talkmagic.co.uk

Disclaimers? Just look at Derren Brown's seance TV programme, which had a clear disclaimer intro, stating that the programme used only techniques of magic, psychology, and showmanship. The spirit cabinet tricks in the beginning were openly described as things used by Victorian fake mediums. And even after that introduction they were pretty damn eerie.

Viewers were encouraged to phone in while the show was broadcast, and despite the disclaimers they were describing odd experiences that they clearly believed (at least at the time) were caused by the seance. Even after the "dead girl" was revealed to be alive and well, I'm sure some of the viewers believe part of what they saw was real.

A true believer is going to take any disclaimer as a bit of legal red tape that has to be got through.

I do like the semi-disclaimer for one-to-one readings described by Rex Sikes in "Wonder Readings", something along the lines of: "I get these impressions [psychic? cold reading? subliminal signals? it's all "impressions"] and pass them on as best I can. What I do is more concerned with seeing where you are right now in your life than predicting the future."

He also gave an impressive statement: "Now and then I close my eyes, and I get these images. Pictures, sometimes moving, sometimes fleeting. They're really weird at times, and I'm not always sure what they mean." ...Dreams. An absolutely true statement for anyone.