My Review of “Paranormal Activity”

The other night my wife and I picked up a copy of “Paranormal Activity” at the local video store and popped it in the DVD player for a relaxing and entertaining evening. We had heard some good things about the film and with several of our friends asking our opinion of it, we figured that we should check it out.

At first we chuckled as a somewhat familiar series of events began to unfold. As in … sensing a presence around the home and being freaked out at the littlest noise or creak in the night. However, once the “psychic” was introduced I was severely dismayed. The person who played the role of the psychic did an abysmal job at best of portraying a genuine psychic, he was a complete hack. Not once when called into investigate a ghost issue have I peppered the homeowner with questions in an effort to learn more about the situation. I prefer instead to describe what I am being told has happened and to bring forward details concerning what has led them to call me in to assist them. Frequently the place is simply old … needs new wiring or windows and there is nothing otherworldly going on, other times it is “haunted” but not by anything scarier than a loving relative who is popping in from the other side to say hello.

A real psychic does not need to ask all the questions that were shown in the movie and a real psychic would not simply throw his hands up and walk out on the situation.

With the movie telling you that the spirit presence is actually demonic and not simply the soul of another human or animal and with the movie portraying the psychic as a hack … it becomes evident very quickly that this is a complete work of fiction and in no way comes even close to revealing the truth about such matters.

In my experience, demons as they are commonly portrayed simply do not exist. Oh sure there are angry spirits and souls of tortured human souls out there, but I am yet to see any real evidence that demons exist. In many ways the movie “Paranormal State” works as a Christian “plant” in that it discredits psychics, exposes spirits as demons and never offers up any solutions allowing “the Church” the ability to point at the movie as a cautionary tale for messing with attempts to communicate with spirits.

The bottom line is that this movie is one great big stinking pile of dung and is a great disservice to those who have had to live with real ghosts and who have need of the use of a genuine psychic who can actually offer real world solutions, advice and most importantly is able to effectively communicate with those in spirit.

If you feel that you have a visitor from beyond the grave … check out www.charlespeden.com to book a reading or to learn more about psychic medium and animal communicator, Charles Peden.

Notes, Tips, and Advice Regarding Looking for a Missing Animal with a Pet Psychic

Missing Animal Cases

a.) Not all animals will want to be located, no offense … but your animal may have been ticked off by something and you may not even be fully aware of it.

If for some reason your animal is angry or upset with you or a situation in your home, they may be willing to return if you are able “talk it out” and come to an understanding where both of your needs are met.

For example: A dog was adopted out and soon after being adopted, the new “owners” called the shelter to report the dog had gone missing. I connected with the dog after one of the shelter’s personnel contacted me about the situation. The dog informed me that the home that he had been adopted out to was overcrowded with other animals and that he wanted nothing to do with it. The dog proceeded to inform me of the general details of the area that he was hiding in and gave a good reason for not trusting the shelter people … if they adopted me out to this place, why should I take my chances and go back there? Freedom can to some dogs be a bit too much of a calling and when running away from “bad” situations, they may end up going feral if food, water and shelter can be found on their own, or they may end up moving on and finding another family to adopt them, one that they have vetted on their own.

b.) Some animals will wish to shield you from any knowledge of a difficult passing. Though some animals seem to be okay with leading their humans to their physical remains … not all are comfortable with it and depending on their manner of passing, they may wish to protect you from it.

Animals do not fear death, they fear pain … both physical and emotional. If you consider the fact that “your” animals are connected to you telepathically and that the way that you talk about them, feel about them and think about them directly affects them, they will try and avoid additional pain and suffering for both parties.

For example: A woman had lost her cat and after going missing she contacted me. I connected with her cat and described a neighborhood where the homes were spaced six hundred feet apart with manicured lawns between them. She replied that was not anything like her neighborhood where the homes were fifty feet apart. I provided further details and after a bit it all came together. I had described a location directly across the lake from her, where she found her cat washed up on the shoreline. As the body was not damaged, the cat felt perfectly fine with leading her to his body. In many cases where the body is badly injured and visibly damaged, the animal will not lead you to the body so that you do not have to endure imagining the pain and suffering that they went through in their final moments. As they are connected to you, they feel the way you think of them and so they are also protecting themselves from having to be reminded of their difficult passing.

c.) Foul play does occur on occasion and an animal that went missing, may have been stolen for one reason or another. These cases are difficult because often times the thieves leave the area and it is possible that your animal may go through several hands before being sold or disposed of in some way.

For example: Dog fighting involves not just fighting dogs, but “bait” dogs as well. In some situations smaller animals that are not purebred or young enough to be resold as pets may end up being used as bait to make the fighting dogs more aggressive. I personally know the location where some of these dogs bodies are dumped after being mangled by the fighting dogs.

In one missing animal case I dealt with a Chihuahua who had been stolen from right in front of their person’s home. The dog told me that he was north, and by the market … and that he was in a cage or trapped in some fashion. I went north of the home on foot and found nothing, then I saw the market … it was south and east of the home … not north. A few days later the dog was returned. The story was that the dog had ended up in a flea market in a town just north of us and was on display in a carrier at the market. The man claimed to have purchased the dog for $500 for his daughter at the market, saw a story in the paper about the missing dog, realized what had happened and simply wanted to be reimbursed for the purchase price and declined the larger reward that had been offered.

When an animal is captured, often times they are fearful, and in unfamiliar surroundings. They may try describing individuals holding them, which if you do not know them … may mean nothing to you. Also if taken out of the area, the clues may be confusing if we are trying to match them up to the immediate area. If changing hands, the descriptions will change as to their surroundings, the persons holding them and what types of vehicles may be involved … very difficult to pinpoint. Add to the mix that these clues will be next to impossible to confirm and therefore very difficult to follow up on.

d.) Sometimes an animal simply needs to get out and stretch their legs and when done, they will come back … not when you call them, but on their terms, when they want to. Sometimes they are stuck … in need of help and given an opportunity to voice where they are and how to rescue them, they will shout it out to me. Sometimes a kind hearted individual takes them in and cannot track you down right away or doesn’t see one of your missing flyers. On occasion the missing will turn up at local shelters or even one a bit further away than you thought your animal would travel.

Provided the animal wishes to be located, it is important to bear in mind that it is possible that the clues coming in are from your animals perspective. In a case that I was working in southern California, a cat was trying to confirm my connection to him by describing his “owners” backyard and the features within in. He kept showing me a tree that to me looked like a willow tree. The cats person insisted that there were no willow trees in the area, I tried to dismiss the image, but it would not go away. I then was shown fruit on the tree and told that it was much smaller than a willow tree. I then asked about a kiwi tree, and was told that she had three of them in her yard, I then described cacti and they too were confirmed.

The bottom line is that I can help nearly everyone obtain some degree of closure when it comes to cases involving missing animals. I simply cannot guarantee that you will be led to their body or that a joyful reunion will take place. The following are some suggestions for effectively locating your missing animal.

1.) Remain calm … as difficult as this sounds it will help you think clearer, it will be more calming to your missing animal and will make it easier on those assisting you with the search. I have actually had animals tell me that their “owners” tearful and ear piercing calls were frightening him and not the soothing shelter and home that he wanted. He had been injured and was afraid that his condition would cause their person to break down and completely lose it, as they clearly could not handle them simply being missing.

2.) Remember that your animal is tuned into you telepathically and hears absolutely everything that you are thinking and is aware of what you are doing. In one case a woman planned on closing the garage door and trapping her cat and not allowing him to go out again. So guess who was careful to avoid returning home and triggering her traps. A certain cat had found freedom to be intoxicating and knowing what his person was planning should he return was enough to keep him away. To him having his outside time taken away entirely was simply not acceptable and he preferred to take his chances on his own.

3.) Animals contrary to popular belief, do not love us unconditionally. If conditions are unacceptable our animals tend to let us know through “misbehaving” or they may simply take off. They too have free will and have feelings just like you and I. Remember that since “your” animals can sense your true feelings and intent, be honest with them and do not treat them like children or babies. Animals are intelligent and deserve our respect.

4.) Contact the shelters in your area and even those just outside your area. You may also check with the local veterinarians and check with your neighbors to see if they saw anything.

5.) Post flyers, contact a pet finder service in your area and if you still need help contact someone such as myself.

Working the Case:
The first thing that I do when contacted regarding a missing animal case is request the “owners” name and the animals name and no further details.

Often times the first details to come in will be a physical description of the missing animal, and or unique traits and behaviors or personnel stories about the animal. As these details come in, it is important that you do not offer anything other than “yes” and “no” replies, no further details. Additional animals may come through during the reading who are also connected to you … and your animal, both living and passed may come through.

Once a connection is established and both of us feel that I am connecting with your missing animal, we will then ask questions regarding the nature of the disappearance. To me this in many cases is quite conversational, where I may ask a simple question and be given a simple reply such as “what were the workmen who scared you doing in the home?” and the dog replied to me “removing the carpeting and installing flooring” to which the “owner” said “yes, that is correct!” Sometimes the animal will “clam up” and I may have to apply what I call the “burning ears” technique which is where we will begin discussing the animals offending behaviors until the animal feels the need to stand up and speak for themselves so as to “set the record straight.”

Though I cannot assure you a happy conclusion to your missing case, I can guarantee you a greater sense of understanding and perhaps even closure, with or without your beloved animal companion returning to you. Please understand that you are paying for my time and not the results, as such and given the stressful nature of missing animal cases I operate on a somewhat sliding scale. Initial consultations are free, 5-10 minutes and should anything develop and you feel the information coming through was of some value to you and we go longer than a few minutes pay me what you can afford … based upon my regular rates. If after an initial consultation your animal is still missing, you may request a follow up session, though by and large if that is the case and it goes over 5-10 minute you will be expected to pay my regular rates.

Charles has a strong belief that we are all capable of what he does. His gifts are not unique to him as we all have the potential to connect with our 6th sense. Many of us connect with “spirit” and are not aware of it, or we are and we do not mention it to others. By guiding you to connect with your own abilities many have found that they can sense and communicate with both spirit and animals with practice after a few lessons with Charles as their guide and teacher. Look for workshops to be announced in the near future.

The Saga of a “Missing” Cat …

Recently I was contacted regarding a missing cat. Prior to starting the reading I was provided with nothing more than his name, (which is the way I like it). As I began the reading the cat showed me that it had rained in the area very recently, he then proceeded to show me some high grass in a large open field that was surrounded by a forest that was somewhat dense. I could see a walking path that had little puddles/potholes in it filled with water and a small stand of pine trees. The cat told me that he was southwest from home and that he had taken off after being chased by another cat. When he had attempted to return home, he found the door closed and unable to get in, he located shelter some distance away.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the woman made up flyers, posted them everywhere … set out humane traps designed to catch cats etc., and was having no success. People would report seeing the cat but no one was able to catch him. After he had been missing for about three weeks, I was called in to look into it and that is when I provided the details about the clearing with the pine trees to the southwest of the cats home. Funny thing is that after providing the above details, the woman emailed me afterwards and requested a refund. She told me that I had not revealed anything that I could not figure out based upon her area code. I emailed her back to let her know that when we had begun the reading I had made it very clear that there was no guarantee of providing closure, I had provided an hour of my time and had only charged her for a half hour.

Within minutes of requesting a refund, she called back and left a voice mail apologizing and letting me know that her cat had just been spotted. He was southwest of her home and in a park where there was a forest, if you followed the trails, one led to a clearing with tall grass and a lone stand of pine trees, the only clump of pine trees for miles around. The woman hired a search dog who picked up her cats trail the trail led straight to the pine trees near the clearing.

I went ahead and called her back and we once again connected with her cat. He did not seem ready to come home and there were some issue back home with regard to a relationship that the woman was in, her boyfriend was verbally abusive and did not like her cat either. The cat was concerned about the cat who had chased him off and the unfriendly man back at home. He was an indoor cat who would be let outside for an hour or so each day and then let back in.

Within a short amount of time the cat that was terrorizing the neighborhood was captured and turned into the Humane Society. The woman began to stand up for herself and informed the man in her life that he had to treat her with more respect. During the last reading I had done with her, I had told her that she needed to chat with her cat and tell him how much she loved him, cared for him and that she would not lock him out again, (on accident all be it, but still quite scary to the cat.) A few days later she contacted me again to see if there was any progress with regard to him coming home. He then showed me some ponies and told me that it was related to a television show. I asked her about a kids show with ponies and she confirmed that the prior day after I had told her to talk with her cat, that she had been sitting on the couch with her daughter and was watching a show that was about ponies. During the show she sat back on the couch, closed her eyes and tried to talk to her cat … talk about a confirmation that he heard her!

He told me that she was planning on never allowing him to go outside again and that the moment he showed up that she would close the door to the garage and trap him in there. He said that in order for him to trust her, that she had to trust him. He also requested that he be allowed to continue to go out each day for about an hour … otherwise the deal was off. By the end of my conversation with him he had said, “give me 72 hours … not making any promises, but a good chance I will be back by then.

Once this story reaches a conclusion, I will update it.

To learn more about Charles Peden and or to book a reading with him, contact www.charlespeden.com.

Introduction to How to Develop Your Own Psychic and Intuitive Abilities and Gifts

It is very important that I make it clear that I did not actively seek out nor try to develop any kind of psychic or intuitive abilities prior to utilizing them. I was born with them and between the ages of five to seven I suppressed them due to getting in trouble for “making stuff up” and “lying” to others. I would claim to see things that people such as my parents did not see and I was then punished for it, thus suppressing all of my abilities, going through a difficult childhood that was impossible to understand and going through the majority of my adult life with no belief nor interest in anything that dealt with the supernatural, abilities to communicate with the dead and or animals, plants and more … that just did not mesh with societies view of reality which I now embraced having forgotten my early childhood.

For myself, my awareness of my abilities did not develop until after a ghost appeared in our home and walked right through me. The ghost triggered or sparked a rapid unfolding of my abilities. The very first time I saw her I could make out all the details of her physical form, I could “hear” her and felt her emotional state as she passed through my body. It was as if she had jump started my dormant abilities. It felt like going from zero to sixty very rapidly. After having the ghost walk through me on January 24th of 2006, I found myself chatting up other ghosts in the area. I remember how excited I was to go to a historical location nearby and discover another spirits presence, just like the one that was now residing with us at our home. Soon I discovered I could communicate with those who had crossed over, I channeled a conversation with my wife’s grandfather who had died many years prior, I never met him and she had told me little if anything about him. The fifteen or so personal details that came through were all verified including one that required a call back east to her grandma.

Early on one of my primary spirit guides made himself known to me and that relationship has developed nicely over time with him providing much in the way of insight and advice. After becoming aware of my abilities I was discouraged by my guides to read much in the way of how to develop my abilities, they told me that they were in a better position to teach me how to communicate with that side than someone on this side. For example … there was this recipe for meat loaf that was handed down through the generations and while the daughter was watching her mother make it, she asked “why do you cut the ends off?” her mother replied that she had no idea, but that was how her mother did it and so that is why she did it that way. A few weeks later the daughter was at her grandmothers and asked her why she cut the ends of the meatloaf and grandmother said that it was because her baking dish was too small for the recipe and rather than reduce the recipe, she found it easier to simply cut off a little bit of the ends of the meatloaf prior to sticking it in the cooking dish.

So … back to learning how to use these abilities, (which we all have to some degree, but most of us have suppressed) one perfect example of why working with my guides to develop my abilities was so useful is that unlike the vast majority of animal communicators I do not require a photo to connect nor a description. The reasoning essentially is that animals communicate telepathically, monitor their humans pretty much 24/7 and when you are speaking with someone capable of telepathic communication with them, they will know it and engage in conversation, should they choose to. So if you can communicate telepathically with an animal it would stand to reason that the animal could describe their physical features to you, hence … why use a photo?

One of the best things my guides did for me was to create simulations within the dream world that allowed me to practice using my abilities and working through various scenarios and difficult situations. These dreams would usually happen right before a real world example of the issue would arise during a reading or in the course of “normal” life. This process of training and learning in my dreams really was helpful and aided me in grasping a greater understanding of my abilities.

In order to develop your own abilities I would suggest that the first thing you do is to establish your intent. As we are not working with the physical world, many of the techniques involve the use of the mind or thoughts as opposed to physical actions. However, before declaring your intent to develop your abilities I would like to address a few issues.

Opening up your abilities is not for everyone, before you put forth your intent to develop your abilities, think very carefully about what you are looking to do, by opening up in this fashion you run the risk of dealing with unsettled and angry earthbound spirits, any of your family members who have passed and whom you did not get along with … animals that you have known in the past may come to you. You will discover that privacy as we think it exists is truly a joke and does not exist at all. If I had a dollar for every surprise visitor to our home, I would be a millionaire, or close to it by now. If a particular event has captured the worlds attention, you may feel a pull to be drawn to the story and you may feel compelled to obsess over it until a resolution has been brought forth.  While driving down the highway you may suddenly flash upon the scene of an accident where lives were lost, and then when you look back it will be gone, though the victims may be in your car, (in spirit form yet displaying their wounds). Many of the “problems” that come with opening up to your psychic and intuitive abilities can be mitigated through the use of effective protection techniques and the development of relationships with spirit guides, and guardians.

So … you still want to develop your abilities … read on. Declaring your intent to develop your abilities will assist you in aligning your energies in that direction and in assembling a team of guides on the other side with the intent of developing your abilities. Simply sit down and write out your intentions, speak the words in your mind, something simple such as “I wish to develop my psychic abilities so that I may communicate more effectively with those in spirit. At this time I am requesting that my spirit guides make themselves known to me and I am asking them to assist in developing my intuitive abilities. Thank you in advance.” Something similar to that will suffice, no need to make it complicated, and remember that when you make requests of your guides and the universe, that you have to be sure to be clear as to what you are asking for as you are usually taken quite literally.

After declaring your intent and requesting your guides to assist you, you can move on to actually working with psychic energies, it should go without saying that it is best to try this in a quiet and meditative places free from outside disturbances. No need to meditate for hours or anything rigorous like that, a few minutes at best is what is needed, though more time may be more beneficial, to a point. We will start with something simple. In order to communicate at this level, you must be able to feel psychic energy … it feels very much like a small amount of adrenaline coursing through your body, like a gentle electrical shock … kind of like the goosebumps feeling but not scary or hair raising. Some people refer to the feeling as waterfalls. This feeling will be used as the basis for our rudimentary telepathic or psychic communication. When you feel the energy, that is a “yes” … when you feel nothing, that is a “no”. The whole process can be likened to binary code, the series of ones and zeros that make up the basic building blocks of all computer/digital communications. Just like with binary code, through this series of simply yes and no responses you can eventually “read” whole blocks of code and make sense of it as opposed to having to only work with ones and zeros. Once that happens the information that you initially were reading only as a simple yes or no may be expanded into full audio with visuals and more … which is where I operate in most of my communications with spirits and animals.

I suggest starting with something simple such as a favorite animal companion, if you do not have your own, see if you can borrow one from a family member or friend. Start out be telling the animal what you are going to be doing. Tell them that you want to chat with them and that you want them to answer your questions with a yes or no response. You do not need to have the animal physically present. You do not need a photo of the animal. You want to start with questions that you already know the answers to, this will establish a baseline for your communications. One great way to do this is to say something such as. “animals name”, are you a cat? and if you feel a gentle electrical discharge or adrenaline burst in your body, that is a yes. Then ask the animal the opposite … are you a dog? and if you get no response … and they are a cat, you can then go back to the question that gave you a yes response and double check it. Ask the animal again, “are you a cat?” and if you once again get the adrenaline burst/electrical discharge, you are well on your way to communicating with animals and spirits. At this point simply proceed to ask several additional questions that you already know the answers to, double checking the responses as you go along and then you may begin the “real” conversation by asking questions that you do not already know the answer to. This technique applies to not just animals, but both ghosts and spirits who have crossed over … and more.

After working with an animal that you know, you may want to branch out and work with a co-workers animal or someone else who has animals that you do not know anything about in advance. If you find someone who has animals and you do not know anything about them, you can use the above techniques to connect with the animal and ask questions about the animals physical appearance. When you can walk up to a stranger, ask the name of their animal at home and then describe that animal to them, it not only proves that you can talk to the animals, it is a lot of fun. When I go out to eat I enjoy playing with the wait staff, it’s fun to ask them the name of a favorite animal at home of theirs as they are taking your order and then describing that animal to them when they bring your food and or drinks out.

To learn more about Psychic Medium, Animal and Life Communicator Charles Peden  visit http://www.charlespeden.com.

Halloween 2009 Seance in San Francisco (a few highlights from the evening)

This past Saturday, October 31st – Halloween, I was scheduled to facilitate a “seance” at a wonderful location in San Francisco, CA – only a half block from Golden Gate Park. Originally I had scheduled an animal communication workshop that would have taken place during the day, however due to limited sign-ups and with it being held on a holiday and with the Bay Bridge closure the workshop will be rescheduled. Heidi, (my wife) had suggested that I add a “seance” to the events that I had scheduled for the weekend and so I added it to the event list.

Halloween Seance in San Francisco with Psychic Medium and Animal Communicator - Charles Peden

 

With the Bay Bridge being closed due to a repair falling apart, and with the majority of the people that I know in the Bay Area being in the east bay, signups were limited for this event, I also had several last minute cancelations due to the flu and so we had a smaller group than I had originally anticipated, however that can be a good thing as it allows me more time to connect with each spirit who comes through.

With all of the dire warnings about traffic jams as commuters turned to other bridges in the area, I left far earlier than I normally would have and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself near or at the speed limit nearly the entire way to the venue. I had to drive in from Benicia and so I took the 780 to the 80 and then took the 580 across the Richmond/San Rafael bridge. In San Rafael I got onto 101 and ran into a bit of stop and go traffic just prior to the Golden Gate Bridge. After crossing the bridge and turing on Fulton I arrived at my destination and checked the time, it was two hours until people were supposed to show up and so I simply sat and meditated while sipping some wonderful Peets coffee.

At 8:40 guests began arriving and by the time we were ready to begin we had 8 of us, including myself. I have worked with groups as large as 80 and as small as 2 and so though not large, it was certainly enough to have fun with. For myself as the medium, the larger the group, the more spirits who are waiting to speak and the busier it gets for me. It’s almost like being a switchboard operator with them coming at you fast and furious. The smaller the group the fewer spirits looking to make connections, though on the flip-side, the more in depth each connection can be as I have more time to spend with each one coming through.

Before getting started with describing the “seance” it’s self I should add that as a psychic medium and animal communicator or “life channel” I do not employ “parlor” tricks. There is no levitating tables, disembodied voices, (other than the ones I hear) and no trumpet playing nor table rapping. For me communication with the spirits of the dead is a much more conversational thing with them actually giving me solid names, dates and other pieces of information as well as using images, (visions) and emotions as well as physical sensations to communicate their messages. So we did not darken the room, simply we dimmed it a bit and lit a few candles. We did not burn incense, chant, pray nor meditate before we began. No one held hands and we did not offer up the names of those who we wished to connect with.

After the guests had taken their seats, sitting in a mixture of couches and chairs in a circle … facing each other with their cups of tea or water nearby, we got started. At first I simply explained a little bit about the procedure and about what to expect, then I told everyone present about how I came into my abilities and answered a few questions. A little after nine PM things began in earnest as I took in a deep breath and sat back on the couch, I closed my eyes for a second and suddenly I felt as though my lungs were flooded. The upper part of my lungs felt as though they had water on them or mucus, I felt that it was pneumonia and that it was a male, older gentleman. Immediately two of the people present said that they had a connection to a male who had pneumonia. I quickly determined which party the information that was coming through was for and proceeded to channel a personal message.

As much transpired over the course of the next few hours I will only touch on some of the highlights. At one point I was chatting with an older gentleman who started his conversation by talking about how much he and his wife, (who is still alive and traveling the world) loved each other and about what a good marriage they had. Now that he was passed though, he was watching over her during her visits abroad. Both his daughter and granddaughter were present in person at the “seance” and they mentioned that his wife was traveling through India at the moment. I asked the gentleman what part of India his wife was visiting at the moment and I very clearly heard him say to me, “northern India, Jaipur.” I repeated that to the mother and daughter and they were quick to confirm that was where she was visiting at the moment.

One of the pieces of information that came through took me a second to get, I kept seeing candy being made. And then I saw and smelled wild colors and flavors, not ones that you would see in baked goods. I saw each pieces being wrapped individually and thought that it might be gum, when I mentioned chewing gum one of the people present said that she had just been with her mother and that the last time they were together they had picked up some salt water taffy, which of course is what I was seeing.

A dog who had passed recently connected with me and revealed how much she had loved living with her people. She mentioned that she had been unhappy with a lump on her back that was under her skin and how when people would pet her, they would avoid that spot, now she was very happy to be free of any such issues. There were additional connections with animals which were also insightful and revealing. At one point I noticed that I had not yet had anyone come through for one of the guests. I turned to her and asked her if she was waiting for her father, she confirmed that she was indeed waiting to connect with him. I then asked her if he had a connection to the midwest, to fields of wheat and specifically to Kansas. She said that she grew up in the midwest, fields of wheat? yes … in Kansas? Yes.

The group reading ended up going at least an hour, with one of the other highlights being a surprise visit from a very well known fallen soldier. He had died in Afghanistan and as it turned out one of the people present had a husband who had just returned from Afghanistan. He was having nightmares about those left behind … who had died there and how powerless he felt with regards to not being able to help them. The “hero” soldier who came through informed the soldiers wife that he was there to help and that he was working to assist those who had been killed in combat, that he was helping other soldiers adjust to having just lost their lives. He asked her to inform her husband that he wanted to connect with him in his dreams.

There was much more that took place but, much of it is a “blur” to me, as the one channeling … I am not always 100% “present”.  Some connections stand out more than others, there is one more that I should mention as it will help some to understand things that they may be fearful or puzzled by. At one point I was asked about the attempts to make contact that an unidentified entity or spirit was employing. This entity was messing with all manner of electronic devices and was even messing with the persons car. I heard a very clear “26″ and asked her what 26 meant to her as in what happened 26 years ago. She said, “nothing” however I lived in Texas for 26 years. I said okay … hold on, now this has been going on for about a year, a year and a half? and she confirmed that it had been going on for about a year.

I then told her that it was a younger male and that he knew her from the time she lived in Texas. She mentioned a foreign exchange student who had lived with her family who had blonde hair and who died in a motorcycle crash right after graduating. It was him coming through to say how much living with her and her family had meant to him. They had been deeply touched by his sudden passing and was reaching out to her to let her know that he was okay and that he was doing fine. When she asked why he had only been trying to get ahold of her for the past year, he said that was how long she had been aware of me, as in that is how long she has had a way to connect with him and so he was very persistent in his attempts to connect with her, bugging her to the point that she would have to say something to me.

Essentially what took place was a group reading and not a “seance” or at least not in the traditional sense, however I tend to believe that what I do tends to be a bit clearer than the seance’s of yesterday. If you yourself would like to attend a group reading or would like to have me facilitate one in your home or other venue, simply visit my web site to learn more about who I am and what it is that I do.

Ghost “Hunting” at the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley with a Journalist for a Radio Story

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a journalist who had written about me twice before for the local paper. She has since moved on and is now at UC Berkeley, pursuing a masters in journalism. In the spirit of the season, she asked to interview me at a haunted location. She wanted to ask me some general questions as well as recording any contact with ghosts and or spirits that may occur.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

Initially I wanted to do the interview at the Claremont Spa and Resort which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had passed there several years ago. Unfortunately the staff their did not authorize us to do an interview in the room that was said to be haunted and so I went back online and found another location in Berkeley that is said to be haunted, the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

The journalist contacted the Faculty Club and they granted permission, not only that but the Faculty Club was kind enough to provide us with a guided tour of the building which was initially built in 1902.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

After leading us on a tour Phyllis left the journalist and myself in the Spirit Tower, room 219. It was said that a former professor by the name of Henry Stephens had resided in the room for several years during the course of his tenure at UC Berkeley and upon his passing at the age of 60, he elected to continue residing within the room in spirit form. Lending credence to the ghost story was a newspaper clipping from 1974 that is on display at the Faculty Club’s offices. In the article it was reported that a visiting professor from Japan who himself was once a skeptic of ghosts, had an encounter with the former professor while staying in his former room during a visit to the University.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219

Now, everyone knows my position regarding ghosts, they are real. After all it was the appearance of a ghost in our home back in January of 2006 that brought my abilities to the surface and took me from skeptic to light worker in a matter of months. So the real question was not, are ghosts real? but rather … is he still here? and if so, can I help him.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219 Door

As a medium I am met by spirits and ghosts in advance of public or media related events where they tend to either reveal that they will be making an appearance or they may provide a reason for not appearing, in very rare cases I receive no information in advance, which to me indicates they will not make a showing, or that they have moved on … no longer a ghost or perhaps even reincarnated. Having not yet made contact with the ghost of the professor in advance, led me to believe that he most likely would not make a showing.

Sure enough several minutes into my attempts to connect with him, I felt as though he was not going to show up. At about this same time the journalists batteries died in her tape recorder and she had to return downstairs to grab another battery pack from her bag that she had left downstairs. After she left the room I began to walk around it myself and took everything in.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219 - 1920 Football Team Photo

The location was is called the Spirit Tower, but not due to the rumors of their being a ghostly inhabitant, rather it is a reference to team spirit and support of the schools athletic programs. Standing in the tiny room, with the rain pouring down and feeling the bricks of the fireplace I tried to take myself back in time and imagine what it was like for the professor who had lived here for years. Even with no one but myself in the tower, I felt nothing … not so much as a whisper of psychic energy, nothing ghostly for sure … just my own thoughts and the sound of heavy downpour. One photo in the room that caught my eye was of the 1920 football team. I noted to myself the lack of any real protective gear (by today’s standards) and briefly flashed on what tough character both mentally and physically that they must have had. I could hear the door at the bottom of the stairs open and sat back down at the little writing desk beside the bed as the journalist climbed the stairs back into the towers room that I was sitting in.

She had new batteries and was ready to continue the interview. I informed her that I did not believe that our professor was going to make a showing. And told her that I was going to shift my focus to any spirit who wished to connect with us. In a matter of moments I felt the energy in the room shift and I felt the presence of a spirit from the other side. After speaking with him for a moment I determined that they were connected with the 1920 football team. I thought that it was most likely the captain of the team. He informed us that he had passed due to pneumonia and then he spoke about the football team of this time period and how they were a bunch of sissies having to wear all the extra protective gear and face masks on the helmets. Even though he ripped the team a bit, he ended up the interview with a hearty “Go Bears!”

After returning home I did a little research on the 1920 football team and discovered that the teams coach died about five years after the photo I saw was taken and that he died of pneumonia, perhaps both the teams captain and the coach had made a showing, either way it was an enjoyable meeting. The interview should run this week on KALX 90.7 Berkeley, and though I do not know what time it will air, it should be available as a podcast that you can download and listen to at your leisure.

For those of you who would like to join psychic medium and animal communicator Charles Peden in communicating with spirits from beyond the grave, you can purchase tickets to a Halloween Seance that is taking place in San Francisco this Halloween from 9 PM to 11 PM. For more information about the seance and Charles Peden, visit www.charlespeden.com.

Update:

Here is the link to the interview: http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/radio/ngr/2009/10/28/everything-ominous/

My Review of Ghost Lab … a new Television show on the Discovery Channel

The night before last I sat down and with some anticipation watched a new show about “ghost hunters” on the Discovery Channel, the show is called “Ghost Lab” and appears to be very similar to several other shows on other networks, but because it was on the Discovery channel I thought that perhaps it would be a more respectful and serious approach to the subject, combined with some hard science of course. As a psychic medium myself who has encountered and worked with several ghosts, I really wanted to see what would happen and how they were going to work with the subject.

It opened up looking promising enough, they had selected an interesting location to shoot the episode I watched, Tombstone, Arizona … pretty much guaranteeing some sort of connection, plenty of violent deaths in the past – coupled with offering up the locations of shootout and graveyards as tourist attractions. First they introduced us to the team and I was a bit disappointed that they did not have even one “sensitive” or psychic with them. They have plenty of gadgetry, but nothing that I had not seen before … your standard EMF readers, infrared, camcorders, and still cameras as well as audio recorders and motion sensors. The use of the hand held camcorder footage gave the show a bit of the “Blair Witch Project” feel from time to time, with the HD cameras they were running, it was strictly for effect, for the viewer. When viewing the footage of the individual holding the camcorder I was surprised to see that the lens cap was hanging and not tucked away, straps showing up in shots has happened before where people have confused the close-up of a finger or a strap as an other worldly energy burst … etc.

After introducing the crew, and the location that they were investigating, they showed us clips from interviews with residents of the town who claimed to have witnessed paranormal events themselves, including actually seeing ghosts and more. I must say though, that if there was one place in the country where you might find people who believe in ghosts, it would be Tombstone, after all it’s probably good for business.

After sharing some ghost stories from the townspeople, the crew went about setting up for the investigation. They focused on a few locations within the town. The Bird Cage Theater was the first location and they set up all of the gear mentioned earlier. One of the things that was mentioned as possibly being a paranormal experience was an old speaker that though it had “no electricity” running to it, the woman who worked there claimed it would make noises.

During the course of the evening while investigating the room they picked up a very load static/feedback like noise coming from the speaker after they mentioned how quiet it was in there. I was a bit surprised when the employee came out from the back room, why was she permitted to “go to sleep” during the investigation … and stay on the premises, not a very thorough investigation if you want to rule out another human as being responsible for the claims of paranormal investigation.

They ended up climbing a ladder and looking at the speaker a bit closer, the whole time it’s going off, and bear in mind of course that they all have cell phones, radios and cannot determine if the speaker had power going to it or not. They did seem to pick up an EVP in the location which in my opinion sounded a heck more like “you dick” than “right quick”. After all the manner in which the crew was addressing any spirits that may be present was confrontational, rude, in your face and not too friendly.

Later while in the silver mines, some more of the rude, insensitive and at the very least illogical questions were asked prior to an attempt to capture EVPs. The crew was asking if the minors were still down there mining for silver. And the crew was shouting or raising their voices, as if that could help those who read minds “ghosts and spirits” to hear you any better. I did appreciate them commenting on how hard the miners must have worked in order to chisel out the passageways in the mines, that was nice.

During or after the silver mines visit, the sky around the town lit up with lighting as a thunder storm rolled through. This got them onto a tangent about how if you supercharged an area with electricity, it may enable the ghosts or other paranormal events to materialize much easier than in other locations where there is not such a conductive material underneath the ground, possibly holding a residual charge. Nice theory, perhaps there is something to it, but I am not convinced. Think of all the metal in buildings, pipes, buried cables and other conductive materials that exist in other towns and cities around the country and they are much larger than Tombstone, granted they may not get as much lightening, but many place I know do and as far as I know that does not increase paranormal activity.

There was this weird thing they did with a Tesla Coil, and trying to supercharge the energy in the room and they also checked out the Boot Hill Cemetery where a “famous” photo of a supposed ghost was taken several years prior. They set motion sensors up all over the cemetery and then sent the only girl on the team into the middle of the cemetery at night time to sit on a folding chair by herself and take pictures/see what she saw or felt. After a bit one of the motion sensors went off and the team started running around like crazy trying to capture whatever it was.

Later they got back to the “lab” and examined their footage, they had one photo of a “shadow person” but to me, it just looked like a shadow, however I did feel a presence and I must say that if anything they were being laughed at.

Frankly I give the show a D- for the following reasons.

They are rude and aggressive in attempts to make contact.

They are loud and unprofessional.

They do not have anyone on their team who is a sensitive or psychic, how thorough can you be if you do not use every “tool” available to you?

The way the show is edited adds more to the atmosphere, almost more than their “findings”.

This show gives a bad name to genuine paranormal researchers and is simply more entertainment that is cashing in on the popularity of all things paranormal. The only positive side that I see is that it will perhaps start a dialogue among more people, a discussion about these subjects and the nature of life and death it’s self. You got to start somewhere, sure there are some other shows similar to this, but not that I have bothered to watch with a critical eye, I only am paying more attention to this one because someone who I respect, Mike Rowe from “Dirty Jobs”, ended up narrating it, much to my now disappointment and of course because it is on a channel that tends to be more analytical and scientific minded.

To learn more about myself and my work within the paranormal field, visit my web site at www.charlespeden.com.

PS

A quick look at the message boards for the show on the Discovery channels web site shows that I am far from being alone in my critique. This show is horrible!

Purple, Lavender, Purple, Lavender … deciphering the information coming through during a psychic reading.

Time after time I am asked, “How do you receive the information that comes through during a reading?”

There really is no simple response to this question. Think about this for a moment, out of your graduating class in high school, how many of them had the exact same set of talents? None of them, some of them could sing while others simply could not carry a tune to save their lives. Some of us are very expressive with our hands, almost to the point that if you cuffed their wrists that they would be silenced. Some individuals can work analytical problems and higher math in their minds with ease yet run from anything without structure, such as emotion and expressive art. When connecting with those on the other side or with living animals and other spirits/entities, I find that they employ a multitude of methods by which to communicate and that no two are exactly alike.  However, with all that being said, there are some generalizations that can be made, but before we get into that let me describe how some information came through the other evening while in the middle of a reading.

I was visiting a friend and they confessed to me that they had some problems with their landlord. They asked me if I would be so kind to look into it for them on a psychic level. I agreed that they could benefit from such a consultation and requested a friend of theirs who used to be a landlord themselves to come through and offer up some advice regarding the matter of the hostile/difficult landlord.

Some of the problems she had involved the fruit trees on the property she was renting from him and how recently while entertaining some guests in the backyard, he had showed up unannounced and then proceeded to harvest all of the fruit from one of the trees in the yard. When my friend asked him what he was doing, the landlord replied that the plums were expensive in the store and remarked on how much he was saving while harvesting the plums. My friend than commented that they were not the landlords since they paid rent there, to which the landlord then replied, that was exactly why the plums were his.

After doing some repair work some of the buildings including the main house by himself, my friend found their rent raised, since the place was “nicer” now. In another instance of “landlords behaving badly” the landlord simply refused to eradicate an established an recognized hazard. In short he is the landlord from hell, there is more … but that is not why I am writing this. Back to the reading.

Within moments of requesting a connection with the spirit who I thought could offer some insight into the matter, I was greeted by their presence. I quickly established their identity and then went on to ask what advice if any did they have regarding the matter of the “slumlord”.

I sat down on the couch in the middle of the living room. It was towards the later part of the day, warm light was streaming into the room through the windows and the front door which was open. As I was sitting there I heard in my mind, “purple … lavender … purple … lavender …” I was a bit confused. What did this have to do with the question that was being asked?

I tried to shake the thoughts, pretty soon it was almost as if someone were in my head and yelling it at me, “purple … lavender … purple … lavender …” I looked around the room to see if perhaps I was simply dealing with something that was purple and or lavender in color in front of me. Right in front of me was a purplish cloth that covered the television, some of the cushions were lavender … this was not helping. I thought about it for a second and remembered to take to heart what I tell so many people as I begin a reading with them. “During the course of the reading I may bring forward details that may not make sense at the moment, however when I see something and bring it through, there is nearly always a reason.” So … I said to my friend, “This may sound odd to you, but do the colors purple and lavender mean anything to you?” He replied that it really did not make any sense.

As soon as I had voiced the colors purple and lavender, the voice in my head stopped and suddenly I “saw” a large woman dressed in billowing clothes who had what appeared to be a turban wrapped around her head. I was told that this person was related to the colors I had just brought forward and that my friend knew who they were … and that this person was alive.

Once I was complete with my description of the woman I remarked that she reminded me of a Russian nesting doll. I remarked that she was a bit overweight and at once my friend began to connect with who I was referring to. I added that this individual was someone they knew through work. My friend then informed me that they knew exactly who I was describing and that this person was a street person who was known to be crazy. This person who was wrapped in purple and lavender, liked those colors intensely and had a tendency to layer themselves in clothing of that color, including wrapping cloth of that color around their head like a turban. My friend remarked that now that he thought about it, there were several similarities between his landlord and the crazy person. This crazy person would stop in my friends store and after panhandling all day would come in to make a purchase. If they had more than enough money once they got to the register, they would refuse their change, however if they did not have enough money they would turn around and panhandle everyone in line. And for something as petty as a box of tea, or some other item that was not really a high priority for someone in their position. In a word … crazy.

It was crystal clear at this point as to what the message was. Essentially the letter that my friend was considering writing to their landlord was going to fall on deaf ears, you can’t reason with crazy. All the attempts in the world to reason with this person or to ply them with logic would have no effect. I was then told that the only way to deal with this landlord issue was to bring out an inspector, have them survey the situation and record all of the violations, contact the housing authorities and then have them contact the landlord with a repair or else type of action and or for them to follow through with whatever legal actions they could take to force the landlord to honor the law. A person in the legal field whom my friend was aware of was suggested in order to get the ball rolling and it was left at that.

So … nearly every time something that seems to be completely off topic or in no way related to the question that has been asked begins to come through, it is best to follow that thread and see where it leads, it just may be very relevant to the matter at hand.

Below are some of the common methods of communication which I receive from animals, spirits and those on the other side … as well as some general notes regarding communication at a psychic or telepathic level.

1.) A spirit or animal who has a distinct personality will tend to reflect what they were/are like in life when in communication with them.

If the individual I am in communication with happened to be a very private and quiet person, expect that to come through during the reading, if they were loud and boisterous expect that to come through as well. Most people are in tune enough with their animals to know which one is outgoing and demanding of attention and which of their animals are quiet and tend to keep to themselves, just as with human spirits, the same is true of animals, they tend to reveal their personality during a reading.

2.) Physical sensations such as trauma from an injury, or surgery often come through as does the way that someone passed. This is felt by myself as a physical discomfort and on occasion the sensation of discomfort or pain can be pretty intense. I will feel the location where the cancer, trauma or other injury took place within my own body.

Once I was chatting with a woman who wanted me to peek at her husbands health. As I took a look, I saw an incident that had occurred in his mid-twenties. He had been skiing and while coming down the mountain, he collided with a boulder the size of a Volkswagon bug. He shattered his right leg right in the middle of the thigh, his femur was broken and I could “see” bone sticking out of it, I could also “see” a scar the size of a football on his thigh, which is how it healed. The woman confirmed everything, including the location on the mountain that the incident had occurred. I then “saw” her husband climbing a ladder and falling, during the fall he re-injured his leg, she also confirmed that detail. I should note that her husband was at work during this reading.

During another reading I was communicating with a cat. A woman had stopped into a shop that I was doing readings at and she wanted to check in with one of her cats who had passed. I made a very quick connection with the cat and suddenly I felt as though I was being struck in the head repeatedly, I also had trouble breathing, it was too hot. I was told that it was intentional, yet accidental and that there was a door involved, I also felt dizzy like I was being tumbled. As it turns out the woman was checking on her cat whom she had accidently killed after starting the dryer with him inside. Thankfully the cat understood that it was an accident and even though he had suffered a horrific death, he did not blame his former person.

3.) Audible voices in the room that I am doing the reading in have occurred several times. It is usually very clear and unmistakable. Sometimes it is a whisper other times it may be spoken and sometimes it can be shouting or screams. I prefer to hear voices form the other side in my head, it’s easier for me and less startling. In most of the incidents where someone has connected with me audibly, it has been out of desperation on the part of the spirit, meaning that their other attempts to get through may have been ignored.

Once while preparing a plate of food at dinner time for my wife, I heard a clearly audible voice say to me that she did not have enough sauce on her spaghetti. There have been several other occasions, but by and large, this is an anomaly.

4.) Voices in your head. I “hear” a lot of my communications with spirits in this fashion. It’s really just simple telepathy. I prefer this method to hearing them audibly and to me it’s easier that talking back audibly. The “voices” tend to sound like my voice to some extent, or my thoughts, but when I check to see if they were generated by me, I am told that they are communications from spirits and or animals.

This is my normal operating mode. Pure telepathy, mind to spirit communication, very clean, no static and very easy to understand. The connection is so clear that the spirits can “talk” to me in a foreign language and I will be able to “parrot” the message to the person receiving the reading. This is how I channel languages other than English and even if I have never heard nor spoken that language before, it makes little or no difference in my ability to bring it through clearly.

Once while in the middle of a reading I had a spirit approach me, inform me that they wished to speak to the individual whom I was doing the reading for and then proceed to inform me that they were only going to speak in Hebrew and not in English. I do not speak Hebrew, have very rarely heard it spoken and know nothing about the language. I then informed my client that there was a spirit who had just contacted me, told me that they wished to speak to him, but that they would only speak in hebrew, to which my client replied “oh … I expected that, please relay their message.” I then proceeded to simply “parrot” the words as they were relayed to me and my client understood the message perfectly.

5.) Still images and “video clips”. Many times I feel as though I am watching a slide show or home video clips. I will “see” these images either in my mind or in front of me, even with my eyes open. This method of communication is employed in nearly every reading I do.

Recently I was talking with a dog and early in the conversation I mentioned that if there were any issues regarding a particular topic or subject that I would be shown a red flag. I did not mean this in a literal sense, simply that I would be forced to discuss an issue within a particular area of the dogs life, if there was a problem. Pretty soon we got to chatting about the fiancee and my client wanted to know how her dogs felt about him. I was then treated to a blast of tobacco smoke and told by the dog that she did not enjoy being handled after he smoked. I was shown a red squarish object which I thought was a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. I asked if the fiancee smoked Marlboros and was told that he smoked cigars. Later another question came up where I was shown another red squarish object, this time I realized that the dog had taken me quite literally when i mentioned red flags and was now busy showing them to me each time there was an issue with something.

6.) Emotions … happiness, sadness, loneliness , confusion, elation, sorrow, anger, fear, lust, hate, pity … and everything else you can think of.  When I pick up the emotions of a spirit or animal, it can be from a past incident, or they can even show me their present emotional state. This feels to some extent, as though they are my emotions, it is just impossible though to find a trigger within myself that set them off, as in they are coming from a foreign source. It’s sort of like getting a shot of adrenaline or something else that effects your emotional state, yet not being able to identify the trigger for the emotion within your own body.

I was doing a reading for a person in Las Vegas, he had been held up at gunpoint within the last week and had been told that unless he came up with the money that he owned the person holding the gun, that he would not live much longer. He did not even need to tell me what had gone down in the parking garage earlier that week. I was able to experience the whole incident as though it was happening to me. I could even feel the gun being stuck into my chest just below my heart. I could also feel the adrenaline and fear shooting through his body. I described to a “t” what had occurred and how it had left him shaken up … even I was a bit shaken up, for me it felt as though it had been me being threatened.

Another time I was channeling the deceased boyfriend of a friend of my wife’s. She had come over to our home and we were all sitting in the living room. After a few minutes I made a connection with her boyfriend who had passed. After connecting with him I found myself staring at her feet with lust. Now I am not a “foot” guy, but this person appeared to be. It got so bad that my wife asked me what was going on and I confessed that I wanted nothing more than to massage her friends feet, but that the desire was not mine. Talk about a difficult situation, fortunately my wife was understanding.

7.) Visions, they are different from simply being shown images in my mind. These are things that I can “see” with the naked eye and appear to some extent to be solid matter.

Some time ago I was chatting about the Challenger space shuttle disaster and how if would be “cool” to connect with some of the crew members. This thought occurred to me after I had a visit from one of the astronauts who was on board the space shuttle Columbia. A client of mine had a connection to someone at NASA who was one of the “trouble shooters” who was called in after the launch crew noticed a piece of foam strike the wing of the shuttle on take off. Anyways, to make a long story short, so … we were chatting about the shuttle disasters and my wife commented that she would love to connect with someone from the Challenger disaster.  Within minutes I “saw” a spirit come over to where my wife was sitting, suddenly she began to shake. She looked at me and and asked what was going on. I could tell that she was connecting with an astronaut since all of a sudden it appeared to me that everything on the dining room table was floating about a foot and a half above the table, kind of like seeing double. I watched as the spirit stepped back from my wife and remarked to my wife that it had just stopped. She confirmed that the shaking had stopped. She had been experiencing the feeling of take off in a space shuttle.

8.) Physical apparitions such as ghosts. Occasionally I will see full on ghosts or other objects with the naked eye, as if they are really in the room with me. This is how everything began for me.

While walking down the hallway from the bathroom into the living room back in 2006 I felt someone behind me. I had been brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed along with my wife, it was 10:30 at night and I was a complete skeptic of all things psychic and paranormal. As I turned I saw a woman behind me, as clear as can be. She did appear somewhat ethereal, yet solid at the same time. I did a double take and she was still there, only now she was walking towards me. She entered the small of my back and then exited my chest. This is what sparked my “awakening”. When she appeared I could see every detail of her appearance with the naked eye, she continued to live with us for three months after I first became aware of her, until she crossed over with the help of another psychic and myself.

9.) Simply knowing. This one is somewhat hard to explain. Think about this for a moment … take two different gaming systems, one uses discs with data that needs to be loaded into the system before you can play the game, other gaming systems use a cartridge that as soon as it’s plugged in the game is up and running with no loading time.

Sometimes information is suddenly “there” and I have no recollection of having received it through any of the above means, it’s just a pure data download that is nearly instantaneous.

10.) Music and videos. Many times spirits will utilize music and or music videos to relay messages.

Presently I am friends with the spirit of an individual who enjoys music greatly. They have an extensive knowledge and love of music, one day while chatting with them, they suggested that I play a little game with them. We have Comcast on demand and as a result have access to hundreds of music videos at a moments notice. I was told to ask a question of them and that they would select a music video that had the answer to the question either in the lyrics or in the images within the video. After playing this game a few times and discovering that they were very good at selecting music videos with just the right content so as to reply to the question asked of them, they raised the bar a bit and requested that those asking the question do it telepathically so as to eliminate the chance that I was trying to pick the videos based upon the questions being asked.

This is a very effective technique for communication. One of my favorites was after making contact with Harvey Milk’s spirit I had the song “Stepping Stone” by Duffy in my head. I asked if it was a message and I was told “sort of” After pulling up the song on Youtube, I was unsure if it was even from him or if I was mistaken, as I was watching the video and listening to the song, none of it made any sense to me. I began to turn my head away from the screen and then my wife remarked that she thought she knew what it was all about. There about three fourths of the way through the video was Duffy walking down the street with a big milk bottle in hand that she was drinking from. I asked if that was it and he said “yes, pretty funny uh?”

In closing I have found that there are many ways to communicate, not every technique is used by every spirit and animal out there, but by and large most animals and spirits will employ several of the methods outlined above. One technique I failed to mention in here is dream time, as we can receive communications from our loved ones on the other side through dreams … that however is a subject for another day.

To read more about myself and or to book a reading for yourself or a loved one, visit www.charlespeden.com.

Those who are skeptical of the abilities which “pet psychics” claim to have, should read this …

As a former skeptic of the ability to communicate with animals via telepathy I was curious as to what people who are not so open to such ideas would say about pet psychics.

I must say that I do not believe that everyone who claims to have this ability is truly being honest. Just like the psychic medium field is plagued with fraud, so is the animal communicator field. Sadly when one has an experience that does not meet their expectations, they tend to tell everyone about it. Those who have had a genuine experience do not always inform their friends and family since they do not want to deal with being ridiculed by others who have not had their own experience or whom do not have an open mind.

Even after discovering the ability to “speak” with the dead, I was not ready to accept that you could talk to animals. It was only after having several animals connect with me during readings that I began to accept that we can communicate with live animals via telepathy.

In placing a simply inquiry  into the subject recently on a web site dedicated to people who love their animals, I was dismayed to see the lack of understanding about animal communication, though not surprised. I asked a simple question, if anyone had ever had an experience with a pet psychic and if so, what was the experience like?

One of the most common responses by individuals was that they did not believe in psychics and especially pet psychics because they feel that a “pet psychic” can say anything about the animal and that there is no way to verify the accuracy of the information coming through.  I would agree with that viewpoint, except for the following reasons.

1.) When I connect with an animal, I do not require a photograph or a description of the animal in order to connect with them.

Most “pet psychics” request a description or photograph of the animal that you wish to connect with. This is completely unnecessary as once I am connected with an animal and I start receiving information from them, they will usually begin by describing their physical appearance to me, which I then in turn will relay to the animals’ person who can then confirm or deny the connection. The vast majority of the readings I do are done over the phone.

2.) Personal details related to the animal which are impossible to know in advance will often be brought through.

One of the most common pieces of information that animals provide to me is how they met their person and what age they are along with any unique markings they have and perhaps one of their favorite memories of their humans.

3.) Answers will be accurate even if the human attempts to trip up the “pet psychic”.

During a recent reading I revealed that a particular horse disliked a certain riding activity. The horses’ person immediately challenged the statement by seeming to be surprised at the response, and acting as though he expected the opposite in response. When I asked the horse again and he reaffirmed his feelings about the matter, the owner confessed that the information that I was bringing forward was accurate and that he was simply testing me.

4.) Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Many claim to have psychic abilities for any number of reasons. Those who really have developed them will always work towards the greater good and will not be simply driven by money. If something does not feel right to you or they try and charge you for more than a simple reading, take great caution. Those who are genuine tend to get noticed by others, check the “pet psychics” references, and ask if they have a guarantee that if you are unhappy or for any reason and or believe that a connection was not made during the course of the reading, that they can expect a full refund with no complaint.

5.) People expect that if you can talk to animals, that they will stop their “odd” behaviors, listen to you, mind you and or perform tricks for you … etc.

In some cases animals will perform “tricks” and other tasks that I request of them, but just like your own children, just because you two can chat with each other, it does not mean that they will listen to you or follow your directions. Animals are just like us, and some like to entertain while others want to be left alone. Many times if there is a “bad” behavior being addressed, the animal may choose to snub the conversation.

6.) We can all talk to our animals, they understand our words and thoughts. Hearing them is the tricky part, some of us can connect with them after a little bit of guidance and practice while others may have great difficulty doing so.

It is important to remember to speak about your animals in a positive light. Do not reinforce negative behaviors, try and speak with positive affirmations regarding any behavior problems with your animals and remember that most behavior problems are simply the results of poor communication and a lack of understanding.

If considering contacting a pet psychic, you may want to consider myself, http://www.charlespeden.com.

This February you can catch me in person at the Robeson county Humane Society Fundraiser in Lumberton, NC.

Coming up a little sooner you can catch a group animal reading in San Francisco on Friday, October 30th.

October 30th Group Animal Reading, San Francisco, CA

Halloween Evening Seance in San Francisco, CA with Psychic Medium, Charles Peden

Halloween Seance - San Francisco, CA - October 31st 2009 - 9 PM to 11 PM

This coming Halloween, join psychic medium, Charles Peden in San Francisco for an unforgettable evening filled with spirit.

You may ask for any of your loved ones who have passed to come through, or you may ask for your favorite celebrity or famous individual to join us.

This is a “seance” being conducted by a very experienced and detailed psychic medium. The information coming through will not be rapping on tables and other “traditional” seance theatrics, but rather personal and specific information concerning yourself and or the spirit/s coming through.

Limited Seating:
Tickets: $20 Payable in advance.

Visit www.charlespeden.com or call 925-360-7469 for more details and information including tickets.