Medium Low

I have one guilty pleasure that drives my husband nuts. I am a reality show freak. There is nothing I enjoy more than kicking back with a nice glass of wine and watching the antics of wanna be fame whores.

My favorite show is the “Real Housewives” series, especially the “Beverly Hills” group. This show revolves around the lives of middle aged super-rich bitchy women and their friendships (or lack thereof) with each other. Each week is guaranteed fireworks and I’m never let down by the cattiness. However, this week, it was taken to a new level and there was one other element added that left me absolutely speechless.

This episode revolved around a dinner party hosted by Camille Grammer (Kelsey Grammer’s soon to be ex-wife). Camille has had a lot of tension with one of the other cast members, Kyle Richards, and she made it sound like she was holding this soiree so they could put their issues behind them. But there was an aura of scheming in her tone as she included two of her friends, who seemed to be well aware of the bad vibe between the two cast mates. One of these “friends” was psychic Allison DuBois, the inspiration behind the recently cancelled series “Medium”.

I was very excited when I heard that the “real” medium would be present but excitement quickly turned to slack jawed horror as I watched her get drunk and turn downright nasty as she did her best Cruella Da Ville persona, puffing away on a fake cigarette the whole time. The party rapidly went downhill when the housewives began to ask Allison about her career. She got a bit edgy and snapped, “I’m off the clock”, dismissing their queries with a wave of her hand. (Which would have been fine and, in theory, appropriate, but…) Kyle made the mistake of pressuring her a bit more.

This lead to the most egomaniacal display of “psychic powers” I have ever witnessed in my life. DuBois gave Kyle a doom-filled prediction for her marriage and started spouting insults and venom through clenched teeth and slitty eyes.

The party devolved further into a shouting match and the guests hastily departed, leaving Camille and her friends alone, smelling roses and cackling about the other women like the Witches of Eastwick. Allison then made this shocking remark:

“I can tell when she is going to die and what will happen to her family. I love that part about being me”. Oh. My. God. I think this woman should have consulted her own guides (and by guides I certainly do not mean Jose Cuervo) before appearing on this TV show. Couldn’t she see this fiasco coming? She didn’t even need to be psychic to know she was going to be on camera!

The grand irony is that I had just written an article on reclaiming the dignity of the psychic profession (“The F Word”), when along comes this “psychic” (of some renown apparently) displaying behavior that would be considered abhorrent to anyone, but which is particularly shameful and harmful when done by someone who represents the profession on television in front of millions of viewers.

In another time that kind of talk would have gotten her burned alive at the stake. Today it primarily brings on laughter and ridicule that further diminishes the true value and spirit of our work.

All the reality show talk aside, this brings up a very important point for those of us who actually work as professional psychics, tarot readers, astrologers, etc.

If you are going to represent this industry – which already has enough trouble gaining credibility – this is NOT the way to do it. If we are to ever gain the respect from the public that we deserve, we need to present our work in a way that is dignified and down to earth.

Intention is everything. A psychic reading should always be for helping and healing and must never be used to intimidate, humiliate or as a “weapon”. Bragging about your ability to tell when “people are going to die” is unethical and casts a fearful shadow on the nature of our work.
Do not drink and do readings. If you are going to imbibe, refrain from tapping into the other side. It’s irresponsible and no respectable professional medium would ever do such a thing as the readings will most likely be inaccurate.
A professional never does “parlor tricks” with their gifts, even under pressure from others. Putting your “power” on display in this manner smacks of ego.
Sensitive information should never be shared in a group setting as you never want to humiliate the person getting the reading. If you feel that there is some potentially damaging information coming through, advise the querent to speak with you privately.
Fake cigarettes do not make you look cool. They make you look like a douche.

Ultimately if we want our work to be respected, we need to act respectfully. I’d love to see more psychics, tarot readers and others from our profession be well represented in the media. If we continue to rely on fictional mediums and reality shows to showcase our work, we are in danger of setting ourselves back into the dark ages, or perhaps even more perilous, falling into a position where we become predominantly perceived by the public as our own worst stereotypes.

I hope Ms. DuBois takes a long, hard look at her antics and recognizes the great disservice she did to our industry. Even if she doesn’t care, we can all use this as a cautionary tale on what NOT to do when making a public appearance.

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Blessings!

Theresa

special thanks to taoxproductions for the help with editing and the image