True story...back in 1999 I decided to give myself a perm (remember those days?) and was bored waiting for my hair to finish "cooking", so I called a psychic hotline - purely for entertainment, of course. The woman who answered proceeded to tell me how someone I was formerly involved with was now a changed person and was the person I was meant to be with. So, because a faceless phony psychic said so - and because he had been really, really nice to my mother - I remarried my ex-husband. Before the charge even appeared on my phone bill, I knew I had made a huge mistake.

I only get salon perms now.

I tried a perm around 1979 also felt that this was a bad mistake. Never believed much in psychics you see on TV or any who peddle their wares any other way. The real ones probably see their abilities as both a curse and a gift. I sure would not want to be hearing the voices of dead people. Sounds like a one way ticket to Belleview.

It's not an either/or. You can believe in God and also believe that some people are gifted with Psychic abilities. :pray:

You may be right about some of the more liberal denominations, but I believe you can group all the spooky weird stuff like witches and psychics and cults, all into one package that all border on demonic practices.

Yeah, those home perms were not a good thing, mine frizzed and turned red, I looked like Ronald McDonald's sister.

I don't know anyone who views this as a curse, you don't hear voices of dead people unless you are a medium and even then you can control it.

As far as the psychic thing, you can fine tune it, the more you work at it the more accurate you get.

Demonic practices? I guess that was the thinking in 1692 at the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Thankfully, today we're more enlightened.

I recently went to a Medium here in ATL. I was very skeptical and didn't know what to expect. Well let me tell you she blew my socks off! She knew nothing about me, even my name. I walked out of there shaking. You can't tell me they are all fake or don't have the power because she certainly did.

I have always thought that Salem crowd was way too liberal.

Patty. Patty. Patty. :a20:

The Terror of History.
 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQND4fVF_w]The Terror of History: The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe, UCLA - YouTube[/ame]

This is one of the more interesting Great Courses. It goes into the sociological/political/historical reasons for the persecution of witches.

Here is the 50 minute or so YouTube. It is by UCLA Professor Teofilo Ruiz. You do have to get used to his thick Spanish accent.

Whoa, only 40 minutes till the LI Medium and I am still sacrificing a dead chicken.

In the Bible didn't prophets have dreams and (psychic) visions from God? Who's to judge where gifts come from?

I guess I see so many poor souls that struggle with reality and especially the young that push these kind of things to the point of violence. Its like how some say the jump from marijuana to heroin is a short distance, I feel the same about going from a Ouija board to animal sacrifice. If you play with fire you may get burned. I see these activities fun, but silly, however, some get bug eyed entranced and that is where I see the danger. I love magic, but I keep my focus on trying to figure out how the TRICK is done rather than believing it is supernatural. So, go, have fun, but don't get so drawn in that you turn over your bank account or slip away from reality because these are all parlor tricks be they the carnival crystal ball reader or a nationally famous medium.

Watch the eyes of a child when grandpa pulls a quarter out of their ear. I see those same eyes when a more sophisticated trick is pulled on an adult. Please understand, I say enjoy, but be cautious and sensible with how you process the information or vision.

Thank God. Thanks Barefoot.

Has anyone ever been to Salem, Massachusetts?
We've seen the courtroom and the little skinny narrow cells they kept them in.......unbelievably cruel........visited the cemetery, etc.

Lack of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Supposedly, the "rye flour" had developed a mold which made the young girls hallucinate.