By Younas Chaudhary

One in five U.S. adults has consulted a psychic, according to a 2017 survey by YouGov, and this statistic has seen an uptick since the beginning of the pandemic. Reading of this phenomenon reminded me of an early summer in 1972, when I was nineteen years old and had my first encounter with a psychic in Farid Town in Pakistan.

Sajjad, an up-and-coming psychic, was making waves in our town for his accurate predictions of the future. A young fortune-teller and palmist by trade, he lived close to my house, and after multiple attempts, I finally made him come to my home so he could read my hand and my wife’s hand. After reading our hands, he predicted that we both would soon go to Canada and would become quite wealthy. I told him he was wrong, because my wife had no plans to travel with me at that time. But sitting in our modest living room, Sajjad said, “She is definitely going with you.” And very soon thereafter, both of us received our visas with a note from the Canadian embassy that Bushra was to accompany me when I left for Canada. Sajjad added: “Your stars are aligned with her stars, and you both are going to live in wealth throughout your lifetimes.”

After moving to the U.S. in the eighties, I found another psychic, a lady from Palestine who had a special way of telling the future. A chain smoker, she was not your average Joe, and her look conveyed a lot of intuition. She would make a special thick dark coffee shot and would ask you to take few sips from the cup until only one sip remained.  She would then roll the cup around and then turn the cup down for about fifteen minutes.  She then would pick up the cup, look inside the cup, and start telling me about what had happened in the past, what was happening currently, and what would happen in the future. Most of her predictions came true, and looking inside the cup, she was able to accurately tell my past and future. At the time, I looked into her eyes and felt that she had some sort of strange look with intuitive power. For example, she said, “Younas, I see you walking fine without a cane at age 85, and you will be a healthy person.” But at the same time, she added that my wife would encounter health problems later in life—and this unfortunately came true in 2014, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

In our family, my uncle was a well-known palm reader and psychic in his town. People would line up to see him, but I never bothered to show him my hand. Even still, he would make cursory remarks after reading my palm that I would go to the West, would work with local white people there, and would be wealthy.

Despite my luck that somehow these psychics’ predictions came true, I personally think that human beings do not have special skills to predict our future. If somebody says you will become rich, unless you actually do, it is just a soothing saying to give you temporary relief and encouragement.

Yet millions of people during the pandemic are visiting psychics online and through the phone and online hoping to get relief during COVID-19. Online psychic sites like Keen are thriving and are offering specials like getting 10 minutes of psychic consultations for $1.99. You can call or chat with psychics of different skillsets, from tarot readers to folks who claim they can give you divine intervention.

Despite my close encounters with multiple very good, powerful psychics, I have found that if you put your heart into something and work hard, the future will take care of itself. You will not need psychics to make predictions.

We are all vulnerable these days, and it is a great time for fraudulent psychics to lure you and steal your money. According to AARP, people select psychics based on glowing online reviews and through their social channels. They do not take a deep dive into whether they want to opt for someone from an unregulated industry or see a real therapist.

Seeing a psychic is like gambling—sometimes the slot machine works, and you get short-term gains; but either way, to keep you coming back, you are always promised something bigger in the future. But instead of relying on such things, if you dedicate your life to creating your own future through hard work, efficiency, and consistency, you do not need a psychic at all.

All that said, in your life’s journey if you ever think you may need a psychic, here are some tips:

1. Know thyself. Self-realization is not easy, but if you know at least some parts of what is bothering you, the best medicine is within you and inside you.
2. Do not waste money on psychics who claim that they will bring you happiness. It rarely works that way.
3. Do a thorough background check of the psychic before you make any investment.
4. Lastly, do you need a psychic? Maybe not.

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Disclaimer

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. Further, I make no warranty regarding the accuracy or effectiveness of my recommendations, and readers are advised to consult other advisors as well as their own judgments in making business decisions