Mystical Angels

Fortune-tellers and psychics. What's the the difference?

Okay leave out the crap where they're fakes blah blah blah. This is for my project. I'm going to make a research paper about fortune-tellers and psychics. What's the difference between the two? And if you have something to suggest for my paper, go ahead :)

Public Comments

1. Fortune-tellers show you a future path that is supposedly set. Psychics give you options about future choices and prespective on past and present issues.
2. a psychic is some body who can see hear and sense the other side. they can also communicate with people who have already passed away. fortune tellers cannot do any of these things they can only tell you what your going to do in the future. most gypsies are fortune tellers and you usually can find them at carnivals you might want to include the difference between a psychic and a medium, cause there is an interesting difference
3. I would say that fortune tellers are a specific niche of psychics who deal more with precognition (the seeing of what is to come in the future). The word "Psychic" is really an umbrella term that deals with many different types of 'abilities.' It's like asking what the difference between a clothing store and a Hot Topic is. A fortune teller is always considered a form of psychic, but a psychic is not necessarily always a fortune teller!
4. Fortune Tellers or Diviners usually use a tool such as Tarot Cards, Runes, Dice, Palms, Tea Leaves, etc. to tell the fortune or 'divine' the answer to a question by the customer or patron. A Psychic claims to need nothing but the power of their minds in order to tell things about people, and to predict the future. Those are the basic differences. You might want to research into the different Types of fortune-tellers (i.e. Tarot Readers, Rune casters, Readers of Tea Leaves, Palm Riders) and psychics (Mediums, Clairvoyants, Mind Readers, etc.) and also about a clan that claims both divination and psychic abilities: the Gypsies. The history of the Gypsies is a fascinating tale all by itself.
5. All fortune tellers are psychics, but not all psychics are fortune tellers. I wouldn't make your paper about just these two terms because they are rather arbitrary and could mean a lot of different things to different people. Unless you are writing it for a discussion on connotations of words or interpretations of all sorts of people with supernatural claims, in which case you have a lot of different terms like "medium" and "seer" and "prophet" you could discuss. You could talk about whether the fortune teller has any special powers herself, or if she just someone with specialized knowledge. She knows how to read fortunes that are already written on your hand (like in palmistry) or destined since your birth, as in astrology, but is otherwise a normal person. You could also discuss the source of her power being in objects such as a tarot deck or seeing crystal, or in rituals like stirring tea leaves and saying a spell. If a fortune teller has no special gift, then anyone can access the supernatural if they wished to learn to how read the signs, obtain the artifacts, and know the correct rituals. A "psychic" is a person who has supernatural power, often thought of as a "sixth sense." Whether it is a talent that can be cultivated in anyone or not is up to interpretation, but it is seen as being a kind of potential that some people are gifted with more so than others. If you want to compare a psychic to a fortune teller, you could talk about the difference between an achieved role and an innate role, if you are into sociological theory at all. Hope that gives you some ideas.
6. fortune tellers answer your questions with objects such as palm reading,bones, dice,and those cards.now, a phsycick is way difrent ,they dont doe the whole crystal ball act,phsycicks meditate and concentrate like by holding your hand wich gives them a response.hope it helped,good luck with your project.
7. I'm inclined to disagree with most of the other answers here. Fortune teller is a broad term, and some fortune tellers might be psychics and some psychics might be fortune tellers, but neither is necessarily both and certainly the terms are in no way synonymous or interchangeable. Being psychic indicates that, either through being naturally "gifted" or sometimes through mental training, one can see the future, past, or present with their mind in some way. These people might or might not become fortune tellers; some people with these abilities only use them on themselves, or have no control over what they see and so are not able to reliably use the ablities for others. Unless they do it for other people, they aren't a fortune teller. Meanwhile, fortune tellers use their skills and abilities for other people, either for pay or just for the benefit of friends or people in need. These abilities they possess might include being psychic. However, many fortune tellers (even legitimate ones) are not psychic and instead gain their information through other means such as palm readings, tarot cards, runes, crystal balls or other things of this type. Most fortune tellers I have come across just use one or more of these devices and do not actually have any psychic abilities. (However, I should add that some people are of the belief that tarot cards, rune stones, etc. actually do not hold any power of their own and are merely a tool used to awaken psychic abilities in a person, in which case one could try to make the "all fortune tellers are psychic" argument by this theory. But because this is not a universally held fact even amongst those who use the devices, it's ill-advised to make such a claim.) If you have time before your paper is due, I recommend reading the books "The Cartomancer's Key" by Felix "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Jaynes and "Spiritual Cleansng" by Mickaharic since they all have some more information about this that may be of help to you.
8. Fortune Tellers use tools, like tarot, tea leaves, palmistry, to tap into the Akashic Records. Psychics don't necessarily use those tools, but they might also. It's more 'natural'. This isn't to say Fortune Tellers need these tools, they just prefer to use them. There isn't much of a difference, I'm afraid to say. I consider myself both, but I use tools more often than trust my inner powers. I like to have the symbols help interpret what is going on, and thens sometimes I get extra visions in my mind. I need the tools, generally, except for my prophetic dreams.