Brian’s grandfather then came through and spoke of an accordion. Brian said that his grandmother and brother both play the accordion. I liked this object because it’s not a common household item; it’s unusual. Something unusual is always more compelling to the sitter. The good thing about having a conference call was that whenever Brian’s jaw dropped, his coworker Debbie would laugh and keep the atmosphere light.
After I hung up, my husband asked how it went. It was a solid reading. I was satisfied. I told Joe that I knew I would be asked to read for another executive. Sure enough, the next week I received an invitation to read for Karen, who works with Kelsey Grammer as the vice president of TV development for Grammnet. Another phone reading. Aaarghh! But would I pass it up? Never!
A week later I received the call from Karen. She was vivacious and pleasant. I connected with a friend of hers on the other side. He described the small town where they grew up, and also described Karen’s childhood home, both inside and out, where they used to play. Her friend also illustrated a rope-and-board swing that hung from a tree.
The reading went well, but I didn’t feel I was deserving of my nickname, the Cosmic Two-by-Four—used purely in jest, of course. I am accustomed to giving information that stuns people. Sometimes I am my own worst critic. But toward the end of her reading, I was shown Bugs Bunny and WB. I asked her if she used to work for Warner Brothers.
She was shocked. “Yes!” she said. “I not only worked there, but I have a meeting there tomorrow.” This would be her first return visit since she had stopped working for WB. The timing had a great impact on her reading.
I then asked about the trip to Europe that she was either about to take or had just taken. She confirmed this, too. She was currently preparing for a European trip. I connected with my sitter and she couldn’t have been more pleased with her reading.
I was asked to come out to LA to audition for the show. More than a hundred gifted people had originally been considered, and I was one of the eighteen selected to audition in front of the cameras at Paramount. We would be vying for one of five different positions.
I was the first to audition. I read for three different sitters, and all went well. I loved being on the Paramount Studios lot; there is so much history there. The rest of the auditions took place over the next two days, while I did some sightseeing with my newfound friends and we talked of the enormous pressures of showbiz.
That afternoon, the two women I had grown really fond of found out they were being sent home. We had one last night out together. Five of us decided to go out for a nice dinner. My companions included Penny Thornton, aka Duchess, who’d been Princess Diana’s astrologer and adviser for six years; Ulrich Bold, an evolutionary astrologer; Freya, who specializes in runes; and Joann, a medium like me. We had a marvelous dinner and stayed up late talking like kids at a slumber party. But we were adults who had to get up in the morning, so eventually we called it a night. I made some special friends on my trip to LA, ones I’ll always be grateful for having.
When the dust settled, I was one of the five left standing. Filming the pilot for the show was an experience I will never forget. I loved working with other people in my field who had talents unfamiliar to me. Every single person on that set taught me something about myself.
Taping the Oracles pilot turned out to be one of many serendipitous occurrences that helped to bring me where I am today. I was able to see that people in every profession disagree from time to time on what the right way of doing things is and that that’s okay. I learned how to set my personal boundaries in a profession that I knew very little about. I realized I cared greatly about these strangers around me who had lost people they loved. I did not want to get away from them; I wanted to be a part of their healing. Every lesson learned brought me a step closer to becoming who I had been all along, a medium.
About the Author
ALLISON DUBOIS’s unique story, the inspiration of the hit NBC TV show Medium, started during her final semester at the Arizona State University, while she was an intern at the district attorney’s office. Soon after, researchers at the University of Arizona documented her ability through a series of tests in which she scored exceptionally high on accuracy and specificity. This validation persuaded Allison to become a professional medium and profiler instead of a prosecuting attorney.
In her short career, Allison has conducted over 1,200 personal readings. In those readings, she helps to ease the pain people feel from losing a loved one. She continues to support the use of science to investigate the afterlife. She has spent the last four years participating in various tests for the University of Arizona.
Allison donates her time to missing and murdered persons and criminal cases for agencies across the country. She is contacted by law enforcement agencies and families to help find missing and murdered people. Allison also assists in jury selection for district attorney’s offices. Each of these is a means for her to give back to the world for being so blessed.
Allison maintains close ties to the show Medium as a consultant.
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