Sylvia Browne
(born Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker
October 19, 1936) is an American author on the subject of spirituality who performs as a psychic and spiritual medium. [1] She has made several appearances on Larry King Live
, was a weekly guest on The Montel Williams Show
, and hosts her own hour-long show on Hay House Radio, discussing paranormal issues and giving callers advice in her role as a psychic.
Browne has been convicted of investment fraud and grand theft, [2] and has been involved in numerous controversies regarding her claims and predictions, with reports about her failed predictions and claims appearing in several newspapers. [3] [4] [5] Critics such as James Randi, with whom she has had a long running feud, say that she is a cold reader whose readings are indistinguishable from those achieved by mentalists using cold and hot reading techniques. Recent press coverage has asserted that she is overall inaccurate, claimed to have given insight into how she treats her fans, and reported her feelings about critics like Randi. [6]
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SYLVIA BROWNE TICKETS
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Biography
Browne was born in
Kansas City, Missouri to Bill Shoemaker and Celeste Coil and she is the eldest of their two daughters.
[7] Her father was
Jewish and had many jobs including mail delivery and jewelry salesman, and was vice president of a major freight line. Her mother was
Episcopalian,
[8] and her maternal grandmother Ada Coil was a devout
Lutheran.
However, Browne said in 2001 that she was Jewish.
[9]
Browne says that visions started appearing when she was five years old and that her grandmother Ada Coil, who she said was a
psychic medium, helped her understand why she had them. Browne also asserts that her great-uncle was also a psychic medium and was "rabid about
UFOs."
[10]
Browne started to give claimed psychic readings in 1974 and has attracted followings of supporters and detractors.
She has given thousands of one-on-one readings and with a wide variety of groups and individuals; as of 2008, she charges $850 for a 20-30 minute telephone reading.
[11] Browne claims to have provided information to police departments and the
FBI as a
psychic detective.
In April of 2008, Sylvia Browne launched a new website billed as "an online spirituality destination that includes articles, blog postings, and videos from Sylvia."
[12]
Marriage and children
She was married to Gary Dufresne from April 1959 until 1972. Dufresne said in a February 10, 2007 interview that he does not think Sylvia has any paranormal abilities, and that she admitted it, saying that the gullible deserve to be taken advantage of.
Sylvia acquired the surname
Brown
from Kenzil Dalzell Brown during the third of her four marriages, and added a final
e
after she was indicted on Security Fraud charges.
[13] In September 2002 she and Larry Lee Beck ended their marriage.
[14]
Sylvia says her son Christopher is psychic, and attributes this to a genetic predisposition.
[15] Her website says "If Sylvia is the best psychic around - then Chris is the second best."
[16]
Novus Spiritus
Browne is the head of the Sylvia Browne Corporation, Sylvia Browne Enterprises, and the founder of a church in 1986 in
Campbell, California, known as the Society of Novus Spiritus.
According to its website, the church employs forty ministers, though only a small number are actually paid employees. Those that are paid also work for Sylvia Browne Corporation and Sylvia Browne Enterprises, and are members of the Board of Directors of
Novus Spiritus
.
Novus Spiritus refers to itself as "
Gnostic Christian."
It states that it follows the same traditions and teachings which
Jesus himself followed, yet does not exclude
Buddhism,
Judaism,
Islam, or
Hinduism. The society teaches the Biblical works of Jesus Christ while also incorporating the Gnostic Gospels (ex:
Gospel of Mary Magdalene), and says that while the Bible is a "marvellous book" and should be used as a teaching tool, it is not the "unaltered word of God".
[17]
Books
Browne is the author of dozens of books on
paranormal and
spiritual topics, including
The Other Side and Back
,
Adventures of a Psychic
, and, most recently,
All Pets Go To Heaven: The Spiritual Lives of the Animals We Love
.
Paranormal claims
Browne says she knows what it is like in
heaven. In her book
The Other Side and Back
, she says the temperature is a constant 78°
F (25.6°C), that there are no insects–-unless one wants there to be, that pets go to heaven, and that one can build one's house wherever one wants unless it obscures the view of a river or some trees, in which case one needs permission.
[18] She asserts that the "other side" exists approximately three feet above ground level and at a "higher vibrational level" and so is difficult for humans to perceive. However, like other psychics, she claims to have been born able to perceive a wider range of "vibrational frequencies".
Browne declares that she can see
angels and that they look similar to depictions in paintings, but have different traits depending on their
"phylum". She has also claimed that they do not speak. Her granddaughter, who is purportedly psychic, claims to have witnessed the angels that Browne states surround humans.
[19]
Browne professes the ability to speak with her
spirit guide, "Francine," and has given details of fifty-four of her own former lives as divined by her.
[20]
Introduction to predictions
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Although Browne has made many public predictions, according to
James Randi her accuracy rate has been no better than educated guessing.
[21] Her predictions include: that
Bill Clinton was falsely accused in the
Lewinsky scandal (proved incorrect); that
George H. W. Bush would defeat Bill Clinton in the 1992 U.S. presidential election (Bush lost); that
Bill Bradley would win the 2000 U.S. presidential election with the
Reform Party coming in second;
[22] the "hiding in caves" of
Osama bin Laden and
Saddam Hussein (found in a spider hole in the ground); the death of bin Laden (later reported by the
Central Intelligence Agency as incorrect); a verdict of guilty in the
2005 child molestation trial of
Michael Jackson [23] (Jackson was acquitted); and the cure and prevention of
breast cancer by the end of 1999.
[24]
Janet McDonald, an author of books for young adults, describes her experience receiving a psychic reading via phone, for which she paid Browne $700. Browne predicted a "really long life" for McDonald, who died of cancer at 53 just over four years later.
[25] [26] [27]
In 2005 Browne told
Newsweek
that
Larry King, a believer in the paranormal, has asked her to perform private psychic readings.
[28]
On September 3, 2001, Browne stated on Larry King Live that she would accept the
James Randi Educational Foundation's
$1,000,000 challenge to demonstrate supernatural abilities in a controlled scientific test.
s of }} 2009
[], Browne has claimed that she has found it increasingly difficult to contact the Foundation or respond to Randi's enquiries.
A January 2007 episode of
Anderson Cooper 360 featured Linda Rossi, Browne's business manager for 35 years, and James Randi. Randi proposed that Browne undergo a test where she would provide readings for ten sympathetic people, each of whom would then identify their own reading among the ten. Rossi declined on Browne's behalf.
[30]
Of her predictions that might be considered accurate, many are predictions that are easy to make. Examples from her list of predictions for the 21st century include:
"Elizabeth Taylor ends up back at the Betty Ford Center"; "Neither Warren Beatty nor Donald Trump has any success in politics"; "Air travel reaches an all-time high, but because of overbookings and poor service, the airlines will need to revamp their scheduling practices".
Television and radio appearances
Browne has been a frequent guest on US television and radio programs, including
Larry King Live
, the
Montel Williams Show
, and
Coast to Coast AM
. During these appearances she usually discusses her abilities with the host and then performs readings of audience members or callers. Browne hosts her own hour-long show on
Hay House Radio, discussing
paranormal issues and giving callers advice in her role as a psychic.
[31]
On some occasions Browne is paired with other guests, including skeptics such as
James Randi. These shows often feature verbal sparring between the two, with each trying to convince the audience that the other is wrong. One such Larry King show, in 2001, involved Browne agreeing to be tested by Randi to verify if her abilities were true. s of }} 2009
[] she has not yet conducted the test. In March 2004, their feud escalated on the popular
St. Louis radio program
The Paul Harris Show
when Randi accused Browne of lying.
[32]
Browne appeared on CNN's
Larry King Live
eight days before the
September 11, 2001 attacks, but did not predict the event.
[33] After the fact she claimed she had disturbing dreams involving a lot of fire in the week preceding the attack.
Browne has also appeared on the television
soap opera The Young and the Restless
as herself in December 2006.
[34]
Sago Mine controversy
On January 3, 2006, Browne was a guest on the U.S. radio program
Coast to Coast AM
with
George Noory.
[35] At the start of the broadcast it was believed that 12 of 13 miners trapped by the
Sago Mine disaster had been found alive. When Noory asked Browne if she had had any psychic premonitions regarding the men, she stated that she had known they would be found alive. Later in the program it was revealed that the earlier news reports had been in error, and only one of the men was believed to have survived. At this point Browne was alleged to have contradicted her earlier statement, stating that "I don't really think there's anybody alive". Browne later pointed out that she had never specifically stated that the miners would be found
alive
, only that they would be found, and that she was referring to the bodies of the dead miners being found. In the October 3, 2007 episode of
Coast to Coast
, Noory identified this incident as the reason he has not invited Browne back to the show.
[36]
The Montel Williams Show
Browne has been a weekly guest on
The Montel Williams Show
for many years. In the episodes in which she appears, known as "Sylvia Wednesdays," she takes questions from audience members asking for advice about health, love, and finance, as well as information she may have about deceased or missing loved ones.
In 2002, Brown told Gwendolyn Krewson that her daughter Holly, who had been missing for seven years, was living in
Hollywood, California and working as an exotic dancer in a nightclub. In 2006, dental records were used to positively identify a body found in 1996 in
San Diego, California as that of Holly Krewson.
Browne predicted that Ryan Katcher, a nineteen-year-old who disappeared during the night in November 2000 in Illinois, had been murdered and could be found in an iron mine shaft a few miles away from the Katcher home. Katcher was later found in his truck in a pond in Illinois and had died of drowning.
[37]
In 1999, Browne told Audrey Sanderford that her six year old granddaughter Opal Jo Jennings had been taken from
Tarrant County, Texas to Japan and forced into "
white slavery", in a town she named as "Kukouro" or "Kukoura". No such town exists in Japan. In August of the same year, Richard Lee Franks was arrested and charged with Jennings' abduction and murder; he was convicted the next year. Jennings' remains were found in December 2003, and autopsy revealed that she had died from trauma to the head within hours of being abducted.
In 2002, Browne told Lynda McClelland's daughters that their mother had been abducted by a man with the initials "MJ" and taken to
Orlando, Florida, but was still alive. McClelland's body was found buried less than two miles from her home in Pennsylvania. The man charged
[38] and convicted
[39] for the murder was David Repasky, McClelland's son-in-law, who was present for the reading.
In 2003, Browne claimed that eleven year old
Shawn Hornbeck had been abducted by a very tall man with long black dreadlocks and a blue sedan, and that his body could be found near two large, jagged boulders in a wooded area about 20 miles southwest of Richwoods.
Her claims led to a refocusing of search efforts of numerous people calling in with tips regarding possible spottings of the rock formations Browne had mentioned.
[40] [41] Hornbeck was found alive four years later, having been abducted by a white man with short brown hair who drove a small white Toyota pickup. Browne told the
New York Daily News
, "I'm terribly sorry that this happened, but I think my body of work stands by itself. I've broken case after case."
[42]
In January 2006
Anderson Cooper reported on Browne's 2003 claims and interviewed the Hornbeck parents, Randi, and Browne critic Robert Lancaster (Browne declined to be interviewed).
[43] The Hornbeck parents reported that Browne offered to "tell them more" if they booked a private meeting at $700 for 20 minutes. Browne denied having ever asked such a thing.
In June 2008,
Ofcom ruled that
ITV2 "breached standards with a repeat of the
Montel Williams Show
in which a 'desperate' couple were told by a psychic their missing son was dead - even though he turned up alive last year."
The ruling concerned "breaching rule 2.1 of the Broadcasting Code, which relates to protecting viewers against offensive material."
James Randi feud
James Randi, a retired stage magician turned investigator of paranormal claims, has been a vocal critic of Browne. On September 3, 2001, Browne stated on Larry King Live that she would accept the
James Randi Educational Foundation's
$1,000,000 challenge to demonstrate supernatural abilities in a controlled scientific test.
s of }} 2009
[], Browne has not taken the test.
There are several reasons Browne cites for being unable to complete the JREF challenge:
- She was unable to contact Randi. [44]
- She does not need or want the money. [45]
- Neither Randi nor the JREF has $1,000,000. [46]
- Randi would not put the money in escrow.
- She has "nothing to prove" to Randi (apparently no longer accepting the challenge)
In support of her final statement, Browne often quotes Randi as saying that he'll never have to pay the money because "I always have an out." Randi, in turn, states that this quote is taken out of context and his actual words were "I always have an out—I'm right," referring to his belief that no one can win the challenge because no one possesses any kind of paranormal ability.
Some have questioned the logical inconsistency of her statements that she is not interested in the money, yet at the same time requires proof of its existence.
In addition, Randi demonstrates that the money is held by an independent
investment firm,
Goldman Sachs, and that proof of its existence
[47] can be obtained by requesting a copy of the most recent account statement from the JREF, by telephone, fax, letter, or e-mail. Though a few persons have requested and received copies of the documentation, no request has ever come from Browne.
Browne retorts that the JREF refuses to put the money into
escrow, a decision that she says implies that the money does not exist. Randi originally defended the decision, highlighting the allegation that the challenge rules clearly state the money will not be placed in escrow. However, as of November 2003, Randi decided to make an exception for Browne, and declared that the money will be placed in escrow, proposing either
Larry King [48] or
Montel Williams, both supporters of Browne, as suitable escrow agents. Though formal letters were mailed to both King and Williams notifying them of their nomination as possible escrow agents, neither made a reply. Browne never accepted nor acknowledged Randi's exception concerning the escrow matter.
After making this announcement, Randi stated on his website, "
We have now met each and every objection made by Sylvia Browne,
except that she does not like me."
[49]
Browne's website posted a message sometime after August 1, 2005, apparently directed at Randi, stating that Browne never received confirmation of the existence of the million dollars (which Randi said he sent by certified mail), and suggesting that perhaps Randi sent the package to her previous business address. However, Randi's May 30, 2003, weekly newsletter indicates the documents were mailed over two years before the date Browne said she relocated.
[50] Randi said he has a certified mail receipt from the
U.S. Postal Service (Certified Mail item #7003 0500 0002 3034 8133) indicating that the package was refused by Browne at 12:08 p.m. on May 22, 2003.
Legal issues and criminal convictions
In 1992, Browne and her estranged husband, Kenzil Dalzell Brown, were indicted on several charges of investment fraud and grand theft.
The
Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, found that Browne and her husband had sold securities in a gold-mining venture under false pretenses.
[51] In at least one instance, they told a couple their $20,000 investment was to be used for immediate operating costs.
[52] Instead, the money was transferred to an account for their Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research.
Browne pleaded
no contest to
securities fraud and was indicted on
grand larceny in Santa Clara County, California on
May 26,
1992.
[53] Browne and Brown received one year probation each.
Dalzell's disposition included "County Jail 4 months with credit for time served of 21 days," while Sylvia's included 200 hours of community service.
|Montel Williams Show breached standards with 'psychic' Sylvia Browne}}
}}
Additionally, the airing of one of Browne's false predictions in June 2008 caused
Ofcom to rule that
ITV2 "breached standards with a repeat of
the Montel Williams Show in which a 'desperate' couple were told by a psychic their missing son was dead - even though he turned up alive last year."
[54] The ruling concerned "breaching rule 2.1 of the Broadcasting Code, which relates to protecting viewers against offensive material."
Browne has often spoken of working with the police and
FBI as a
psychic detective, but according to The
Skeptics Dictionary, in 21 of Browne's 35 cases, the details she gave were too vague to be verified, and in the remaining 14 Browne played no useful role.
[55]
See also
- Confirmation bias
- Forer effect
References
- About Sylvia Browne
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/The_People_vs_Sylvia_Celeste_Browne_(text).pdf
- Be not deceived: Psychics are in it for the cash, nothing more
- She told them boy was dead: Crystal ball fails psychic in Mo. kidnap
- Leif Wright column: Dupe or no dupe: Show exposes the superstition in nearly all of us
- Is she for real
- Soul Advice
- Browne, Sylvia; & Antoinette May (1990). ''Adventures of a Psychic''. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc. ISBN 0-7394-0178-5
- Are Psychics for Real?
- Secrets & Mysteries of the World
- Sylvia Browne
- PRNewsiwre. "http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS70713+10-May-2008+PRN20080510" The Ultimate Long Distance Call. Reuters. 10 May 2008
- Sylvia Browne’s Latest: Ghost-Written?
- Santa Clara County Court, Number: 1-02-FL-104268, Larry Lee Beck And Sylvia Celeste Browne, Dissolution Of Marriage/No Minor Children
- Sylvia Browne
- Novus Spiritus- FAQ
- Novus Spiritus- The Bible
- Life on the Other Side: A Psychic's Tour of the Afterlife ISBN 0-525-94539-3
- ''Larry King Live'': Interview With Sylvia Browne
- Sylvia Browne: Fast-Food Psychic
- Sylvia Browne's Clock-Update
- Predictions for the year 2000
- Setoodeh, Ramin (January 14, 2005) Psychic Sylvia Browne's Predictions for 2005 ''msnbc.com''
- Psychic Sylvia Browne - 1999 Predictions - 408.379.7070
- Crystal bawl. January 8, 2003 Salon.com article by Janet McDonald.
- Official website with notice of her death.
- Whelan, Debra Lau. Young Adult Author Janet McDonald Dies at 53. ''School Library Journal''. April 16, 2007. Accessed January 4, 2008.
- Predictions: Jacko Convicted, But Blake Gets Off
- Guess What I'll Write Next
- Official transcript: Psychic Psychic Reality Check
- Ask Sylvia! on Hay House Radio
- Browne vs Randi March 2003 ''The Paul Harris Show'' "Instead, she's been spreading lies about Randi, who has been holding his tongue, but has now decided to fire back at her both on his website and on my radio show -- with no holds barred."
- Are Psychics Real?
- Young and the Restless Recap: December 18, 2006
- Noory, George et al. (2006). "Coast to Coast AM." ''Radio Broadcast''. Broadcast 3 January 2006.
- ''Coast to Coast AM'', October 3, 2007.
- The Commercial-News, Danville, IL - KATCHER'S BODY FOUND AT KICKAPOO
- Fuoco, Michael (March 18, 2003) N. Braddock man held in mother-in-law's killing, ''post-gazette.com''
- WTAE-TV (December 12, 2003) Man Kills Mom-In-Law Over Sex, Found Guilty, ''thepittsburghchannel.com''
- Psychic's clues lead to new searches, but no luck
- Transcript of conversation between Sylvia Browne and Craig & Pam Akers on the Montel Williams Show
- She told them boy was dead
- Psychic Powers Debunked in Shawn Hornbeck Case CNN'S Anderson Cooper January 19, 2007 (CNN Transcript)
- In conclusion.
- Title Unavailable
- Sylvia Emerges!
- Copy of the Randi's Goldman Sachs account balance
- Browne's Back!
- Sylvia's Problem Solved!
- Sylvia Wriggles Away...
- Psychic Sylvia Browne once failed to foresee her own criminal conviction
- "Spiritualist, Ex-Husband Plead No Contest in Securities Case" by Bill Romano, ''San Jose Mercury News'' March 9, 1993
- "Psychic Gets 1-Year Probation For 'Good Feelings' About Venture," by Sandra Gonzales ''San Jose Mercury News'' December 18, 1993
- ITV wrong over psychic claim repeat
- psychic detective, blue sense