Sylvia Browne cures leukemia?

[Questioninggeller]

Paranormal abilities have spiritual roots
Psychic medium brings farewell tour to Valley
November 19, 2008 - 11:01 AM
CLAUDIA SHERRILL
DAILY NEWS-SUN (Sun City, AZ)

...
When talking about past lives, Browne said this life, the current one we have now, "is as bad as it gets.

"This is Hell," she said. "When you go through the tough parts in your life, it makes your soul grow."
...
Skeptics, she said, only want to deny the abilities of psychics and mediums. She said logic always wins in arguments with skeptics. Fakes and charlatans, who are in it for a profit, cannot stand up to skeptics. Browne said she has put herself through testing at several institutions, to verify her paranormal abilities.

One of Browne's more memorable readings came when a 5-year-old boy, who had been diagnosed with leukemia, came to see her. She said she took both of his hands in hers and told him in a past life he died of blood poisoning.

"Don't bring it with you to this life, I told him," she said. When the family returned home, and his parents took him for blood tests, all signs of the leukemia were gone.

"That was pretty remarkable," she said. "But that's the way it works. If you can leave the things that happened in past lives in the past, this life will be better. Sometimes you have to ask God for help, and because He is a loving God, he helps."

IF YOU GO

WHO: Sylvia Browne.
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday; club doors open at 7, theater doors open at 7:30.
WHERE: Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix, four blocks south of the Loop 202 freeway.
COST: Rows 1-3, $85; Rows 4-13, $75; Rows 14-25, $50. Seating is in the round.
...


Source (http://www.yourwestvalley.com/entertainment/browne_4398___article.html/abilities_people.html)

So she claims to cure leukemia. What's the boy's name? Seems like an easy way to win Randi's million.

[arthwollipot]

She'll never take Randi's million. She'd rather lie to credophiles than submit herself to honest, independent testing.

[CFLarsen]

Sylvia Browne has been "curing" people of the most incredible things for years.

It's this "cell memory" thing, ya know: Whatever ails you in this life, it's because of what happened to you in one of your previous lives. Fortunately, Sylvia's the one to "cure" you:

Cell Memory (http://skepticreport.com/psychicpowers/cellmemory.htm)
Cell memory is based on the idea that whatever happens in our lives, each cell "records" it - spiritually, of course. Homeopaths have cherished this idea for a long time now, and people like Dean Radin and Gary Schwartz also use it to explain purported - but unsupported - claims of a "surviving" consciousness or spirit. Psychic Sylvia Browne takes it a few steps further.

Past Li(v)es (http://skepticreport.com/psychicpowers/browneerrors.htm)
Famed psychic Sylvia Browne has done past life regressions for decades, literally thousands of them. Each and every one of these is claimed to be "true" and well documented. However, she will not allow anyone to investigate her collection of "verified" past lives. Those that can be verified, turn out to be fantasies.

[Zep]

What is the best contact for Consumer Advocacy in California? This looks strongly like a claim for efficacy that is a straight lie. Exactly the same as the used-car salesman saying a clunker is in working order when it will not even start.

[arthwollipot]

She dispenses medical advice all the time.

L-E-C-I-T-H-I-N.

[Questioninggeller]

What is the best contact for Consumer Advocacy in California? This looks strongly like a claim for efficacy that is a straight lie. Exactly the same as the used-car salesman saying a clunker is in working order when it will not even start.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/consumer/complaints.shtml

or directly: http://www.dca.ca.gov/online_services/complaints/ccru.shtml

[Zep]

Sorry, I just noticed the gig is in Phoenix AZ. So it appears the correct consumer advocacy contact is the AZ state Attorney General - http://www.azag.gov/consumer/OnlineInstructionsEng.html

Alas, they also say complaints take 2 to 8 weeks to resolve, and seem applicable only to rip-offs that have already occurred. Nevertheless, I'll give it a shot from here - got to be in it to win it!

[SezMe]

Problem is, Zep, from the information in this thread, Claws did not claim to cure anything. She just says god works in mysterious ways. A claim which is impossible to refute but go for it.

[Zep]

Problem is, Zep, from the information in this thread, Claws did not claim to cure anything. She just says god works in mysterious ways. A claim which is impossible to refute but go for it.I think she is claiming it by very strong inference. That's like the used-car salesman saying the junker was made in a very good factory.

Of course, if she is NOT claiming it, why would she even mention it in the article or her blurb?

[AndyD]

"That was pretty remarkable," she said. "But that's the way it works. If you can leave the things that happened in past lives in the past, this life will be better. Sometimes you have to ask God for help, and because He is a loving God, he helps."

So why does she speak like a four-pack-a-day coal-miner and get pushed around in a wheel chair?

[ExMinister]

I agree she is making a very definite claim: She is saying she can (sometimes) psychically identify the past life cause of a present day illness and by suggestion ("Don't bring it with you into this life") the illness can be healed. Since the rest of us ordinary humans can't do that, we will all want to flock to her seminars, especially if we have loved ones or children suffering from otherwise incurable illness and we believe Sylvia may be able to psychically do that for us, too. :(

Another thing that bugs me: "Browne said she has put herself through testing at several institutions, to verify her paranormal abilities."

What tests? What institutions? From her books we only know of the one, that reportedly happened 30 years ago when she was tested by a friend rather informally through a university. She is claiming many tests - in fact, implying such thorough testing, that her "abilities" have been "verified." Where? When?

[blutoski]

I agree she is making a very definite claim: She is saying she can (sometimes) psychically identify the past life cause of a present day illness and by suggestion ("Don't bring it with you into this life") the illness can be healed. Since the rest of us ordinary humans can't do that, we will all want to flock to her seminars, especially if we have loved ones or children suffering from otherwise incurable illness and we believe Sylvia may be able to psychically do that for us, too. :(

My impression is that one of the reasons she restructured her organization as a church is to be exempt from certain categories of fraud. "Practicing medicine without a license" becomes "faith healing."

[MarkCorrigan]

It's this "cell memory" thing, ya know: Whatever ails you in this life, it's because of what happened to you in one of your previous lives. Fortunately, Sylvia's the one to "cure" you:


Holy crap, really? What the hell did I have in my past life then? I was born with 3 serious heart defects (technically still have one of them that can't be sorted, and one of them that needs regular checkups). Wow, I must have had like, 2 types of cancer or something!

Seriously, how inane IS this crap?

[Madalch]

I must be really tired, since I glanced at the thread title, and thought I read, "Sylvia Browne cures lesbianism?"

[ExMinister]

My impression is that one of the reasons she restructured her organization as a church is to be exempt from certain categories of fraud. "Practicing medicine without a license" becomes "faith healing."

I wonder, though, if she takes in the money from her seminars and lectures as Sylvia Browne Corporation (as opposed to Novus Spiritus, the church), which seems likely, then would that safety net still apply?

But maybe just being head of a church is enough.

[blutoski]

I wonder, though, if she takes in the money from her seminars and lectures as Sylvia Browne Corporation (as opposed to Novus Spiritus, the church), which seems likely, then would that safety net still apply?

But maybe just being head of a church is enough.

An accountant can work that out. The tickets are to be in the audience. The faith healing is a free religious gift - ticket purchase not required.

[godless dave]

Rather than the state Attorney General, someone should contact the ombudsman or reader's representative for that newspaper. That's really irresponsible reporting.

[Questioninggeller]

Rather than the state Attorney General, someone should contact the ombudsman or reader's representative for that newspaper. That's really irresponsible reporting.

DAILY NEWS-SUN (Sun City, AZ) phone numbers, email addresses, and mail:

http://www.yourwestvalley.com/sections/contact/

[Zep]

Rather than the state Attorney General, someone should contact the ombudsman or reader's representative for that newspaper. That's really irresponsible reporting.As far as I can make out from the AZ Ombudsman's site, he can only act on complaints against state institutions or entities. That is, not against private business operations.

Re Browne and he "miracle cures", I would be careful of tying the ticket purchase to the offer. As stated above, she can try to divorce the possibility of a miracle cure from the purchase of a ticket to attend her gig. In reality, the price of the claim is not in question. It is the claim itself - she is making a clear offer that she can fulfill a claim for a client which it is obvious she cannot meet ever. It is false advertising, whether the product be free or not.

[arthwollipot]

I must be really tired, since I glanced at the thread title, and thought I read, "Sylvia Browne cures lesbianism?"I'm sure she'd have a go at it if she could.

[MattusMaximus]

Sylvia Browne has been "curing" people of the most incredible things for years.

Yes, she seems to specialize in "curing" the gullible and credulous of the contents of their wallets.

What a douchebag.

[MattusMaximus]

My impression is that one of the reasons she restructured her organization as a church is to be exempt from certain categories of fraud. "Practicing medicine without a license" becomes "faith healing."

Please tell me you're kidding. She actually has her group designated as a church now?

So not only does she get away with her b.s. claims scot-free, but her organization no longer has to pay taxes, either!

This is how $cientology started to really take off, folks...

She's a double douchebag :mad:

[godless dave]

As far as I can make out from the AZ Ombudsman's site, he can only act on complaints against state institutions or entities. That is, not against private business operations.

I meant the newspaper's ombudsman. Bad reporting and credulously parroting a single sourced isn't illegal, or Judith Miller would be in jail.

[CFLarsen]

Novus Spiritus was created way back in 1986. (http://www.sylvia.org/home/aboutnovus.cfm)

Website. (http://www.novus.org/home/tenets.cfm)

[arthwollipot]

Please tell me you're kidding. She actually has her group designated as a church now?The forum poster named ExMinister is an... um, ex-minister of her church.

[George152]

I must be really tired, since I glanced at the thread title, and thought I read, "Sylvia Browne cures lesbianism?"

One look at her and hetrosexuality would also be cured

[Zep]

I meant the newspaper's ombudsman. Bad reporting and credulously parroting a single sourced isn't illegal, or Judith Miller would be in jail.Ah, I see what you mean. In which case, file a complaint any way you can. Although reporting crap is not necessarily the same as crap reporting.

[Zep]

One look at her and hetrosexuality would also be curedStop that!

I've just eaten...

[MattusMaximus]

One small blow against Sylvia Browne and psychic scumbags everywhere and a win for skepticism & critical thinking today. While I was visiting my wife's family, during dinner someone brought up the Clawed & Smoking One - I then explained how she is a charlatan, a con artist, and that all supposed psychic phenomena that we've seen to date are basically just parlor tricks.

In the course of the discussion, I got to educate those present about cold reading and how many in the media are in cahoots with folks like Sylvia Browne, John Edward, etc - such as Montel Williams and Larry King.

To top it all off, I whipped out my laptop and showed them the YouTube clip of the now infamous debunking of Browne in regards to the Shawn Hornbeck incident...

mUCECDBOOjw

The end result was quite satisfactory: people were thoroughly disgusted with her, with more than one expressing the sentiment that such psychics and the uncritical media attention they receive were, and I quote, "dangerous".

Mark one up for our side :D

[arthwollipot]

Yay! I'd be able to do the same if anyone in this country had heard of her...

[CFLarsen]

Document everything.

Learn about the actual claims.

Yes, that sometimes means we have to give money to psychics. Sometimes, it pays off, big time. (http://stopsylvia.com/articles/ispeakwithbrowne.shtml)

[Questioninggeller]

Here's new uncritical promo in a paper:


Famed psychic to perform at Ferguson Center
BY LAURA GEE | Daily Press
8:45 AM EST, February 10, 2009

...
Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the box office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, and by phone at 671-8100. Seats in the front four rows will sell for $97 apiece. Other tickets are $47, $57 and $67.

Browne is a spiritual leader, psychic, author, lecturer and researcher in parapsychology. She has assisted police departments around the country in cases of missing children and other cases.

Browne was a weekly guest on the "Montel Williams Show" where she demonstrated, and discussed, her psychic abilities, and she has been on "Larry King Live" and "Unsolved Mysteries."
...


Link (http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-sylvia-browne.f10,0,4441497.story)

Interesting, how has she "assisted police"?