Posted February 12, 2017 06:04:46

According to Rose Smith, most people who consult psychics these days are looking for guidance in relationships.

Ms Smith, who runs a phone-in psychic business on the Gold Coast, would know: she gets thousands of calls a year from people having relationship troubles or hoping to find "the one".

Online and telephone readings are all part of being a modern psychic. Though you might think the magic would be lost, Ms Smith believes her readings over the phone are more effective than those she does face to face.

"The voice conveys a lot, and it's a clearer channel of communication than face to face," she told The Spirit of Things.

"It's rather distracting to see what people are wearing or what they look like, so better to have just the information coming through the top of my head, whatever I'm getting from spirit and the person's voice.

"Because I've only got two sources of information then to interpret, so it's actually much easier than face to face."

But if Ms Smith's clients think that she or any of the 70 psychics associated with her website, Absolute Soul Secrets, will solve their problems for them, they've got another thing coming.

"I think this is a point that gets lost sometimes," she said. "A psychic is not going to run your life for you. They're not going to make any decisions for younot good ones anyway."

If that's true, why do people keep consulting them? According to Ms Smith, the desire to take control is a big factor. Despite the clues and suggestions a psychic might offer, clients are free to choose any course of action.

"Lots of people feel that they are not in control, so they go to a psychic to get tips on how to get into control," said Ms Smith.

"Any reasonable psychic is going to give you options and advice, and you're going to make up your own mind which way you're going to go."

But aren't the notions of free will and personal responsibility contradicted by the idea that we're affected by spirits, stars and past lives, and that clairvoyants can access these truths while we cannot?

Ms Smith is tertiary educated and trained as a therapist before becoming a full-time psychic. So how does she reconcile this paradox?

"I've always been a searcher, I've always wanted to know the truth. Having said that, I actually do have an analytical mind," she said.

"I've just recently completed my Masters of business administration in leadership and innovations. I still have that part of me.

"But what I've learnt is to switch between the two, and they're almost like polar opposites. I've done that for many years now, and I can kind of float between the two."

But according to sociology professor Doug Ezzy from the University of Tasmania, young people who become involved in alternative spiritual practices can be somewhat naive, even if the practices can have very positive effects on their emotional wellbeing. Much of Dr Ezzy's research focuses on teenage witches.

"I had one teenager who I interviewed who thought that by doing particular spells she could make herself live forever," he said.

"As an interviewer I wasn't supposed to evaluate her, but as a friend maybe after the interview I would try and help her understand that there is a complex relationship here between magical practice and what is actually achievable."

Dr Ezzy has been documenting witchcraft and paganism in Australia for about 15 years. Together they form a new religious movement of about 0.1 or 0.2 per cent of the population.

Initially he thought the phenomenon of teenage witches, as seen in TV series like Charmed and Buffy, was "just young women, playing around, doing silly things".

But he discovered while researching the book he co-authored with Helen Bergman, Teenage Witches, that these young women are often struggling with real-life issues, including relationship difficulties, health problems, depression, the pressures of school and even sexual abuse.

"People are still looking for a life with soul," he said.

"They're looking for symbols and resources that help them to make sense of the world around them, to deal with difficult situations, cope with loss, find courage and hope.

"These sorts of experiences and practices help them build a life with soul."

In his latest book, Sex, Death and Witchcraft, Dr Ezzy observes similar coping mechanisms at play at the pagan Faunalia festival, which requires individuals to role play their own death.

There's something in that for Ms Smith, who traces her psychic ability back to her difficult childhood.

"I've always had it since being a little girl ... you get psychic really quick if you don't want to get hurt."

Topics: spirituality, spiritualism, religion-and-beliefs, community-and-society, witchcraft, qld

Read the original here:

Psychics, witches and pagans: What do people get out of alternative spirituality? - ABC Online