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A message from my long dead Grandfather is so upsetting.

(98 Posts)
Sarnia Mon 30-Mar-26 17:52:56

One of my daughters went to an audience with a psychic medium at the weekend. It was held in a small theatre with a couple of hundred people. On her way out of the theatre the man who was the medium told my daughter he had been asked to give her a message to pass on to me. My late GF had told him to tell me he loved me. This man used my GF's first and second Christian names and my first Christian name. My daughter is delighted with this and couldn't wait to ring me. I am very torn. I don't have feelings either way on the reliability of psychics but if pushed I would say I think there is something strange about them. I also have this uncomfortable feeling that he isn't 'at rest'. He was the gentlest of men and I have such fond memories of him. I am quite upset by it all. Any other sceptics had anything like this?

valdavi Mon 30-Mar-26 18:01:39

I am sceptical about it.

He could have looked up those names and your daughter's appearance online.

It's the message - you describe your GF as the gentlest of men, so I assume you always knew he loved you. If he was going to disturb you in this way (you are obviously upset) would he not have had a more pressing reason for getting in touch with you?Unless there is any personal reason why you needed that reassurance at this time...

JaneJudge Mon 30-Mar-26 18:42:58

Sarnia, I am not saying I believe in messages from the afterlife or not, but can you take comfort in that it was just a positive 'you are/were loved' message?

Cossy Mon 30-Mar-26 18:46:30

Ignore it. I’m sure it’s not necessarily 100%.

Your dear grandfather is dead and was much loved in life.

Treasure those memories and move on. flowers

Oreo Mon 30-Mar-26 18:53:25

I think it depends on if your DD gave any info at all from the moment she entered the venue to when she left, including just giving or writing her name? Some charlatan mediums have stooges who only need a name to google other relatives who live or lived locally which they pass on to the medium who has an earpiece.They then target the audience member.
If not, then it’s strange as you say. It’s an incredibly impersonal message tho isn’t it?

Fallingstar Mon 30-Mar-26 18:55:21

I think you should try to shake off the thought that your GF is not at rest. You had such a lovely GF of whom you have such precious memories, you are very blessed to have had such a special person in your life. Hold these memories close and let any misgivings go.
Wishing you all the best.💐

BlueBelle Mon 30-Mar-26 19:26:48

It’s all nonsense it is just clever people who know how to hone in on someone’s weak moments No one knows if there is a afterlife and no one can really connect to it These people are not genuine
Think no more about it just remember your lovely grandad
I had a good one too he died when I was 16 it broke my heart

M0nica Mon 30-Mar-26 19:45:26

My sister went to one of these events and had messages passed on from our maternal grandmother. My sister is seven years my junior and had very little memory of this grandmother.

The platitudes our grandmother was meant to have uttered were so at variance with the sort of things she did say. I was totally convinced they were just the sort of meaningless phrases that the psychic thought an old lady would say.

I read a long time ago an article explaining the mental sleight of hand (if you know what I mean) that psychics use to draw information from you, without you really realising

I think psychics are essentially performers like magicians, using similar mental tricks to convince you that what you see or hear is really what is happening.

Georgesgran Mon 30-Mar-26 19:59:19

I am a complete and utter sceptic. Even now, those thoughts prevail BUT last year DD1 went down to London with friends to Notting Hill Carnival, as they were on one of the floats. Later, they retired to a pub, unknown to any of them. A lady approached DD1 and introduced herself as a medium and that DD1’s Dad, (my DH who died in 2021) was beside her and proceeded to reel off some details and conversations only known between us. DD1 said it was fascinating, not distressing nor uncomfortable.
My common sense says trick……….but how.

luluaugust Mon 30-Mar-26 20:12:03

I read sometime ago that stooges are in the queue if there is one and also amongst the audience to listen to people discussing who they hope they might hear from

Luckygirl3 Mon 30-Mar-26 20:28:07

BlueBelle

It’s all nonsense it is just clever people who know how to hone in on someone’s weak moments No one knows if there is a afterlife and no one can really connect to it These people are not genuine
Think no more about it just remember your lovely grandad
I had a good one too he died when I was 16 it broke my heart

Exactly.

Basgetti Mon 30-Mar-26 23:13:40

I’m sorry that you are upset.

I believe it’s all manipulative nonsense. SM is the charlatan’s friend, so easy to gain information.

keepingquiet Mon 30-Mar-26 23:36:12

We all have info on our social media profiles, and some don't check their privacy settings enough. Most events are booked on-line these days so you will get info from that too. Not all the people in the queue are in the audience, some are plants just there to listen and watch, as others have said.

I know people who don't believe in an afterlife yet attend these things. Why? For entertainment pure and simple. They know its fake but go for the buzz. I find it ghoulish and disrespectful to say the least.

Some people care about their deceased loved ones and of course, hope they are at peace, this is just making money out of vulnerable people and I find it sickening.

Basgetti Mon 30-Mar-26 23:49:31

keepingquiet

We all have info on our social media profiles, and some don't check their privacy settings enough. Most events are booked on-line these days so you will get info from that too. Not all the people in the queue are in the audience, some are plants just there to listen and watch, as others have said.

I know people who don't believe in an afterlife yet attend these things. Why? For entertainment pure and simple. They know its fake but go for the buzz. I find it ghoulish and disrespectful to say the least.

Some people care about their deceased loved ones and of course, hope they are at peace, this is just making money out of vulnerable people and I find it sickening.

So do I. I’m surprised it’s allowed, tbh.

Granatlast007 Tue 31-Mar-26 11:06:12

He could have looked up those names and your daughter's appearance online.

It is apparently possible for Google glasses to look someone up online while they are worn. However, it would be a huge amount of work to look up even a few in a small audience of 00s.

I am open minded about these things but I once had a startlingly accurate picture of my family, marriage and life recounted to me by a medium at a fair. It was completely off the cuff, no way he could have known me, I said nothing to encourage him.

Also I have a daughter who, since childhood, has seen ghosts or whatever you want to call them. She is matter of fact about it and doesn't often talk about it. She did have an experience in an old hotel recently of noises in the room through the night and the television repeatedly switching itself on and showing a historical film featuring slaves being captured. She was quite matter of fact about that too and discovered after staying there that it is one of those 'most haunted' places in the UK.

I think some people have a hypersensitivity that is not understood or explained, maybe it's telepathy, maybe it is something not yet discovered by science. If you're given a comforting message, perhaps that is simply something to appreciate.

henetha Tue 31-Mar-26 11:13:58

A couple of things have happened in my life which make me realise that there is far more than we know about.

Astitchintime Tue 31-Mar-26 11:16:17

I’m a sceptic too……but I’ve always held the belief that the dead won’t hurt you.,,,..it’s the living that cause pain.

Witzend Tue 31-Mar-26 11:17:39

Granat,ast007, I agree.
I have no personal experience but a niece certainly had. She was told the most astonishing things by someone who did not do it professionally, and didn’t charge at all. Things she could not possibly have known, and in fact some were not even known by my niece - she had to check with her mother, my sister, who lived over 200 miles away - and incidentally does not do FB or any social media.

I do think a very few people have such a ‘gift’, or whatever you like to call it. My own mother was occasionally acutely telepathic over long distances, but she was a hyper-sensitive type anyway, which TBH could sometimes make her difficult to live with.

notgran Tue 31-Mar-26 11:28:20

If Psychic Mediums are genuine, why are they having to make a not very successful living doing what they do? Why aren't they doing something good for humanity with these special powers? Performing in pubs, small theatres etc is hardly giving us confidence they are able to do anything other than take money from the susceptible.

Grammaretto Tue 31-Mar-26 11:31:16

I had my hand read by a Gypsy soon after I was married. I was asked to give her my ring to hold.
She proceeded to tell me I was married and that she could tell I was Australian ,my NZ accent?

She also said she thought I was sad. I wasn't but perhaps most people who visit fortune tellers/mediums are?

I haven't forgotten it though. It was a bit spooky. Never done anything like that since.

Btw noone is going to tell you anything other than nice things from beyond the grave. It would be bad for business. 😟

dogsmother Tue 31-Mar-26 11:42:14

I am very sceptical of many however I also believe that there are also some genuine ones too with a real gift for it.
My tale is this.
I booked a telephone reading with someone from had no chance of knowing or learning anything about me. When time came for the reading ( just by hearing me over the phone) I explained that my husband was listening in on the extension as he was interested ( he was a total disbelieving cynic) the lady honed straight in on him told him astonishing facts about his family and his own life and very little to me. I was a total convert as was he.
Not at all interested in the manipulation of some though as I think you can see straight through them unless you are looking for something and then people do tend to make it fit.

David49 Tue 31-Mar-26 11:50:39

Years ago a friend of mine went to a fortune teller at Blackpool pleasure beach, she came out as white as a sheet, there was no possibility of any prior knowledge. The fortune was doom and sorrow, over the years she has had many misfortunes and lost her husband early with 2 small children.

I do believe that some have an insight ability for others, personally I would not want to know in advance, that would worry me constantly. Don't go to fortune tellers, it's not fun if you have a bad outlook.

David49 Tue 31-Mar-26 11:56:05

notgran

If Psychic Mediums are genuine, why are they having to make a not very successful living doing what they do? Why aren't they doing something good for humanity with these special powers? Performing in pubs, small theatres etc is hardly giving us confidence they are able to do anything other than take money from the susceptible.

Because most of them originate in the Romany traveler community, it is their lifestyle, don't assume they are poor either, many are very wealthy indeed, they have their own hierarchy and don't display wealth in the way most of us do.

keepingquiet Tue 31-Mar-26 13:11:13

notgran

If Psychic Mediums are genuine, why are they having to make a not very successful living doing what they do? Why aren't they doing something good for humanity with these special powers? Performing in pubs, small theatres etc is hardly giving us confidence they are able to do anything other than take money from the susceptible.

Because they are not genuine. They are grifters and people are so gullible.

Grammaretto Tue 31-Mar-26 13:21:31

Reiki therapy can apparently be done over the phone. I asked a Reiki practitioner how this worked to cure physical ailments. Her answer was something involving "energies"
It must work because people go back for more.

I visited a healer once who dangled a crystal in front of me.
My backache was much better the next day but since I had also had a massage and taken painkillers I can't be sure if the crystal worked.