January is pitch month - the month most writers receive all kinds of ideas for posts or articles from a wide variety of sources. This one was nearly irresistible:
Subject: Candace, want to review a Psychic Coach (who's also a Professor & hit Songwriter)?
You bet I do.
Toronto, Canada-based Ralph Hammelman is the founder of My Psychic Coach and a second-generation tarot reader (also a Cancer, if you're into astrology.) He previously co-wrote the daily horoscope in 24 Hours (with a circulation of 500,000), and has a certificate in Feng Shui.
Ralph calls himself an energy reader, by the way - he personally dislikes the psychic label, but uses it to optimize his web presence. (It's what people who want his services search for.) He's been doing readings for 30 years. Ralph's mother also had the gift and read Tarot cards for many years, and Ralph started his career as a young boy, sneaking into his mother's room to practice with her cards.
In case you're not familiar with the Tarot deck, it consists of 78 cards, each with its own divination meaning. The cards date back to the Renaissance. Ralph takes calls from people who want help making decisions about their lives and uses Tarot cards to help him "read the energy around options you might be considering." He estimates that 20 - 30 percent of calls are about career issues.
He says he doesn't make predictions; he helps clients understand what kind of energy surrounds each one of several possible paths so they can make informed choices. He offered a free reading for me and the chance to honestly review my experience. (Readings cost $99 for 30 minutes.)
I classified myself to Ralph as "an open-minded skeptic." I am fascinated by the idea that some people have access to more information than others - however they access it - but I am also a Midwesterner with both feet firmly on the ground. Like many of you, I suspect that most phone psychics are charlatans. I asked Ralph why he didn't just use the personal gifts he has in abundance (he's warm, charming, and a great listener) to become a conventional life coach. Why subject himself to the questionable reputation that psychics have? Why limit your coaching to believers and forego coaching non-believing achievers?
Ralph says that using his gift allows him to get answers quicker, and that saves his clients money. He doesn't want someone to be dependent on him for every answer; his approach is to help them define what success means to them so they can send the universe a clear message about what they want and need. That's why he asks clients to come to the call with a concise question and two or three possible options he can focus on.
When Ralph's PR person pitched me, she wrote: "At MyPsychicCoach.com, we believe the true measure of a psychic's ability is how they've manifested their own goals. Our owner (Ralph) earned a Gold Record for songwriting (in 2013) and is an award-winning Professor at George Brown College (see his Wikipedia page)." It's certainly a compelling argument; it nullifies the old joke that the psychic "should have seen that coming." Ralph believes in the Law of Attraction, a New Age philosophy based on the ideas that people and their thoughts are made from "pure energy", and that a process of like energy attracting like energy exists through which a person can improve their health, wealth, and personal relationships.
If you're rolling your eyes right now, consider what coaches have used for years to help athletes, performers, and people in therapy to help them overcome fears or prepare for a performance: visualization. Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Visualize a great outcome. Run the course in your mind before you run it in the race.
In this case, Ralph is just helping you visualize with a little help from the universe and the cards.
Learn about my reading with Ralph in my next post.
