People seek out psychic advice from time to time, hoping to find one that has a tidbit of hope or a morsel of information that may help them with a certain area of thought. First it was secrecy style of hunting - trying to find the elusive readers that we all knew lurk out there somewhere, or sneaking into a Gypsy camp. Then store front psychics came about, more easily found. Newspaper and Tabloid advertisements ... recall those 3 Questions for $5 type of ads? Yellow pages were next, readers advertising various years of expertise under either Entertainment or Psychic classifications. In the advent of some newer television channels early days of development, some readers made their own commercials to air on these channels until the channel accrued more lucarative forms of advertisements. #900 lines were thought up and set into action (and certain lines establishing a reputation ... some having a somewhat higher regard). Now the web is becoming host to many reader sites!

It is harder now to know where to go to seek out a good reader in the 90's as new questions abound.

1. Can one really read cards or whatever over the internet?

Yes.

I have an article series about online readings that I wrote a couple of years back but still holds true in many aspects - only the channel names or channel atmosphere have changed a bit since then.

It is not much unlike have a reading done over the phone only instead of hearing the voice, you read the "voice". Takes longer ... yes, but you can have a chance to read the words more than once versus only hearing them once maybe. You can even print off the reading and save it to look over from time to time.

Pros:

• Can save the reading in written format ...
• Can let the words actually sink in more ...
• Can ask more detailed questions about the reading since it is there on the screen in front you ...

  Cons:
  

• Takes longer to have a reading done since it is manual-style of conversation ....
• Servers, ISPs, bad phone lines, and other outside influences beyond either person's control can interrupt, bring to an early end, or have you both waiting several minutes to see the other person's word (lag) during a reading ...
• On IRC it is generally first come, first serve type thought in garnering a reading in many channels (no RSVP in advance) ...

Web Readings (where you find the reader via a home page) are held differently since 9 times out of 10 these are readers who expect a payment for the reading. So you have to schedule a reading, may be later on that day or a week later and they will tell you where and/or how to meet up with them for the reading - or they may simply tell you to send in a payment then a certain number of questions via e-mail, they will mail you back the reading.

Pros:

• Can read the home page and get a glimpse of the reader's personality ...
• Scheduling can also be worked around your time schedule as well as the reader's ...
• Many of the same Pros listed for the IRC format of reading ...

  Cons:
  

• No way to know you are getting a good or honest reader, only their own worded claims. I doubt that a home page site advertising a reader will say "Hello, I am a 50/50 reader but sometimes I can be pretty darn accurate ... Oh, and I have only owned my Tarot deck for a few months but I have read a book or two about them ..." So almost all of them claim to be "astonishingly accurate", "friends and relatives say (they) are good", "degreed and member affilations", "witch", or whatever else they can think of that will make you think "Wow! This one sounds good!! Look at that long list of memberships!" then write to them for a reading ...
• Many ask for payment in advance ...

2. Do I have to pay for a reading online?

Not always.

On IRC and some other formats, the readers who do online readings do them for free. They regard them as a treat to do, and for some a relaxer, as they get to spend more time doing what they do ... enjoy doing a reading. Also many novices like to read online - to help them with their progress in whatever format they chose, generally they will tell that they are still in the learning stages but give them a try. All goood readers had to blossom forth from time spent learning ... now don't they?

Web Chat rooms are varied on how this goes. On some (through personal home pages and such) the readings can be done for free but don't take it for granted that this is the rule for every personal site. ISP style chat rooms vary also ... some of the readers receive compensation from the ISP for doing readings, as a way of thanking them for keeping you online and etc. This was particularly true of AOL and some other ISPs back in their pay by the minute days. Some ISPs chat rooms have you arrange for a reading in advance and pay through the ISP for them ... the reader gets a small portion to help cover their time and ISP costs.

I already mentioned about Web Site pages readers above.

The best way to find a reader is the oldest method known to man ... word of mouth. This works for the locating of not only a good reader ... but also finding mechanics, restuarants, insurance or real estate agents, banking services, hair stylists, and more!

So now, how do we seek out these "word of mouth" advertised readers? Look around yourself and you will be amazed at the amount of resources:

• Friends ...
• Relatives ...
• Work associates (amazing how often this topic can come up in a conversation at times) ...
• Gatherings (all types of conversation strike up at these events) ...
• New Age Shops, ask the manager or the clerk who they recommend ...
• Attending a "Psychic Fair"? Then observe:
  
  A. Who folks sign up to have a reading done by - who seems to be a popular reader ...
  B. Listen to folks as they openly discuss their readings with their friends or others ...
  C. Ask the door person if they were having a reading done, who would they choose. If they say "well they are all good ..." then rephrase the question to make them narrow down to a name or two, like "Well, if you could only have one reading done, who would you select out of the room?" ...
  
• On IRC, sit in on a channel for a couple days instead of asking off the bat for a reading and observe some things first:
  
  A. See who comes in and who they ask is online or any information about when they will be online. If you see that nickname come in the channel ... watch what they talk about or how they behave. Some regulars to a channel are not necessarily readers ...
  B. If others come in and ask for a reading, see who volunteers to do one. If they leave the channel for the reading and come back or both nicks start to talk after a while, then ask (in message) the person who got a reading what they thought about it ...
  C. Ask if any of them have home pages then go read those pages ...
  D. Feeling gutsy? Ask the channel what they feel makes a good reading and carefully watch the responses to see who comes close to saying what you feel or mentioning "examples" about the topic. Wait a bit, then message the person who felt "decent" in answering the question if they read or who would they recommend for a reading ...
  E. Feeling even gutsier than that? Then ask on the open channel who the folks on there recommend to do a reading ...
  
• If you overhear someone go gaga over a phone line reading's accuracy ask:
  
  A. What line they called ...
  B. The reader's name and (if possible) the extension number for the reader ...
  C. Time of day they called (readers sometimes follow a routine on when they will work a phone line) ...
  D. What impressed them about the reading and/or the reader ...
  
• Searching the web pages? Look for these in a home page:
  
  A. List of references that you can contact (trust your gut instinct when contacting these) ...
  B. If the page just pure advertisement and not a lot of information about the reader or the area they describe to use ...
  C. Long loading, over-filled with multiple graphics, and/or poorly laid out? Usually not a good sign, if the person doesn't put forth much effort to have a nice and semi-fast loading home page (about 1 minute average in load time) to advertise their services off of - then they may approach other things the same way ...
  D. Is the home page listed on a server that allows commercial or price quoting pages in the area that home page is in? If not, then needless to say this tells you an awful lot more about the reader than they may care for you to know about their character ...

4. I live in a small town ... hard to find a reader in these parts ...

If you frequent a larger town nearby ... use their resources to help you find a reader. Call new age shops in that town, you may be surprised to find out a reader is closer to you than originally thought!

These are just a few ways to find a decent reader ... online or offline.

© Secretive aka Carol 1998