We asked: What's it really like working as a psychic and what do they do everyday?

As a psychic, Athina Bailey is used to hearing the same things over and over again.

"[People] say, 'okay read my mind. Tell me the future'. They're almost a little amused and fascinated," she told Mamamia. 

But while she's not a mind reader and can't predict the future, the 26-year-old says, "It's pretty hard to lie to me". 

"I tune into someone's energies so if they're feeling a strong emotion, like if they're really angry, I will feel that immediately... Or if I feel like someone's lying to me, I feel it straight away."

It's an ability that has come in handy throughout her life. 

"When I was 16 I had a boyfriend cheat on me and I knew straight away. He was like 'how did you know?' and I was like my guides told me." 

But growing up psychic also comes with its challenges.

"As a child, I had lots of experiences, seeing things, hearing things and it really kind of came to a head when I was about 15.

"That was when it all fully opened up for me and I had a really hard time because I was just trying to be a teenager and have teenage experiences. But it was quite stressful because I was seeing things and hearing things, and I didn't know what to do with it. I was very lost and very confused."

At 18 she decided to study energy healing and two years later, she dropped out of her psychology degree to run spiritual events. She hasn't looked back since. 

***

Having worked as a clairvoyance psychic for almost eight years, Athina's day always starts off the same.

"Every single day when I wake up and I always start just by scanning my energy, just kind of tuning in to make sure that everything's fine and my energy is clear."

She does this by sitting down at an alter she set up in her Sydney home and doing a scan with her eyes closed. If she notices a "blockage" she'll clear it using reiki, kinesiology or other energy healing techniques. 

"Then I'll always connect to my guides, my angels and just ask, 'Is there anything I need to know? Is there anything I need to be aware of?'"

Then it's time for work. 

Athina will see around six clients a day for readings, channeling, past life work and spiritual business coaching. 

The readings tend to go between 30 to 45 minutes and take place over video call, which has fortunately allowed her business to continue during lockdown. 

"The beautiful thing about this work is that it's energetic, so I don't need to touch the person or be with them."

During the readings, she communicates with people's angels and guides, which is unlike mediumship that channels deceased loved ones. 

As Athina explains it, "Everybody has angels... they're really there to help us, support us, protect us." Meanwhile guides are more situational and "come into your life to help you with certain things". 

"For example, when I'm channelling someone's spiritual team and they ask me, 'Hey, is there anything that I can do about my relationship?' a specific guide who's looking out for their relationship might come through. But then if they asked me about their health, they might have a different guide come in who is looking after their health."

"When I'm sitting with a client, I'm having those conversations with their angels and guides, but I'm also receiving images and visions from their team to see exactly what's happening... And I also shoot into my client's energy clairvoyantly just to see if there's anything that they really need to work on in their system."

Listen: Mia Freedman speaks to psychic medium John Edward on the No Filter podcast. Post continues below. 

When I had a reading with Athina over Zoom, she started by asking me to close my eyes and take a deep breath in. 

She then connected to one of my guides who shared some insights into my career. Namely, that I'd be writing more opinion pieces in the future. 

This conversation quite honestly gave me goosebumps because it not only aligned with everything I was feeling but I had also just had a workshop on opinion writing mere hours earlier. 

She also told me that I had a guide looking after my love life, which was reassuring to hear as someone navigating single life after my long-term relationship broke down. 

After the reading, Athina checked in to see if everything she said made sense and to ask if I had any questions. 

She then moved on to her next client, who was one of six that day. 

***

After work, she undergoes a clearing process to disconnect from her clients. 

"I like to do a big clearing process. So I will kind of tune into my energy again, make sure I'm energetically disconnected from my clients and send back what's not mine."

But just because her readings are done for the day, it doesn't mean she's still not picking up on things. 

"It doesn't go away," she said, adding that she's learnt to block it out over the years.

"It's kind of like closing your eyes.... you're not perceiving it, you're not tuned into it."

Before she started learning how to switch thing off, she would be out in public and pick on a strangers' guides. 

"I'd just be walking around and be like, 'Oh, I can feel that person's got a guide around them that wants to tell them this thing...' in those instances I'm more strict with turning it off because it can be quite draining."

Overall, Athina says the work she does is truly rewarding and she can't imagine herself doing anything else. 

"A lot of the work I do involves talking about people's purposes and their role in their life on earth. And when they get that clarity and understand why they're here and what they're here to do, it's a wonderful feeling, being able to do that.

"And so is teaching people to open up their psychic gifts. When they have these experiences for themselves and go, 'Wow I saw something, I heard something, this is really real for me', it helps them to live a life that's more guided... And that's really amazing for me."

For more in this series read: 

We asked: What does a funeral director actually have to do everyday?

We asked: What the heck does a stripper do? And how much do they get paid?

Feature Image: Supplied/Mamamia. 

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