Internationally recognized psychic shares practices to boost intuition │The Dream Catcher Podcast

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Dreamcatcher podcast, a place where your dreams can find a voice. Wouldn't it be great if we had instant guidance as we go through the ups and downs of life? Well, we don't have to look too far to find it, because that wisdom lies within us. Marian DeMarco, my guest today, says that all of us are psychic. When we tap into this gift, we not only enhance our own lives, but also build bridges of love and connection. In this interview, she's going to tell us how. Marian DeMarco is the author of Media Mentor and Believe, Ask, Act, an internationally recognized psychic medium, healer, and spiritual teacher. Her work has been featured in media outlets like the New York Times, The Dr. Oz Show, Women's Health, Elle, and Redbook. She offers validating and positive one-on-one sessions, powerful group readings, workshops, and individual mentorship for developing psychics. In this interview, we will talk about the different ways that we receive psychic information and how we can manage our doubt during the process. Marian also offers tools and practices to develop our intuition. If you like what you heard, please don't forget to like, rate, share, and subscribe to this podcast. Thanks. Hi Marianne, it's wonderful to have you on the show. How are you doing today? Oh, I'm doing so wonderful. Thank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here. I'm excited to talk to you about a topic that intrigues me, and I'm sure that it intrigues a lot of other people, which is developing our intuition and psychic abilities. And your new book, which is titled The Medium Mentor, is a comprehensive guide on this topic. So, it's going to be great to talk about some of the concepts that you cover in it. Wonderful. My favorite subject. Let's do it. Let's do it. So, let's begin by talking about your story, Marianne. How and when did you become a psychic medium? Like, when did you discover that you had this gift? I've always known that I've had this gift. My mom raised me in a very open spiritual household. I thought everybody could do it. I didn't think it was unusual. So, when I started having spiritual experiences, as it was, you know, when I was little, dreams, knowing things, I really didn't think it was unusual. But it wasn't until I entered my 30s that my life really took quite a change. I wound up, you know, getting divorced and experiencing grief. And just, I didn't expect any of it. You know, I really was thrown for a loop. And I wound up in the hands of a spiritual teacher. I thought she was a psychic. So, I thought I was going to her for a reading, a well-needed reading at the time, too. I really could have used the psychic advice. Yeah. She wound up not being that. And she said, I'm not a psychic. I'm a healer. And I teach people how to make this connection. And quite automatically, I said to her, oh, I think I'm supposed to see you now. And it just had been, like, years of knowing that this existed within myself, but not really understanding how to utilize it in its best form. And when I started taking classes, I started reading people just in a couple of weeks. I finally, it all clicked. It all clicked. Were you ever freaked out by the experiences that you have? Because I know that you're also, I mean, you're a medium. Like, you can talk to people on the other side. Yes. So, did that ever freak you out? Sure. I mean, when I was little, that was odd. I thought, well, you know, why? Were they your imaginary friends? Exactly. And some of them didn't look so pleasant. I mean, when you're a child and you're seeing energy in that form. I talk about this in my first book. You know, I remember just seeing, like, really heavier images. You know, our frame of reference is that of, like, scary monsters. And, you know, so I had to really understand how to translate that in its most positive form. So, oh, yes. I've had quite a few experiences. Not when I started doing this work, however, because I really had a full understanding then of how energy exists around us, how we have access to it, and most importantly, how much I am a part of what I want to see and what I don't want to see, what I want to experience, what I don't want to experience. And I absolutely put those boundaries into place. Yeah. And you talk a lot about boundaries in your book. And I have a question. Are you able to read people's energy just at your will? Like, can you be walking down a street and just look at somebody and get, like, some, you know, some information about them? The reason I ask is because I had this experience one time in New York. I was walking down a street in Manhattan, and this lady approached me out of nowhere, and she started telling me things about me that were very personal. And then she invited me for a reading. Oh, do you see my psychic senses get all annoyed? Yeah, and I didn't know much about this, about, you know, psychic readings at that time. And I was, I was blown away. And so I'm wondering, is that an ability that people like, you know, people like you, do you have that? Are you able to do that? Yes, it's an ability that I don't utilize in that form. I think that's, there's a, I talk about delivery in the book and how we should be delivering with care, concern, and compassion. And so I never walk up to somebody and start reading them. But if you put it on, if you put it in a way, if you're not a psychic medium, right, we're all empathic, and we all can pick up on other people's energy, what they're feeling like, maybe physically, mentally, emotionally. If you've ever been in a room and you feel like a large room is just too much and overwhelming, you know, you're probably experiencing a lot of that energy from those people their feelings, their emotion, and their experiences all coming at you. And yes, very much possibly their loved ones as well, if you have mediumship frequency, if you have access to that. Walking down the street, no, I would never approach anybody. And I don't think I'd want to, honestly. I like to be shut down and have my hours off. But do I use it in a way where I want to be able to understand the energy around me in a room, in my family, in relationships? Absolutely. Everyone should. Okay, and you say that all of us have this ability, that all of us have psychic abilities, and you actually say that spirit speaks in your own voice. Like, what do you mean by that? That was life-changing for me, because I thought spirit spoke in a disembodied voice. So I thought it was something outside of ourselves, you know, hello, we're trying to reach you, you know, It's actually not. It lives within us. That voice is inside us. Our guides, spirit guides, we all have them, our spiritual team on the other side, your guides, your angels, your loved ones, higher source, God, whatever it is for you, are helping you tap into that inner voice, into that inner knowing. And they're using all of your senses and all of your abilities to help you process your own information to guide you through your life. And when you get proficient at it, you can then translate those messages and understand the guidance with far more clarity than you ever imagined. People have this ability, but what tends to get in the way? In the book, you say that people tend to doubt that voice, and, you know, they can also get confused, because for me personally, sometimes I'm like, I do hear voices, I think I'm clear audience, but I'm not sure if what I'm listening, if it's real or not, if it's something that I'm just making up in my head. So I think doubt and confusion are two of the main blocks that get in the way of us accessing this psychic ability. So what advice do you have for those who are tackling these two? We all have doubt, we all have doubt and fear, every single one of us, and we're going to continue to experience doubt and fear in this earthly realm. It's part of the school that we're in. When we understand that, and we lead into the belief system that you are made from a higher power, and that you have access to that higher power anytime that you want, we are part of the light. You can start to discern the difference between your intuitive self, your angelic guidance as it were, and your doubtful human self. Our doubtful human self is pretty loud, it's triggering, it can be polarizing to us, lots of negative emotions can come along with that panic, anxiety, and we loop those thoughts over and over again. When we can step outside of that, not push it away, because we want to understand why it's showing up in the first place, and then utilize our spiritual self to answer it, work through it, and then hear the guidance, we can then understand the difference between the two voices. We hear the guidance that is filled with intuitive love, breadcrumbs to follow, maybe outside of our comfort zone, fearful in a good way, maybe a little bit of a nail-biter, or the, I told you, I knew it, hindsight is a wonderful way to recognize your spiritual self. If you can get ahead of the hindsight, you're then using the practice in its best form for you. It is exactly that, it takes practice to do that, so that you can sharpen that tool. Okay, you actually recommend tools that, you know, finding tools that actually work for us and help us access our intuition. Could you share some of the tools? Sure, I mean meditation is a wonderful tool, and what I want to say about tools is do something first that feels authentically you. Don't try to make your practice look like something that is outside of yourself, or look like somebody else's. We want to do things that feel good to us, that feel like a pull, not like we're chasing it or forcing it. So meditation practices, listening to music, something that raises your vibration is a great start. Cards, pulling cards, oracle cards, journaling or automatic writing, there's so many things out there that you can use to tap into your inner guidance from your guides and loved ones, but make it feel cathartic, be creative about it, and it'll come to you naturally, and then they'll show you the way when it's time to layer in other things. But I always say, brown floor at your truest form, it works best. Right, well those are some great ideas, and for you, tarot and oracle cards are huge, right? Because I could relate to that, because I too love using tarot cards. Yeah, I don't, I use oracle cards, I used oracle cards in the beginning a lot just because I was delivering messages for other people, and my confidence, you know, really lacked. I'm not proficient in tarot, I wish I was. I think tarot is, you have to be very well read in it, you have to really understand how to translate the tarot. I teach people who use tarot, and what I teach for them, and with any tool that you're using, is make sure that you are incorporating your own translation into it, that these tools are a prompt. But what we want to get you doing is really paying attention to your own ability of translation, because spirit is coming in and they're using our frame of reference as a way to give over message to ourselves or for others. And so we want to use these as prompts, so if you're feeling like your vibration is down, you're feeling really lost, and maybe pulling a card of inspiration will help you, you pull that card and the card makes sense to you, what you're doing is you're now opening up, you're getting some validation, like wow, that card really resonates with me, it says something that I needed to hear. Now you're opening yourself up to connecting on a deeper level, and you keep doing that, and practicing in that. Maybe then from there you move into a meditation, you meditate on the words of that card, and then they'll give you messages through the meditation. All the while, in the beginning especially, am I making this up? Is this me, or is this them? Work through that. Right, the projection, that's what I'm always concerned about, am I projecting what I want to see in the cards, because usually the questions that you ask, there's a certain level of attachment to it. Sometimes you're not going to hear what you want to hear, and that has to be acceptance as well. The ego wants to get in there, the ego wants to say, oh come on, really, you're making it up, the ego wants to say, are you really getting that right? If you're psychic beating, you're delivering messages, oh come on, it's going to come and mess with you, but when you do this on a regular basis, you become consistent in your practice, you don't dabble with it, you look at the ego, now my ego shows up, and I'm like, oh hey, you know, I see you, and I work with it, why is it showing up? Now we're incorporating the lessons of this human world, we're understanding our own experience on deeper levels, and so we expand our experience, it's really kind of cool. Yeah, I agree, and you also say that it's important to have a spiritual practice that complements these intuitive practices, because I mean, I find that I'm more intuitive when I'm grounded, and when I'm more relaxed, and I really love the chapter where you say that creating a spiritual schedule supports our psychic development, and you actually give a couple of examples, which I found really helpful. So what are some examples of practices that can support it? Consistency in, well, what I want to say about the schedule is that consistency in that also has to reflect your personal life, it has to reflect your work life, it put everything in your schedule. I have clients, I'm working with a student, you know, she has five kids, she's up at 5 a.m., she's meditating, she's automatic writing, she was going to her other spiritual class, she was getting in with her spiritual group, and she said she was exhausted spiritually, she was getting like a spiritual hangover, and I said to her, can you add everything else that you're doing in during the day? You know, between lunches, and getting her children to school, and soccer practice, and whatever else, she didn't realize how flooded she actually was. So let's be realistic, first and foremost, in our practice. If you can only do conscious breath work for the morning, and maybe you figured out how to ground and protect yourself, maybe you smudged your space in a way, or you held your crystal for the day, you just put intentions of gratitude, that's enough, that's enough, as long as it's consistent. And then as you work with your schedule, if you want to expand that, they'll show you. Beauty about working with spirit is that there's no reaching, we're receiving. So we're able to receive message, and they will happily show us when we can add more to our schedule, and they will gladly show us when it's time to pull back, when we're overdoing it as well. My guides will cancel appointments on me, I mean it's really funny, they like move the schedule around, and I know it, I know it's coming, I know that I'm doing too much, and I shouldn't be, and I can, I make little deals with them, like let me just get to the end of the week, you know, like that. But when it does very much help, because especially if you're a list maker, you know, if you're the to-do list person, you need to check these things off, I know, yeah, reading it, you know, when you're doing that, you feel, you feel productive, and and then it's like, all right, I did my thing for today, and it works, and then you feel good, and you're raising that vibration. Okay, and you say that spirit speaks to you, how does spirit speak to you? Because there are many ways that they can do that, you said they communicate with us in six ways, so could you tell us what the six ways are, and how spirit speaks to you specifically? Yes, pay attention to all of your senses when you're connecting with spirit, and they connect with me in all ways, so I hear, see, feel, taste, smell, I always thought there were like one or three that are like dominant for everyone. Yes, so some people think that you can only pay attention to your clairaudience, you know, what you're hearing, or your clairvoyancy, and that is what you are seeing in the third eye, but I tell people pay attention to all of them, because sometimes if your loved one was a heavy smoker in life, and you walk into the room, and all of a sudden you smell cigarette smoke out of nowhere, that's your loved one trying to get through to you, through your sense of smell. I've read people where their loved one was a baker, and I'm tasting sweets in my mouth, using the third eye is wonderful, try not to struggle with the naked eye so much, if they want to show themselves an apparition, they'll happily do that, but if you're looking to connect in meditation, yeah, we don't need to see that, by the way, I don't want to see that, I'm good with that, but some people might, so some people like it, sure, but if you're using your third eye, understand that it might come in as a slideshow, it's not necessarily like a movie, you know, but it is, could be quick images, and again, we're going to work on each one of these abilities, and sharpen them, and spirit will layer them in, in a natural way, and so I work with all of the senses when I'm connected to spirit, every one of them, and I'm often in just regular conversation with them, just like I'm speaking with you now. Interesting, and what about dreams, how do they feature? Dreams are, absolutely pay attention to your dreams, you know, to utilize that clairvoyancy, they are accessing that third eye, and the reason why I feel like they come into dream is they have your full attention, we're not busy during the day, maybe they're trying, oh, and you know, they're trying to show you exterior signs, right, we all ask for signs from spirit, so if you're asking for your signs, and you keep asking, and you're not paying attention, maybe sometimes spirit is, dreaming is a great way for spirit to come through, and we've all dreamt of our loved ones, there's a difference in those dreams, very lucid, very real, those visits, when you become very good at this work, and you can start to recognize that your deceased loved one is in the dream, and you realize it's a visit, now you can have conversation with them in the dream, I often will stop and say, oh, this is a visit, and then I start to talk with them, and ask questions, and that's really cool, and don't bother asking what really goes on on the other side, because they never answer, I ask every single time, they never tell me, they never tell, they don't, they're always like, you know, like some things are a mystery, so I don't really, I don't know the secret, I can't get the secret of life out of them, but I do get a lot of smiles, and a lot of love from that other side, and I know all is well, and I think that's all I'm supposed to know, I mean, do you have to protect yourself, because I would imagine that there are some not very nice spirits out there as well. You want to protect yourself, I talk about grounding, and protecting, and bringing in the light, and I have practices that I do for that, respect your practice, of course, respect your own well-being, you know, that is for you to replenish your own energy, that's on you, we have to have accountability in our practice, and for the energy that we allow ourselves to have access to, very important, but when you are working for the greater good of all concerned, and end with the highest good, in that we are working from that high vibration, that god-like light, I don't have time for low energy, I know it's out there, but it's not in my scope, and I trust my guides so much that I am being protected, that I don't allow that into my space at all, and if I ever felt something heavier, I've done house clearings and things like that, but if I've ever felt something heavier, it's usually just a fear-based energy, you know, maybe they don't realize something's going on, that's my translation of it, somebody else may translate that very differently, and when I speak with a loved one on the other side, who is coming in, showing me maybe the heaviness of their life, or the heaviness of their passing, that's all symbolic, it's nothing that they carry on that other side, they've let go of those worldly woes, they've already experienced this life, so I just use those heavier, we must see the dark in order to understand the light, and so, but I use them in a positive way, to just translate message for the greater good, yeah, so it's always positive, and when you feed it fear, fear exists, so try not to feed it fear, because then it kind of grows in that heavier way. Right, I mean, I didn't even know about mediumship until I attended a workshop with James Van Praagh, have you heard of him? Oh yeah, old school, and when I saw him, I don't know him, but I wish I did, when I saw him doing live readings, and I saw people crying in the audience, when they were connecting to their loved one's spirit, I was like, this is the real deal, you know, because they weren't planted, they weren't planted, they were for real, because I talked to them after the workshop, and I'm like, did that, was he right? And they were like, yeah, he was, I can't believe it, they were into it. He's lovely, it's very life-changing, I mean, when I remember seeing him when I was young, and I remember thinking when I got to do this work, I didn't want to sound like the way that he did it, because I remember him being like, oh yes, you know, and he would talk to them that way, I totally do exactly the same thing, I answer them just so now I have a deeper understanding of why he does it, but it is miraculous, I mean, it really is something that's quite amazing, and all of the years that I've been doing this, I'm blown away every single day by what Spirit can do. And he made us do this exercise where, kind of does this grounding exercise, and then he made us partner up with the person who was sitting next to us, and I took her hand, and I had to read her energy, and just like be open to whatever messages I was getting, and Marianne, I was able to say things about her that I couldn't believe, I knew that she was a nurse, I knew that she had kids, and I picked up something else from her childhood, and it was unbelievable. It's undeniable, and you feel that flow. And then I'm like, I'm a believer, I'm a believer. Yes, you can do it, you're psychic too. I'm like, this is woo-woo, you know, like, you know, because I consider myself more on the rational side, I'm more of a thinker than a, so I was, after that experience, I'm like, this is real. It's so beautiful to hear that, I'm psyched about your experience, because I love that type of stuff, and when you lean into your personality, you can be the thinker. My hopes in writing this book is that it demystifies, it's not woo-wee, it's actually something that is just part of who we are, we were just taught to forget it, through our backgrounds, and heritages, and religions, and whatever it looks like, we've just learned that we were told it was wrong, who knows, right, fear around it, and we've kind of shut it off, but being you, the thinker that you are, and allowing yourself to kind of tilt your head to it, but be open enough to step in and go, all right, let me give it a whirl, I'm thrilled that they came in and validated for you, that your own ability is there, and it truly exists, and each one of us can absolutely do that, especially, mostly for ourselves. For ourselves, yeah, and I find that it's easier to read people when I don't know them so well, because I didn't know that lady, she was a stranger to me, so, do you find that's the case for you too, like, can you do readings for, like, family and friends? Yeah, I mean, I've read my mom, you know, I've read my family members, I read my children sometimes, you know, just to help them out, and usually that's like an energy read, or, you know, just getting intuitive hits on maybe what's going on in their life, and it's all guidance-based, I like very much the guidance in readings, something that my clients can have a takeaway, and so, yeah, I could do that with family members, absolutely, and then I'm always, I love reading, and I love being blown away by what Spirit says, like, you're a nurse, you're this, you're that, and yeah, I am, my gosh, you know, it's really incredible, and I've been doing it, like I said, for years, and I'm still in awe, because what they're capable of doing, if we just say yes with them, is life-changing, really life-changing, and I hope the work just helps people heal. Yeah, yeah, it does, and I think you also mentioned in the book that you got to be responsible about doing these readings, because, you know, sometimes you have psychics who predict, like, looming doom, and it's like, and then they're like, oh, we got, we have special spells to, like, you know, get rid of that, and, you know, you know that's a marketing gimmick, and they're charlatans, essentially, yeah, charlatans, you know, and they are talented, it's not that they do not have ability, but they're not using it for the greater good of all concerned, when you told me the story of you, you know, somebody walking up and just stopping you, you know, that's cringeworthy for me, because it is so invasive, and yeah, and I was very vulnerable, I was very vulnerable at that time, I just, I was having a very tough time, yeah, in my life, and they picked right up on that, so you're able to see that vulnerability, and to me, that's unfortunately what can give psychics mediums a bad name, is, you know, unfortunately, there are people, I have, like, fake accounts every week on Instagram, people trying to get money out of people, and promising them readings, yeah, so you have to be responsible, and are we delivering messages of service, we don't want to deliver frightening messages to people, I'm not a doctor, I'm not going to sit here and diagnose you, and tell you things that are not going to serve you, I don't want to see death in people, I don't want to see major illness, because I don't feel like it serves the person, I want them to have a takeaway that feels productive, something that lends them healing, and so if you're looking to be a psychic medium, or even if you're just channeling advice for your friends, or your family members, and you feel compelled to tell them something, I always ask spirit, before any reading, and you could do this in your conversations as well, dear spirit, please give me the words to serve, is this going to serve them, will this benefit their well-being in some way, and I find that within that, within those words, I somehow am able to capture the message in a very productive way, in a healing way, at least that's my hope, yeah, I like that, I like that, yeah, because that's so important, you know, so important, because it can really get someone down, it can stay in their minds, and it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you see something, absolutely, oh, that's such a great point, great point, because when you focus on that energy, like I was saying before, when you feed fear, fear gets stronger, when you keep nourishing it, and so yeah, what's the point of getting that into somebody's head, where I had a client who went to a psychic, and she just kept saying, your husband's going to die, your husband's going to die, oh my goodness, and that was just awful, it's so awful, I'm like, aren't we all, you know, at some point, but like, so what are you going to do, sit there and focus, and I just felt like, what good did that serve, that person, and so I have to undo that sometimes with spirit, so that we can let that person be released from that fear, yeah, yeah, great, Marianne, it's been so wonderful talking to you, I appreciate you taking the time to share your gifts and your knowledge with us today, oh my gosh, it's been my pleasure, thank you so much for having me, I loved your questions, and I love your energy, your lovely energy, oh, thank you, you're welcome, thank you so much, thank you so much, oh, and I just want to let everybody know that Marianne's book, Medium Mentor, is available wherever books are sold, and on her website, marianndemarco.com, the links will be in the show notes, all right, so it's been great chatting with you, Marianne, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, oh, thank you, I hope you have a beautifully cool day, without any, you know, hot, hot weather coming at you, hope so, okay, all right, for having me, of course, take care, bye.