Uri Geller - Psychic or sorcerer

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Postby Craig Browning » Nov 16th, '09, 17:05



I so love hearing the authoritative regurgitation of words so many other "educated" magicians and cynics have been barfing up since the 1970s, when it comes to Uri and yet I'm quite confident that most have never actually met the man and had a one-on-one experience with him. Or, for that matter, understand the psychology around his approach to things.

Claiming to be "Psychic" has been exploited by countless mentalists since the earliest days of the art coming into its own. This is old school thinking based on the axiom that no one will pay to see a fake mind reader... though a few frauds have managed to take the public spot light, their success centers more on the fact that they were first known as a magician who later adopted the more mentally/paranormal theme. In fact this is why there existed a long held "rule" that one had to have more than a few grey hairs and crows feet before moving from magic into mentalism; it was seen as the apex to a magician's career, proving him a "master". At many levels this really holds true in that the seasoned conjurer has learned much from his years of dealing with hecklers, address groups large and small, thinking on his feet and simply knowing people -- how to select the "right" ones for each routine, etc. All prime skills required by the commercial mentalist.

A "Psychic" on the other hand, is not viewed nor expected to be a polished showman. Their awkwardness and nonchalant manner actually works for them, as does other subtle angles like the ardent claim of not understanding how certain things happen or why.

I was watching a program last night about Haunted Houses and one thing was brought out when it came to "skeptics".

    1.) Whenever an honest investigation is being undertaken having an honest and fair skeptic as part of the team isn't just valuable, it reveals the teams desire to consider alternative possibilities.

    2.) There are different kinds of "Skeptics"... those that state such things but when pushed, reconsider their expressed skepticism; the genuine investigator that's willing to say "he don't know" or "it could be" rather than insisting that it all is rubbish... this latter attitude of course, revealing the Cynic who sees everything in a very cold, cut & dry, black & white mi-optic manner.

    3.) The program revealed a fair assessment when it came to the psychological elements tied to a Haunting, like group mind and how one person's reaction ooozes out and becomes an influence on others in the room.

    4.) The program also revealed the oddity that other psychics as well as the skeptic and his team ALL had a strong draw to a specific spot in the home and this was also where all the little gadgets seemed to indicate that something was afoot.


Oh! The corner in question had no electrical influences, so that discounts that explanation, including the fact that the home did not rest near high power lines.

The so-called moral of the story being that there is a heck of a lot out there that we do not understand and it's going to take a good deal of time before science as well as honest intellect is going to be in the position to comprehend it all.

I'll stand by my standard challenge; watch a 2 hour motion picture you've never seen before but the running time for the 120 minutes of footage will be less than 3 seconds.

Now, take out a pencil and pad and start writing down your impressions; names, descriptions, the plot or message, etc.

Next, compare your notes to the truth and tell me that your accuracy is any more spot on than what most psychic convey. Honesty take a side by side inventory of things even allowing a neutral part to do all the comparisons.

I'll lay money on the fact that you will not come close to the criteria the majority of skeptics and pseudo-intellectuals demand of a psychic. With that being the case, explain to me how such "tests" are fair.

Bringing things Back Around... Being "Psychic" simply means that you are sensitive to and more aware of your environment and the finer "invisible" (to the conscious mind) elements therein... not my words, but those of the great Edgar Cayce. It also means that one is more empathic when it comes to living things as well as the finer influences that surround us and thus, susceptible to situations in which the subconscious mind assembles a "puzzle" of sorts, presenting its conclusions to us via dreams, a "psychic flash" or any number of manifestations that become a quasi-prophetic statement... I say it that way due to the personal uncertainty most Psychics have when it comes to these flashes, when speaking with people other than their own.

Anyone can be taught the skills required for cultivating base psychic ability, there is NOTHING mystical about it, never has been outside of bogus media, Hollywood and of course religiously based propaganda and fear mongering. But within that list of misrepresentation we have the skeptic's society who tend to bend & twist things so as to meet their own agenda and whenever possible, paint the claimant into a corner, making them look the fool rather than being as honest and fair to their target as they would ask others to be of them... bullies always become victims when the shoe is on the other foot.

When it comes to the Old School mode of being a Mentalist, claiming to be a Psychic, Medium, Clairvoyant, etc. are all common modes of practice even when we do a full stage show in a theater. The reason being, especially in the case of a "show" is that we don't believe in insulting the public by throwing up the disclaimer rhetoric the more cynical believe needs be in place... but why?

I wouldn't have anything to do with trying to level the proverbial playing field, would it? Taking from the mentalists that psychological edge it depends on for giving the audience an encounter with the plausible and fantastic; demoting said art to the same lowly status as card tricks and sponge bunnies... :?

Chances are quite strong that this is the case in that until recently, the majority of people involved with the various Skeptics societies around the globe were those geeks and armchair experts that weren't capable of doing a legit show. Even Randi tried to go the straight "I'm psychic" route long ago (though his handlers have carefully rewritten that chapter of his life). Some sources even suggest that the whole Randi vs. Geller hype started off over the fact that Uri wouldn't let Randi serve as his Manager here in the states and in retribution Randi launched an anti-psychic media march. I've always found the chronology a bit more than convenient when it comes to sustaining said rumor :roll: Then again, good ole Mr. R has a lot of dark rumors enveloping his life; underhanded, predator based black marks that seem to go ignored, swept under the very large rugs of his home, etc. rather than being impetus to alienation by those of supposed superior intellect :roll:

As the saying goes... get your own house in order before casting stones at those you believe to be more dishonest than you and your fellowship is.

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Postby Lenoir » Nov 16th, '09, 18:24

1.) Whenever an honest investigation is being undertaken having an honest and fair skeptic as part of the team isn't just valuable, it reveals the teams desire to consider alternative possibilities.


I desperately hope I have misunderstood you.

It reveals the desire to consider alternative possibilties...? Surely that is the idea of an honest investigation.



As for Uri, I met him a while back. There is no doubt in my mind that he is about as psychic as an apple, but a brilliant showman he most certainly is.

"I want to do magic...but I don't want to be referred to as a magician." - A layman chatting to me about magic.
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Postby Mandrake » Nov 16th, '09, 18:30

Showman vs Shaman.... discuss!

PS As has been said many times before in this thread, his marketing is top notch because we're still talking about him!

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Postby Kryzal » Nov 16th, '09, 22:11

Mandrake wrote:PS As has been said many times before in this thread, his marketing is top notch because we're still talking about him!


Ah, now we are perhaps getting near the truth. And I would add, maybe Uri believes in himself. It is not a bad thing! Much love. Kryzal x

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Postby Craig Browning » Nov 17th, '09, 17:02

Kryzal wrote:
Mandrake wrote:PS As has been said many times before in this thread, his marketing is top notch because we're still talking about him!


Ah, now we are perhaps getting near the truth. And I would add, maybe Uri believes in himself. It is not a bad thing! Much love. Kryzal x


Hey, Doug Henning believed it was TM that let him walk thru walls... :twisted:

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Postby Mandrake » Nov 17th, '09, 17:10

Craig Browning wrote:Hey, Doug Henning believed it was TM that let him walk thru walls... :twisted:
And he had TM 'advisors' on his payroll - nobody could figure out what they actually were there for apart from counselling Doug, spending cash, and generally getting in the way. Very suspicious...

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Postby Craig Browning » Nov 18th, '09, 18:10

Mandrake wrote:
Craig Browning wrote:Hey, Doug Henning believed it was TM that let him walk thru walls... :twisted:
And he had TM 'advisors' on his payroll - nobody could figure out what they actually were there for apart from counselling Doug, spending cash, and generally getting in the way. Very suspicious...


Much akin to how they helped destroy The Beetles :roll:

Doug was a strange bird... a sweet guy though

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Postby JamesJoystick » Nov 19th, '09, 14:32

Craig, Im not sure if im reading this correctly, but just to clear things up: Are you saying that you believe that there are real psychics and people who can do supernatural things (considered by our current knowledge) like mindreading?

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Postby cgaafary » Dec 12th, '09, 15:12

Wouldn't it be fun if you did actually have real psychic ability. I think I would just play it off like it was just a trick. Like there was some secret method that anyone could use and let people torture themselves trying to figure it out. :)

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Postby mark lewis » Dec 12th, '09, 21:39

What an odd coincidence. Mandrake is the real psychic here. Two of the chapters in my wondrous memoirs are "The Showman and the Shaman" and "Showman and the Shaman-Part two"
I wonder he knew that!

And there are indeed people with real psychic abilities. I am one of them. It is not anything mysterious though. It is something we all have. It is just that I am more practiced at it. Supernatural is a different thing altogether. By definition it means something that isn't natural. Psychic ability is perfectly natural. The "super" part doesn't really come into it at all.

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Postby Nightfall » Dec 20th, '09, 20:11

The show in Greece reached the semi final yesterday and some performances were very good. One of the was by Nefesch (even though he was eliminated in the first or second episode there was a "second chance" at one point and Geller chose Nefesch).
So Nefesch will be one of the 4 final contestants next week (and hopefully he will win, since he is the one of two that stand out imo).

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Postby Starving Stu » Jun 4th, '10, 13:50

Uri Geller no longer calls himself a psychic. He now labels himself as a 'mystifier' and an entertainer. So I suppose that answers the question.

Whatever he claims to be, I'e always found him entertaining. If you sit in the 'there's no psychic powers' camp, at least he has used his 'powers' in an entertaining and amusing fashion, such as bending spoons and 'helping out' at football matches rather than contacting someone's loved ones in dubious seances as many 'psychics' do.

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Postby Bertoneski » Jun 21st, '10, 15:08

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Postby smithye46 » Jul 8th, '10, 13:45

Personally i really admire Uri for the work he has done, like other people have said its amazing that were all still talking about him. I remember i went to one of his shows when i was younger and loved it! I remember waiting after the show to getting a book signed "power of the mind" something like that and i said to my mum " I'm going to ask Uri to bend my key" she said you might as well and that it would be a good idea as it would be so close up, as the que moved on i noticed no one has asked him yet so i really thought he would do this for me, but just ahead of me there were a group of guys that got there before me.....i wasn't happy!! So he moved through the crowd and said "OK everyone this is the last time ill do this now watch the key bend" it was such a good illusion especially being so close up.

Anyway when i finally got to him i asked him and he said " I'm very sorry but it takes a lot of energy to make things bend" When he said this i was quite upset as i really admired him! When i was leaving i got around 6 feet away and he pulled me back and said " Keith come here, make sure you always believe in yourself even when you down or sick" Didn't think much of it then but 2 years later i was involved in a car crash and nearly lost my life, was in ICU for a month and in total 8 weeks in hospital, 5 operations... the lot! I always said to myself i really believe one reason why i survived was because i never really knew how sick i was, my parents were told i had only a 15% of surviving. I know Uri had nothing to do with this but it always freaked me out!

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Postby Sarah Jukes » Aug 26th, '10, 20:53

Starving Stu wrote:Whatever he claims to be, I'e always found him entertaining. If you sit in the 'there's no psychic powers' camp, at least he has used his 'powers' in an entertaining and amusing fashion, such as bending spoons and 'helping out' at football matches rather than contacting someone's loved ones in dubious seances as many 'psychics' do.


That's simply not true.

He used to claim to be able to find missing children on milk cartons in the states.

He has taken a great deal of money from a great deal of people by lying.

It is one thing to say 'I will entertain you by pretending to be able to read your mind'. Quite another to say 'pay be a large sum of money and I will tell your company where to drill for oil'. Or find your kid, or cure you of a disease.

He is an evil nasty POS.

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