I remember when I was on delphi there was a John Edward forum. Those who may have forgotten about this so-called medium, at the time he had a very popular show, and would read people, saying he was speaking with their loved ones. I went over to the forum called him a fraud, this created a ruckus. Then some folks followed me over to our forum we hung out in, I took a Larry King interview with him, broke down all his readings, and showed he was only 50% right per the show in his readings.
It was always the same, someone is approaching with a flower, like red, white, yellow. He would give meaning. Then he would say something like I hear a name, begins with an R and people would leap up, and they would say yes Robert, Yes Richard, Yes Ron. So forth. He was cold reading and it was very apparent. So in the forum, I told folks I would demonstrate cold reading, and they could come on the forum and post, and I would demonstrate how I could hit nails on the head, yet I gave the disclaimer I was not speaking with loved ones.
Granted, I am psychic, so I did get some various info. But guess what? Some folks had ignored the disclaimer, and thought i was speaking to their loved ones! I had to explain to them I was not. Like I would say, "I see your grandfather smoking cigars," and someone said "Yes he always smoked a cigar!" Cigar came to mind, sure. But I was not in contact with the dead.
Mediums for me are like this a) they are really in contact with the dead, b) they are psychic and can hit nails on the head, but are not in communion with the dead or c) are cold readers - neither psychic or in contact with the dead. So it really depends on the person, their intent. And it is possible that the medium may 'believe' their are in contact with the dead, when they are really psychic. But I do believe in mediums. And some seem legit. But they are rare. Not all can do this.
There is a show on The Haunting of...with Kim Russo
http://www.kimthehappymedium.com/about-kim.html I think she is legit. I have watched her show and per the way she acts on it. I do feel she is really in contact. For instance, she gets a lot of bodily sensations. Turns cold, feels pain chest, and they had a heart attack. Feels anguish, terror and so forth. Then she will describe folks, what they were wearing, how they died, and will be right. She is very different from John Edward was, who did cold readings, and would talk about socks in a drawer, pretty insignificant things which did not matter either to the dead or the living.
The Long Island Medium is probably the biggest medium on tv right now.
http://www.theresacaputo.com/ For the most part, I cannot tell if she is either psychic or in commune with the dead. She does get bodily sensations, is very specific. She does a lot of automatic writing and will write down numbers, dates, sayings they said, various things, and is quite often right. But I do not think she is faking anything. But she could be psychic and her 'messages' are really information she is picking up. However, she does do very positive readings which I appreciate. She's not negative. The dead do not say bad things to the sitter and so forth.
I have only once done a reading for the dead. Once someone approached me online, asked if I would do a reading for a dead person. Gave no information so I meditated a long time, saw a woman driving, I felt pain in my chest, and then all went black. I talked to the person, and told them the woman had a heart attack while driving. This was correct, but their issue was 'was there foul play.' I said no, just a heart attack, and that was that. Later, shit began moving in my house, and the door slammed on my son, with him in the room. A banishing was in order, and I have not read for someone to contact a dead relative again. So I know it can be done, however, as I was rather experienced, I do not think I could filter out other worldly things, if I read for the dead. So now for readings I keep it to astrology and tarot on occasion. But it was an interesting experience.
