Are Mediums Real? A Working Psychic Medium on How to Tell

Are Mediums Real or Legitimate? True Psychics vs. Fake Ones

By Mimi Young, Taiwanese-Canadian spirit medium and occultist, founder of Ceremonie, and regular presenter at Salem Witch Festival · Book a psychic mediumship reading with Mimi.· Sign up for WRONG: Yin Rites series· Last updated August 2026.

I didn’t set out to be an ‘intuitive’ or ‘psychic medium’. For many years, I referred to myself as a spirit communicator, because I didn’t think I fit into the the terms ‘intuitive’ or ‘psychic medium’ or ‘psychic astrologer’ well. I don’t subscribe to many mainstream New Age ideas, which I thought were prerequisites to mediumship. I do not prescribe to law-of-attraction, I am not a “love and lighter” (a “love and lighter” is someone who focuses only on positivity and avoids engaging with difficult emotions, shadow work, or the complexities of real healing), I am not a vegan, though I do believe in reincarnation, I also don’t think everyone has had past lives where they were prophets or kings, and though there may be Star Seeds among us, my critique about this is that even if it were so, it doesn’t make anyone more special or entitled than anyone else. Spiritual privileging is something to be aware of.⁣

My online psychic readings were and still are difficult to pin down: We start with one question, answering the thing you thought you wanted to know and answering other things that you didn’t know you needed to know. I just listen to the various messages when communicating with ancestors or other spirit guides, and sometimes they want to focus on one area in a querant’s life, while other times, a few.

So are mediums for real or fake?

Coming from someone who professionally offers spirit mediumship readings (psychic readings), I realize that my line of work is naturally under more scrutiny, as it should be. That said, there are quality professionals in every sector, and unfortunately, also ones who aren’t. So if you’re in need of deep spiritual and psychic work and support, here are some suggestions on what to look for.

Are Psychics Legit? Tips for Spotting a True Psychic Versus a Fake Medium

Clear, Easy to Understand Communication

Look for someone who, even on their website or marketing materials, communicates clearly and doesn’t over-rely on buzzwords or trend-based spiritual vocabulary that’s vague or requires interpretation on your part. A trustworthy psychic and spiritual educator will use occult terminology with specificity and context, and will also be able to translate concepts into everyday, accessible language. I do my best to share a term and then define it so the querent is clear.

Practical, Realistic Advice

It’s important that the psychic stays on topic and doesn’t distract the querent with unhelpful or intangible advice. They should attune to the heart of the matter, cut through distraction, and provide actionable or otherwise practical guidance.

⁣I speak with many different kinds spirits, some might be called guides, some ancestors; I also speak to the spirits of people’s homes, the sentience of their workplaces, their cars, pets, or their bodies directly, so that personal, relational and career advice can be covered, or we get deeper into one topic.⁣

Meaningful Specifics

If a psychic medium only speaks in general or vague terms with unverifiable information, those are red flags. I offer spiritual guidance that is specific to a person, situation, or social/familial dynamic, and can often provide time frames as well.

Why this one matters more than the other two, and what it can cost me:

Every complaint about the psychic industry is that the reading sounded nice but didn’t really mean anything. Here are some common things that fakes say,

“Things are shifting.”
"You're patient with everyone but yourself."
“Someone from your past may resurface.”
“Trust your intuition.”
“You’re at a threshold.”
"Part of you wants to move forward, part of you is holding back.”
“Everything is unfolding as it should.”
“Things will balance out.”
“Things are happening so you can align your mind, body, and energy.”
“A decision you've been avoiding is coming to a head."
"This will resolve when you're ready."
"The universe is recalibrating your timeline."
"Your guides are asking you to release control."

None of it is false, exactly, and that's the trick. A sentence that fits everyone's life also fits no one's life, and it can never be checked, which means it can never be wrong. But because it can't be wrong, it also can't mean anything, and I say that as a working psychic medium who doesn't know what those sentences are supposed to mean.

That's the actual business model sitting underneath a lot of vague spiritual language, whether or not anyone selling it would put it that way out loud. If nothing you say is specific enough to fail, nothing you say can be held against you. Vagueness works as professional liability insurance dressed up as intuition, and the more spiritual-language pseudo-science babble it's wrapped in, the more robust the insurance policy is.

This isn't only a psychic industry (or astrology or novice Tarot reader) problem. It's a communication pattern that gets rewarded wherever staying unaccountable matters more than being understood. Communication researchers have studied this directly; ambiguity is often a deliberate strategy, since a statement vague enough to support multiple readings lets the speaker retreat to whichever one is safest oncesomeone pushes back.

What I'd also add, from watching who gets to use strategic ambiguity and plausible deniability without consequence, is that it's disproportionately available to whoever is already presumed trustworthy by default, which in North America usually means whiteness, the wealthy, and the pleasant, non-confrontational tone that gets coded as harmless. Politicians use it. Snake oil salespeople use it. Nice-but-mean moms people (whoops, did I say that?) use it. And yes, fake psychics use it too, dressed up as angel-number-5D-ascension-dropping-into-an-alpha-state-openness.

Truth be told, I'd rather be wrong. I don't mean I want to be careless, I just mean that I'd rather name a specific date, a specific situation, a specific person, and risk that detail landing wrong, than retreat to a sentence so general it can't miss because it never really meant at anything in the first place. A reading that says nothing checkable has also, by definition, said nothing informative.

The choice was never between being accurate or inaccurate, because vagueness protects the speaker from ever being checked. The real choice sits between never being checked at all, and being occasionally wrong in a way that means, the rest of the time, something specific enough to have real-life meaning and impact is conveyed.

What to expect from psychic readings with Mimi Young of Ceremonie

Shamanic Mediumship Readings have a divinatory aspect. I spirit travel and channel to share multiple options of what could and likely will be, so you have the agency to make informed decisions whether you are at a crossroads or not. People book when they want direct contact with a deceased person or animal, when something has been coming through in dreams or symbols and they want it named, or when timing matters and they need to know when something will move.

Beyond those common reasons one may seek mediumship, occult practitioners also book sessions with me to assess a spell working in progress, to identify a spirit that has made itself known, or to receive counsel before a significant ritual.

Five Elements Bazi Readings take a look at your composition based on your Chinese Astrological earth-plane chart so you can have more clarity on how to play to your strengths and steward your gifts. We also discuss your realistic limitations, the challenges your natal chart predicts, and how to mitigate risks in a personalized way.⁣

I just do what I do, and it seems to be something that works for many of you. I seem to draw people who long to live and relate to the world, Seen and Unseen, in ways that don’t fit into mainstream New Age paradigms. I’m currently calling myself ‘animist spirit medium’. It might change again. But for now, it seems to fit. ⁣

Following the spirits,

Mimi
Animist spirit medium and founder of Ceremonie

Mimi is an occultist and animist-spirit medium offering psychic mediumship readings and education on syncretic witchcraft and Daoist divinatory practice. She was born in Taipei, raised in a Taiwanese household on the westcoast of Canada. She also teaches AI-search and SEO strategy through Words That Work. Read more about Mimi.