PSYCHIC PROS AND CONS: TELEPHONE PSYCHIC READINGS HAVE BECOME BIG BUSINESS

Turn on the television after 11 p.m. and they are inescapable.

Former stars of stage and screen smile at viewers, all the while hawking telephone psychic networks. If the stars don't win you over, there are plenty of testimonials from average folks who loved their free chats with telephone psychics.

But most chats aren't free, except for the first two minutes. The other minutes cost a whopping $3.99 each, making telephone psychic readings a big business.

Most televisions watchers are familiar with the Psychic Friends Network, endorsed by vocalist Dionne Warwick. She helped kick off the psychic telephone network craze when she stood before a television audience and said those immortal words, "All it takes is a phone and an open mind."

The Psychic Friends Network Internet site claims 10 million people have called since the network phone lines opened. If each of those 10 million people paid for only one minute of time, that would be an income of $40 million. The network is a big employer, too, with 2,000 psychics on the payroll nationwide.

Since the telephone psychic industry is so pervasive in American society, it can be hard for some people to resist. But because of mainstream society's scorn of people who believe in psychics, callers may be embarrassed to admit their interest.

Margaret, a 32-year-old Cape Girardeau woman, is one who prefers not to give her full name when discussing her phone call to a telephone psychic network.

When a television commercial gave an 800 number and offered a free reading, Margaret got curious. She called the number. A male psychic answered and asked her name, age and hometown.

He said he was using tarot cards to do the reading. He told her she was a natural writer but wasn't concentrating on her talent as much as she could.

"I was surprised because I write poetry and felt I needed to get back to it," Margaret said. "He also talked about my career a little. He said I was thinking about making a change, which is true, but I would come to a point where I realize I'm in the right line of work."

She said she came away from the reading feeling surprised at its accuracy and wouldn't mind calling again if it were free. Otherwise, Margaret prefers to speak with psychics in person.

"Steve," a 35-year-old Cape Girardeau man, said he saw an ad for a telephone psychic line in a St. Louis newspaper. He called three months ago and asked if he would remarry and become wealthy and famous.

The psychic told him he may remarry and he possibly could become wealthy.

"I knew that before I called," Steve said. "It ended up costing me $30. I felt like I got ripped off. I don't think she knew anything."

While some call psychics for entertainment, others call for counseling for difficult problems. Claire Lafoon, a counselor with Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau, said several of her clients have turned to psychic networks before they sought professional help with problems.

Those who call psychics want immediate answers to their questions, Lafoon said. Counselors don't give answers -- they help clients find the answers within themselves.

"Psychics have some value in that they feed back to you what you are giving them," Lafoon said. "That tells you that you already have access to the information. Having anyone as a sounding board is helpful, but you don't necessarily have to pay for that."

Dr. Joe Nickell, a senior research fellow with the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, doesn't place any value on psychics. A former magician and mentalist himself, he has devoted his life to disproving paranormal phenomenon and has appeared on "Oprah," "Maury Povich" and "Larry King Live" to discuss his work.

Nickell said telephone psychics prey on relatively unsophisticated people, ones who aren't educated in the sciences and want to believe they can know their destinies.

Telephone psychics are there to fill that need, and they do it through a number of tricks, Nickell said. They feel callers out until they get a response to something, then work on that response.

People who think going through the process is just harmless fun should think again, Nickell said.

"The first casualty is the truth," he said. "Lies are always harmful, and they can lead to larger harm. Once we start going to psychics for smaller things, we start going for larger things, when what we should be doing is getting the best information together and making a rational decision."

Psychics accept that not everyone believes in their powers, but they continue to believe in themselves. Angie Shown, a Cape Girardeau psychic and member of the Psychic Readers Network, said she doesn't use trickery in her readings. She hopes nobody on the network does.

"It's like the existence of God," Shown said. "You can argue it all day long, but are you ever really going to know?"

No matter how they feel about telephone psychics, Missourians aren't complaining about them. The Better Business Bureau office in St. Louis has registered only one complaint against a telephone psychic network. The consumer fraud division of the Missouri Attorney General's Office hasn't registered any.

Attempts to get comments from Psychic Readers Network officials were unsuccessful. An operator who answered the customer service line gave out an address where questions could be mailed.