I have seen Sylvia Brown on the Montel Show. My mother watches him and Dr. Phil faithfully. Sylvia brown comes off as even less believable than John Edwards. I am sure that Montel knows she is not what she professes to be. He frequently shuts people up that ask Sylvia Brown indepth questions by calling on another audience member. She writes many books and donates $25,000. at a time to the Montel Williams MS Foundation. I am not saying that is bad just that it is odd.
Then there was the woman I met who said she could see auras. Perhaps that is where the halos around religious figures originated, especially like the halo surrounding the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Had an interesting experience with public gullability one Halloween. I agreed to be the "gypsy" fortune teller palm reader at a street party. Aside from being old enough to have life experience that helps me "read" people, I also am knowledgeable about therepeutic nutrition and how to read skin, hair, nails, etc. to pinpoint possible deficiencies.
One very well dressed and manicured young black woman came to me along with her less well presented boyfriend. I told her she had very high standards but had tensions in her life, friendships and relationships because others did not always appreciate or want to meet her standards. A tiny grin from her boyfriend and I embellished that theme. She left agreeing and thoughtful.
Another women had extremely white palms. I told her she probably didn't eat many vegetables and would be healthier if she did. She had absolutely no yellow pigment in the fat under her skin from the beta carotene in fruit and veggies. She asked if that was why she had so many colds, and I encouraged her to eat better.
A boy about 11 came to me. I saw ridges across his finger nails about a quarter inch from the cuticle. I told him he had experience a very difficult time about 4 months earlier, but that things would get better. Then his 7 year old sister showed me her nails, and they showed similar traces. They were excited and brought their parents. The mother's nails were also marked. Then I saw the father's hands. His ridges were very severe, and he had an unhealthy look about him. I said, "you had a severe health problem last summer, didn't you." He was astonished and explained he had suffered a heart attack. They left very excited and a few minutes later I had about ten people in line.
Its amazing how you can impress people with a little knowledge, especially if you make it mysterious.