Psychics seem to have powers that go beyond what we mere mortals can even comprehend. They can apparently see into the vastness of the universe and make sense of everything, or so they want us to think. With 1 in 5 people in the US having visited a medium, it’s safe to say that many people do believe in psychics.
Even if mediums claim to be telling the truth, they can concoct a story just for fun and nobody would be the wiser. This happened to one guy who was a victim of a psychic’s false claim and it ruined his marriage.
More info: Reddit
Guy is forced to divorce his wife after she abandons him all because her psychic friend said he was having an affair
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
The poster shared that his wife, Rhona, had a “part gypsy” friend called Anna who met them a couple times a year and had once tried to read his palm
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Once, after Anna’s visit, his wife began acting strange, checking up on him, asking to use his phone, and eventually accused him of cheating all because Anna said he did
Image credits: Alex Green (not the actual photo)
He told his wife he never had an affair, but she paid him no heed and left to stay with her parents who also felt she was being “nuts”
Image credits: Keira Burton (not the actual photo)
When the guy initiated divorce proceedings, Rhona reached out trying to reconcile and even said they had hired a private detective for 6 months who didn’t find evidence of him cheating
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
The poster refused to get back with his ex and even turned down her dad’s offer of fronting him 25% of a down payment on a house
Image credits: Successful-Top3827
He stated that he did “not want to have [his] offspring share DNA with [that] dingbat” and that he could never trust her again
The Original Poster (OP) explained that he and his wife Rhona met in college and had lived together for two years before getting married. He also shared that he assumed she would have some “common sense” because she had been doing her post-secondary education at the time. During their wedding, he met Rhona’s old friend Anna, who said she was part “gypsy” and had offered to read his palm.
Anna would visit them once in a while and the last time she had come was on Labor Day. After her visit, he noticed that Rhona was acting weird and suspicious. She kept checking up on him at work or coming by and even asking for his phone. Finally, she accused him of having an affair, and when he laughed it off, she said that Anna mentioned he would do exactly that. Just to emphasize how absurd the situation was, the guy told commenters: “We are 28. Trust me, I didn't know she was this gullible.”
According to an interesting CBS survey, around 57% of Americans say they believe in psychic phenomena and experiences that can’t be explained by normal means. Even though the OP shared that Rhona was educated, just having a degree doesn’t imply that a person might be a skeptic. The survey noted that around 60% of people with at least some college education were slightly likelier to say psychic phenomena happen than those with less education.
The poster also mentioned that after Rhona packed up and left, he spent the next few months trying to convince her that he had never cheated and that she should come back home. But she was steadfast and refused to listen to him. Studies on people who believe in psychics found that skeptics are better able to successfully analyze and evaluate information about the world and their own experiences than compared to believers. Which is probably why Rhona was so fixated on what Anna told her.
Bored Panda interviewed Danielle Close, a 5th-generation psychic medium, on a mission to normalize psychic mediumship. When asked if there are instances where a medium might create a false reality or lie to a person, she shared, “the most important thing for any professional psychic medium to understand is how to give over information in the correct way. When a tricky subject is presented, it’s not about lying to your client to make them feel better but in fact giving them the information in a way that is digestible and as comfortable as it can be.”
“Any professional worth their salt would never put their opinions in front of a message to create a false sense of reality. A good professional will always remove themselves from the situation and present the messages they are receiving in the correct way. This is in fact half of our job. Getting messages is one thing but if you don’t have any people skills or you are not able to present them in a way that’s beneficial then there’s no point in being able to receive the messages in the first place,” she added.
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
After months of being snubbed by Rhona, he finally decided to start the divorce proceedings. A couple of months later, she reached out to him to talk. The guy told commenters: “My ex admitted that her psychic lied since there was zero evidence that I cheated.” The woman also wanted to come home and patch things up, but the poster told her that they weren’t right for each other. He just couldn’t believe that she would accept her psychic friend’s claim over what he had to say.
According to ScamWatch, the amount of money psychics have extorted from people almost doubled between 2020-2022. The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline has also seen a rise in calls about psychic scams since the early days of the pandemic. There are around 94,000 psychic businesses in America alone that offer all kinds of services, which is why the industry generates a revenue of around $2 billion a year.
The problem with psychic claims is that they are almost impossible to validate. As the OP shared, when he laughed off the accusation that he was having an affair, Rhona was quick to point out that Anna said he would do that. One of the most famous examples of psychic misdirection is by Uri Geller, a British magician and psychic, who said he willed a football to move during the penalty kick at Euro 96. He made the claim after the event already happened, and as you know, such statements are tough to prove right or wrong.
According to Verywell Mind, psychics often use the Barnum effect to make people believe everything they say. This involves speaking about generalized ideas that could apply to almost anybody. The blog stated that: “The main implication of the Barnum effect is that it can make us gullible. When we become vulnerable to believing things that aren't necessarily true, we become more vulnerable.”
But despite all that, there are truly psychics trying to make a difference and touch people’s lives. That’s why we asked Danielle what kind of psychic visions she gets and what they mean to her. She shared: “I see, hear and feel. So I often see very intricate visions which sometimes take a minute or two to describe and often the details are where the message is. I also hear a lot of words drop into my mind and I feel a lot in my body. My clairesentience (to feel) skill is definitely my most used and I am able to use my body to feel what is going on in my client’s body in order to get a message.”
“Every message I receive is meaningful and whether it’s a general detail about a person or a situation or very specific situation they all lead up to the overall message and often there are multiple in one session. If a client comes to me for a very specific reason we will spend time on this first so the messages will be related to that but then the net often widens to other parts of their life that they might need support with,” she added.
As Rhona’s parents stated, she was probably having a “break from reality” which is why she wholeheartedly gave into her friend’s claims. But what she didn’t stop to question was the impact it could have on her relationship. People were dumbfounded by her behavior and were glad that the poster was rid of her. Why do you think Anna made up that false claim about the OP? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
People advised the poster never to look back and to stay away from Rhona for good
