The Psychic Tests is journalist Gary Nunn’s humorous and intriguing glimpse into the world of all things psychic and medium, both here and across the sea.
Gary Nunn is a man that likes facts. He loves to shred horoscopes and psychic mediums for being the only written content in media that isn’t fact-checked, as this is clearly something that grates on his journalistic sensibilities to the bone. He pokes at the wonder that it is, trying to understand the medium (by way of news articles, and YouTube videos) and how all of this came to be.
In his newly released book, The Psychic Tests: An Adventure Into the World of Believers and Sceptics (Pantera Press) the journalist in Nunn shines through, initially sitting 50/50 on the believer/sceptic fence, with a promise early on that he will be choosing a side. And on which side will he be eventually landing on? This is in part what makes it such a compelling read: you want to know which side he will ultimately choose and here is where he draws it out.
Nunn loves a scandal — as I guess we all do — and shares some great stories from some very famous people to highlight how it’s not only women looking for love (that rush to the aid of a fortune teller). Instead, it also includes financial advisors, CEOs, and some of television’s major network producers that also call on psychics for decision making.
But mostly, Nunn loves the facts. He loves to tell you when something hasn’t worked out in particular. And for balance, as a reader, I wanted to hear a little more about the things that did.
The Psychic Tests may leave you believing, perhaps as much as you did in the beginning. A sceptic may remain a sceptic: this book doesn’t hold the capacity to turn you too strongly either way. But then, perhaps that is not Nunn’s goal, because ultimately, he encourages you towards a different path, a more curious path, in that you hold all of the answers yourself, within your own intuition (which he discovers beautifully and with a great deal of humour via a tarot reading class in Redfern).
He states beautifully at the end, that mediums and psychics — just as life coaches, mentors, and teachers — hold a valuable and integral place within the community. And that it’s ok to take a reading with a grain of salt if you like. He lovingly and enthusiastically encourages you to enjoy the ride nonetheless.
But does he come through it as a believer or a sceptic? You’ll have to read it to see.
The Psychic Tests: An Adventure Into the World of Believers and Sceptics is out now via Pantera Press.
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