LITMIR.BIZ

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sceptics seeking logic-confounding truths. Psychic readings seem to imbue people with a sense of mystery, they feel party to a greater truth. We are fascinated by the unknown. It seems we all have a need to believe in something bigger – more powerful – than ourselves.

      As I knocked on Mia’s hotel-room door, I imagined a mysterious lady in a fringed shawl, but as the door swung open, Mia was no Gypsy Rose Lee. Tall with long blonde hair and a welcoming smile, her first words to me were ‘Hello, darling.’ She seemed open, and very down to earth.

       Mia

      I knew instantly that Roz was not impressed by anyone but respected everyone. And I knew that she was committed to the truth. There were no chairs in the room, but Roz quickly settled herself on the large bed, taking files out of her bag and rummaging for pens.

      I busied myself, making tea with the hotel milk cartons and sugar sachets. Roz didn’t mess around. Pen poised, she was ready to start.

       Roz

      ‘So, what was your first psychic experience?’ I asked. Mia sat down and lit the first of many cigarettes.

       Mia

      I didn’t know how Roz would respond, but she looked genuinely interested and this was a refreshing change from the rash of interviews that I’d done over the last few months.

      ‘I was 22. I didn’t believe in anything – God, ghosts, heaven, hell. I thought it was totally false – conjured up out of humanity’s fear of its own mortality. Then one very ordinary day, I was trying to cook tea and the children were fighting in the front room, so I went in to see what was going on. Something caught my attention on the television. I was standing there watching it when, out of nowhere, a man’s voice said, “Your toast is burning.” I went into the kitchen and discovered that the grill pan was on fire.’

      ‘I tried to put it down to reason – I told myself I had smelt smoke and must have imagined the voice. But over the next few weeks, the lights and my electrical appliances turned themselves on and off at will, the bed shook and the voice kept talking to me. I thought I was going mad.’

      ‘I’d been brought up in an ordinary working-class family on the Isle of Sheppey. Things like this didn’t happen to people like me. Eventually I went to see a doctor, who told me I was suffering from stress and gave me a prescription for pills. I was then sent to see a psychiatrist. The medical profession concluded that I was sane but strange and they left me to get on with it.’

      ‘It took me eight months to find out that the voice (always the same voice) was my spirit guide, Eric. I know it sounds strange – and for years I told very few people about him – but Eric’s presence shook my world; it changed me totally.’

      ‘Before I met Eric, I didn’t think about other people’s problems. I didn’t even consider whether something was a good or a bad thing to do. My dreams were to have a Mercedes and a house in the country. But becoming psychic made me realize that there was more to life and this had a snowball effect.’

      ‘It helped me make sense of the things that had happened to me and gave me a purpose in life. I started thinking about yesterday, today and tomorrow. It made me pause; I stopped knee-jerk reactions to situations and started to think before I acted. Most importantly as I developed as a psychic, my priorities changed, I realized life has nothing to do with material possessions. The base line was: I stopped thinking about my life and myself and started to use that energy for other people.’

      I told Roz how, over the years, I had come to know and trust that the voice belonged to a kind wise soul who had been sent to help me become a better person. The quality of her attention helped me touch on other parts of my life too. I was a protector, from an early age looking out for others. But I couldn’t protect myself from pain or, ultimately, loss.

       Roz

      ‘Did your gift help you to cope?’

       Mia

      Roz was a strange mixture. Sometimes her questions were searching and tough. At other times she exuded such a strong sense of empathy that I wanted to tell her more about myself.

      ‘At first, no. When my son died, I felt terribly let down. I shut Eric out of my life. I thought: “What’s the point in having a psychic gift if it can’t stop terrible things from happening?” Then something changed that. I gave a reading to a woman who had lost her daughter and I saw the comfort it gave her to know that her child’s spirit was safe.’

      ‘Nothing can take away the pain of bereavement, but knowing there is life beyond death, and knowing that she would see her daughter again, made the loss more bearable. This knowledge breathed life back into her love, and allowed her to bring the pain under control. In the beginning, being psychic was an adventure – now I see its true value to heal.’

      There was a silence. Eventually Roz spoke.

       Roz

      ‘I still can’t get my head around the idea that someone can see into the future. Can you give me proof that you have a psychic gift?’

       Mia

      There was only one way I knew.

      ‘Shall I give you a reading?’

      Eric doesn’t always come when I do a reading but, as I began to tune into Roz, he was there straight away. His voice in my head was clear and strong.

      ‘Eric says that you are on a spiritual journey yourself.’

       Roz

      I sat on the hotel bed opposite Mia, enveloped in her big presence and her warmth. I had interviewed many people in my career but the focus was always on the other person. They trusted me with their stories and I tried to honour that with my attention and receptivity. It was odd, then, to suddenly find myself under the spotlight.

      I’m a private person – Mia’s attention made me slightly uncomfortable. Yet in her first sentence she had connected me to a part of myself I didn’t always have time to think about. I wondered if this was one of the reasons people went to see psychics: to focus on their lives and feelings, to spend a bit of time with their deepest dreams.

      Since my late teens, I had been intrigued by the idea of a more spiritual life and interested in a holistic approach to health and well-being. Ten years previously, I had gone on a year-long round-the-world trip and been drawn to the spiritual traditions I found in India. There, life is lived on the street and everything is visible – the beauty and the brutality. People live very openly and their spirituality is relevant to the ups and downs of their everyday lives.

      In India, for the first time, I met people who were devoting their lives to their spiritual practice. One very old man lived in a cave on a sacred river. He had nothing materially, yet every day he found a way to cook a meal for wandering beggars and sadhus.

      In the Himalayas, I met Buddhist monks and nuns, exiled from Tibet. I took to heart their message that all the suffering and happiness in my life come not from external things like success or money but from my own mind – my own attitude. I met teachers who spoke of the need for loving-kindness towards ourselves and the importance of a fearlessly compassionate attitude to our own pain – and that of others. I soaked up teachings on honesty, kindness and bravery. Mia was right. I found the Tibetan Buddhist instructions gutsy and helpful – and, a decade later, I was still trying to put them into practice as well as I could.

      Mia and I were off to a good start but, as we sat in silence, I wondered if people were impressed with the readings

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