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There are many ways you can engage with spooky season: visiting a haunted house, going on a ghost tour around Fort Collins, etc. But there’s one aspect of Halloween that won’t end when the final yellow leaves fall from the trees, and that’s supernatural, spiritual readings from psychics and mediums. 

Before you jump into a psychic reading headfirst, it’s important to understand the difference between psychics and mediums to ensure you make the most of your experience. There are a few objections to getting psychic readings, but there’s really no harm in trying something out. 

Sure, maybe they can’t actually contact your dead loved ones or pets or tell you your future, but it’s so fun to pretend they can. Why not? ‘Tis the season.

One of the more spectacular elements of psychic history lies in the hands of arguably the most well-known magician of all time, Harry Houdini.”

If you’re looking for some soul-searching or need some guidance on your spiritual journey, you’ll want to talk to a psychic. 

As you walk into a darkened room, softened by complexly patterned tapestries and the smell of nag champa incense meant to promote tranquility and concentration, crystals are laid out on a table.

There’s rose quartz for love and respect, obsidian for protection from negativity and tiger’s eye for motivation. The dazzling stones form a neat horseshoe shape, inviting you to sit down and begin your journey to healing. 

Psychics have a lot of history in the United States, all the way back to colonial times. Following The Panic of 1873, when the economy plummeted and prompted the first Great Depression, the nation needed a little spiritual guidance. 

The following year, Col. Henry Steel Olcott, a New York-based journalist, lawyer and self-proclaimed skeptic, met with Helena Blavatsky, a Russian spiritualist, in an attempt to expose her for fraud and spiritual dishonesty. 

Instead, and extraordinarily, the two became close and eventually went on to form the Theosophical Society, which still exists today and explores religion, spirituality and the line between our world and the next.

When you think about psychics, long, glossy nails wrapped around a crystal ball may come to mind. And, in some ways, that’s right. Psychics are known to use tools in their readings, and a crystal ball is one of them along with tarot cards and tea leaves. 

The line between psychics and mediums is frequently blurred, and some even identify as psychic mediums, which involves both using tools to aid in spiritual journeys and communication with the other side.”

One of the more spectacular elements of psychic medium history lies in the hands of arguably the most well-known magician of all time, Harry Houdini. 

After making a living starring in silent films and escaping complex traps in front of live audiences, Houdini faced a tragic loss when his mother died in 1913.

Years later, Houdini decided to attend a seance in an attempt to contact his mother on the other side. 

As a master of tricks, Houdini immediately clocked the psychic’s deception. This psychic, to add to his disdain, was the wife of his friend, Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. 

It likely wasn’t difficult to spot the inconsistencies, as Doyle’s wife insisted her hand was controlled by the spirit of Houdini’s mother and scrawled a message, in English, on paper. According to Barry Bradford, a self-proclaimed historian, Houdini wrote his own note at the bottom of the paper explaining that his mother could barely speak English and certainly could not write in it. 

Thus began Houdini’s new career: exposing spiritualists for their lies and tricks of the mind, which he maintained until his death on Halloween in 1926.

The line between psychics and mediums is frequently blurred, and some even identify as psychic mediums, which involves both using tools to aid in spiritual journeys and communication with the other side. 

Mediums usually have a form of clairvoyance, when they possess the ability to step beyond the veil of death and speak to the other side or have knowledge about your life, certain events, objects or the future with no prior experience. 

There are many subsets of clairvoyance, including clairaudience, clairsentience and claircognizance. All of these still involve possessing supernatural clarity, but they differ in the ways the messages are received. 

A medium can tell you things about yourself that they couldn’t possibly know, and if they’re a reputable one, this information should not be available with a Google search. 

Mediums, with their gift of clairvoyance, can contact the dead and communicate messages from the other side. 

Naturally, this is when people start to raise red flags. Studies on the validity of clairvoyance are largely inconclusive, and there are multiple reasonable arguments about the negative effects psychic readings can have on grief and how people cope with loss. 

Whether you’re a die-hard spiritualist or just in it for the spooks, getting a psychic reading is worth a try. Go in with an open mind, and please write in and let us know how it goes.

Reach Bella Eckburg at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @yaycolor.