| 1 | 1 | | Edina, the anti-heroine of the BBC series Absolutely Fabulous, seldom makes a |
| 2 | | move without consuiting her psychic on the mobile phone. Decisions about when to buy, |
| 3 | | sell, fall in love, stay home or simply pay the gas bill can't be made until mysterious verses |
| 4 | | have been read and the tarot cards shuffled by a modern version of the old-fashioned |
| 5 | | witch. |
| 2 | 6 | | Edina is not alone. Most of the fashion world does not get out of bed unie ss the stars |
| 7 | | in the heavens are behaving nicely.And it is not just the fashion designers: Princess Diana |
| 8 | | leans on a string of astroiogers, while the Duchess of York uses the services of the |
| 9 | | Islington-based psychic, Madame Vasso. So what is it that astroiogers, tarot readers and |
| 10 | | clairvoyants can offer these people? I asked some people who have studied the |
| 11 | | paranormal for their views. |
| 3 | 12 | | According to Keiran Peak, who is writing a book about the interaction between |
| 13 | | tarot reader and client, 'nearly all tarot readers have good basic counselling skills, even |
| 14 | | though they don't have any formal qualifications. Tarot readers charge less than |
| 15 | | psychotherapists. You can usually see one immediately without an appointment. Most |
| 16 | | importantly, you don't have to have made the decision that there's something wrong with |
| 17 | | your mind.' |
| 4 | 18 | | Those who do not believe in the paranormal are worried that for the public the |
| 19 | | distinction between psychie consultation and psychotherapy is getting vague. Karen |
| 20 | | Christopher, 32, a PR executive, recalls how a period of intense unhappiness brought her |
| 21 | | to total dependency upon paranormal practices. |
| 5 | 22 | | 'I just wanted to hear from someone that I was going to get my boyfriend back,' she |
| 23 | | says. ' It gat to the point where I was seeing a couple of different people a week. If they told |
| 24 | | me that the omens for his return weren't good, I'd simply go on to the next person.' |
| 6 | 25 | | In the end she came to the conclusion that what she needed was a psychotherapist |
| 26 | | rather than a psychic. 'The trouble with going to see a clairvoyant is that it puts you into a |
| 27 | | passive role. You're always waiting for next week or next month when you 've been |
| 28 | | promised that something good is going to happen.' |
| 7 | 29 | | 'It is the sense that there is something or someone looking after you which accounts |
| 30 | | for the current enthusiasm for the paranormal,' says Chris French, senior lecturer in |
| 31 | | psychology at Goldsmith's College, London University. He points out that 'when a country |
| 32 | | goes to war then a sudden increase of interest in astrology is almost bound to follow. The |
| 33 | | same is true when the economy looks shaky.' |
| 8 | 34 | | Susan Blackmore, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of the West of |
| 35 | | England, says a trip to the tarot reader represents a need to grasp at any bits of comfort. |
| 36 | | 'Our lives are becoming more and more incomprehensible. We are surrounded by faxes, |
| 37 | | computers and televisions, but we don't have a clue how they actually work. Having your |
| 38 | | future predicted by a psychic gives you some sense of being back in control of your life.' |
| 9 | 39 | | Chris French maintains there is no evidence for psychic power. 'Most so-called |
| 40 | | psychics are very intuitive people. They may truly believe that they have paranormal |
| 41 | | powers, but actually they are simply skilled readers of body language.' |
| 10 | 42 | | He visited four leading paranormal practitioners and was impressed by the |
| 43 | | experience. 'After all,who would not enjoy learning you are intelligent and creative? And |
| 44 | | what could be nicer than being told that people find themselves drawn to my warmth, wit |
| 45 | | and understanding?' |
