My work apparently invites a dearth of skeptical reactions – typically. To be fair, less often these days than it did in the past. Less often for me because I’ve developed strategies to work with them. The most effective one I use the most often is simply to submit a refund immediately to someone who pronounces themselves a “skeptic”. You would be amazed at how persistent skeptics can become to get a reading once they have realized I’ve submitted a refund (believe it or not, it’s taken up to 3 refund submissions to get them to go away) but that’s a discussion for another day.

Sometimes it can be a joy however, to work with a skeptic. Being almost childlike in their excitement. Working with skeptics who are unfamiliar to the experience of a reading, represents one of the deepest honours. Especially knowing that for this client, the reading will be relished for decades. It’s a gamble whereby the stakes are high, and I welcome it. Bring on the skeptics! They will test my spidey senses right at the gate.

Sara in the UK left this comment in response to one of my published articles at UnexplainedMysteries.com. Not a web site where you would expect searing skepticism, but then skeptics enjoy leaving comments on sites, videos and blogs such as this, because they see it as an opportunity to showcase their extraordinary smarts.

“I can’t really digest the idea that this article is by a person who does fortune telling with ancient playing cards.” Referring here to your girl.

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Most people who come for readings are well accustomed to that skeptical smirk unless you keep your penchant for readings a secret. Many do! Clients shyly explain, “I would LOVE to leave glowing feedback for you online, but I’m nervous about anyone who knows me reading it. They’ll think I’m cracked”. Sigh.

What is at the root of skepticism? I believe it’s a defense to the inner fear: Of believing, being disappointed, being perceived gullible, a fool or a seeker of cheap thrills. Fear of being judged, uneducated, easily led, naïve. Beneath the surface, our dear skeptics are tender, sensitive folk. They crave validation of the spiritual dimension. Or that their psychic experience was insanity. A real fear in the skeptic.

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

Skepticism has irrefutably played a key role in the progression of civilization. It has motivated creators, inventors, spiritual messengers, explorers, and seers to work harder at their craft, if only to elicit a nod of acceptance. At its best, skepticism can be an all-in-one set of shears, sharpener and refiner that incisively cuts away the debris that can clog the runway to truth. It separates the wheat from the chaff.

Special Bright Lights Forge New Perspectives

The dark side of skepticism is sadly evident in those people who are destined to go where no one has ever been before. Those special bright lights, who by quirk have that blessed spark in them to forge new approaches and perspectives. Yet due to the oppressive mantle of conformist parents, social convention, and peer pressure, before they’re even out of elementary school, they’re fire is doused.

These dear lovelies have little more to look forward to than a fierce bowing to the drudgery of mediocrity. In school, they are often the victims of bullying. Later in life they are treated as pariahs. They die small deaths all their lives until at the end with so little time left, they confess that they lived a life by someone else’s design. And it’s too late. That is the dark side of skepticism.

Some who persist regardless of those skeptics around them, are often driven to live a life of isolation, loneliness, and despair as they follow their curiosity and unique explorations. Unless they can locate their tribe, their lives become emotionally bereft. Only phenomenal financial and recognition success will redeem them in the eyes of others. Sadly, that reverence is often accompanied with envy and jealousy!

When Skepticism is Not Love

The problem with skepticism can be its lack of love. It is a product of fear and pride. Experiencing evidence with their own senses doesn’t necessarily lead to believing. They might be driven by a desire to mimic someone powerful in their lives such as parents, religious leaders and educators. Skepticism is generational much like most of our beliefs. There are fanatical skeptics who like their counterparts in religion, believe so fiercely in how it couldn’t be so, that they are blind to evidence contrary to their position. Like all fanatics, they cannot shift even when presented with scientific evidence.

The Skeptical Believer

The ideal and loving position to have when confronted with the spirit of invention, exploration and mystery is one of the skeptical believer. Be open, explorative and excited. Offer your help to facilitate a clearing for the new path. Join energetically to push the energy forward whereby skepticism for example, may aid in the development of better experimental tools.

Join volunteer organizations whose purpose it is to examine new vistas with a discerning criterion. Don’t be a lazy skeptic! No one appreciates a critic who is not willing to put equal amounts of work into the debunking, as the person who put the vast amounts of work into its creation. If you are the one faced with a skeptic as you express your passion, set a firm boundary that this is the attitude you expect. Don’t bow to the tyranny of a lazy skeptic!

Remember that many new directions have taken decades, sometimes centuries to be proven and acknowledged by the collective. The proof may exist but those who have performed the experiments are held to a code of secrecy. Our perception of reality is always dependent on perspective. Our collective paradigm of reality is shifting fast. What is true today is debunked by tomorrow. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of fanatical skepticism whereby any amount of proof will fail to shift your perception. You will find yourself not a part of the main stream, but on the fringes just like those you are fiercely determined to reject.

I wish everyone a lovely season ahead.

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