Are Psychic Mediums Real? An Honest Answer From One

Written by Chaya the Medium.

A working medium answers the question people are really asking: can you show me something you could not have known? Here is what a genuine reading looks like and what a fake one looks like.

The short answer: I cannot prove to you that mediums are real, and I would not trust anyone who said they could. What I can tell you is what a genuine reading looks like from the inside, what a fake one looks like from the outside, and how to tell them apart with your own judgment. Scepticism is the right place to start, and it is where most of my clients started.

I am Chaya, a fourth generation Romani psychic and medium from Ireland. I have delivered 41,500 readings since 2019. I have also seen enough of this trade to know why people ask the question, and I think the question deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch.

What the question is really asking

When someone asks whether mediums are real, they usually mean one of two things. Either they want to know if it is all a trick, or they have lost someone and want to know whether it is safe to hope. Both deserve the same answer: the only evidence that matters is what a reading gives you that could not have come from anywhere else.

What a genuine reading gives you

A genuine reading contains specifics you did not supply and could not easily have been guessed: a nickname, an object, a habit, a detail about the last months, a phrase in their voice. It also contains honesty about what did not come. A medium who always has a clear message from exactly the person you named, every time, is not describing what mediumship is like. Some readings are strong. Some are faint. Some bring through the wrong relative. A medium telling you that is a good sign.

The reading should leave you feeling more settled, not more dependent. If you find yourself needing the next one to feel alright, something has gone wrong, whether or not the medium is genuine.

What a cold read looks like

A cold read is the trick sceptics are right to warn about. It works by making broad statements that fit almost anyone, watching your reaction, and narrowing from there. "I am getting an older male figure." "There was something with the chest." "They want you to know they are proud of you." None of that is evidence, because none of it could be wrong. In a written reading there is no reaction to watch, which is one reason I prefer the format: what I write has to stand on its own.

The other warning signs are about money and fear. A reader who says your loved one is trapped or suffering, who needs more money to bring them through, or who tells you a curse is involved, is not reading anything. They are selling.

Why I do not promise contact

Because I cannot. I turn my attention toward the person you name and I write down what comes. Sometimes it is vivid and specific. Sometimes it is thin. I say which. If I promised contact I would be lying to roughly one client in five, and the clients who come back are the ones who learned they could trust what I said about the thin readings as much as the strong ones. My guide to how a medium reading works describes the process plainly.

How to test it for yourself

Send as little as you can: your name, their name, your relationship, and your questions. Do not explain who they were. Then read what comes back for the things you did not say. If there is nothing there you could not have written yourself, you have your answer about that reading. If there is something, you have something to weigh. That is a fairer test than any argument I could make, and it is the one I invite. First-time clients can take it with the US$23 first medium reading.