Accepting the Psychic Torch

[Brattus]

Hi Brattus! I think rjh01's comments were mostly directed to dropzone, who asked about the sock, and not to you.

You're reaction is pretty reasonable, by the way, and I don't think anyone would criticize it. I think a lot of people here have been kind of mystified, judging by the comments.

(Not to stray from the friendly banter on this thread - and others here recently - about spirit guides, but in terms of clarification: my take is that Francine is genuinely someone who is close to Sylvia Browne and probably has some interesting things to share with us, if she decides to stay. I say this because I know quite a bit myself and I think I would have been able to tell by now if that weren't the case. It is my hope that she continues to post here because what she has to say is quite valuable and insightful to me. It's also been done humorously, and a sense of humor is always welcome in my book. Of course, only time will tell. How is it a bad thing to be skeptical on a skeptics' forum? It's not! In this case, though, it will especially interesting to hear what this particular person has to say, should they choose to keep posting. But of course everyone is free to be skeptical of what I say too and I won't even be offended!)

I understand now. Thanks EX!

 

[Francine]

It seems to me that the reason Sylvia keeps repeating the same things over and over in her books is she needs the money from the book sells. And since her hard core fans are going to buy what ever dribble she produces even if it is the same thing over and over again she has created herself a nice cash cow.

Exactly. Although flooding the market with book after book will catch up with her. Haven't you noticed how many different publishers she has gone through? The major players have published her and small companies too. She looks at this as a great thing and believes she is better than other authors because of this fact.

The truth is that eventually she angers everyone she does business with and they no longer want to work with her.

Publishing companies look at the track record of her book sales and her long history of getting published. They know that there are a lot of people out there who still like her (and they want to make money). So they offer her a deal for "X" amount of books.
When that contract is over, it's over. To hear her tell the story, another company has offered her a better deal and so she's changing publishing companies. In the real world, it's because they won't work with her.

Francine is not a sock. She is real. Please accept that. She will turn into a valuable asset of this forum. You lot may not understand her sense of humour, but please humour her. It will pay dividends a thousand fold and I am not a Sylvia Browne fan!

Pay no money now. Pay no money later. When she is ready Francine will make everyone's jaw drop to the ground. Just give her time and humour her by being civil to her. That is all I ask.

Thank you, rjh01. I'm not a sock, slipper, shoe, sandal, or lucite heel.

I am a spirit guide.

 

[Brattus]

Francine is not a sock. She is real. Please accept that.

I am a spirit guide.

So are you claiming that you really are Sylvia Browne's spirit guide posting from the netherworld?
Or
Are you someone that is close to Sylvia Browne who has now turned away from her but is still employed by or works with her?
Or
Are you her next door neighbor or second cousin or something like that?

I am still confused.

 

[Francine]

So are you claiming that you really are Sylvia Browne's spirit guide posting from the netherworld?
Or
Are you someone that is close to Sylvia Browne who has now turned away from her but is still employed by or works with her?
Or
Are you her next door neighbor or second cousin or something like that?

I am still confused.

Dear Brattus,

I understand that this is a forum which is intended to provoke thought, stimulating conversation, and promote friendly debate to perhaps open people's minds to other perspectives.

But why are you always so concerned about what other people are doing? Just go with it.
If you can't understand, by reading my posts, what my intentions are, then perhaps you should focus on other threads.

Do you think if I was working with Sylvia or was her cousin or neighbor, that I would divulge that information to you?

I told you that I am her spirit guide. Let it go.

Love,

Francine

 

[rjh01]

ExMinister has expanded on what I was saying beautifully.

Brattus - I would not worry too much about who Francine really is. It does not really matter. Feel free to point out any inconstancies between what she says and what is said elsewhere, either by her or by others. Ditto for what RSLancastr says.


Edit. Plus what Francine has just said (cross post).

 

[Brattus]

Well you know what? I'm gonna let you "lot" in on a feature this forum offers.
It's called PMs. That stands for private messages.
There you can play your little words games and pass on your super secret codes to your hearts content.

This is a thread started in a public forum.
To discuss topics with all forum members. So far all I've read in your spirit guide threads including this one is no meaning nonsense.

If you have something earth shattering to share about that piece of trailer trash Sylvia Browne then share it.
Otherwise just PM the members of your "in" group with your "funny" stories.

Save the other forum members a lot of confusion.

 

[Susan Gerbic]

Not sure what is going on here. Why does Francine have to do anything.

She is a member of this forum, if she wants to devulge knowledge of the inner circle, or just be funny, that's her perogative. Is she a member of sylvia's inner circle? Who knows? I'm skeptical, but then I also don't care. I don't take anything I hear on an anonymous forum too seriously.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tsig]

Well you know what? I'm gonna let you "lot" in on a feature this forum offers.
It's called PMs. That stands for private messages.
There you can play your little words games and pass on your super secret codes to your hearts content.

This is a thread started in a public forum.
To discuss topics with all forum members. So far all I've read in your spirit guide threads including this one is no meaning nonsense.

If you have something earth shattering to share about that piece of trailer trash Sylvia Browne then share it.
Otherwise just PM the members of your "in" group with your "funny" stories.

Save the other forum members a lot of confusion.

You seem to be the one confused. You don't get to decide what topics can be discussed or who participates. If you have a problem then inform the mods. Your participation so far has been disruptive and less than civil.

 

[ExMinister]

Well you know what? I'm gonna let you "lot" in on a feature this forum offers.
It's called PMs. That stands for private messages.
There you can play your little words games and pass on your super secret codes to your hearts content.

This is a thread started in a public forum.
To discuss topics with all forum members. So far all I've read in your spirit guide threads including this one is no meaning nonsense.

If you have something earth shattering to share about that piece of trailer trash Sylvia Browne then share it.
Otherwise just PM the members of your "in" group with your "funny" stories.

Save the other forum members a lot of confusion.

Brattus, what word games and super secret codes? Why are you upset?

What Francine is sharing is not nonsense, if you look past the basic presentation (which I happen to think is funny, though, but that's just me). What she is sharing is of real and immediate importance to some of us. You were never a Browne believer so maybe the inside information about Chris and Sylvia she's been sharing here (see the Christopher Dufresne thread for the bulk of it) might seem unimportant to you, but to me it's quite interesting and revealing and definitely not nonsense.

That said, it would be a shame for this information to be limited to PMs to just a few people. There have to be others here who find this information interesting, and current and ex-Browne fans who may find their way here and would benefit from more of the inside story on Sylvia Browne.

Is it all the spirit guide talk that is bothering you? I can understand that, since this is a skeptics forum, but since Francine does not actually seem to be here to make a paranormal claim on behalf of the existence of spirit guides, I think it's safe to allow that part to be entertaining or just ignore it, each to his or her own. Don't you?

When she said, "I told you that I am her spirit guide," you can take that to mean, "I cannot tell you who I am," not "I believe I am really a spirit guide."

The point is that she is here to share some stuff about Browne and Dufresne. I personally think that's cool, assuming for the present time that she is sincere since I haven't yet had any cause to believe otherwise. And why not just forget about the spirit guide part if it bothers you. It isn't meant to be confusing. It's all in fun, as far as I can tell. There are no paranormal claims being made, there is nothing to challenge.

For me, I will continue to go along with the spirit guide thing. Because it's fun. But even more so because it's interesting to be told of what "Francine" sees and knows.

ExM

 

[Francine]

So far all I've read in your spirit guide threads including this one is no meaning nonsense.

Dear Brattus,

By "no meaning nonsense", a double negative, does that mean it DOES make sense? I'm just trying to figure out if that's a secret code for you understanding me completely.

Regards,

Francine

 

[dafydd]

Sylvia is probably making the whole thing up about her being a psychic.

Fixed that for you.

 

[dafydd]

If you have something earth shattering to share about that piece of trailer trash Sylvia Browne then share it.
.

I take issue,calling Sylvia Browne trailer trash is an insult to all trailer trash.

 

[rjh01]

<snip>

Ada may have been a wonderful grandmother, but Sylvia is probably making the whole thing up about her being a psychic. Sylvia writes whatever Sylvia wants in her books. Remember, Sylvia never has anything nice to say about her mother yet she insists that she comes from a long line of psychics. Well, Ada Coil is her mother's mother. If everyone else on that side of the family was psychic, why would Sylvia's mother conveniently be the only one who is evil? Probably because Sylvia was a daddy's girl and had other issues with her mother. Now she can get back by insulting her in lectures and books. No, this doesn't make a difference to Sylvia's mother, but in Sylvia's sick mind, it does.

She just doesn't think people will call her out on her contradictions.

One thing I do not understand. How can she do this and yet believe she is for real? A person who knows she is a fake would do this. But someone who believes what she says is real???

 

[mist]

Hey Francine,

Of course I applaud your you trying to expose Sylvia, and using your valuable time to help prevent her making new victims. However, do you think this will actually hurt Sylvia? Remember, there already is a lot of material that seems to insinuate she is a fraud. And people who still stick with her have so much invested they won't quit easily.

Perhaps you could find something more shocking/newsworthy about her. Say, a true believer of Sylvia and mother of 3 died because Sylvia suggested some medicine instead of regular treatment. I'd imagine that would definitely put a nail in her coffin.

 

[Brattus]

Some how some way I am now the evil bad guy in regards to anything Sylvia Browneish.
So I guess I'll have to spoon feed it to you.

First off what I know about Sylvia Browne is that she is a lying fraud and her kid is a lying fraud moron.
They make their living off the foolish and far worse the desperate.
Is there any more information on that subject that I or anyone else needs to know?

Who cares what Sylvia ate for breakfast or what her favorite color is?
Who cares what she thinks about Robert Lancaster or what kind of car she drives?
Who cares what she watches on TV or what her farts smell like?

If you are some kind of "insider" and I doubt you are then the only "inside info" anyone needs about Sylvia Browne is if she's dead yet.

Second, if I were an ex browne believer I would be really insulted by someone doing the whole spirit guide gimmick.
It would be taking what I once felt so strongly about and devoted my support, money and life to and mocking me with it.

They are being laughed at right in there face and don't even see it.
And somehow I'm the bad guy.

If you go through the post from this spirit guide you'll see them going around thread to thread dropping wittle weadings around.
You think they are making fun of Sylvia but it's the ex brownes and other forum members who are the target of the jokes.

Francine you say you are Sylvia Brownes spirit guide and I just need to deal with that.
I got a little "inside info" of my own to share.
You are not a spirit guide. You are just a person typing words into their computer that is connected to the internet like everyone else.

If you really were Sylvia Brownes spirit guide then I wouldn't go around telling anyone about it.
Sylvia Browne got stuck with the most retarded spirit guide I ever heard of.
Her spirit guide has never once given her a single piece of good information.
Sylvia Brownes spirit guide must have flunked out of every spirit guide training course there has ever been.

If you are close to Sylvia and are sharing in her profits from the foolish and desperate then you should be ashamed of yourself and find a new racket.

 

[RSL's better half]

Aye, Brattus! Cool your gears. Francine does not have to divulge her true identity any more than you do. Does anyone ask if you are truly David Bowie as your avatar would suggest? Who Francine is truly is not important. The knowledge this person has to impart is valuable, as I see it, to any and all skeptics for use when dealing with Sylvia Browne believers. Get over who she says she is and listen to what she is saying, or ignore this thread. You are not a "bad guy," just disruptive and derailing at the moment.

You have every right to speak your mind on this forum, Brattus. Perhaps you could start another thread addressing your concerns. There are many here who want to encourage Francine to continue posting. If she meets more criticism than welcome, she will not feel welcome and we all could possibly lose an inside look at Sylvia's inner circle.

 

[tsig]

Some how some way I am now the evil bad guy in regards to anything Sylvia Browneish.
So I guess I'll have to spoon feed it to you.

First off what I know about Sylvia Browne is that she is a lying fraud and her kid is a lying fraud moron.
They make their living off the foolish and far worse the desperate.
Is there any more information on that subject that I or anyone else needs to know?

Who cares what Sylvia ate for breakfast or what her favorite color is?
Who cares what she thinks about Robert Lancaster or what kind of car she drives?
Who cares what she watches on TV or what her farts smell like?

If you are some kind of "insider" and I doubt you are then the only "inside info" anyone needs about Sylvia Browne is if she's dead yet.

Second, if I were an ex browne believer I would be really insulted by someone doing the whole spirit guide gimmick.
It would be taking what I once felt so strongly about and devoted my support, money and life to and mocking me with it.

They are being laughed at right in there face and don't even see it.
And somehow I'm the bad guy.

If you go through the post from this spirit guide you'll see them going around thread to thread dropping wittle weadings around.
You think they are making fun of Sylvia but it's the ex brownes and other forum members who are the target of the jokes.

Francine you say you are Sylvia Brownes spirit guide and I just need to deal with that.
I got a little "inside info" of my own to share.
You are not a spirit guide. You are just a person typing words into their computer that is connected to the internet like everyone else.

If you really were Sylvia Brownes spirit guide then I wouldn't go around telling anyone about it.
Sylvia Browne got stuck with the most retarded spirit guide I ever heard of.
Her spirit guide has never once given her a single piece of good information.
Sylvia Brownes spirit guide must have flunked out of every spirit guide training course there has ever been.

If you are close to Sylvia and are sharing in her profits from the foolish and desperate then you should be ashamed of yourself and find a new racket.

You seem to be extremely humor deprived.

I wonder what your motive is for such a vehement attack on a fellow forum member.

 

[Pup]

Francine you say you are Sylvia Brownes spirit guide and I just need to deal with that.
I got a little "inside info" of my own to share.
You are not a spirit guide. You are just a person typing words into their computer that is connected to the internet like everyone else.

The above paragraph seems almost as odd as what Francine's been typing, but at least I get what Francine's doing, i.e. using a clever persona to disguise herself, while trying to imply what's really going on. Whether she really is a Browne insider, who knows, but I'm sure time will tell.

But what is there to "deal with"? Francine's presence here seems about as serious and emotionally troublesome as the Flying Spaghetti Monster worshipers who post occasionally.

What's the point in telling her she's not really a spirit guide? Isn't that kind of obvious? Do you really think she believes she is? Do you really think any of us believe it?

 

[Francine]

Francine,

I doubt many on this side (and on this forum) have read Sylvia's latest book. I always thought that her books were "ghost written". If you have proof that Sylvia is faking letters then please bring that to Oprah. I have lost a lot of respect for the Big O, but think Sylvia would be shredded if Oprah wanted to call her out for faking her books. Now that is something I would stay home to view!

Welcome Francine

Sylvia does write her own books with the exception of the books that state that she has a co-author. In that case, she prepares a list of things that the co-author needs to contribute and then they work on it collaboratively. I do think, though, that the co-author writes a lot of what people believe to be Sylvia's writing. It's not like Sylvia is doing all the work.

You might be interested to know that Christopher has a ghost writer for "his" published books. Her name is Sylvia. Along with providing a living for him doing readings, she has made sure books are written and his name are slapped on them as author. She has given him a career so that he is dependent on her. People who are interested enough to familiarize themselves with Sylvia's writing can tell the writing style is the same and even figures of speech that she uses are in the books.

Remember that there are also editors for her books. There are many steps that need to be taken before a book gets published. Editors change some things around.

One thing I do not understand. How can she do this and yet believe she is for real? A person who knows she is a fake would do this. But someone who believes what she says is real???

I know, I know. Sylvia is a liar about many things. Logic tells us that if she lies about all of those things, of course she's capable of lying about her psychic abilities. A liar is a liar, right? A person that knows they are lying should then know that they are fraudulent. I'm with you here.

What I'm saying, is that somehow, somewhere she believes those lies. So then when she makes up more lies, it's reality to her. She's saying things (more lies) to defend herself but it's because she really believes it!! Ok, my brain hurts (yes, spirit guides have brains thank you very much) from even trying to describe this.

I know it's hard to swallow and you can take my word on it or not.
But my point is that you guys might have the idea that she and Christopher sit down and talk about this whole thing being one big gimmick and scheme, but they don't. They talk about it as if it were a real business.

Now, is this a mental or personality disorder on Sylvia's part? Maybe. I don't know. Does she secretly deep down know that she's a fraud? I don't know. If she does, she's not vocal about it. Trust me, this woman is vocal about everything. If she really thought she was a fraud, I don't know how she'd keep it only to herself for all these years.

I mentioned in the Christopher Dufresne thread about why he has been sucked into this whole mess. She has a weird relationship with him.

I don't defend this behavior. I'm just trying to describe it honestly and the best way I can because it doesn't make sense to a normal, rational person.

Hey Francine,

Of course I applaud your you trying to expose Sylvia, and using your valuable time to help prevent her making new victims. However, do you think this will actually hurt Sylvia? Remember, there already is a lot of material that seems to insinuate she is a fraud. And people who still stick with her have so much invested they won't quit easily.

Perhaps you could find something more shocking/newsworthy about her. Say, a true believer of Sylvia and mother of 3 died because Sylvia suggested some medicine instead of regular treatment. I'd imagine that would definitely put a nail in her coffin.

Thank you. I wish I could expose something more significant. I have never heard of any kind of case like this-thank God she's never hurt anyone to this extent.

I can at least provide people here with some insight and you never know, the more information that's out there may work like a puzzle piece. Maybe something bigger can come out of it.

Aye, Brattus! Cool your gears. Francine does not have to divulge her true identity any more than you do. Does anyone ask if you are truly David Bowie as your avatar would suggest? Who Francine is truly is not important. The knowledge this person has to impart is valuable, as I see it, to any and all skeptics for use when dealing with Sylvia Browne believers. Get over who she says she is and listen to what she is saying, or ignore this thread. You are not a "bad guy," just disruptive and derailing at the moment.

You have every right to speak your mind on this forum, Brattus. Perhaps you could start another thread addressing your concerns. There are many here who want to encourage Francine to continue posting. If she meets more criticism than welcome, she will not feel welcome and we all could possibly lose an inside look at Sylvia's inner circle.

Thank you Susan. Well said.

 

[AcesHigh]

One thing I do not understand. How can she do this and yet believe she is for real? A person who knows she is a fake would do this. But someone who believes what she says is real???

check out Derren Brown interview with Dawkins. They talk a lot about it. Many psychics really believe what they do. Just like people reading horoscopes, they fall for the confirmation bias. That is, they are prone to believe, and when they have a hit, they believe it was due to mystic powers, while when they miss it, they believe "it was a day where the mystic links were weak" or something like it.