One of Australia's leading mediums, Charmaine Wilson will be in Griffith tonight. The Area News has two double passes to give away to her show. Journalist MONIQUE PATTERSON spoke to Charmaine about her gift that she developed in later life.
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WHEN it comes to psychics, I want to believe.
However, I have my reservations.
I've always been intrigued, but over the years I have had a few readings from clairvoyants that made me question the craft.
From the get go, Charmaine Wilson seemed different.
When I spoke to her on the phone she was refreshingly honest about how she only developed her gift at the age of 35.
In fact she was so honest, she admitted that she initially thought she was "having a nervous breakdown".
"I started hearing voices in my head and thought 'OK, now I'm nuts'."
This honesty was quite different to the usual line of "I was born with the gift" and "anyone can develop the skill".
Charmaine said she didn't believe that to be true, that people who encouraged others to "hone their craft" were usually charletons who were trying to make money.
Charmaine said she had "made some bad choices" early in life.
She said her children had been taken away from her and her daughter Crystal was tragically killed at the age of four in a car accident.
Charmaine said when she started to hear the voices she decided to turn her life around because she was worried about her health.
"I stopped all the bad habits and the voices stayed," she said.
At first she ignored the voices, but one insistent voice told her that there was a job available at a canteen near where she lived.
"The voice told me to ask to be put through to the canteen and ask for Steve. It said Steve will give you a job and you will start the next day."
Charmaine called and when she was put through to Steve he said "how did you know? It only became available half-an-hour ago".
Working at the canteen, Charmaine said the voices would become louder when she was serving customers.
One day she decided to repeat what she was hearing to a customer.
"I thought 'I'll repeat everything I'm hearing' and this poor boy went white. It was his mother in spirit. I realised then something weird was happening."
Charmaine said when she went home she could hear about seven voices.
"Right above the voices I could hear what sounded like my brother's voice, I said that and they all started to clap. It freaked me out."
Charmaine said the voices were nagging her to get out of bed one night and switch on the television.
When she turned on the television, medium John Edward's show was on.
"I realised when I watched that he was talking to the invisible people," she said.
Charmaine said the gift was both a blessing and a burden.
"It was terrible at the start," she said.
However, over time she has learned how to ignore the voices or "switch it off".
Charmaine said she had been able to connect with her daughter.
"There will be times when I get a lot of signs from my daughter," she said.
"If she wants to play with me she will pull my hair."
Charmaine said her great gift was being able to help people through their grief at losing a loved one.
She encourages people to move on when they have lost a loved one.
Charmaine admits there will always be people who doubt her psychic abilities.
She said a man who had lost his son was encouraged to come along to one of her shows.
After initially putting the flyer in the bin, he reluctantly attended.
"He came and I gave him 30 points of validation in less than five minutes," she said.
"He was my biggest skeptic ever, but he still writes."
Charmaine will be at the Southside Leagues Club in Griffith on Wednesday, October 22, from 7.30pm, as part of her Mystical Messages Tour.
She was the winner of the first series of Seven Network's The One and has travelled around Australia reaching out to those in need.
"I get so much out of sharing messages with those searching for answers," Charmaine said.
"If I can help one person in a small way, I have done my job."
Charmaine said death often didn't make sense.
"We can get caught up focusing on the tragedy, rather than finding the reason to keep living," she said.
"I think I help bridge that gap just a bit."
For more information or to buy tickets visit www.griffithleagues.com.au/Southside.html