To some this blog may seem controversial and is not a dig at premium phone line service providers; however, I think is important to open debate on critical trends that have a serious impact on the performance of clairvoyants, mediums, psychics, astrologers, tarot readers etc and more importantly their impact on client’s expectations.
I reminisce about the good old days of being an astrologer at the great psychic fairs in Birmingham, London, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool from 1980-1984. The atmosphere at the Psychics and Mystics fair in Birmingham was overwhelming, sparking public curiosity and discovery. I was the only astrologer at the fair mainly because no one had the patience or speed to calculate an astrological chart. As many readers will know when psychic fairs are busy it creates a much pressurised environment for psychics. As soon as one reading is finished there is some else sitting in the chair opposite you looking at you with curiosity, anticipation and eager for you to tell them something magical! Being an astrologer who had to calculate charts before I could do the reading was challenging but introduced an effective appointment basis. Some friends volunteered to take peoples details and the £5.00 for the reading – yes it was £5.00 in those days for a reading! I managed to calculate and draw a chart from anywhere in the world in fifteen minutes ready for the next client to read their chart. However, I doubt very much I would be able to achieve this speed and accuracy today, especially as I now rely on my astrological software to calculate a client’s chart, which is done in a flash! Astrological software has been around for sometime going back to the early 1980’s but perhaps was not widely used until the mid 1990’s.
I might sound like a Luddite fearing technology, however, I actually design digital media technology solutions and have a master’s degree in Design & Digital Media plus I will be starting my PhD in the autumn “creating powerful actor and audience empathic connection and better cinematic experiences”. Sorry for digressing...so let’s get back on track.
By 1990 there was a surge in 0900 telephone services perhaps mainly driven by the porn industry but it was not long before you could have a psychic reading over the telephone, be it paying a premium cost of a £1.00 a minute for the privilege! In 1991 I decided to be a reader on one of these phone line services in Birmingham. Although an astrologer I had invented my own astrological cards in 1983 and thought this would be the right medium (forgive the pun) for this service. After my interview providing a few readings for the management team I was hired. Not quite sure how much I earned but I think it was around £3.50 an hour, which these days would not pay for your local bus fare, hardly going to make me rich. As I was used to the pressurised environment of the psychic fairs I thought this would be a doddle. However, this was a more challenging than I had expected, let me explain further. There were about ten phone lines in a very small room doing a 4 hour shift I think may be longer. The process was to pick up the first phone available so it was like musical chairs at busy times. There was a great camaraderie amongst the group, in the quite periods we would give each other quick readings until one of the managers came in and gave us a piece of his mind if you get what I mean! I was surprised how well I did and feedback was really good but I could not sustain the pressure of constantly being on the phone, reading after reading. It was like a fast production line, mentally exhausting, probably a similar experience to the battery hen producing eggs! However, I thought I was the lucky one because I had managed to do the longest readings which meant that I did less clients and therefore less stressful. However, I decided to leave - they wanted me to stay perhaps because I did longer readings, but it was not for me for various reasons apart from the pressure and mental stress. At this time clients could still get a psychic or astrological reading face to face for about (1hr) £15-£20. Ok I was aware that the service provider had to make a significant contribution to the telephone service provider so it was not as if they were necessarily making a fortune. However, to me the process seemed to degrade the whole experience of a psychic/astrological reading. How can you create a true receptive state under so much pressure? One the other hand it provided the client easy access to a psychic reader but having a good face to face meeting robs the client from having the traditional magical experience! Since the early 1990’s the high premium telephone lines have blossomed during the emergence of the internet phenomena with online services including: instant messaging, email, skype (free online calls worldwide), video conferencing, psychic radio stations and psychic TV programmes which support premium line services.
Although people can say these services exploit the vulnerable in our society I also feel for the psychic who is under immense pressure from a demanding client who expects an accurate reading on demand who may not tolerate a few moments for the psychic to gather their thoughts or layout some cards. Society has changed with technology advances as clients expect immediate results and are perhaps more likely to be disappointed due to unrealistic expectations within tight timeframes.
This is quite a challenge for psychics and perhaps not the best environment to tune into a client and create receptive state. Fortunately being an astrologer we don’t tune into anyone we just interpret the astrological symbolism like a language. I know someone who is an excellent clairvoyant and numerologist who finds it a very challenging process to tune in with the client on her psychic radio programme due to the speed of the process.
Another issue is with easier access to psychics and astrologers, will it encourage the vulnerable to use these services more and than they would have done in the past at the traditional psychic fairs? Are these services really adding value to the psychics, readings and above all client experience or is there a better solution for the psychic/astrologer to provide a professional service? With Uranus in Aries we will see many new forms of technology and will Neptune in Pisces take psychic readings to a new level of sophistication and spirituality regardless of the technology available?
