Published Date:
24 June 2009
ANNIE Conboy is at pains to stress a very important point.
While she might be able to connect with the spirit world and bring back messages from our loved ones, she doesn't believe for one minute that she has been given special powers.
Instead Annie, who lives in Mytholmroyd with her partner Wayne, and eight-year-old daughter, Erin, sees herself as a very ordinary working mum who has developed her own abilities and skills to tap into the spirit world.
She has been working as a medium in Calderdale for the past 15 years and she gave up her job at the Halifax bank to do it full-time.
She does one-to-one readings at her home, talks with local groups and regularly appears at pubs and clubs throughout the district. Annie also does telephone readings and has built up clients as far away as America and Australia.
But two of her best ideas are much nearer home.
Annie helps up and coming psychics and mediums through a new club she started earlier this year which meets at Milans in Halifax.
"We showcase different psychics each month and touch on such things as crystals, Angel cards and spirit connections," she says.
She also leads a programme of "awakening" workshops to try and prove to individuals that with a little bit of practise they can develop their own psychic skills.
"I believe that everyone is born with psychic ability of different degrees, but have just forgotten how to use it. My workshops show people who are curious how to work at it and I get lots of interest from individuals aged from 17 to 70," says Annie.
Unlike a lot of mediums, Annie says she wasn't aware of her abilities as a child and grew up being a bit of a sceptic. "I studied psychology and thought it was all in the mind and there was no such things as an afterlife."
It wasn't until strange things started happening – she says she constantly felt someone was with her and that things in her home started to mysteriously move – that she sought help from a friend who read tarot cards.
"She suggested I try it for a bit of fun so I basically taught myself and got experience at development circles within spiritualist chur-ches. I found stuff pouring into my mind, and now I get spirits coming to me all the time."
She says one of the hardest things she has to deal with is the misunderstanding that a lot of people have about her being a medium. "People think I am permanently switched on the spirit world but that's not how it works. You can switch off. Others feel I should be able to tell them the winning lottery numbers."
Her belief is that people who have shaped our lives and have died, still have a strong bond with us and are always with us in spirit. "Put simply through love in this life, and in the next, no one gets left behind," she says.
She says where you live can shape your psychic abilities, which is why she has settled in the Calder Valley.
"I come from Oldham originally but have moved around with my work. I moved to Hebden Bridge 17 years ago and find I get more spirit connection here than anywhere else I have lived. I also have more encouragement while living here," she says.
Annie told me that I was going through an unsettled period but things would calm down by September. She said April was an important month (my son's birthday) and spoke about a close friend, and my goddaughter, Kelly. She told me I loved travel (which I do) and I would end up living and working abroad (which is a dream of mine).
And another thing she was at pains to point out, was that I needed a man with my energy and vision. Which is spot on.
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Last Updated:
24 June 2009 8:57 AM
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Source:
Evening Courier
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Location:
Halifax