John’s Readings
There were between 200 and 300 people in the audience at the Flamingo Showroom.  John read for maybe 10 families in that room during his 2 hour performance.  He went in depth with each family, offering between 15 and 20 tidbits of validation. 

I thought he did especially well with details.  A lot of people accuse John Edward of doing cold readings but nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s a cold reading if John says, “They’re telling me you sometimes feel anxious but for the most part you do okay in life.”  That could apply to anyone.  It’s not a cold reading when John says, “Your family sometimes refers to you as Lard Head.  What’s that all about?” and the sitter laughs and validates that that is indeed a nickname of theirs.  John gets very specific with his details, and not just a few details, but many in a row.  Getting one validating hit could be a coincidence, but getting 10, 15 or 20 in a row without missing is very convincing evidence of his paranormal abilities.

I find John to be an excellent medium.  I would love to learn from him directly to improve my own medium skills. 

Q&A with John
After doing about an hour and a half of readings, John hosted a Q&A period and answered probably a dozen questions from audience members.  I especially enjoyed this part because this is where I personally received the most value.  As John answered each question I was glad to notice that I would have answered them the exact same way.  Sometimes psychics have different beliefs about the nature of the afterlife, what constitutes a haunting vs. emotional residue, and reincarnation, among other things.  John’s answers perfectly coincided with my beliefs.

Someone asked John how he felt about all the negative press he often gets; the ridicule and claims of fraud.  John basically said that he made a personal decision to be public with his abilities and understood that when he did so that he was painting a big bullseye on his butt (his words, not mine!).  He said that as he grew in popularity, the bullseye became larger.  He said that one time a major news magazine was doing a story on him that was supposed to be this big expose on how he’s a fraud and charlatan and they brought in a defense attorney to question him extensively and test his abilities.  John said they ended up writing one of the most positive stories about him that he’s ever read after he wowed them with an in-depth reading.

John answered questions about reincarnation and the afterlife.  He shared that he does not support the death penalty because it releases people from this life before they’ve learned all of their lessons.  He also agreed with me about the spiritual consequences of suicide in that you are not released from your lessons and you’ll simply come back to finish them at a later date, plus you alter the course of the people you’ve left behind whom you were supposed to be heavily interacting with.  John talked a little about psychic self defense as well.

Someone asked John if he has an on/off switch or if he ends up reading for people in the grocery store or in restaurants.  He relayed a few funny stories related to being recognized in public and people surreptitiously trying to get him to read for them.  He says he is either “on” or on “standby” so that his guides can get his attention if necessary.

John spoke about how deceased people try to get our attention.  Similar to what I wrote about in my blog entry, Signs from the Spirits, they can mess with your electrical equipment, sometimes you’ll hear them calling your name, and he says that sometimes you’ll even see them. 

One thing he really wanted to impress upon the audience is this:  Our dearly departed do not miss us because they are still with us.  We miss them because we feel like we can never express our love, thoughts, and feelings to them.  But this isn’t true.  The deceased can hear and see us, and they are aware of much of what we do.  Talk to them, write them a letter, sing to them… they will receive your love however you are sending it to them.  Try to feel their love in return.

John talked about visitations from deceased loved ones in dreams.  Sometimes dreams about the dearly departed are just dreams.  You’ll know it’s a visitation by how clear the dream is and how peaceful you are when you awake.  You’ll feel like their true spirit and/or personality came through in your dream. 

Technical Difficulties
About 7 minutes into John’s presentation his microphone went out.  They brought a replacement but it was also malfunctioning.  As a toastmaster and someone who will probably be speaking on a stage one day, I was very curious as to how he would handle it.  The audience began, ever so slightly, to get hostile.  Some people shouted out rude comments like, “Maybe someone up there wants you to shut up,” and “What happened?  Did you lose your connection?”  John handled the hecklers with aplomb.  He relayed a story of a time he was doing an event and there was a blackout.  He ended up doing all the readings with a bullhorn.  That’s adaptability!   They finally got his microphone working and off we went.

John’s the Man!
One thing I really appreciate about John Edward is that he blazes a trail of integrity for all the rest of us psychic mediums.  Because of his fortitude and moral strength he stands as a beacon of truth in a sea of frauds and charlatans.  It’s a tough job and he handles it well.  My hat goes off to John.  He’s been doing this work for 23 years.  I’ve been at it for about 2 years.  I can only imagine where I’ll be in 23.  But I’ll be looking to John all the way…