Posted on 07/25/2005 8:27:56 AM PDT by Millee
He says dead people talk to him and tens of thousands of people, without a doubt, believe him.
John Edward became widely known through his TV show, "Crossing Over," where he connected audience members with their loved ones on the other side. He's still doing that in front of crowds, large and small, around the world.
But long before he became a star, Edward said his mother would come back from sessions with psychics with messages for him."She says, 'Every time I go for a reading, they keep telling me you're going to be well known.' And I'm like, 'Would you stop listening to those freaks? Cut it out,'" Edward said. "I met one of those freaks and she changed my life."
He left the session still cynical but curious about this ability the woman said he had.
"You couldn't go to the Tattered Cover here in Denver and go to the new age section. There wasn't one," he said.
So then, as a 15-year-old, Edward went to the library and secretly read everything he could about psychics and mediums. It was the beginning of his life's work.
"Being psychic is a lot like being nosey ... I've just admitted to you that I'm nosey," he said.
Edward said it's like conducting an interview, not of the living, but of the people who are coming through from the other side.
"'Who are you? How did you pass? What's your message?' Sometimes they answer my questions, sometimes they don't," Edward said.
At a recent appearance in Denver, hundreds of fans packed the Merchandise Mart, hoping for a reading.
"I can only get to a certain number of people, I'm one person. That being said, I can help raise the awareness level of every single person that's in the room," Edward said.
Susan Spiegel of Eagle, Colo., was in the room with Edward in Denver but that wasn't the first time she's seen him.
"I actually went to see John Edward in Indianapolis the first time," she said.
She did this after surviving more tragedy than most people experience in a lifetime.
"My first loss was when I was young. That was Scotty," she said.
Scotty died of SIDS a few months after birth. But it wasn't until her oldest son Sklyar died in a car accident that the impact of both losses came crashing down on her.
"When that happened, a huge part of me died with him, a huge part of me didn't want to go on anymore," Spiegel said.
She still had C.J., her youngest son, to focus on. But her grief was overwhelming.
"Every day you miss them. Every day your heart aches," she said.
Spiegel didn't get a reading that day in Indianapolis.
"I was very skeptical," she said.
But she decided to see Edward again in New York. That's when she said she heard from her son Skylar.
"He said (Skylar's) showing me a baby in a rocking chair. He's rocking a baby in a rocking chair. My friend and I looked at each other and said, 'It's Scotty, his little brother who had passed before him,'" she said.
A brief period of peace was followed by the unthinkable.
Spiegel's third son, C. J., was hit by a car and killed. Then in Denver, against the odds, Susan got another reading from Edward.
This time, she said she got a message from C. J.
"They're showing an accident, but they weren't in the vehicle. Then (Edward) turned right to me (and asked), 'Was C.J. hit by a car?'" Spiegel truly believes Edward heard from her boys.
"It has to be coming from the other side, it has to be," she said.
And she said Edward has helped her tremendously.
"If it helps just one person feel better, that can't be bad. It can't be," Spiegel said.
"Maybe it's just going to validate for them to know their mom's OK, their wife's OK, their child is OK. And as long as they keep themselves open to the process, they will not miss those little signs along the way," Edward said.
Not everyone believes in psychics but counselors 7NEWS talked with say it's fine, as long as it doesn't inhibit the grieving process.
Penn & Teller debunked John Edwards in one of their shows!
"If John Kerry is elected president, people like Christopher Reeve will walk again"
Sure, but if the dead are hyper-active...? I have the same doubts about this guy, but if it helps a parent/brother/sister/child rest easier at night, that's fine with me.
Don't worry he doesn't contact anybody, he's just a basic cold reader, and not a very skilled one at that. Can't wait til his 15 minutes are up.
Unlike many things that people routinely dismiss as 'the oldest trick in the book,' this trick is very likely, in fact, the oldest trick in the book. :-)
I completely agree with you. I watched his show once and couldn't believe how bad he was. I guess if people are desperate to believe they will believe anyone.
He contacts dead prostitutes?? : )
Nah, he contacts commercial sex workers. Lets not be judgmental here! ;-)
It is clearly sinful to be a medium.
South Park just ripped him in a couple episodes.
I believe in ghosts etc. (though I don't believe them to be real spirits, just some sort of energy that we can't quite understand....and in some cases..demons), but I believe he is a fraud.
People have said he severely edits the tapings to make himself look much better.
Some people pray to the dead. I suppose "contacting" them isn't much different.
Fatima = necromancy.
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