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Psychic ReadingsPsychic Readings

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  1. James Randi Psychic Investigator looks at the world of the medium.
  2. Derren Brown discusses cold reading with Richard Dawkins.
  3. Cold reading can be used by salespersons, hypnotists, advertisers, faith healers and con men. All of them rely on their subject's inclination to find more meaning in a situation than there actually is.
  4. Cold Reading can be used in astrology, graphology, palmistry, psychometry, or Tarot cards to create the impression of the paranormal. It is even used by fake mediums who claim to be channelling messages from the dead.
  5. At a basic level, cold reading utilises a linguistic skill known as 'the barnum statement'. These are phrases which could apply to anyone, but which a single individual can and will find personal meaning in.
  6. The barnum statement is a tool widely used by newspaper astrologers to make paper thin facts apply to as broad an audience as possible.
  7. The barnum statement is named after the 19th century American showman and circus owner P.T. Barnum, himself a master in psychological and linguistic manipulation.
  8. The traditional tarot card deck is made up of 78 cards. These cards are divided into two groups, the major arcana - essentially 22 allegorical picture cards, and the minor arcana - 56 numbered 'pip' cards.
  9. Much like a deck of playing cards, the tarot deck is split into four suits. These are referred to as cups, pentacles, swords, and wands.
  10. The earliest surviving tarot deck is believed to date back to around 1450, and was hand painted for the duke of Milan by an artist named Bonifacio Bembo.
  11. The word 'tarot' comes from the Italian word tarocchi, which is the name of a card game in which tarot cards were used.

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