Sylvia Browne

Sylvia Browne is one of the best known of the modern psychic readers and is something of a celebrity in the US where her predictions are widely publicised. She is also a figure of much controversy and has been criticised by skeptics such as James Randi. Personally I hold no opinion as the validity of Sylvia Browne - I simply find her fascinating as evidence that wyrdness still thrives even in the 21st century.

Browne was born in 1936 in Kansas, Missouri into a mixed religion family: her father was Jewish, her mother Episcopalian and her maternal grandmother Lutheran. The family eventually settled on Roman Catholicism and converted together.

Browne relates a family history of psychic visions and had her first around the age of five. She believes these psychic powers to be in some way genetic and that her son, Christopher Dufresne, has been psychic since birth. Christopher is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the only other psychic recommended by Sylvia.

Religion has played an important part in Browne's life and forms the foundation of her psychic readings. According to her website:

The Holy Spirit works through Sylvia to emanate God's love, grace, and blessings.

Browne is a prolific author and has written many books. She has also appeared frequently on television in the US, most notably on the Montel Williams Show. Some of her more spectacular statements - not all of which have been correct - have involved the fate of missing persons.

Browne is today head of the Sylvia Bowne Corporation and Sylvia Browne Enterprises. She also founded the church called The Society of Novus Spiritus. According to the church's website:

Novus is Sylvia's monument to God, a forum to express the joy and love that is God - with no fear, no guilt, no sin, no hell, and no Satan. Through Novus, Sylvia gives the world a means to understand God, Life, and the reason for Being.

As with all psychic mediums there are conflicting claims about Browne's accuracy. In particular there is an ongoing disagreement (to put it politely) between Browne and James Randi. At the heart of this is whether or not Browne will take the Randi $1 Million Psychic Chalenge. Both sides have expressed willingness for this test to take place and both have blamed the other for the fact that it has not yet happened.

At the time of writing you can buy a telephone reading with either Sylvia or her son Christopher. Readings usually last from 20 to 30 minutes and currently cost $850 with Sylvia and $500 with Chris.

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