IknowIknow!!!

They both begin with "P"!!! no, wait -

Psychics actually make an attempt to tell you the future, albeit in vague and broad terms, whereas the prophet seer and revelator of the lord almighty tells stories dating to the great depression?

Psychics are accurate at least some of the time.

General conference.

Actually to me, there's no difference. They're both charlatans and frauds.

One hides behind a pulpit.

psychics give you more answers

there are no such things as prophets and psychics.

I think there is no fundamental difference, other than prophets speak in generalities and psychics tend to speak more to individuals. Even with that, there is a lot of crossover. And I think some people do have psychic ability but they tend to stick to being psychics. Prophets tend to base it on already established religious tradition and have very little actual ability to prophecy. They usually are all about leading people around, whereas psychics work with individuals. There is a monetary element with both but prophets tend to get off more on being a leader of men. There is also a huge element of fraud in both areas, although I'd say more with the prophets, because of the above mentioned ego/leader thing.

Psychics are regulated by law to tell you "for entertainment purposes only".

Psychics are cheaper and they'll actually talk to you directly?

With a psychic you at least have a 50/50 chance of getting some truth from them.

Psychics charge a LOT less $. Never 10% of your lifelong income. And where does the patriarchal blessing fit in (psychic sort of?)

They are both to help people and are led and directed by spirit. Many times the ego gets in the way and that is when phony balonie happens. Prophets give love and direction when led by spirit. Always to help people remember who they are. Same with a psychic as their words can heal and remind people that they are great

Several millions dollars.

Psychics make money honestly.

I think the vast majority of "psychics" are frauds. But I have to say, there is something to some of them. There are more things working around us than we see. Some, very, very, few people seem to have some brief or intermittent access to another realm. This seems reasonable to me having experienced the "other realm" for myself. I can't explain everything (or very much at all) of what I "learned", it just doesn't fit into any words or phrases or concepts that can be stated and make sense here to us in this condition. All I can say is that there is more out there than we see. Really. But the "prophets" are in fact frauds and they know it. I know we argue here about whether they know but I don't have any doubt they know they are fakes. That's what makes their karmic positions so unenviable. They do know.

elciz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think the vast majority of "psychics" are
> frauds.

I beg to differ. They aren't telling you they are moral authorities. If you want to believe them you actually get what you pay for...

Hinckley said he got heavenly hunches. If he were a psychic only he wouldn't be a fraud unless he was telling you it was what God told him.

Psychics even with their tomfoolery are seen as liars unless you want to pay them to believe they aren't. You should know it. An unscrupulous psychics is a fraud. One that takes advantage of people who can't consent to participate. "Prophets" get you young when you can't not consent. And they use other adults to convince you when you can...

Like a couple of people have already said ;

Psychics get things right 50% of the time and make a few bucks while at it.

Prophets know better than to make any predictions at all because they get the money anyway.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2014 04:03PM by blueorchid.

Mormons & their psychic powers! Joseph Smith was not the only psychic in the vicinity of Palmyra. (Orig. History.)

Mormons and their psychic powers. My view is that it's part of the original history that set the scene for the belief in supernatural powers.

I don't think many Mormons know this original history. Did you? I know I didn't! This is not taught in their current literature.

This is some of the history re: getting the Nephite Record. (No mention of "golden plates.)

Subject: Joseph Smith was not the only psychic in vicinity of Palmyra, the Urum and Thummin etc.

REFERENCE:
"A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." by B.H. Roberts
Church Historian (1857-1933), Deseret Book Co., 1930.

Most of these early accounts are in Vol 1.

VOL 1 "How the Book of Mormon was Obtained"

These books are in the LDS Data base on CD, (I am told),also in their libraries (Ward/Stake/Institute of Religion)in the REFERENCE section.

I own the whole set in paperback which I purchased in the late 70s before they were discontinued.

A few notes:
B H Roberts says that they were dressed "for riding" by taking the horse and spring wagon of Mr. Knight (some would call this stealing, as they did not ask permission of Mr. Knight who was a guest in his home) and went to the "hill Cumorah, and in he presence of Moroni obtained the Nephite record, the breast-plate and Urim and Thummim.

pg. 87, "Early the next morning, Mr. Knight discovered both his horse and wagon were gone, suspected some "rogue had stolen them. Lucy Smith volunteered no information as to Joseph having made use of the horse and wagon, but tried to pacify Mr. Knight with the idea that they were but temporarily out of the way."

When Joseph returned home, he took his mother aside and showed her the Urim and Thummim which he had evidently detached from the breast plate and concealed on his own person when depositing the plates...he seemed to have kept the instrument constantly about him after that time as by means of it he could at will be made aware of approaching danger to the record."

The next chapter is entitled:
pg. 88 Other Psychics Than the Prophet
"The fact was that Joseph Smith was not the only psychic in the vicinity of Palmyra."

He had previously asked Lucy (his mother) very early in the morning if she had a chest with a lock and key but she could not locate one.

This is the reason Joseph pg. 86 "concealed them temporarily, in the woods some two or three miles distant. He found a fallen birch log that was much decayed .....carefully cutting the bark and removing sufficient of the decayed wood to admit ...the plates, ...they were deposited in the cavity, the bark drawn together again and as far as possible all signs of the log having been disturbed obliterated."

Pg 93 - "The Breastplate of Urim and Thummim

"It has been several times remarked that with the plates on which a brief history of the ancient American peoples was engrave, there was an ancient breast-plate to which, when the Prophet took possession of it, the Urim and Thummim were attached.

This breast-plate it appears the Prophet did not bring home with him when he brought the record. But a few days later, according to a statement by Lucy Smith, he came into the house from the field one afternoon and after remaining a a short time put on his "great coat" and left the house.

On his returning the mother was engaged in an upper room of the house preparing oilcloth for painting - it will be remembered that this was an art she has followed for some years. Joseph called to her and asked her to come down stairs.

To this she answered she could not then leave her work, but Joseph insisted and she came downstairs and entered the room where he was whereupon he placed in her hands the Nephite breast plate herein alluded to.

'It was wrapped in a a thin muslin handkerchief,' she explains, 'so thin that I could feel it's proportions without any difficulty'.

It was concave on one side, convex on the other and extended from the neck downwards as far as the center of the stomach of a man of extraordinary size. It had four straps of the same material, for the purpose of fastening it to the breast, two of which ran back to go over the shoulders and the other two were designed to fasten to the hips.

They were just the width of two of my fingers (for I measured them). and they had holes in the end of them, to be convenient in fastening. After I had examined it, Joseph placed it in the chest with the Urim and Thummin."
[paragraphs added for ease in reading]"

Troubles keeping the Nephite Record out of nefarious hands of other psychics.)

Vol 1
Pg 90
Was the Nephrite Record in Danger
He goes on.....
These reflections indulged, we may now return to the statement with which they began-viz,Joseph Smith was not the only psychic in the vicinity of Palmyra. A Miss Chase, sister of Willard Chase, the Methodist class elder, already mentioned, had for some time been accredited with psychic powers of the mind, and practiced "crystal-gazing;" and besides this , remarkable as it may seem, parties in the neighborhood of the smith home, numbering some ten or twelve men sent a distance of sixty or seventy miles for a psychic-"conjuror" they called him --to come to Palmyra and to discover the whereabouts of "Joe Smith's gold bible."

The elder Smith learned of the arrival of this person at the home of Willard Chase, and heard him boast in the presence of his employers that he would "have them plates in spite of Joe Smith or all the devils in hell."

The day after taking possession of the Nephite record, the young Prophet was offered the job of digging a well for Mrs. Wells, of Macedon, a village some three miles west of Palmyra, and the family standing much in need of the money promised for the work, Joseph immediately accepted the employment...However, he never finished because of the threat of the other "conjurer" on his trail.

This is the beginning of the tale of how Joseph came back and assured his father and family that the record was saFe, was hidden near the home and Hyrum gave him a chest, with a lock and key and Joseph wrapped them in a farmer's "smock. and then he went through the woods .."his enemies were evidently on the watch for him, for three times he was assaulted by as many different persons; but being strong and athletic by dint of blows and flight he threw them off and finally reached home utterly exhausted from the excitement and the fatigue."

This is when he got his father and Mr Knight and Mr Stoal to search for the assailants (which was fruitless)
and Hyrum came with the chest with the lock and key.

"It seems that in knocking down his third assailant, Joseph had dislocated his thumb ....and he requested his father to put it in place.
Joseph then remained at home with his family to secure the sacred record entrusted to him where he worked on the farm with his brothers."


That historical beginning plus the strong belief in a life after death created an atmosphere for beliefs in psychic powers of some sort, in my view.


Reading this account left no doubt in my mind that the story was not believable!

A psychic has a phone number you can call and speak to them directly.

Does Monson have that?

A psychic defrauds people one a time. A prophet bundles his fruads for group consumption.


HH =)

Psychics can be female

From my Jewish perspective, the "Age of Prophets" is long since ended. The Hebrew word is "Navi," which then gets translated in Greek to "Prophetes". The Greek term means something like "See forward," (hence predictions, etc.) but this was not core to the idea for a Navi. In Judaism, Moses is the greatest Navi, and his work didn't involve a lot of predictions. Overall, the Hebrew Nevi'im were about speaking truth to power, speaking hope to the hopeless, and calling the sinners to repentence. Their language was often poetic and sometimes resorted to predition-sounding word-choice, but that was not the emphasis. With the later Nevi'im, the idea that the official leader could also be the prophet is at odds with the way Judaism has generally thought of the prophetic function (Moses being the only exception I can think of).
Miriam was female and a Navi.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2014 04:32PM by touchstone.

One actually gets it right more than the other.

A psychic has to constantly be giving readings, or producing
paranormal phenomena.

A prophet has no need to actually produce. When is the last
time ANY LDS Church president has CLAIMED to received a message
from heaven and given it to the membership? Thomas S. Monson
hasn't. Gordon B. Hinckley never did.

Prophets have a bigger following and make more money. They don't live as long either.