"Crossing Over"
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Kazz |
23 Jul 2002 |
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Hi all, i recently saw a program on pay tv called "Crossing Over" (and I have forgotten the guys name) and "WOW" this show just blew me away, this guy communicates with loved ones of those in the audience, who have passed on, and he says special things so that the living relative, friend etc knows that it relates to them, I am sure that some of you (if not all) have seen this program, what do you think of it??
it's nice to know that there is a place for all of us to go, and also the pets are with us there as well as long passed on friends and family.
I don't have pay TV so i am going to get this friend of mine to record this program for me, I love it, it fascinates me!!
Look forward to reading your thoughts on this.
Cheers
Kazz
:TQC
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| cjtarot |
23 Jul 2002 |
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Kazz,
The gentleman who host's "Crossing Over" is John Edward. He has 2 books out that are on the top seller's list.
I read the 2nd...I not only love the show, but the book was right up my ally..I like his writing style. I was told the 1st was even better...I'll get to it eventually.
The great thing about the show is he is bringing my (along with a lot of other people's) into the mainstream.
If you watch the show and seem to think he comes across as a little err...arrogent..keep watching..in the specials it explains that he is being bombarded with information and just how hard it is to channel.
Keep watching..and spread the word
Cj
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| Kismet |
23 Jul 2002 |
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Hi,
I've always had an interest in such, spirits, communication with departed loved ones, unexplained (to those who are close minded...:) ) events.
I'd seen John Edwards show in the past, in the US, he actually is on *I THINK* the Lifetime network, if not that one it is another cable access channel.
When my boyfriend commited suicide I took a greater interest in watching him and others, looking on the web, etc.
Below are links to his homepage, where you can get information for tickets to see him and perhaps be blessed if your loved one speaks to him. George Anderson's link is included as well and there is also a link on it to attempt to get tickets.
Love and Light,
Kismet
http://www.johnedward.net/index2.htm http://www.georgeanderson.com/
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| Laurel |
23 Jul 2002 |
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I've watched "Crossing Over" with mixed feelings. I like John Edwards himself, but I find the old cynic in me coming out whenever anything smacking of "reality television" in any form comes on. Is it really real, or people with scripts putting on a good show? Damn inner cynic....
Laurel
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| Lee |
23 Jul 2002 |
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I've seen a couple of his shows... the following opinion is only how it appears to me, I'm not challenging anyone else's view of him, but when I watch and listen to him, it's quite apparent to me that he is using classic "cold reading" techniques. He fires a rapid stream of questions at the audience, and a great majority of the questions are misses. Then he'll latch onto something and question the audience member again and again, almost bullying them into agreeing with him. The actual ratio of misses to hits is very large, but it's hard to notice it because it's all going by so quickly. I've also read reports that employees of the show mingle with the audience before taping, surreptitiously gathering information which Edwards can then use on the show, and also that in the segments where he talks to celebrities, he uses information he or his producers have obtained by talking to the celebrity beforehand, and then presents it on the show as if he were receiving the information from the beyond.
However, I understand that people have differing opinions of him. For example, while to me the whole thing seems like an obvious fraud, my significant other is convinced that it's all real.
If it is a fraud, which I think it is, then it's a particularly vicious one, because he's capitalizing on and exploiting the grief of others and their understandable desire to contact lost loved ones.
-- Lee
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| Kazz |
23 Jul 2002 |
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Thankyou all for your opinions.
I have only seen this show a couple of times, so i am still very open minded about it.
It seems to be getting a great deal of interest over here, and i hope that it isn't a "fraud" as such, cause i think that this shouldn't be allowed to be aired on national TV. But i tend to believe in alot of things that present them selves as "true", but i will watch a few more episodes and keep a very open mind, and hope that this show and Mr Edwards are not playing us as all Fools.
((I hope it's REAL! I would be very disappointed)
Cheers
:TQC
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| destinyawaitsme |
23 Jul 2002 |
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I love him...I love his book too! I think he is incredibly accurate and he is gifted. I think John truly shows he has a gift. But I do agree sometimes he has trouble interpreting the messages he recieves...although that doesn't make the messages wrong or make him a fraud. John is a human like the rest of us. I'm sure there have been many times we've misinterpreted readings. The cards were right, but we were wrong wiht the interpretation. It doesn't make us fake. So have a little heart, we are all human.
Oh by the way, JOhn comes on the Sci-fi channel (I find that a little humorous) and on ABC I think.
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| Kazz |
23 Jul 2002 |
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Oh Umbrae, I never read that post , sorry about that, but i never heard of the program then either so it wouldn't have made sense. LOL :)
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| Umbrae |
24 Jul 2002 |
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That post was from a long time ago, it is okay.
I posted it only as a reference point.
I really enjoy watching Mr. Edwards work.
You know, he started it all, by reading cards.
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| truthsayer |
24 Jul 2002 |
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edwards isn't john edward's last name. he has a different last name. he's called by his first and middle names.
when i see him, i don't see arrogance so much as anxiety and frustration b/c sometimes the audience is so ambivalent or overly eager to "be the one". i think it would be incredibly overwhelming to narrow down impressions. i mean he's not like a telephone to the spirit world. his brain doesn't send back a busy signal so he can only focus on one. i think it's likely he gets messages from more than one but has to focus and listen to the loudest impressions. i've noticed that he upfrontedly asks ppl not to give him too much info. plus he looks away when he's doing a reading. the way he moves his eyes to the side and other factors in his body language leads me to believe he is honestly listening to something. that's how i decide whether or not a psychic is fake. i watch the eyes. if the psychic watches the person they are reading for then i guess this to be a mentalist--a person who can tell a lot about someone via body language--not a true psychic. john edward doesn't appear to be watching body language. his body language--the way he folds his arms like a self body hug i perceive as a defense mechanism. he also stutters while he's reading--his performance is not polished. i think it would be quite difficult to fake the body langauge i see him consistently use.
on the other hand, if you've ever watched sylvia brown--this one is self-confident. notice how she flurishes her hands about. her psychic tuning is also more focused than john edward. she says aaaaaaaahhhhh!! for a minute and stares upward then in a confident voice rattles off the ANSWER. she is more direct. he is more abstract. i think she probably has had some time to size up the participants by reading body language of the audience. this isn't as hard to do as it sounds.
i can tell a lot about a person just by looking and listening to someone and never lift a tarot card. maybe some of it is intuitive but some of it is mentalism and training to read ppl. i wouldn't be surprized if either party did this. i'd do it if i were in their shoes to help me get an edge on what'll happen when i get out there. if either does this it doesn't mean they are fakes. a little info beforehand can help weed out character readings and more valid info. i think it takes a lot of gumption to stand in front of the number of ppl they stand in front of and get any "hits" at all. the fact john edward ever hits the target is miraculous imho so i think he's real but he might do some things to help him psyche out the audience but i see that as a defensive self-protective manuveur to keep from being totally overwhelmed by all those needy faces in the audience. human neediness to someone intuitive is incredibly draining. i couldn't do what they do.
on the other hand, jerry springer's body language is clear to me this is fake. he doesn't believe what's happening himself so his guests have to be actors. some may be the real thing to throw ppl off. you can tell springer is working the audience's emotions up. he seems somewhat charasmatic and magician like. he reminds me of a modern day p.t. barnum--a sucker is born every minute. springer is just the ringmaster in a circus.
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| jade |
24 Jul 2002 |
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well, just as a little side note: i scry in people's eyes..............their left eye. so i'm not watching body language,......i'm scrying them.
in light,
jade
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| Mlle Lenormand |
24 Jul 2002 |
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Kaz, I've been watching here too, he's coming to Melbourne in January, I think... I would love to go to see firsthand how he works.
If you read his second book (sorry can't remember title) it explains the allegations of 'cold reading' etc. I think it's up to the individual to accept or not.
I have been amongst people like John Edward since I was 20 and have done these readings myself, and believe me it's very hard to get it right. Mainly because you are putting yourself out there when you do it and because it is such an emotional thing, any mistake is a big one.
Reading body language is irrelevant to me, because I am seeing someone who has passed over not the person in front of me.
I find that I have often got names wrong, but descriptions dead right...I see better than I hear, maybe John has that too.
But I am grateful for John because he is bringing it into the mainstream.
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| Kazz |
24 Jul 2002 |
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Jade - i think i might have asked this before , but i am going to ask it again--what is "scrying"???
Mlle Lenormand - I am very impressed with what you had to say, all that stuff fascinates me and has done since i was a wee lass, I am going to try and get his book (now that i know his name) and i have friends who do this and they say the same things as you , about being very emotional and the mistakes (if wrong) can be big ones.
What is the name of his books??
Cheers
Kazz
:TQC
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| Geenius at Wrok |
24 Jul 2002 |
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"Crossing Over" is a typical "mind-reading" con, an elaborate parlor trick using techniques rooted not in metaphysics but in probability and psychology (both group and individual). At least one account I've read alleges that John Edward even farms the audience for information before the show with live mikes:
Edward is just using his own version of a long time magician's technique called cold reading. Apparently Edward is not even very good at cold reading as the show is heavily edited to make him look more accurate than he is. An expose on the show in Skeptic magazine quoted Michael O'Neill, a marketing manager who appeared on the show, describing his appearance.
I was on the John Edward show. He even had a multiple guess "hit" on me that was featured on the show. However, it was edited so that my answer to another question was edited in after one of his questions. In other words, his question and my answer were deliberately mismatched. Only a fraction of what went on in the studio was actually seen in the final 30 minute show. He was wrong about a lot and was very aggressive when somebody failed to acknowledge something he said. Also, his "production assistants" were always around while we waited to get into the studio. They told us to keep very quiet, and they overheard a lot. I think that the whole place is bugged somehow. Also, once in the studio we had to wait around for almost two hours before the show began. Throughout that time everybody was talking about what dead relative of theirs might pop up. Remember that all this occurred under microphones and with cameras already set up. My guess is that he was backstage listening and looking at us all and noting certain readings. When he finally appeared, he looked at the audience as if he were trying to spot people he recognized. He also had ringers in the audience. I can tell because about fifteen people arrived in a chartered van, and once inside they did not sit together. In an article on the Skeptic web site, Michael Shermer describes watching unedited footage of Edward at work which gives insight into how Edward works:
Edward begins by selecting a section of the studio audience of about 20 people, saying things like "I'm getting a George over here. I don't know what this means. George could be someone who passed over, he could be someone here, he could be someone that you know," etc. Of course such generalizations lead to a "hit" where someone indeed knows a George, or is related to a George, or is a George. Now that he's targeted his mark, the real reading begins in which Edward employs cold reading, warm reading, and hot reading techniques.
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| jade |
24 Jul 2002 |
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kazz,
go to divination and check out the many threads on scrying! :D
love
jade
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| purplelady |
24 Jul 2002 |
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I've noticed that the guys here are skeptical and don't believe John Edwards is really contacting the dead, while the woman all think he's for real!
I've never been impressed with John Edwards or his show. I haven't really decided yet whether he is for real , he may be. He does talk awfully fast , I think he'd be a great auctioneer! I prefer to watch "Seinfeld" who's repeats air at the same time ! I find it much more entertaining!
I think IF I wanted to contact a someone who "passed over", I would chose a private reading of some sort , and not a live t.v. audience.
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| Mlle Lenormand |
25 Jul 2002 |
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Geenius: As to whether John is using tricks, I don't know, but what I see with people is no trick and quite often I don't say anything if I think the person can't handle it. It's not something I can turn on and off either, so having to 'perform' would be a useless exercise in my case. It's probably good not to be gullible, because not everybody out there has your best interests in mind.
Kazz: I loaned my book to a friend, so I can't check the titles for you, but I found it in Target of all places. It has a big picture of John Edward on the cover, so you can't miss it.
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| Melvis |
25 Jul 2002 |
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Hi, all!
John Edward's second book is called "One Last Time: A Psychic Medium Speaks to those We Have Loved and Lost." His first book is called, of course, "Crossing Over."
I really don't care if he's 'for real' or not. I find him entertaining and that's why I watch his show. I love that 'East Coast' attitude of his! Like today he was speaking to someone in a center section of the audience, trying to get a name like "Dee Dee" out of them, when someone from his left calls out "Deanna!" He turns to that person and says really sarcastically, "Can you not *see* that I'm talking to these people, here?" It was so funny!
I heard him on my local morning radio show, and he said that the reason he gets bits and pieces of messages is because those on the other side don't come through at all clearly. He said it was like you're standing on the side of the road at night in the rain and someone drives by at 90 miles an hour and yells something out the window at you. He was very charismatic in the interview, which I suppose is one of the characteristics that makes him so interesting to watch.
For me it's like watching a magician...for a while I try to figure out how the magician's doing the tricks, but after a while, if s/he is any good, I stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy the show!
Peace,
Melvis
:TSTRE
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| Kismet |
25 Jul 2002 |
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Purplelady, I agree with what you said!
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| Kazz |
25 Jul 2002 |
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It is very interesting to read the opinions from different people about if you do or don't believe in this man.
I haven't seen alot of him to really comment, but it seems that he must have "something" why would anyone want to trick people in such way that is right to the heart and very painful to some, you would like to think that "nobody" would be that insensitive. I am one of those who "like to believe" in alot of things outside of the "normal" so it would really disappoint me if John Edwards is a "FAKE" and to get the money he would be making because of it, just isn't right.
I think i will check his books out all the same:)
Cheers
Kazz
:TQC
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| Geenius at Wrok |
26 Jul 2002 |
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Originally posted by Kazz
why would anyone want to trick people in such way that is right to the heart and very painful to some Because they can.
Why would people operate "psychic friend" hotlines that are nothing but money-sucking charades?
Because they can.
Why did P.T. Barnum tease people with signs directing them to the "egress," which they followed only to discover that "egress" meant "exit" and they had to pay again to get back in? Why did his contemporaries sell patent medicines made out of booze, soda water and dyes?
Because they could.
Fakery has a sufficiently long and undistinguished history to be beyond need of justification.
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| DarkElectric |
26 Jul 2002 |
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I have'nt seen this man's show, I don't have cable TV, but it reminds me of something we have in my town called the Spiritulist Church. These folks are what remains of the "New Thought" religious craze that was popular in the 1920's. They are the "Table Tipper" people. They are an actual church, their spiritual leaders are known as Reverend, and they have services several times a week. They are also alleged mediums, who hold seances regularly. I have never been to one of these, but I have dear friends who did. Being legitimate psychics, they wanted to see what these people were all about. (My buds are NOT charlatans or frauds in any way. They are just ordinary folks with true gifts. To this I can personally attest.) My friends had an horrible experience there. Energy was raised, but it wasn't good. People who were participating in the seance became physically ill. A foul smell wafted in from somewhere, and made folks gag. My friend Jayne, who is clairvoyant, saw some awful, uglyspirit energy, which felt distinctly malevolent in nature. All three of my friends were really scared and had a definitely less than good time. However, what struck them the most was that the presiding "Reverend" kept asking questions such as "I know you are here. Is there anyone you need to speak to?" Apparently, Reverend So Called Expert had raised something but didn't realize what that was, or that it wasn't all that nice! (How responsible!) And people were trying to ask it questions about their dearly departed ones! This brings me back to when I was training with my High Priestess. She was a stickler for ethics, and keeping her "Babies" safe and out of trouble. She cautioned us against use of the Ouija board, because it can, in the hands of the unsuspecting, serve as a gateway to the astral. It isn't just a silly game, as some may think. There have been cases of kids bringing nasties through by accident playing with one, and housecleansings had to be conducted because the buggers wouldn't leave. Messing around on the astral can be dangerous, and just because someone is dead, does'nt make them nice! There are a lot of low level entities there who LOVE to cause trouble and aggrevation for us warmer folk! I would'nt say John Edward is an outright fraud, having never seen him. I know that spirit communication actually does exist. I only hope that he really knows his stuff enough to make sure adequate protections are in place for his audiences.
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| Kismet |
26 Jul 2002 |
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DarkElectric, I've never experimented with a ouija board. My Mom told me long ago to never do such, that she had done such as a child and had a bad experience but has refused to share what and never touched one again.
The fact she doesn't say what happened is enough of a warning for me :)
Love and Light,
Kismet
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| Kazz |
26 Jul 2002 |
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Geenius, I know that there is those sorts of people out there, but it just gives the "authentic" ones not much of a chance to be proven, and therefore are very quickly labelled as "frauds".
But i am a true beleiver in a "what goes around comes around" theory, so they will fall in a heap one day for all the misleadings and false claims.
But never the less Geenius, you have now dampened my day (in regards to John Edwards) i really had hoped that he was a "goody". LOL :)
Cheers
:TQC
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| Minderwiz |
28 Jul 2002 |
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I'm a regular viewer of the show and we have his tapes on psychic development. We also used to watch a similar show in the UK featuring the clairaudient, Derek Acorah on the now defunct Granada Breeze Channel - indeed my wife was one of the guests on one show.
We are both firm believers in the world of spirit and my wife has some psychic ability, however it is important not to be credulous - you need evidence, either of your own experience or validation through references that can be checked before you should take anything to seriously - there are hoaxers out there as well as genuine mediums with considerable ability.
We have had enough evidence to know that something definitely exists on the spiritual plane, though we have also been able to discount certain claims as not proven, or 'the jury's out'.
Best wishes
Minderwiz
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The "Crossing Over" thread was originally posted on 23 Jul 2002 in the Chat board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Chat, or read more archived threads.
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