When I was on a local TV station a while back to promote my business, the interviewer asked what my family and friends thought about what I did for a living. I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights. This has been an issue. In the little 5 minute TV spot, I couldn't have begun to explore the topic in a way that was fair to everyone. Instead, I sort of stammered out the fact that not everyone approved. 

Given that I've been asked to come back for another interview, I looked a bit more at why what I do for a living presses so many people's buttons. In the old countries and in the east, it is pretty common to have an auntie nearby who does this sort of thing. Here in North America and in western Europe, the mood is different. There seem to be two main forces that feel the most strongly against fortune telling: religious forces and scientific ones (which can seem just as fervent as the religious in their beliefs.) 

Dad was a rational, logical guy. As much as he loved me, he felt that the whole art of intuition and things psychic was lacking in any scientific validity, and therefore probably delusional. Mom had a robust religious life. She and her religious community had very firm ideas about what was acceptable and what was not. As much as she loved me, my work was clearly not something she could accept.

It makes sense, really. 

Many scientific communities frown on fortune telling because the validity of what is being said is difficult to prove. Many religions have good reason to frown on it too. Religions are usually about finding a deep connection with the Source, God, or All That Is. In some faiths they call it the 'Peace that Passeth all Understanding,' in others it is 'Nirvana.' This deep connection isn't something that can be imposed on us from outside, it must be experienced by each of us on our own. Finding out from a fortune teller that Uncle Fred will be in an accident in 6 months can rob us of the chance to find that peace, that intuition, that flow within ourselves - the very flow and connection that would put us in the right place to handle Uncle Fred's accident with grace, and peace. By stepping outside ourselves for that power we could be giving away our birthright. 

Religious or cultural rules that ask us not to seek validation outside ourselves can give us a better chance to see how powerful we are, to connect with our own inner wisdom in an age when we seem to have lost touch with it. Even farm animals moved to high ground before the tsunami while we humans stayed behind. These rules may well have been initially designed to encourage our inner development.

How we see these rules is an individual thing. Some people have been indoctrinated to believe that strict adherence to these rules is the only way to navigate an insecure world. They cling tightly to them in an effort to stave off fear, and they sometimes lack trust in themselves and those around them. Others see our human condition more comfortably, and see the rules more as guidelines, as something to aspire to. These people tend to trust themselves to act out of their innate goodness.

So all this seems like a good argument to not see someone like me for a reading, doesn't it? Yet not really. My work started on a spiritual basis. It wasn't about knowing stuff that nobody else has the power to know, it was about developing the power for each of us within ourselves to see beyond the everyday. We each of us have to do it according to our unique circumstances. So we seek out fortune tellers when we need insight, direction and balance, when we need validation of our own inner knowing, and friendship when we are going through a rough patch.

In my work, I will never satisfy the religious devotees who feel my work comes out of something other than goodness. Nor will I satisfy the scientific zealots who can't validate my experience out of their own, and thus mistrust my honesty. So next time, when someone asks me how my family and friends feel about my work, I can smile and tell them that not everyone approves of what I do, but I feel that I understand where they are coming from.