Here’s an article written by one of the skeptic folks, Joe Nickell, about medium John Edward. If you set aside the attacks on John Edward (who I believe is a good and legit medium), and some of the other junk in it, it’s a good article about cold reading and other techniques that fraudulent people use.
How does this help? File it under “things to avoid during mediumship”. Also file it under “things you don’t want to look like you’re doing during mediumship” and “why good form is important to your mediumship”.
Are the skeptics really the “enemy”? To the extent that they are interested in weeding out fakery and promoting genuine mediumship, they are our buddies. I’ll tell you, I hate fakery as much as they do, perhaps more. And weeding out fakery was Houdini’s primary motivation, so he can be our hero as much as he is their hero. The sticking point is that our definitions of legitimacy and fakery are somewhat different. On top of that, I think some of them are more cynical than skeptical, which I find annoying. And their fondness for the point-counterpoint, journalistc-integrity style articles about the existance of mediumship bores me.
But be that as it may, reading a little skeptical material from time to time can be good for you. It’s a reminder to practice good form, not something to “keep you honest”. A good medium has no need to be “kept honest”, because he or she is honest in the first place. A good medium is fully aware of the impact of the Law of Cause and Effect would have on him or her, were they to stray from the path of goodness and try to deceive, cheat, or otherwise harm people. Not only are they aware of it, but they abide by it.
Alseyon 