Psychics, Scams & the Police

Look out. Arwen’s on the rampage again. Is it a copyright issue? Is it that someone hurt someone she loves? What button got pushed this time?

No copyright issues.
No family being hurt.

Nope, this one is due to a client reading I just did. When I sit down with a client on the phone or in person, I always tell them how to spot a Tarot con artist.

WHAT? Arwen! You are slandering your fellow consultants!

No, actually I am not. I am educating my clients on how to avoid those disreputable, unethical, sleazebags who set themselves up as psychics or Tarot consultants or astrologers, etc to take advantage of people.

Well they won’t get me. I’m too smart for that.

Really? Sit down and let me tell you a story about a very smart person I once knew. This person was a college graduate who taught at the high school level. They were in their 30’s–a young professional who had a very good head on their shoulders. We will call this person XY.

XY decided to seek out the advice of some roadside psychic who did a reading for XY. A very credible reading that made XY believe. XY already knew that divination was a valid form of investigating possibilities. What XY didn’t know was how a Tarot con artist works.

A week after that first reading, the psychic contacted my friend. She’d had a dream, you see. A terrible dream where XY ran into some bad luck. But not to worry! The psychic had burned a candle to dispell that. By the way, did XY want to do another reading? XY decided it would be best since this poor psychic had had this nasty dream. That reading ended with XY buying a $20 candle to be burned.

The next time the psychic called, it was just to see how XY was doing. XY booked another reading. This candle cost $40. This went on until XY was out nearly $700 dollars. The thing that broke this chain? XY called to tell me they couldn’t come visit because they needed to buy their psychic a plane ticket.

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

I was incensed. I was outraged. I was one mad human being. I educated XY immediately. I also advised to contact the police. XY did not contact the cops. Most people don’t because they feel like idiots to have been taken. But darlings, it’s one of the oldest cons for a reason.

A very famous author is rumored to have been bilked for a large amount of money by some fake astrologers. If you do a Google search on “psychic” and “con artist”, you will find far too many hits for my liking. I think they should all be thrown in jail for life for preying on people’s fears and tears. NOTE: I am not speaking for the American Tarot Association here although that organization does not condone con artists either. This is my personal blog and my personal opinion.

Then last night I met an other educated individual, JK. JK’s job is one that requires them to do a lot of thinking for themselves. When their psychic (in Austin!) said that they had a curse that was put on one of their ancestors, JK thought, “Hmmm, okay, but why do I have to suffer for their mistake.” Then the psychic said that the reason JK’s love life was not going well was that a ritual had to be done. Now get this. That was going to cost three thousand dollars.

Why? Well, silly, because it requires two life-sized wax statues to be built then melted while four psychics performed a ritual. And not just any psychics, mind you. Two regular run-of-the-mill psychics with one High Sister psychic and a Master psychic.

Luckily JK has a self-imposed rule that no large financial decisions can be made on the spot. They went home. They researched. They called bullshit. Then they found me. At the end of our consultation, JK laughed and told me that when I started with “how to spot a Tarot con artist” and “ancient family curses”, they knew I was real.

So that’s my rant. Don’t be taken in. Don’t let fear or tears lead you to make bad decisions when choosing a professional psychic/reader/consultant/guru whatever you want to call people who do what I do.

And for the love of all that’s precious in our world, if you DO get taken, CALL THE AUTHORITIES. Report them to the BBB. Let others know that they are out there in your community. And believe me, they are out there. The good news is that there are many accessible, ethical Tarot readers as well. You can find them on the internet. You can ask me if you want someone local. I have a huge network of readers that I trust. I would be happy to recommend you to them.

So share. Have you ever been taken in by one of these con artists? Feel free to leave a comment.

NOTE: Do not see this as your opportunity to shred the character of another reader just because you didn’t like the message or the person.

By the way, I’m changing my name to High Master Sister Arwen since apparently you can make more money that way.