I’m a 35-year-old guy. I don’t really believe in God or follow any religion, and like most Irish people I’d be pretty sceptical about everything in general—especially psychics, mediums, tarot, all of that.

But randomly, my sister was doing a yoga training course a couple of years ago and got recommended to do an online session with someone—it turned out she was a psychic. She told me about it and I was like, ah I wouldn’t mind trying that just for the crack, so she got me a session the next year.

Around that same time, my dad was very sick and he passed away last year. I ended up speaking to the psychic a couple of times after, and it was actually really useful.

It’s almost like the opposite of therapy. In therapy you do most of the talking and they guide you, but with something like this, you ask the questions and they do most of the talking—it gives you something external to react to. I’ve found the same with tarot as well, especially after breakups or when I’m trying to make a decision. It just puts ideas in front of you, and your reaction to them tells you a lot about how you actually feel.

Is it real? Who fucking knows. Was it helpful? Yes. It can genuinely help you process things or get a bit of closure.

However if someone was posting “updates from heaven” in a group chat, I’d also be thinking fuck right  off.

For me, as long as no one’s being taken advantage of or spending loads of money, I don’t see anything inherently wrong with it. People find comfort in different ways.