me being a positive influence in my life (well yeah... positive in showing me how not to behave - honestly, this guy copied everything about me, down to my mannerisms, and even started asking if I thought he might have AS when I got my DX).

One thing that I found interesting - she said she expected me to come into money in October... and I know thats an old line, but I take my ex employer to a tribunal in Sept for sexual orientation discrimination. Obviously, I kept my mouth shut about my personal life, and let her read... but that spooked me.

I used to know a psychic, nice enough guy, but to my mind just very observant and receptive (cold reading, they call it on confidence trickery circles).  He never charged for his services - just asked for donations if people felt that talking to him had been helpful.  He wasn't rolling in it, but he was genuinely good for most people he spoke to - and they paid up.

On the other hand, all religions have had mercernary representatives at times - M's distinction might be a difficult one to demonstrate in law, but it's the dividing line that's needed, surely.

Good luck with the tribunal, ocampo - discrimination is a difficult one, a lot depends on the judge.  I lost one once, despite them being guilty as hell - I'm currently embroiled in a second, they've already offered to settle, I'm just hoping their second offer is enough for me to acccept it gracefully...

Thanks JQ. Tbh, I do just want to settle - I don't really want the upheaval of having to sit in a tribunal. I've had such an awful start to the year already that I don't want this hanging over me until September. Its May, and I feel like I'll happily curl up under my duvet until 2009 comes in.

She did say that things would get better for me by October - my financial situation will be sorted, my relationship problems will be sorted ("time" - that word is haunting me wherever I go), and I'll feel better in myself... but God... may, june, july, aug, sept... 5 months of this... sweet Jesus, I need a break!

Only reason I've finally started to come out of the blanket of depression is because my gut feeling tells me everything's going to be ok. I dunno when its going to be ok, but something inside me says it will be. And that gut's never been wrong yet!

Thats kinda similar to what I believe (similar, but not quite - I do have spiritual beliefs). I do believe some religions exploit the most vulnerable - thats why I try to avoid organised religion with a passion. Whatever people want to believe in - I don't care, so long as it doesn't hurt other people.

Generally, I try to believe: be a good person, bring no intentional harm to others, recognise your character flaws and try and turn them into something positive, bring happiness to your life and your life will bring happiness to you.

I spent far too long being angry, cynical, explosive and pent up... all its brought me is misery in my life. I'm tired of constantly wondering "why do (whatever is out there) constantly throw these idiots in my path? What is so wrong with me that I keep messing up all the time??? Give me a break, PLEASE!!!" My life, at one point, was filled with more resentment than it was joy. And I'd sit and look at the world and think "my God, you are all f*cking nuts, I'm the only sane one here". Bad, bad, bad attitude problem. And that is a horrible curse to have - it attracts vile people, vile situations, and repels the people and opportunities that may get you out of that ditch.

A few months ago I'd have been in a few threads here, sounding off about everything; I'd probably have started arguments with jiggeryqua, Timelord, been in anyone's face who disagreed with me. I wouldn't say I don't care anymore... I do care, I just don't want pain anymore, when I argue semantics, it is painful for me... I find I've achieved far more putting a bit of cotton wool in my mouth for a few seconds and reflecting, rather than jumping on toes. Which I was always particularly good at doing; if toestepping/jumping was a national sport, I'd be Gold for Britain.

Maybe for me, I can back down because I can shift my allegiance not to my own need to educate/control others of the ills of their ways, or where their behaviour needs modified, but because the power of life itself will teach them that. That, in itself, is a spiritual bind for me that releases me from a lot of negative emotion. There is nothing I can teach someone by telling them 'you're wrong' - to me, invite them to witness they're wrong. I'd like to hope Viewtiful-Chris realises his beliefs about the spectrum are wrong, by his own experiences on this forum, not by my throwing statistics and evidence at him. Which isn't a bad thing in itself, but leading the horse to water will not make it drink. If its curious enough to shuffle over to the water, chances are at some point, it'll have a sip anyway. Give time time I guess, to steal a phrase from AA. If they don't, well... thats their ill fortune, not mine. I showed them patience, understanding and took them at their own terms, I cannot force them to do anything that may help them. At one point, being so humble would have been the most alien thing to me. 'Humble' linked into connotations of being on my knees, exposed to my own swirling whirlpools of anger, hate, resentment, fear... That was not where I wanted to be. I genuinely believed I had my head held high, and I was triumphant. Now, I realise I always was on my knees, baying at these false gods I believed protected me... but all they've brought me is misery.

I find your comment interesting Gareth, because I can see where the line blurs between religious/spiritual belief and self-advancement. I don't think many can - I saw people who reached to their religion as a crutch to support themselves. My maternal grandmother... her Catholicism was a crutch to her, a means to condemn life forms, and the only way death was palatable to her (and even then, she maintained an irrational fear of death). I watch the Westboro Baptist Church and watch how their beliefs distort love, which is a beautiful emotion. And I watch people who blow themselves up believing they'll go to Paradise for their actions... that aspect of religion I have no time for. I know a guy, who is Aspie, who quite literally seems to despise the world; he believes in the inevitability of the Apocalypse. Its too hard for me to maintain a conversation with someone so cynical these days - I wanted to ask him "what do you do to make your own life more pleasant?" But that would have been futile - this is the same person who says my life is only good because I'm physically attractive. Aspergers, in his opinion, is his curse, and nothing anyone says or does will make him see that by believing he is cursed, its a self fufilling prophecy. I live with Aspergers, and have friends, and a job, and my own kind of social life, because I'm attractive. Nothing to do with the fact that I stopped believing that I was cursed, that I did have some responsibility over my actions, and that I try to take life at its own terms, right? Life might not always give me what I put in, but I deal with what it puts out. Pain only really lasts for as long as you let it last... after a while, its you chucking salt in your own wounds. The past is the past.

Is that spiritual? I got told by someone it was... I don't know. Circle of life I guess it could be called; or........... shit happens.

The Mormons apply strong social pressure to make a tithe of 10% of your income - they're fond of anecdotal evidence of members strapped for cash who stopped paying, things got worse, then they started paying again and their lives improved.  But it's not a compulsion and I believe much of what they collect, as with most churches, is used for 'good' works.

True that mainstream religions are just as irrational. That's why it's based on faith rather than logic/reason/what can be seen. (And I'm saying this as a religious person.)

Also, the kind of immortality promised is not the kind where the physical body lives forever on Earth, which can easily, as you've mentioned, be disproved. It's the kind of immortality that can neither be proved nor disproved - which is why it's in the realm of religion and not science, and the best that science can say is that there is no evidence one way or the other.

I'll be very irritated if the UK make it illegal to charge for psychic readings. Because lets face it, there is no concrete proof of psychic abilites. There have been studies but a critic can alway find fault (coincedence/ lucky).

I know from personal experience that psychic abilites exist although i've had no formal training because it's way too expensive. Not that I have a problem with it being exensive, it's mainly fair. In the future when I have a job I would pay to do a course. I'm hoping to go see a psychic soon, it will cost around £30/40 because I want to pay more for someone with a good reputation that I can trust.

I don't think the government need to police it though, it's up to the person to decided whether to pay or not. People are capable of making decisions by themselves and its their own fault, not anyone elses, if they want to spend large amounts of money on it.

As Ive always said to skeptics if I as a spiritualist am wrong about what I believe... when I die I will know nothing about it ... however if I am correct when you die you will know that I was right!!!!

I love that one.  

Honestly though I have done "psychic" readings and it has NEVER felt right to charge for them despite sometimes picking up on things that were incredibly helpful for them ... mostly though people seek a reading when they are looking for hope in a situation AND they seek a medium when they are saddened by their loss ... so people seeking a spiritual answer are generally very vulnerable and even though I would classify myself as a "spiritualist" I think that such people SHOULD be protected from people who exploit them for financial gain one way around it for people that want to continue to charge is the disclaimer that it is given for "entertainment" but how many people do you know when they are in the pits of despair or have just lost a loved one will be bothered to read any such disclaimer?

[quote=ocampo]
I read about that on Yahoo's Oddly Enough pages the other day.

Whilst not a believer in 'pyschic' stuff per se, I do believe that people can get 'gut feelings' about situations and people. I get them quite a lot - my brain just doesn't seem to want to let me go with them a lot of the time, and usually, my gut feeling was right... I suppose some people would tie in the whole presence of a 'gut feeling' with pyschic ability - I wouldn't necessarily say so, I think its to do with some kind of strange survival instinct left over from yonder year when we ran away from things with bigger teeth than us. That looked hungry. Or something.

I've trusted people my gut has said 'no' to, put myself in situations where my gut has said 'no' - on both occassions, my head has waived that 'no', and I've thought 'well be sensible, listen to your head'.. when the gut, for me, has always been right.
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I'm trying to live entirely instinctively, ie. listen to my intuition 24/7 from now on. One of my favorite spiritual sayings is "Run all decisions by your heart first, then your mind".
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I've been weak before (just had to know!) and broken down and contacted psychics about 5 times now. Only two were legit imo. One told me quite a lot about 20 of my past lives and the other predicted I would work for a woman in an office with a large glass panel (both materialized).

Did the psychic ask you when your birthday was?  It's possible some of them, maybe all of them, memorize what is going to happen for each sign that year- hence her money remark about October. To confirm go to http://www.susanmiller.com each month and read your horoscope (I go the first day of the month). She is pretty accurate, her predictions are always more or less right, though estimated time of arrival will vary by a few days or even a month with certain people.  She is also very good at getting at at least the "tone" of the month, whether it will be an easy or tough month, etc. She is the best imo on the 'net and she talks a lot about the various upcoming eclipses and how they impact people. Everyone should at least know about the Mercury retrograde periods each year (3)- when they are. Mechanical things break down during these periods, computers have problems, etc. I hate Mercury retrograde periods as they always last a full month usually.

It's better to give them (psychics) as little info as possible upfront. Interestingly there is this guy on the internet who claims to have researched 100s of psychics and come up with a list of about 10 who are genuine, but I don't trust him either!

OMG really re birthday months, Ellen? No, she didn't ask (birthday or sun sign), but my birthday actually is October 20th. We shall see if she's right in terms of what happens... I might check out Susan Miller's site as well - astrozone.com isn't it?

I think a gut feeling is more than just survival instinct.  I think it's our inner self that is much wiser, more aware of the world and also more aware of ourselves that we see only a part of.  The difference is that with our normal conscious thought we know how we got to the conclusion, but with a gut feeling the working out is done so fast that all we see is the message which tells us not to trust.  

I've had experiences like that recently where it almost feels like someone is putting thoughts into my head. They race across my mind so quickly that it leaves me confused and only seeing in part what they had to say. But those thoughts appear to be much wiser and to know me better than I consciously know myself.  I don't mean that they are actually external, I know they are me, but I can't see the working out and the thoughts are sometimes so powerful that they stop me from being conscious in the world.  I'm not sure that makes sense, but it leaves me thinking that the gut feeling and these recent thoughts come from the same place.

I also think that we are all linked in some fashion in our thoughts, otherwise how could you explain the times when you're thinking about someone and they call or when you need someone and suddenly they are there.  It's too coincidental.  I think psychics must just be more in touch with this inner voice in being able to sum up other people.

A friend of mine went to a spiritualist meeting, I think that's what you call it, a couple of weeks ago.  She met the medium, a man, through a course she's been doing.  Nothing much happened at the meeting itself, and no messages for my friend.  Anyway, she went back to this man's house for coffee with him and his wife and it was then that my friend's brother "came through".  Her brother died in a car accident some years ago, and she is convinced that it was her brother speaking through the medium.  Although she knows the medium she hadn't spoken to him about her brother and much of what was said was really personal, family kind of stuff that she wouldn't really even think to tell anyone.  For example, he named the boyfriend she had at the time of her brother's death and refered in detail to a private joke they had about the boyfriend.  She also said at one point the medium clapped his hands loudly, which made them all jump, and then he laughed.  She said that was exactly the kind of thing her brother would have done.  There was loads more, which I can't really remember.  I think he began with telling her months relating to family birthdays, which all made sense to her.

This particular medium is associated with the Spritualist Church and he doesn't charge any money.  If people wish to make donations they can, but if they don't then it doesn't matter.

In the USA, it's been my experience that only an extremist few actually demand it.

Nice to see that you are dishonestly mis-portraying Christian eschatology.  Typical, all too typical and expected of the narrow-minded fundamentalist atheist.

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I totally agree with you. The best psychics tend to be uneducated (formally) as they are often ALL intuition and sense. They are empaths, sensitive. I have come to the conclusion that I am a type of lesser sensitive/empath and have decided as a result to "clear" my energy field from time to time using 1-3 exercises given to me recently by a highly advanced spiritual advisor. One is simply going (after imagining your soul as small) into your heart space  and visualize it spinning counterclockwise (difficult if you are frozen heart-wise due to anger) for a minute or so, then expanding out in all directions about 50 feet.

I am going to give it a try anyway.

Also, DON'T go to psychics for cut and dried predictions as that is very iffy as the soul can change course karmically at the last minute. The psychic (in my experience) often picks up on what is going to happen in that moment or week, but the subject him/herself may decide to change course at the last minute so the reading is worthless (or nearly so).
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I also agree with Earthmonkey that psychics ought to qualify their accuracy either verbally or in writing- they could say something similar to what I have written above.

Ellen

I am seriously a born again virgin until I meet the right girl... or get back with Linsey, who my gut tells me is the right girl.