Shortly after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a local psychic was on the evening news engaged in a debate with a somewhat condescending skeptic of her abilities. After a number of rude statements, the skeptic finally asked the question that everyone knew was coming: “why didn’t you people see this coming?” The skeptic, an acknowledged expert in analyzing political and military trends and events, was clearly taken aback when the psychic replied with a question of her own:

Dreams have long been used to communicate the will of the divine, and examples are abundant of divine impartation of future knowledge into the mind of people who have the right degree of psychic receptiveness. In ancient Egypt, particular relevance was given to the dreams of the Pharaohs, and his mystics served an important role in attempting to ascertain their meaning. Examples of Oneiromancy are even more abundant in the Christian Bible.

For example, Jacob had a psychic dream of a ladder to heaven, while his son Joseph was given a psychic vision of his own future success, and of his brothers bowing down to him. The Israelite King Solomon regularly received dream messages from God, while the prophet Daniel became known for his interpretations of the dreams of the Babylonian king. After the birth of Christ, the Magi are warned in a dream that they should travel home and avoid Herod at all costs, while Mary’s husband Joseph was directed in a dream to take his family and flee into Egypt, thus escaping Herod’s wrath.

Another type of in-person psychic reading is the interview. This is actually very similar to a counseling session with a psychologist, except the psychic is attempting to address spiritual or mystical concerns, not mental ones. The psychic will generally ask the client a survey of questions designed to reveal certain key traits of a person to the psychic, so that he or she can then identify corrective actions based on a persons spiritual energy ” or chakra. Some say that these are leading questions designed to illicit responses that appear as if the psychic is reading the person; others claim that a persons responses can truly attune the psychic to the aura of the person; regardless what it may be this is a very interesting form of therapy to say the least and really helps some people.

It is not necessarily fair to hold psychics to a higher standard, but it is a fact of life. Part of the unreasonable expectations stem from the belief of some people that psychics are miracle workers. They are not. They are people with heightened intuition who, in most cases, have devoted themselves to trying to use their abilities to help their fellow man. Most deal with the lives of ordinary people, and seldom receive visions or communications of events happening on a global scale. So the next time you are tempted to ask a psychic why they missed foretelling some major event, think before you speak.