Dear Julia:

I have been getting readings for many years now, and in the past three years have begun to develop my own psychic abilities as well. I have often heard from psychics that pinpointing the timing of future events is tricky, and I never really understood why. Now that I'm trying to predict the future myself, I can see what they mean about timing. While I'm pretty good at determining WHAT will happen, WHEN is much harder. For example, I did a reading for a friend of a friend a while back, and I foresaw the man that she was going to meet in great detail, down to his glasses and what he was wearing. This reading took place in December, and as I saw him walking in from outside with snow falling in the doorway behind him, I felt this was going to happen within a month or two. When it didn't, she disregarded the reading as inaccurate. Last winter (about 13 months later) she did meet that man, and they fell in love and recently got engaged. It was some time after they met that she remembered my reading and dug it up, and was amazed at how accurate it turned out to be. Why is timing so hard to determine? Is it hard for you as well?
Kat

Dear Kat:

I know just what you're talking about! When I first began reading I found determining the timing of future (or past) events to be the most difficult aspect of this work.

Part of this is because we are all much more focused on WHAT we want than WHEN we want it. In terms of fulfilling our dreams, we might first determine that we want a passionate romantic relationship or a higher paying job. While it's wise to set a deadline for when we want it by, most people skip that step entirely. They just make a big wish and then either pursue it or wait for it to come to them. This makes the timing of most events very soft or undetermined. Knowing if we will get what we want is naturally far more important to us than when it will happen, so the way we approach finding out doesn't necessarily support a set timeframe.

Time is one subject that just boggles my mind, and I'm in good company: quantum physicists are ever struggling to evolve new theories about the nature of time. As I now see it, time is both linear and nonlinear. Time in the physical is relative and linear: that happened in the past, this is happening now, and we expect something else will happen in the future. The non-physical realm that we tune into in order to access information psychically is not relative or linear; everything exists in the NOW, beyond the laws of space and time. This doesn't mean that "there is no such thing as time," for we all experience time as very real; it means that there is such a thing as time, AND there isn't such a thing as time, depending on our own state of consciousness. If we're focused on the physical world, then time exists; when we're asleep or in an altered state of consciousness (such as that required for psychic work), then we're dwelling in the Universal NOW. When predicting the future, we're trying to tap into a nonlinear, non-physical source for linear information about physical developments. No wonder it's tricky!

When we raise our consciousness to psychically predict the future, our minds arrive there instantly. We can't judge WHEN that event is taking place based on this process, for events destined to happen ten years from now are shown to us just as quickly as events destined to happen tomorrow. Imagine that you are able to travel through time, and you tell your time machine, "Take me into the future to my wedding day." Suddenly you're there, walking down the aisle. Now tell me - what is the date? How would you know? You might look at the people around you to see if they look older or much changed, or at the weather outside the window to see what season it is (as you did in the reading you mention in your question) - and this is very much how a clairvoyant might try to pinpoint a timeframe in a reading.

As this example illustrates, if we're limited to visual information (clairvoyance), then timing is especially difficult. Clairsentients may be able to determine timing broadly (such as very soon or a long time from now), based on how it feels to them. The best way I've found to deal with timing is to develop my clairaudient ability and a strong relationship with helpful spirit guides. Now I can ask Spirit, and IF the timing has been determined, I will sometimes get a very specific answer, such as November 9. More often, I may hear "February" or "2005," or I may be shown that same information on the screen of my mind (clairvoyance being my strongest modality).

For psychics who are not also conscious mediums, who are simply using their own abilities and divination tools to transcend the physical laws of space and time, I imagine this can be especially tricky. In my experience, loved ones in Spirit aren't much help here, as they are generally oblivious to matters of physical time; one must turn to guides for that sort of information. It's a bit like going to a train station and asking everyone there when our train is due to leave. Most people wouldn't have a clue; we'd want to ask an employee, someone whose job it was to know. Spirit guides are like this; they know how to find the information we need not because it's important to them, but because it's their job to help us.

There is another element that we should probably mention here, that I've explained in other writings: The act of getting a reading often CHANGES the future, and this includes the timing involved. We humans have more or less "free will" in determining our realities depending upon how much awareness we have. When we gain more awareness (via a reading), we gain the power to choose something other than what is predicted.

If the client doesn't like what is predicted, she can choose to create something better. While this may make the reading appear less accurate, the client is more empowered to create what she really wants in her life. If she doesn't like the timing predicted, she can often influence it. I for one am happy to sacrifice perceived accuracy if it means that I've helped someone to create a more desirable future.

The point of all of this is that we should not get too hung up on the little details. Readings are helpful not because they give us names, dates and numbers, but because they help us determine what we really want and the best path to take to get it. The most useful benefit of having a sense of timing about when things will unfold is how it allows someone who is waiting for something strongly desired to relax and enjoy the "mean time." Given what I've explained here about how timing is slippery and changeable, we'd all be wise to simply focus on what we want, open our hearts to it, and trust in divine timing.

In summary, it's perfectly valid to get information about what will happen without information about when that will happen, since the "what" is determined before the "when." However, if you develop a very clear relationship with spirit guides, you should be able to find answers about why the timing can't yet be determined, which factors will determine it, and how one can influence the pace of manifestation.

Do ask for help from Spirit in developing ways to relay information about timing when it's available, but don't assume that you're failing if that information isn't coming through. Focus first on relaying information that helps folks to create what they want in their lives, and encourage them to trust in divine timing by trusting in it yourself, and not getting impatient with your own pace of development!

May you astound yourself with your ability to psychically access empowering, helpful, detailed information!

- Julia

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