SHERI HARSHBERGER

By Frances

I had a wonderful client come and visit me the other day to catch up and for a reading. She is a strong, secure woman who told me that she recently had a psychic reading, while she was traveling, and was told she was going to be married again. She is currently happily married. I shook my head. She said she had dismissed it. This is not the first time someone has told me about this type of prediction. I am a firm believer that just because you "know" something it doesn't mean you are supposed to tell it. We discussed this and my client said that whether or not the forecast was true, the bottom line was the psychic was peacocking. 

I have heard readers boast about how they tell exactly what they see no matter what it is. I don't agree. A reading is a dialogue between you and your client, it is NOT a time to fan your feathers. I am not advocating deception, deliver the message but do it with grace and dignity (yours and your client's). Look deeply at the sitter and find the underlying point of the reading.  I believe I will know when and how I am supposed to tell something. Many times I'll receive very sensitive information that I may need to know to put the client's questions in context but are not to be discussed. I think what happens to some readers is they want to prove something to themselves or their sitter and they lose sight of the true purpose of the reading. 

The other day a woman sat down for a reading and I was immediately overcome with sadness, my throat closed and my chest tightened. I put my head down and took some deep breaths. I had her shuffle so that I could take a moment to sort through what is going on and clear my tears. With this woman the situation on her mind was hopeless, but she didn't need to hear that nor did she come in for me to tell her so. What she needed to know was what to do to get through it. We spoke about the gravity of the situation and she knew that I understood what was happening but we focused on the future. She needed to know how to cope and what was on the other side. That is what I focused on and in turn got her to center herself on. 

How will you know what you are meant to say and what you are not? As readers we are inherently sensitive, use it. Listen to your intuition. You are already using it to read why not expand your focal point and look at the whole picture. Focus on the person, feel them, digest the messages you receive, breathe and figure out what is the real reason they are sitting before you.  What are you meant to tell them and how do you guide them? I concentrate on helping them find the light at the end of their tunnel and aiding them in removing the obstacles in their path. This is an ongoing lesson. I failed early on, when I began reading professionally, mostly when I was met with sitters that wanted to either challenge me or were combative. I can cut to a person's core with surgical precision. I usually try to temper my delivery but some of my readings were blunt and without regard.  I try hard not to fall into that ego trap. Now I would rather turn away a sitter, let them think I can't read, rather then cut them. 

Is my client going to marry again? I fail to see any purpose or reason to tell her that she will be married again. Possibly the message was sent to the reader to have her advise the wife that she had some work to do on her marriage. That while she may seem to be happy, she needed to be more attentive to the marriage and to her needs. Who knows? But I believe the reader missed the point. I remember a reading I did for a woman at a party a few years ago, where I saw infidelity. Speaking about each of their infidelities in detail would have done no good. She would have left with the knowledge that her husband was cheating and never taken responsibility for her own cheating. I advised her to turn inward and concentrate on her marriage. I suggested that she take a long overdue vacation with her husband. I told her that they had both lost their way and needed to work together. She agreed and told me that they had lost themselves and all but admitted to being unfaithful. I'ld like to think she made an effort to turn it around. What would have happened if I told her he was cheating as well? 

If you are reading for others you are providing them with a service and you need to be kind, empathetic and professional. People come to you for clarity, hope, compassion and guidance. They often need centering and context. You must be sensitive to their needs and above all else, do no harm! This is not a game, it's their life! If you have something to prove or you can't come from a pure place of love and light then don't read for others!