You can phone up a stranger and they'll tell you about your life? Our sceptical writer put a phone psychic to the test

by Amira Kat

Why not give it a go? Try a free psychic reading from Keen

Dial-a-psychic
I'm a natural born cynic, so when a friend of mine mentioned that a website called Keen.com were offering free three-minute psychic readings over the telephone, I was dubious. I've always harboured curiosity about one-to-one psychic phone services though. What do they do - read your aura over the phone? Tap into brainwaves transmitted over the line? I doubted it, but I decided to give it a go. At worst it would make a humorous story to tell at parties as I poured scorn and derision on all this hocus-pocus. At best I might learn something helpful. What did I have to lose - especially since I got a cool three minutes for free?

Of course, the call was short - how much could I really expect to learn in just three minutes? - but I became quite excited as I went online to the Keen site. (Maybe that was just my psychic vibrations?)

Selecting a psychic
The process for using a phone psychic is straightforward. You go onto a website like Keen.com and register - it only took a few minutes. Once I'd chosen a username, entered my email address and my phone number, it was time to select a psychic. This proved tricky. With very little frame of reference, I didn't know which criteria to base my selection on. Helpfully, each psychic has their own homepage outlining who they are; how they can help; their particular areas of expertise and in some cases professional qualifications. There's also a feedback system just like Ebay so you can read others' experiences.

First I eliminated anyone who POSTED ALL THEIR DETAILS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Next to go were the bad spellers - if they can't spell 'separation' they have no business advising on it. I was down to a shortlist and things were getting tougher. Should I choose 'Specialwoman' who holds a Masters in Divinity - whatever that is? I came close to selecting Russ LightWing (great name!) but was put off by his moustache and messianic portrait. I toyed with the idea of tarot reading 'Soul Lover' but decided I'd want to see the cards not just hear about them. Eventually I stumbled across 'Coolnurse' billed as 'caring, intuitive and real' she had photos of cute puppies on her homepage. If she likes baby animals, she can't be that bad I reasoned as I clicked the 'Call Now' button.

The call
My phone rang immediately, and cheesy jazz was piped into my handset. After a few moments, Coolnurse introduced herself and asked in soothing tones, how she could help. I was flummoxed. Shouldn't she already know?

She suggested we concentrate on one aspect of my life: Finance, career or romance. I opted for the latter and began tell her about myself. Talking was weirdly therapeutic and I probably rattled on for rather too long before eventually posing my question - should I work on my current relationship or move on and date other people?

She asked for my boyfriend's first name, repeated it in a ponderous and peculiar fashion (which made me snigger - ooops) and confidently relayed the following psychic words of wisdom:

'I feel that this person is not going to learn a lesson until you have started moving on with others. When you take your focus off him and are not readily available for his call, he is going to step up his game. Right now he's very sure of you and doesn't have to move too fast to keep your interest. He's in a rather selfish frame of mind. I hope you accept some invitations to go out with others. I really want to finish this reading, but Keen will come on the line and start hassling you for your credit-card in a moment'.

Damn!

At the end of the call I was asked to stay on the line and rate my experience out of five. Given that any psychic predictions were unlikely to have become true within those few seconds it seemed a bit pointless. Nevertheless, I rated her three and hung-up before being the experience started costing me money.

The Verdict
My psychic's insights were heavily based on the information I'd provided so I couldn't really see where supernatural psychic powers came into play, although I will admit that her analysis of my situation was astute and echoed advice I've had from friends. It's a bit like free life coaching - unless you go over your three-minute threshold and it becomes considerably dearer! You'd want to have a clear idea of what you want to ask and keep it brief.

In truth, I did enjoy my call although probably for all the wrong reasons. I had more questions than answers buzzing around my head by the end, like what bearing my partner's name could possibly have on circumstances. Suffice to say, I didn't take up the offer for a second free reading. It'll take more than common sense advice to convince this cynic. Still, the experience was fun to try. In fact, you could argue that Coolnurse was a bit psychic: after all, I do have a date next week.

Intrigued? Give it a go with your free psychic reading from Keen