From beyond the grave
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21807618-7642,00.html

From beyond the grave
Tonya Turner

AMERICAN psychic John Edward will arrive in Australia in November for
two shows at the Chandler Sporting Complex. He spoke to Tonya Turner.
Describe the range of your psychic abilities.
I have the ability to connect with people, talk about things that have
happened in their past, situations that are happening in their life
right now, lessons and energy, and projections into their future as well
as connect with their friends and family who have crossed.

Would you be willing to do a reading with me?
Absolutely not. I never read a journalist. The reason why, is that as a
journalist, your job is to be objective and to write about your
experience as far as subject matter, and as soon as I read a journalist,
you become subjective to what happens in that reading. So if you want to
hear from grandma, then I'm going to have an article written about me
that's going to be positive, but if you want to hear from grandma and I
wind up connecting with your next door neighbour's brother who you never
met, it's unimportant to you and it's going to reflect on the work. I
made it a rule 20 years ago that I don't do that.

Do you believe we all have a psychic ability or a sixth sense?
I do. I think every single person has the ability to tap into their own
intuition, kind of pick up on what's happening in their lives and trends
and all that kind of stuff and we can connect and understand that.

Why do some people develop it but others don't?
It's all about a choice. People make a decision to go to the gym and
they make a decision to eat healthy. I think they make a conscious
decision to learn about energy and the energy in their life as well.

Do you believe in destiny or that we have the power to choose?
People will often ask me during events do I believe in destiny and fate,
and I do. I really, really do. I believe that when we come into this
incarnation of life, that we have a game plan and a core curriculum for
the soul, what we're going to learn. And there are going to be some
pivotal moments. You know, point A, point B, point C, point D. Those are
our destiny moments, our life check-in points, the fate. But how we get
from A to B and B to C and C to D, that's where free will comes in.

Are you able to predict major events?
I do actually get stuff like that, but I usually get it in a wave of, I
hate to say it, but I call it the D and G. I call it the doom and gloom.
What'lI happen is I get a very doomy gloomy feeling and it'll stay with
me for a while and it happened around September 11th, actually weeks
before that. I've had it happen before plane crashes and have no reason
to be in that place. There's no reason for me at all to be sad and
depressed, and all of a sudden I'm sad and depressed. I've learnt that I
don't need anti-depressants, that it's an event that's actually coming
or something that's going to take place and I'm reacting to it before
it's even happened.

What do you do with that feeling?
Nothing. It's a matter of processing it. It's like watching the news and
you see these events taking place and I can't do anything to stop those
events, and when I'm seeing them or feeling them in my head, it's like
watching them on the news just before it happens. It's not something you
can stop.

How do you think dreams fit into psychic abilities?
I think that dreams are the playground of our minds, and I think that we
definitely connect with our loved ones and friends in the dream state.
Not every dream we have of somebody whose passed is a visit, and then we
have those moments where they are visits.

Have you experienced those moments in your own life?
I have had family come to me, mostly my family. My first book was titled
One Last Time. The title came from a conversation that I had with my
mother. In 1987 I had an uncle that passed, and it was the first death I
could really say that affected me in my life, in my family, and I said
to my mum I wish God gave us one last time, five days and five hours
after we lose a relative that we get a one hour window to be able to see
them, talk to them, hug them, and just bring closure to the experience.
A year and a half later my mum died. It was unexpected and she had
developed cancer and went very fast. A few months after she passed I had
a visit, a dream, where it was so profound and so vivid, and in the
dream I was very much aware of the fact that she'd died, and I said
'mum, what is this?' and she said this is your one last time. Honestly,
it was a beautiful, beautiful experience. I had this dream 17 years ago
and I remember it like it was last night.

What are you religious beliefs?
I was born and raised Catholic. I feel like I am still a Catholic but I
am not a church-going every Sunday practising Catholic. But my
foundation in faith is unwavering, my last book was on prayer and my
children will be raised Catholic because I think it's important to have
a foundation in some type of organisational belief.

Why do you think it's important to have an organisational belief?
I think structure is important. I think people that were raised not
having it is not the way to go personally. I've seen parents where one
is Catholic and the other is Jewish and they say well we can't decide
which religion to raise the children so we're not going to make them
have one, we're going to let them choose when they get older. Well to me
that's a cop-out because what winds up happening is if the person is
raised without a belief system then they're not going to have a
directional pull towards one or the other, or they just might be
confused in general.
 
What is your response to sceptics?
I made a conscious decision that I didn't have to change anybody's mind
and as long as I had my own beliefs I didn't have to try and develop one
for anybody else. I make it a general rule that I don't read anything
that's written about me or interviews, all that kind of stuff. I let it
not affect me.

John Edward, November 10, www.ticketmaster.com.au Tickets $93-$129. 

SIXTH sense ... John Edward.

Australian medium Anthony Grzelka
PRIVATE sessions with Australian medium Anthony Grzelka are booked solid
for the next 3½ years. Averaging 15 private sessions a week plus
regular seminars, the Australian "ghost whisperer" isn't finding it at
all hard to attract clients.
Grzelka has worked as a medium for the past 10 years.

As well as connecting with spirits, he uses a technique called "soul
talking" that he claims enables him to speak to people in comas and with
Alzheimer's disease whose "souls may have separated from their bodies".
Although he says he developed his psychic abilities later in life,
Grzelka can remember seeing images and hearing voices from as young as
five.

The rising acceptance of the paranormal in popular culture encouraged
him to develop his abilities in his late 20s and eventually led to his
endorsement by US medium James Van Praagh whose experiences form the
basis of popular television show Ghost Whisperer.
"I think people are more willing to listen now . . . It is more
acceptable and people are looking for answers religion probably can't
offer them," Grzelka says. "It's not a cure for grief or anything like
that, but it certainly can put people on the road to recovery."
Under the constant light of scepticism, being a medium isn't always
easy.
"I've got three children and they have to put up with a lot having a dad
who's a medium," he says.