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This item is an original from the JREF collection, a 1923 letter from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to J. Malcolm Bird, secretary of a special committee set up by the Scientific American Magazine to investigate the phenomena exhibited by one Margery Crandon, a spiritualist medium of Boston. Sir Arthur was at this time on a tour of the USA. The letter is dated May 9, Denver, Colorado, and reads:
My dear Bird
I had a talk with Houdini today & he assures me that the papers misrepresent his attitude and that he is not intolerant at all – so that may ease things with the Commission. What he really wants is evidence in which he has been singularly unfortunate but my experience with my wife leads me to think that he may reject good evidence when it is put before him. He told me that he could see the foot of Mrs. Towson in the photo taken with him in Chicago but he clearly had never heard of a transformation. I should think the real argument is that where a medium is faking she would take notice that her foot was not visible. I have given H the address of Gary Kemp [?] with the noisy control, in Chicago whither he goes next week. If he can get results there it may help him. But he is obsessed with the idea that everyone can be & is fooled – but himself.
Yours very sinc’ly A. C. D.
This document is interesting in many respects. First, it demonstrates the naivety of Sir Arthur, in his reasoning that a faker would not be caught so easily. Lots of them were, and still are. Sir Arthur actually expresses the opinion that Houdini would be “helped” by being shown genuine spiritualistic phenomena, as if that were the greatest goal imaginable. The two were not far from a schism at this point, since Houdini was six months away from publishing his negative account of a meeting/séance with Lady Conan Doyle which took place in June – in which she produced what to Houdini was meaningless, disconnected, guesses, but was – not surprisingly – very convincing to Conan Doyle. I’m not aware of any medium named Gary Kemp – if that is the name we see in this letter.
I think I’ll run the occasional item from our collection on this site, to elicit comments and perhaps valuable deductions from our readers. After all, that’s what Sherlock Holmes would have done….
Reader Jan Kalin, in Slovenia, informs us:
I thought it might interest you that the Slovenian government and parliament have gone partially bonkers. A new law is in the procedure that would enable homeopathic medicines to be legally registered. The relevant third paragraph translates into:
The law would introduce a special, quicker procedure for registration of traditional herbal based medicines and homeopathic medicines with priority on the use of homeopathic medicines in veterinary medicine and ecological farming.
Apparently the homeopaths are now peddling their voodoo stuff to animals and plants – a lovely way to increase profits without any complaints. And the legislators have fallen for it (and probably use the products themselves).
I do not want to influence your decisions, but putting up this news on your commentary page, with some appropriately acid commentary, would give me ammunition when I write to newspapers and an MP that I know and would perhaps help embarrass the legislators into hopefully dropping this disgraceful part of the law.
Jan, an explanation of the tests-on-animals ploy is in order here. Years ago, the homeopaths began performing tests on horses, hoping to show that since animals cannot know what the expected results of experiments might be, those tests would be considered effectively double-blind. Wrong. They failed to initiate the most fundamental precaution, one absolutely essential for such a procedure. True, the horses could be held blameless, but the operators – those who distributed, administered, and handled the substances used, and kept the records – were not “blinded” and could of course skew the results, since they were the ones who asked farmers if any animal was better or unchanged, and it largely depended on how the questions were asked. And they did.
Since the results they reported after these extensive tests were positive – no surprise to the “real” scientists out there who knew of the poor protocol – that flawed procedure has been carried out many times since. This is yet another example of a proper scientific procedure almost being applied to quackery. I must admit that I have not heard of similar procedures being carried out on plants, but perhaps plans are being made now to enlist this very easily influenced variety of life to “prove” the homeopaths' wild claims.
I hope the Slovenian government will think again before falling into this trap of accepting pseudoscience; this is an opportunity for them to show their resistance to a form of medical treatment which, though immensely popular, is nonetheless useless and belongs back in medieval days. Remember, not too long ago the process of blood-letting was standard procedure in medical practice. It was discovered that this was not only ineffective, but was exceedingly damaging. A long history of use is not a sufficient qualification for acceptance.
Typical of the uninformed criticism offered against real medicine is this excerpt from a letter-to-the-editor in the December 27 Daily Mail from one Derek Metson, of Brightlingsea, Essex, in the UK. Referring to a similar set of tests on cattle, Mr. Metson wrote triumphantly, the same comment-from-ignorance:
What do cattle know about placebos? It is clear scientists funded by drug companies do not wish to “tear up physics and chemistry textbooks” – that would put them out of a job.
Which is more “conventional” – something that has been tried and tested for more than 200 years, or something that has been around and changing for about a quarter of that time?
What Mr. Metson fails to grasp, is that homeopathy – in its 200-year history – has also made changes, but every one of them – such as the most recent one of sending homeopathic “vibrations” over the Internet! – have all been further retreats into medieval pre-science, while real medicine has developed such things as vaccines, antibiotics, heart operations and transplants, new diagnostic and minimally-invasive technologies, and many hundreds of other valid innovations that have saved literally tens of millions of lives, all over the world. Homeopathy is still an attempt to fight reality with mythology. That “changing” aspect of real medicine is what makes it great – it develops and grows, improving steadily, while quackery flails about trying to look like science and goes nowhere. Mr. Metson also identifies “scientists” as the enemies; I wonder if he’ll call upon a witch or a homeopath rather than a real physician the next time he falls ill.
In that same Daily Mail newspaper column was a letter from a Brian Godfrey of London. He repeated the standard claim that “Anyone who tries to submit complementary medicine to standard scientific tests will always obtain flawed results.” In other words, this is some sort of magical art, an exception to the rest of the real world, an aspect of the universe that Mr. Godfrey invents to excuse the fact that even one of the highest authorities in the world of complementary medicine, Professor Edzard Ernst, was incompetent because he used real methods of observation in testing popular homeopathic medicines. Mr. Godfrey does not state his own qualifications for making this claim, unfortunately. However, he reaches into his bag of brilliant ideas, and suggests that Dr. Ernst should have “a talk to Prince Charles, who certainly has more understanding of the subject.” We all know that members of the royal family are elected to that exalted position following rigorous examinations of their qualifications, and that they must pass IQ and common-sense test procedures, as well, so Mr. Godfrey obviously has appealed to a potent authority to support homeopathy. Or am I wrong about how smart the House of Windsor actually is?
Some people are doggedly determined to be and remain ignorant of reality. This ailment is not only found in the United Kingdom, either. Here in the USA… ah, but you’ve heard that one…
Reader Scott Mange reminds us of this:
"I swear to you, then," said MacIan. . . "I swear it by the god you have denied, by the Blessed Lady you have blasphemed; I swear it by the seven swords in her heart. I swear it by the Holy Island where my fathers are, by the honor of my mother, by the secret of my people, and by the chalice of the Blood of God."
The Atheist drew up his head. "And I," he said, "give my word."
– “The Ball and the Cross,” G. K. Chesterton.
One of my personal favorites from Chesterton:
On five occasions in history the Church has gone to the dogs, but on each occasion, it was the dogs that died.
Every week or so, I’m offered ingenious rationalizations from or on behalf of applicants for the JREF prize who have failed their tests. The spectrum of alibis is wide. We hear such things as: the room was too warm, Jupiter was in Sagittarius, I ingested refined white sugar this morning, the Earth’s magnetic poles have shifted, I had indigestion, a high-pressure front moved in, there’s a full Moon, demons interfered, Randi’s negative vibrations cancelled the effect, it was Thursday… These are a few of the actual complaints we’ve been given! And, occasionally, I receive a more generalized – though fuzzy – explanation for the collective failure of all the hundreds of prize applicants. Get ready: it’s because of the very existence of the prize itself!
A French veterinarian, André Wassen, in Saint Privé, Yonne, France, who describes himself as a fan of “bio energy fields” and acupressure for treating animals, offers his version of that last mystery. He writes, with true Gallic certitude:
The simple fact that money is involved makes the [JREF] challenge unwinnable. Sometimes I do some dowsing for my patients but it always has to be for the highest good. When you do it for one million dollars, your left brain is involved as well as your ego and anyway the response will be false because you do it to satisfy your own ego, to show how good you are...
So you [Randi] take no risk, nobody will ever win that challenge.
But on a daily basis, far away from the spot lights, some practitioners dowse, do distance healing etc ...with patients who are suffering and the less they show off, the more they are successful...using these methods you describe as paranormal...
Well, happily for Dr. Wassen, I have the perfect solution for him:
1. We’ll remove the money from the picture; rather than sending him the prize, I will donate it to his favorite charity, anonymously, and without telling him about it, if and when he succeeds.
2. Mutually, we will design a test for Dr. Wassen in which a negative result will win the prize; by that I mean a test in which losing against the odds, will result in the prize being awarded. This would of course also make it “for the highest good.”
3. We will agree to tell no one about any success that Dr. Wassen might have, so that his ego will not be involved.
4. We will accept dowsing, “distance healing,” the existence of a “bio energy field,” acupressure, or any other strange power that Dr. Wassen cares to specify – and – just to fend off the inevitable objection I see coming, we will agree not to describe any such ability as strange, paranormal, magical, miraculous, or supernatural.
Please note that Dr. Wassen has built in here a perfect escape-hatch: if he fails, he simply invokes that “show off” clause or the “evil money” influence, and all is explained. When he succeeds, it’s because he was able to suppress his ego and showmanship, he ignored the prize, and he performed “for the highest good.” Catch-22 rides again… There is no way that his claim can be examined, since he’s invented these useful imaginary “rules” to cover all failures!
This item intended for our web page was sent to Dr. Wassen on December 24th at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. We await his response. But, there will be no response. This incredible rationalization cites elements like “for the highest good,” intent, ego, and pride, as reasons that the JREF prize has not been won. I offer Dr. Wassen my own experienced reasoning on that subject: in my opinion, having investigated every variety of smug, self-righteous, grandly pompous, dismissive, claimant to powers, I conclude that the abilities they claim are either imaginary or fraudulent. Hundreds of careful, definitive, thorough, tests over the last sixty years have indicated that to be true.
Dr. Wassen – if he responds at all – will come up with yet more spurious excuses on why he – or anyone else – cannot try for the JREF prize. He must do this, because he knows full well that he cannot actually do what he boasts he can do. He will continue to blather on about miracles he performs, perhaps actually believing that his thinking process is up to the challenge.
Aren’t we glad that he can only work on animals other than homo sapiens….?
NOTE: the above part of this item was written and e-mailed to Dr. Wassen a few days ago, before being published on this page. The following response was received from him. I was quite wrong in one of my expectations; he did respond, as follows. The ellipses are his:
Why on Earth would I have the need to go through any challenge...the fact that we have results is sufficient. We are a group of vets who practice alternative medicine on a daily basis using any tool available, included what you call paranormal (which in fact is not paranormal at all since 4 years old toddlers can do that with success). Fortunately we have still some freedom and are not indebted to big pharma, and their double blind studies...and still consider healing as an art...
These "paranormal" tools are gifts from the Universe to use to heal and harmonize others, available to those who try to be spiritual enough to connect to the divinity within each of us...They are not tools to be displayed in fairs and circus...to convince anyone.
Gosh, one day you will even have the idea to coerce Jesus Christ to come to your web site to prove what he can do and that for one million dollars ...and that in the name of science!
This is a classic evasion, done by one obviously experienced in waffling out of direct confrontations, and speaking in mystical language. The simple answer to the first question posed by Dr. Wassen above, is: to win one million dollars, which he could apply as he might wish, as I clearly stated in item #1, above. What he’s saying here is that he is smugly convinced of his position, but he will not – even for a million dollars! – put it to the test. And he reveals to us that “big pharma” – his derogatory designation of the pharmaceutical industry that has saved billions of lives and futures of both humans and other animals – is the enemy that these “spiritual” vets, through their individual spark of “divinity” and their “gifts from the Universe,” are fighting. He also dismisses that awkward scientific “double-blind” procedure; too much logic and reality there, I guess. And just where are these four-year-old kids who can also pull off this stunt? Are their parents also disinterested in winning a million-dollar prize, doctor? Do tell them to apply, will you?
Dr. Wassen, I wasn’t really proposing that you put on a red nose, big shoes, and a clown suit to do funny tricks for an audience at a fair or a circus, as you seem to think. Rather, I’d pictured a basic lab setting – a situation that appears to be foreign to you, but should not be. I’m sure that your local library can supply you with books on basic science, and how it’s done.
As for your suggestion about Jesus, you must understand that we at the JREF do not pursue possible applicants for the prize; we await their contact. If Jesus – who I’m sure is aware of the prize, what with Omnipotence and Omniscience going for him – wishes to apply, he is certainly eligible. He can even bring his dad and a herd of angels along to help, if he wishes.
Reader Greg Zaino reports:
I just heard Criss Angel interviewed on a morning radio show here in New England (FM 100.3 WHEB) and was very happy to hear him give favorable mention to your foundation and the million dollar challenge. He was answering a question regarding what people made of his seemingly supernatural demonstrations. He said he finds pleasure and satisfaction in getting people to talk and discuss amongst themselves about how he may have performed certain tricks or illusions, however, without hesitation, he immediately warned the listener about the claims of certain individuals who prey upon the accepting public (not his exact words).
. . . but he did mention John Edward by name. In short, he stated he does not possess any supernatural abilities, nor does anyone else. In my opinion, this does NOT take away from the effect of his performances in the least. Bravo Criss Angel!!! I was a fan before I heard your interview, and even more so now!!!
I’d expect nothing less from Criss, Greg. He’s one of the good guys….!
Reader Michael McCarron:
Hi James, Here's a post I did on my site (www.mikesweeklyskepticrant.blogspot.com) about the recent Barbara Walters “Heaven” special:
Well, that was depressing. I just watched BabaWawa's “Heaven: Where is it? How do we get there?” special, and man, what a sad spectacle. How many people are out there living for a future life, living for the "next life," or living only to kill others because of those people’s lack of faith. People buying into the spiritual blackmail of "do good or else." The three minutes of American Atheists president Ellen Johnson was just the typical token skeptic to say, "No, there's no Heaven, it's all superstition, it's comforting to believe, but there's no rationality behind it."
There were two short clips of an atheist camp for kids and a researcher showing that near-death experiences are explainable through brain chemistry, but these were quickly forgotten when the anecdotal tales of white lights, pleasant thoughts, and dead relatives came back to the forefront. It makes me sad that so many grown adults are placated with such base niceties as "white lights," "stairways with happy dogs and cats," and "everything was green and compassionate." To think that way demeans your life and makes you only live to get your personal reward – so whatever you do here is a means to an end. A selfish end.
Having your life be finite, as an atheist believes, makes your actions have consequences. You are responsible for your actions and you must atone – not with an invisible father figure, but with your peers. Your memory will be forever tainted if you kill people, defraud people, or otherwise take advantage of the less fortunate. Atheists realize that this is what we have, and we are lucky to have it; we help those who need it because it is the right thing to do to push our society forward.
Why do believers want so much more? If a person, an atheist for example, lives a good life, helps people, is compassionate, has a job that makes others better (a doctor, counselor, or firefighter...), that may not be enough to get you into their version of Heaven. You have to believe in their book. All the other good things are meaningless if you don't believe. A man who kills ten people can go to prison and "find God," ask forgiveness, and go to heaven – but an atheist cannot. That makes not an ounce of sense.
There is hope, connectedness, and accountability in having a rationalistic worldview. There is a lot to learn from how non-theists live and work, but Barbara Walters didn't look for us, she took the easy route. As expected, no surprise there.
I didn’t see this program, perhaps because I expected just what Michael reports here. My experience with PrimeTime Live was such a disappointment, that I just can’t believe that ABC-TV will ever abandon the woo-woo promotion angle. For another example, see the next item up ahead….
Bob Park, in his weekly commentary on the “Heaven” program, opined:
The only hard information [presented by ABC] was that 90 percent of the public believes in [Heaven], whatever it is. That's scary, but how could ABC spend two hours on something for which there is no evidence whatever? Easy, have Barbara Walters interview experts, from mega-church evangelist Ted Haggard, who explains Heaven is only for born-again Christians, to a failed suicide bomber in a Jerusalem prison who was certain it's only for Muslims.
You ask how they could do this, Bob? They’ve done it before, and the sponsors have gobbled it up! It’s a winning formula!
An angry reader – Chris Webster – objects to an item we covered back at www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html, specifically the www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html#13 part. There I related the experience of one of the victims of John of God, a “healer” in Brazil covered in detail and without any caution by ABC-TV News via their “Primetime Live” show. Please go to the second reference given just above, and re-read the second item there.
This reader is a confirmed believer, enraged at the facts we revealed about this phony, and repeating the myths put out by the extensive publicity organization that advertises tours to those who are desperate, vulnerable, and naïve, to go to Brazil and submit to the appalling procedures John offers. Here’s what the reader wrote to me:
We belief [sic] these statements above [in www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html#13] are totally fictitious or a strait [sic] lie, because of our own personal experiences and the following FACTS:
1) John of God Does NOT CHARGE FOR HIS SERVICES!
2) Only people who TRULY WANT visable [sic] surgery get it!
3) They DON'T TAKE CREDIT CARDS at the ONE small gift shop there! (only cash=Brazilian Real)
4) There has [sic] NEVER been any reported infections EVER in over 35 years!
If you would conduct a real scientific research personally on John of God, which has been done many times by other institutions, like the 2 (two) year study done by a team from the Brazilian Faculty of Medicine, Federal University de Juis [sic] de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil; just to mention one, you would find that THE RESULTS ARE REAL, just with our current scientific understanding not easy to explain.
So until you have done A REAL RESEARCH OF THE FACTS ABOUT "John of God" please stop ranting about things you DON"T [sic] KNOW and obviously fear.
PS: I'm sure you won't post this response on your onesided [sic] website, will you?
Okay, let’s look at each of these fevered assertions of yours, Chris. Number 1: Quite true. I never claimed that he did. As with almost all of these charlatans, it is made very clear to the suckers that the noble “healer” will accept donations, which are promptly given. In that way, he can expostulate that he never actually asks for payment. And believers of course eagerly snap up this “out,” as you did. Number 2: Apparently not, as we see from the reader who related his experience. We’ve seen that other persons – probably those who look particularly suggestible – are picked out of the assembly to be “operated on.” Remember, all those who go there are already convinced of the reality of the farce, as you are; you’re all eligible, easy, targets. Number 3: I did not even suggest that any gift shop there accepted credit cards. The victim related that his credit card – which he’d used for the hotel – was charged for a jewelry purchase when no purchase was made by him. In some mysterious manner, when he got home from Brazil, this spurious charge showed up on his monthly statement! You’ve made assumptions, Chris, as we’d expect. Number 4: I find it remarkable that you’ve personally followed up on every one of the thousands of assaults-by-scalpel made by this operation in over 35 years, and can confidently report this astonishing research figure. No, dumbo, that’s what you were told by the people who run the show!
As for the University de Juiz de Fora, that school offers courses in mathematics and computer science, hardly qualifications for a medical – or a conjuring – investigation. Straining your powers of probability, think about whether any local, federally-funded, Brazilian organization is going to publish negative information on this rich cash-cow that brings in millions of tourist dollars. And just where is this convincing “research” published? You don’t know, nor do we. You’ve just opted to believe that it’s around somewhere. Remember, the JREF has offered this faker our million-dollar prize, and he has not responded. I wonder why. Do you wonder, too? I don’t think so.
I looked around for our “onesided” website that you referred to, and even Google hasn’t heard of it. So, I decided to run your response right here, because you serve as a perfect example of the sort of believer who can’t or doesn’t read what we publish, chooses to believe all the propaganda he’s fed, and ignores the points we make because they threaten his false security. I’m sure you’re tuned to ABC-TV regularly; that operation will always satisfy your need for fantasy and Never-Never-Land news flashes.
Reader “Ethan” in Montreal:
I live in Montreal, and I'd like to report that a program at McGill University is showing “What the Bleep Do We Know.” (See www.randi.org/jr/052005la.html#4) The program responsible is: www.mcgill.ca/wholepersoncare. Following is the letter I sent them. Apparently, the main three people involved with making the film are members of the Ramtha organization. But I haven't been able to verify this, so I didn't mention it in the letter.
I have seen this film, and I must say that it is not of the caliber I would expect from an institution such as McGill. I have a Master's degree in Physics, and I was appalled at how quantum mechanics was twisted to the film's ends. Just investigate "JZ (Judy) Knight," whom is interviewed in the film. She is the founder of the Ramtha Cult, and claims to channel Ramtha, a 35,000-year-old warrior spirit.
Much of what the reputable physicists say in the film is quoted out of context to fit its silly ideas about how quantum mechanics works. Here's what some British scientists have to say about the film: film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1484925,00.html
I will not dispute that the central message of the film is important: that people have more control over their lives than they think. But it's not because they can influence the outcome of quantum mechanical events with their own thoughts.
An article in the Montreal Gazette newspaper, to be seen at www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=61d43548-b0fb-4433-a447-996828723b9c&k=84807, quotes the director of the McGill program as saying that the goal of showing the film is “to get you thinking.” Well, when he goes on to describe it as, “a real mind-opener complete with peptides, proteins, a Polish wedding unlike any other, and quantum physics,” that gets me thinking that he’s totally unprepared to handle the project he’s entrusted with. He says the film
…talks about neurophysiology and the way the brain works and even about quantum physics and how that could explain some of our connections. It's not necessarily that I understand all of it or believe all of it for sure, but it's opening my mind to so many more possibilities.
Sir, there is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out. I note that the guest speaker for that evening's discussion is announced as William Tiller of Stanford University's Department of Materials Science, who also appears in the documentary itself. Well, that rounds it out nicely; Tiller is a devotee of “psychoenergetics,” has written on “pyramid power,” and every other woo-woo notion imaginable. At tillerfoundation.com/tillermodel.htm we see an excellent summary – his own – of how he sees the world.
Reader Andrew Battye, of Yorkshire, England, refers to the item at www.randi.org/jr/200511/112505psychich.html#i3:
The story in [a recent] Commentary about the fairies living under the rock at St. Fillans in Scotland reminded me of a similar case with which I had some involvement.
I was employed as a consultant by the City of Bradford here in England, to provide advice on transport matters throughout the adoption of the city's Development Plan. This Plan outlines the areas of the city where development, for housing, employment, leisure facilities, etc, will take place over the next ten years. Like most other local governments, Bradford had to find land within the city that would be suitable for further housing developments and the areas the government found were usually controversial in that they were sometimes in the few undisturbed areas left within the urban sprawl. Persons living near the proposed housing sites were, rightly in my opinion, concerned that any new housing would ruin the character of their localities.
Anyway, an area close to the glen where the "Cottingley Fairies" were "photographed" was identified by the local government as being suitable for housing. A Public Inquiry was convened to let the government and the local objectors put their cases before an Inspector appointed by the National Government.
After the Inquiry, the Inspector ruled in favor of the local objectors in this case. As part of his reasoning, he wrote:
Concerning the historic interest referred to, I understand that the site is in the locality of the "fairy sighting" episode, and recent housing developments have affected the area more central to this event. Whilst such an episode cannot in itself be sufficient to warrant the protection of the site from development, it would be a pity if further land associated with the event were lost to unnecessary development... In terms of future use… I consider that village greenspace would be appropriate.
Whilst the presence, or otherwise, of fairies in the area is not the reason for the development to be halted, I imagine the current residents of the area are grateful to those two girls who managed to cause such a furor all those years ago.
Andrew, I must admit to you that I, too, would have opted to let the glen, with its tiny brook, stay just as it is. It’s a beautiful spot, full of history, and just the same as it was back in 1917 when Elsie Wright and her cousin Francis took Elsie’s dad’s camera and snapped a photo that fooled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and so many other “experts” who were too smart, by far.
See www.randi.org/library/cottingley/ for more details….
Back in May of 1981, I offered to test the psychic claims of one Robert Petro for station WIND Radio 560, in Chicago. They worked with me to obtain some photos of listeners that Petro said he could “read” so well that each individual would recognize their own reading. We tried for a month to get Petro to agree to be tested, and he finally dropped out. Back then, the prize I offered was only $10,000. A reader has just inquired about Petro, who’s apparently still in business. I went into my files and found some interesting material.
Here are the analyses he did for three of those photographs of women in the Chicago area. Note the “selfless” qualities he assigns to all three, the dangers he warns they all face from enemies, the obstructions others have thrown in their way, and the general fuzziness of the readings – shown by the indeterminate wording, expressions like “You would,” something “may” be – used five times, and “I feel that” – that one used 18 times.
1. You will always be in a position of authority. Your life will be constantly preoccupied with curriculum. You will always be a person that will be on the constant move, always trying to achieve something, putting it off until tomorrow. You will find that much of your life will have to be put aside because you'll be preoccupied with helping everyone else. You're a woman that a man would rely on as far as his personal life is concerned. You would keep him going in the right direction. Point blank, you would be his backbone. Now, you're considering a serious investment, making investments. You're contemplating something to do with a piece of real estate. I feel that you have strong opinions about the economy, about government, about politics a strong opinion about the mold and the integrity of the country. You're a woman that will find herself on panels, on boards of directors, and not get the co-operation you need to complete the job. You're from the old school as far as accomplishments, working – an honest day's work – you're a self-made woman. You have an excellent background as educational background. You're planning to go on a long trip within the next couple of months.
2. You will become involved... you have a great interest in the past, history, collectables, antiques, paintings, but you will always be brought – drawn back to the past. Now, some people fall in love with people. You will find yourself falling in love with the countryside, art, architecture, collectables. You're a person who is self-sufficient. I feel that you have had a difficulty about three or four years ago, almost to a point where you literally started your life over again. I feel that during that particular time, you didn't know if you could get past this crisis. I feel that you have overcome it. Also that you have an aptitude to recover very quickly. You very rarely will show what you're honestly feeling, so you'll always try to cheer people up around you. That's your basic nature. You’re a fun person. When you plan something, you plan it very thoroughly, and you don't like disappointments. I feel that your personal possessions may be in danger, so I advise you to place them in a safe location. I also feel that you are concerned about a young person in the mid-twenties. The person I see is about 25-26, so I see the person and I feel that their problem this year will be in personal relationships. "Yes, I'm going to, no, I'm not going to." And I feel there's going to be a humming and hawing about a relationship, and also I feel that the person may be turning to some sort of formal education, because I feel that when this person went to school, they may not have appreciated it, but I feel they will be sent back on some sort of special training program. Also I feel that you will be communicating with a woman at a distance who may have a slight health problem. And I feel that it may linger on until the middle of next month, at least. Then, I feel that the health problem will fade away.
3. You would be an individual that would be extremely frugal. You will find yourself in many family feuds because at times you will have a very outspoken opinion or personality. This woman's family – the family she was born into – would not appreciate her, the type of personality she has, so she will tend to have conflicts. Also, I feel that she has invested some money, and it's at a point where it's going to be maturing very shortly, and she's going to be concerned about taxes, and pocket gain. Also, I feel that she's a woman who has been involved in some sort of a career, for a long time. Her best profession would have been teaching or business management, but she has been involved in a career. I feel that now she's wanting to retreat, run away. She wants some peace of mind. I also feel that she'll be signing papers, legal papers from an attorney that will be somewhat upsetting, because this year shows for her, disappointments. She will discover that untrustable friends that she had a high opinion of will let her down this year. People from the past re-appear in her life, causing a tidal wave. This year will show where she wants to retreat and just live a simple life. And her best aptitude, also, would be anything to do with growing. Farming, flowers, but she would be excellent in a profession dealing with plants and nature.
Feeling an experiment coming on, I took copies of these readings to a class I was then teaching at a local community college in New Jersey. There were three women in the class who were particularly strong in their acceptance of psychic powers and particularly of “readings” they’d had. I – falsely – represented these documents to be genuine psychic readings individually made for those three members of the class. After reading them over, the students gave them scores of 10, 10, and 9 (out of 10) in reference to how well they applied to them. Remember, these were readings given for three other women, of different ages, in another city, at another time – yet the believers were able to find this strong correlation to their own lives!
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
We bid goodbye to 2005 and cautiously turn to face 2006, knowing that the world might be just a bit more rational now due to our efforts. It’s been 246 weeks – that’s 1,722 days, going on five years! – since Sylvia Browne agreed to be tested by the JREF, and apparently she still can’t figure out how to reach us.
Registration for TAM4 is going very well. We’ve now passed 600 registrants, all tickets for the Jamy Ian Swiss performances are sold out, and there are just a couple of spots left on the Thursday Workshop. On the Celebrity Dinner, all places at the Mythbusters table are gone, and only a few are still available at other tables. This is gonna be a conference to remember…!
Our very best wishes for the new year, friends. In various respects, this last one wasn’t all that great for some of us, but we’re still in there fighting. And things are looking up: the trees at my home – those that were left behind by Hurricane Wilma – are sprouting new leaves, the roofers are at work, and nature is healing the wounds she gave us. A new back fence is going in at the JREF building, and the peafowl – a little frazzled but still beautiful – are coming around again for handouts. Hey, like they say in that movie, it’s a wonderful life….
