Email: Sylvia Browne Public Appearance at East/West Bookstore

An email from a woman who attended a Sylvia Browne appearance at a local bookstore.

"As to her answers, which my friend and I could hear, they seemed to be preponderantly of one variety, advising parents and others to divorce, get rid of people in their life they were troubled by, including their grown children. I personally found her answers thoughtless, shallow and arrogant."

- Email author

Background

On November 27th, 2006 (coincidentally, the very day that this site opened its doors to the public), Sylvia Browne made a scheduled personal at the East/West Bookstore ("The Bay Area's Resource For Conscious Living") in Mountain View, a city in the "Silicon Valley" region of California.

The email which follows is the account of one person who attended that appearance.

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The Email

From: [name] <[email address]>

Date: Tue, Nov 28, 2006 6:24 am

To: webmaster@StopSylviaBrowne.com

Subject: Browne's public performance 11/27

Hi,

Thought you might find this interesting. I was invited to attend a talk by Browne at a local bookstore in Mt. View, CA. I have never followed or had an interest in her, but was glad to go with my friend. The talk cost $20 per person and was held in a back room of the bookstore. It was scheduled to start at 7:30pm and be a discussion of her most recent book.

I arrived at 7:15pm and to my dismay and that of others she had already arrived and begun. I had parked in the alley behind the store and saw her limousine parked there. She was answering questions from the audience, none of which could be heard at the back of the room where I sat. I am guessing there were around 150 people in attendance; the event was sold-out. After listening to her answers to personal questions for approx. 20 minutes, she signed books for awhile and left.

She left one of her staff, purportedly a minister in her church wearing a reverse collar, to regale the disgruntled audience who had come to hear her speak about her book, about how we could avail ourselves of her very expensive services or watch her in a soap opera, iow [in other words -RSL], a sales pitch. During this his cell phone rang and he proceeded to answer it in front of the audience, explaining it was from Browne and he had to answer it.

When asked why she started before the event was scheduled to begin, he explained she is always early, and he had tried to slow her down, but...as if her early start were somehow virtuous! Then as the audience began to question why she had left when she did, why she hadn't spoken, etc., he told us in effect that we should just consider ourselves pleased to have been able to 'experience' her.

East/West, the bookstore, was suitably highly embarrassed and offered a tablet for people to sign, those who had waited around to voice their dismay and displeasure, to receive a refund. When I got home I searched for information regarding this person and came upon your website.

As to her answers, which my friend and I could hear, they seemed to be preponderantly of one variety, advising parents and others to divorce, get rid of people in their life they were troubled by, including their grown children. I personally found her answers thoughtless, shallow and arrogant. From my short exposure and after reading about her radio interview during the mine disaster, my suspicions about her tally with your own. No reputable person, psychic or otherwise, would respond as she has when she is obviously wrong. It is one thing to be wrong and another to flounder around looking for words that will cover her butt.

My two cents worth;)

[name]
Menlo Park, CA

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A Second Email

I wrote back to this woman to ask permission to publish he email here on the site. Here are some excerpts from her response:

I was glad to write what I did. I hope anyone considering paying the large fees she charges would take the time to research a bit, read what you have provided and, as you say, decide for themselves. It is more like she is issuing fiats about people and situations in a manner I think she believes is earthy and cute, but I found it without compassion or any real sense of caring about what she was saying or the people she was addressing.

She kept telling people just to get away from, kick out, put their foot in the rear, divorce whomever they were having concerns about, often when my sense was that the person asking the question wasn't soliciting that kind of advice, but a deeper understanding of the issues they were having. I think you could truthfully say that she is very full of herself, unpleasantly so.

It may be that at an earlier point in her career she did have some psychic ability. I notice she claims to channel as well. As you probably know both are abilities that can be grossly distorted by people who lack integrity or whose ego gets away with them. There is a question about what she is actually doing. Whatever it is she apparently believes she has developed the wisdom and insight not only to say what she 'sees' but to tell people how to run their lives as well. I don't think any reputable psychic or channel would take this upon themselves.

Of course it is one of those fields, like religion itself, that are prime for con artists. And it is time people began to look within and access their own wisdom instead of looking to outer authorities, but we do love our 'experts' and as long as you can be conned, a con artist will appear and vice versa. But I do think you are performing a valuable service by presenting real interviews and evidence for people to see past the hype. I wouldn't have written if I didn't find the overall tone and presentation of your website clear and well-reasoned and informative.

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Analysis

This email is, of course, just one person's opinion. And it proves nothing about Sylvia Browne's psychic ability, or lack thereof.

I include it here mainly because I think it illustrates a few things, not the least of which is this:

It isn't only those who are skeptical of psychics in general who are offended by Browne and her behavior. The woman who wrote this email apparently accepts as fact the existence of psychics and "channels," and yet still found Browne's answers to be "thoughtless, shallow and arrogant", and her behavior to be less than that which the woman would expect of a "reputable psychic."

My thanks to this woman for sharing her experience with me, and for allowing me to post it here.

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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".

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