No Sacred Cows

by David G. McAfee

  Suroh: Sometimes you need exercise and quiet thinking or meditation to really be able to focus your energies. Even something as simple as a healthy diet could put you in the right place to be productive and inspired. If all that fails, I recommend seeking a licensed medical professional who may be able to help.

  Joy: Thank you. I believe that will help. I appreciate your taking time to share with me.

  * * *

  Julia: Free readings? I sure could use one …

  Suroh: I sense that sometimes your life can be more like a battle, but that you’re strong and always seem to rise above it. I also see that you have secrets and a somewhat dark past, but you keep a lot of those things inside. You find ways to take those negative experiences and channel them into positive actions. The spirits say that is exactly what you should continue to do. Think of yourself as a tree, with your past as the base and roots that give it strength.

  Julia: Wildly appropriate. Thanks for the reinforcement.

  * * *

  Itzel: Oh Suroh I lost my best friend and I miss her so much, I want to know where she is and if she remembers me.

  Suroh: I sense that your friend cared for you deeply. She lives on in our memories and in the impression she left on earth. In some sense, she is still very much here because the matter that once composed her body still exists on earth in some other form. To achieve your best possible future, I suggest you take solace in the memories you still have and focus your attention on what I can see is a very loving family at home. You know deep down that’s exactly what your friend would want.

  Itzel: Yes, thank you.

  SUROH DOES A LIVE READING IN VENICE, CALIFORNIA. The ATMOSPHERE THERE WAS VERY RELAXED AND THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO STOPPED BY WERE ALREADY BELIEVERS IN PSYCHIC PHENOMENA.

  * * *

  Ronja: I’ve been in trouble recently concerning friendships or any other kind of relationship to others. Since I know this as a topic for quite a while now I would like to know what the spirits have to say. Thanks!

  Suroh: I can sense that you try your best not to care what others think, but that you sometimes let others affect you more than you should. This definitely alters the way you handle relationships, but you’re on the right path by trying to do things for yourself instead of others. The spirits have shown me that you have traveled extensively, which can always make it difficult to maintain any relationship, but they also say that you will find a way to combine visiting the places you love and enjoying nature with relationships that make you happy. Like anything, relationships take work; you can’t simply rely on the spirits’ mystical forces to handle it all. I see that you will make the time going forward to properly nurture your relationships to make sure they grow and flourish.

  Ronja: Wow, that’s quite precise! Some, especially the first part, enters right into my heart, so true. The rest is still very true, but I haven’t been thinking of it from that perspective—so thanks! What still makes me think are those normal, daily relationships, but with the spirits being as optimistic as they are I will stay positive, too—and continue working. Thanks a lot!

  * * *

  Ronnie: I was wondering … do you see anything for me? Thanks for your time.

  Suroh: I see that you have a loving family, but that you also need alone time and solitude is important to you. You are often told that you have a tough exterior, but you don’t always feel that way inside. You like to have fun, crack jokes, and generally be happy. You have recently started a new relationship, too, or perhaps ended an old one? You are on an honest search for truth, but your creativity and imagination sometimes get the better of you. Does this make sense?

  Ronnie: Yes, and thank you. Pretty accurate, my friend. Is there any way that you can receive messages from loved one who crossed over? I would like to get some advice from my grandmother maybe … thank you! Your gift is truly amazing!

  Suroh: Your grandmother lives on in your memories of her and in her works on earth. I also sense that you know what advice she’d give you if she could.

  Ronnie: Thank you.

  * * *

  Leigh: Do you see me having children?

  Suroh: I see that there’s already a man in your life and that you want a child, perhaps even more than one. I sense that there is some confusion as to whether or not it’s the right time, but it will become clear as long as you are open with your significant other and make sure that you’re both financially and emotionally ready. The spirits say that you will have children, but it might not necessarily be exactly the way you expected. Don’t worry, though, this is a good thing!

  Leigh: Thank you Suroh! Yes I have a man in my life and you are correct with timing, cash, and emotions! I have had two losses to date and infertility treatment is the only option for a child of my own, so yes I have also considered other options.

  * * *

  Jennifer: Why are your readings free?

  Suroh: The spirits have compelled me to share my gift with the world. Anybody who charges to connect with the spirit realm is fraudulent, for they don’t understand its power or purpose.

  Jennifer: But energy is energy. You give a certain amount of energy to get a reading, then you aren’t given any back? No amount of meditation is going to regain that energy that you spent.

  Suroh: My readings come from a place that is above monetary payment. A connection to the spirit realm is not a prostitute, and I won’t treat it that way.

  Jennifer: But the questions people are asking you aren’t realistic at all, and the ones that are, you give vague answers to.

  Suroh: Do you remember what you were thinking about during your trip to Denver? Maybe something you were putting off until after that time? Either way, I see that things are progressively getting better and more stable in your life.

  Jennifer: OK I admit that you were right about the trip to Denver. But everything else seems bogus. If anything they got worse, because the person we were nervous to see died and thinks that we’re evil.

  Suroh: I do future readings. If things aren’t getting better now, it’s just around the corner. I suspect that you and your family will start seeing things in a more positive light in the very near future.

  Jennifer: I think you do have abilities. But they are not strong, and you are misguided. You would pay your doctor for helping you heal, or your counselor for helping you get through a hard time. This is no different.

  Suroh: The spirits have ensured that I’m taken care of financially. There are doctors and counselors who treat people for free, too, so consider me a volunteer.

  * * *

  Rene: Would you give a reading to me? I prefer leaving the questions open for knowledge than to channel specifics. I would be appreciative for advice and wisdom. Thank you for your time either way.

  Suroh: Thank you for coming to me, Rene. I have a message for you from the spirits: You are going to be a great mother who teaches her child about ethics and equality. You are wise to be careful after T, and that will flow over into your behavior as a parent.

  Rene: You are scaring the crap out of me. I don’t believe in religion or much into spirituality… you don’t know me and yet you said exactly… I mean spot on what has happened to me and what is currently happening in my life. Is this a connection of you to other humans like a radio antenna, or is there something more? I am floored. Thank you Suroh. I have things to think about with spirituality. You have hit me as a lightning bolt. Is there more to living beyond our physical selves?

  Suroh: Everything has an earthly and natural explanation. The connections you and others see during my readings are forged in your own minds as I attempt to make any statement or question that you might identify with. Hopefully, by giving you insight into this process, you can be comfortable in knowing that this is how many religious/spiritual systems work and not be drawn to them and away from naturalistic and tangible explanations. I wish you all the best.

  * * *

  Like “real” psychics, Suroh used a mixture of hot and cold reading te
chniques to determine and assert basic information about the participant. In addition to the typical cold reading guesses, which capitalize on the Forer effect, Suroh also looked to visual cues on which to base his predictions when giving live readings. He used minor indicators, such as a baby bump, to make certain decisions about the reading, like a focus on a new family. Similarly, a wedding ring demonstrated that a “future love” reading was off the table and a “T” tattoo gave a free glimpse into an important personal relationship. If a client is already a believer in psychics, the process is much easier. They assume you’re telling the truth about your ability, so you no longer have to prove anything. At that point, Suroh would simply give vague predictions for the future that could apply to just about anyone.

  The key to seeing a “psychic” like Suroh is to make yourself more difficult to read by giving short, straightforward answers and displaying as few facial expressions and microexpressions as possible. Fortunately, you don’t need to have readings to know that so-called psychics have never been proven to have supernatural abilities under scientific conditions. For that, all you need is access to such trials, of which there are many.12 If you think you saw a psychic whose method “worked” to determine the future, I’d argue that you were most likely tricked. But, to prove me wrong, all you’d have to do is get the person to show his or her tricks under proper observing conditions. Since it would be such an amazing find, I wish everyone all the best in this endeavor.

  The Suroh the Seer adventure was one I’ll never forget, and I learned a lot about being a psychic. But after putting those skills to the test a number of times, I felt I needed to go a step further. This is partly because I have always been fascinated by people who claim to have supernatural or mystical abilities, including so-called psychics. While I can’t say I was ever a believer, the idea that some people could read others’ thoughts or see the future has interested me all my life. In an effort to learn more about this phenomenon, I studied cold and hot reading tactics and, when reading about them wasn’t enough, I even implemented those methods myself as Suroh. But that still wasn’t sufficient. I wanted to find out even more about the people who claim to have these fantastic abilities, so I did the next logical thing: I asked questions.13

  “AMERICAN BUDDHA” NOAH ALVAREZ

  I decided to interview a medium in my area and, after some online research, I stumbled across “spirit psychic” Noah Alvarez.14 Alvarez advertises that he is an internationally known psychic medium with a sixth sense, specializing in counseling and “healing.” I chose Alvarez as my first interview subject primarily because of his dozens of five-star reviews. Clients insisted that Alvarez’s readings were “dead on” and “the real deal,” and perhaps just as importantly, they said he was friendly, open, and transparent. For my purposes, that was ideal.

  I met Alvarez at 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday at his psychic studio in Chatsworth, California. He greeted me and my first impression was that his reviewers were right: he was personable, friendly, and empathetic. I also took a moment to scan his studio, which featured a number of (often conflicting) religious and spiritual symbols. There were dozens of Buddhist statues and monuments and relics—something you might expect from a psychic who also calls himself the American Buddha—but there was also a single dramatic statue of Jesus Christ being tortured on the cross. Understanding that Noah was likely trying to appeal to as broad a base as possible in his work, I proceeded to the back room for our discussion.

  McAfee: Are your readings for entertainment purposes only? Or are you a legitimate psychic, able to accurately describe future or current events that are verifiably beyond your knowledge?

  Alvarez: Sure, absolutely—I don’t consider what I do for entertainment at all. I do parties, but still I’m giving readings and tapping into people’s energy.

  McAfee: Do you think you were born with your psychic powers, or is this something you developed later in life? Is it something that everyone is capable of—or maybe just a lucky few?

  Alvarez: I think everyone is capable of it. We call it a sixth sense for a reason. I feel, just as there are physical senses that we tap into, there is an extra layer—a spiritual sense. Everyone can do it and I teach people how to do it. I think it’s more just opening a channel and, once you know what that is like, it’s easier to start practicing tapping in. I think everyone has that gift and, for me personally, I think I was born with the channel open. Other people may need practice or need help opening that channel.

  McAfee: Can you describe the process or mechanism by which you reach your psychic conclusions? Do you see images, do you “feel” answers, do you dream the future?

  Alvarez: It’s just a sense of knowing. It comes in the back of my mind just from a distant place. It’s not an audible voice and I don’t usually get visions for people. My readings are usually based on the questions people ask. So, I let people come in, I sit down, I’m just being very comfortable. In my readings, it’s not so much about a test, like “What do you know? What can you see?” And I always tell people that. It’s not so much about a prediction. It’s more about seeing through how people make their decisions, seeing through who they are, to see exactly how things will unfold for them. So, it’s just a sense of knowing and I take my time and I breathe through it. It’s letting go of fear. Just “What do I feel about this person?” And it’s been accurate—it’s been good.

  McAfee: I personally am a very scientific-minded person and I’ve never felt that I had psychic abilities. But I do have—I call them “Aha!” moments, or epiphanies. I have moments where I’m sitting and thinking and I have deep clarity that I would describe as a “sense of knowing.” I look to science to explain how that happens and I know a lot of different explanations for how we can have those feelings.15 Is it possible in your mind that this is what you’re feeling and that it’s not literally a psychic power—that it could be something that’s already scientifically explained?

  Alvarez: I believe it’s the exact same thing. I consider myself a spirit scientist, so I absolutely believe the laws of physics come into play here. The laws of the brain and the mechanisms, a mini model of the universe in your mind, I’m an avid believer and studier of all that stuff.16 So, I think it’s the same thing. I think people try to separate “spiritual occurrences,” which I think is just another word for your own brain and your own physical abilities as a human being to connect to other human beings. I think it’s absolutely a biological thing that we’re all connected. So, it helps when you have that understanding to let go and relax and just, in a personable way, in an energetic way, in an intimate way, be able to connect to people. So, I definitely think it comes from the same place.

  McAfee: To me, your readings sound a lot like something a counselor—like a psychologist—could and does do regularly. Aside from the fact that you probably don’t have a psychology degree, is there anything that you would say definitely differentiates your work from that of a psychologist?

  Alvarez: Yes. The big difference for me is there is that specific information that comes from no prompting. If someone sits down and says, “Just tell me about me. Tell me about what’s been going on.” I don’t think just a person that doesn’t have that sixth sense open, just a regular psychologist, is able to pull that information just off of a “cold read.” I don’t think it’s a bad thing—I think 50 percent of the work that I do is actually looking into a person’s life without any information. The other 50 percent—people want a psychologist, they want a therapy session and I tell them that. “I don’t think you’re here for me to tell you information you didn’t know, I think you wanted validation.” And it’s easy for me to do that. I think what I try to do that sets me apart is be totally transparent about that. Fifty percent comes from a gift of just innately seeing what’s going on more than the average person and 50 percent is my ability just to connect to people in general—being able to read them.

  McAfee: In regard to mediumship and “crossing over,” that’s something that—s
cientifically—has never been shown to exist. Do you think it’s possible that there isn’t an afterlife and that, when you’re trying to connect with people who have crossed over, what you’re doing is the same thing you do when you’re talking to people—just thinking of things?

  Alvarez: In my experience, I don’t advertise mediumship, “Come and let me channel your people.” For me it always comes very naturally. I may say I’m feeling a father energy coming forward and they may never have said anything or mentioned they wanted mediumship. So, I only speak of it or even bring it up if it naturally comes forward. I don’t like to advertise that because I don’t know—and I wouldn’t claim to know.

  McAfee: Just to be clear: it is possible then that you really aren’t channeling people?

  Alvarez: I believe that I am channeling. I absolutely do believe that. I don’t believe in a Heaven or Hell, but …

  McAfee: Could you be wrong about your belief?

  Alvarez: I don’t feel that I’m wrong about people being able to connect with sentient energy outside of this earth dimension—outside of human life here.17 I have had experiences personally—human and nonhuman—and I have too many people coming to me with these experiences. I absolutely do believe I channel people who have died.

  McAfee: I think it’s entirely possible that could be the case—that you’re communicating with something outside and that it’s a real connection. But, as a scientific-minded person, I also think it’s possible that it’s completely internal—that it’s something psychological that affects both you and the people you’re reading. You list your personal experience and other people’s testimonies, but there are just so many things in this world that have personal experiences and testimonies that we choose to reject—the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, regular alien visitation, etc.