By William J. Furney
Israeli celebrity psychic Inbaal Honigman discovered at around 20 years of age that she was different from others, and seemed to have abilities her peers did not. “When things happened that seemed bizarre or impossible to me, when I knew stuff I couldn’t possibly have known, I just explained it away to myself by saying I was very clever — and I was,” the 48-year-old Yorkshire, England, resident immodestly told me.
Back then, living in Greece for the summer, she picked up a pack of tarot cards and “never looked back”. She said she didn’t believe the divining deck would work, “but they did”. That prompted what she calls a “little identity crisis”, one that had her questioning her secular roots.
Inbaal, who has four young children with her British husband, is in demand in the media — newspapers, magazines and television — for her forecasts on all manner of subjects, from football to Love Island, Hollywood couples and lots more, is also a witch. Ahead of our interview, I asked her to do a tarot reading for me; I asked three vague and open questions, with not a hint of what the subject was about. Her answers were eerily accurate, and predicted how events would unfold.
Here is our exclusive interview:
What was the moment that made you realise that you had a gift that enabled you to “see” things? What was the realisation like?
I was doing a tarot reading for my friend Tara. I had been reading different types of cards for a while then, maybe a year or two, and I certainly enjoyed it, but my topics were generally, “Should we go out tonight?” or “Are X and Y in love?”. I never did any deep, detailed readings to really test the concept.
Tara’s reading was about her boyfriend, who lived in Africa at the time. I said, “I can see a blonde girl around him, and they’re getting close.” I said he might cheat, but did she know, I asked, whether he had a blonde friend?
She confirmed that his best friend was fair-haired. He rang her to confess that he had cheated with his best friend a few weeks later.
That was when I realised this stuff really worked — and that I could really work it.
What’s the process like when you’re doing a reading for someone, with tarot cards or as a clairvoyant? Do you have to get into a certain place mentally, or does it just flow automatically?
I used to prepare for a reading — light incense, open my chakras, meditate, attune. With practice, this becomes natural and automatic. I don’t prepare anymore. I’m not sure whether I can just switch it off and on, like a torch, or if I’m just always on.
You’ve told me you’re almost scared that you might lose your ability to look into the future and see things about people — why so? Do you think it might be temporary?
I have a really strong moral belief, that if I were to abuse the gift, it would be taken away from me. I can’t even say where I picked up this little superstition — did I make it up to keep me honest and humble? I don’t remember.
But I am very committed to being truthful and authentic with my work, and I believe that nobody would get a gift that’s not for them, and I fear that I would fall short one day, carelessly, and would wake up totally empty of psychic vibes.
My witchcraft means I do magic, and incorporate elements of magic in everything.
Inbaal Honigman
One thing people often say about psychics is, why don’t you go ahead and predict the lottery numbers and make a fortune? Have you tried?
I’m not a financially motivated person. I’ve used my ability for much more important stuff: to see when I would conceive my children, to find out which estate agent would be best to sell our house, to check if my husband was truly the one for me.
Making a fortune is a pointless, ridiculous end result for life — money comes and goes. Statistics show that 70% of lottery winners end up penniless, (so) why would I use my gift to make me penniless? I don’t need wealth, but I don’t strive for poverty either.
I think people who ask psychics this question are themselves in need of guidance.
On this topic, let me tell you a funny story:
One evening, walking back to my old flat in London, my husband was meant to meet me in the dark park between the Tube station and our front door. He wasn’t there, so I walked through myself, holding my handbag and looking around for any sign of trouble.
When I got to the front door, I found him — he had walked down to meet me in the park, was unfortunately mugged, and all he had on him was the door key. After the attackers left, he went back home to call the police and a locksmith.
I was up bright and early to my job on Psychic TV the next morning, and the presenter asked me how I was, so I told her I was a little freaked out by the mugging.
She asked me what I’d say to people who would ask how this could happen to me? Shouldn’t I, as a psychic, have known and not gone in the park?
I found the question infuriating — there’s danger lurking everywhere, and I won’t live life where I am always afraid.But beyond that, I asked whether she’d enquire the same of a doctor who became sick? How can you be sick, when you’re a doctor? Or a teacher who was a bad speller. Or an athlete who once fell over.
I’m a psychic. It’s my work and also my passion, but it’s not something I concern myself with 24 hours a day. When I make my wishes for my future, I go with my free will, not lottery predictions. And when I walk through the park, I am alert to danger, but not pulling out cards to see if this random shadow is an attacker. I live life on my terms.
You’re also a witch, of the Wiccan variety. What does that mean, in terms of how you live your life?
The Wiccan way of seeing things is as equality and balance everywhere, and a reverence for nature. Light and dark, masculine and feminine, the four elements plus the fifth element, spirit, all striving for balance.
My witchcraft means I do magic, and incorporate elements of magic in everything. Making dinner? Why not add a colour which will increase strength? Or creativity? How about both?
I think that magic and manifesting is an extension of perfectly provable actions.
Inbaal Honigman
As a witch, have you dabbled in dark magic, as opposed to white?
The definition of dark magic changes from witch to witch; each person works according to their own moral code. In my frame of reference I have not done anything dark, because I don’t believe we are meant to interfere with other people’s free will.
But when there’s a clash of ethics, maybe things I did could be seen as dark by others. Doing a spell to make our house move come faster is innocent enough, but could it have inadvertently resulted in the previous home owners having to sell up? It’s a can of worms.
Do you believe a lot of what you do is based on energy? And if so, why?
I believe everything I do is based on energy, because literally everything always is.
Getting out of bed in the morning is energy. Making a child is energy. Losing weight is energy. All the tangible things are energy, and therefore I believe that all the intangible things are energy as well.
I believe that wishing is as real and powerful as pushing. If I push a table and it changes location, it’s because I transferred my energy to the table to mobilise it. If I wish for you to be more self-confident, it will work for the same reason.
How do tarot cards actually work? You did a reading for me that was surprisingly accurate, despite me asking vague and open questions, and remotely.
To me, the answer to this question comes from a few angles.
First, the tarot works as well as the reader. If the reader is very intuitive, the symbols and words they need to be able to deliver a reading accurately can be gleaned from the cards. This explanation intersects the psychic with the psychological aspects of the tarot.
Secondly, though, and more esoterically, I see the tarot as a magical tool. I believe that they are potent, and loaded with hundreds of years of mystical intent poured into the whole tarot system. I think that, in the same way that the cross or the Star of David — or the Swastika — hold deep and transformational meanings, far beyond the shape alone, the generations of tarot practitioners imbued the tarot with symbolic meanings that endure beyond the individual practitioner. I think they work alright even with a slightly clueless reader.
I’ve taught dozens of people and you’d be amazed at the success rate I’ve observed.
I jump with both feet right into a terrible reading and find a course of action which can change things
Inbaal Honigman
What do you think about manifestation? Is it possible we can think and will things into our lives, like love and money?
I do think we can will anything into our lives. I think that magic and manifesting is an extension of perfectly provable actions. If you wish for your cup of tea to reach your lips, you use your hand to pick it up and it’s done.
If you wish for love to enter your life, by wanting it, you activate a chain of events — many of them will be actively initiated by yourself, be it consciously or otherwise — and some of them will happen because you want them to.
I heard a talk by a lady once, who said that the natural and the supernatural are the same, and she called the supernatural “the super-duper natural”, which I loved.
When you look into the future for someone and see something terrible, do you tell them or try to play down how bad it is?
If I’m in a position to forewarn someone, I’ll take that privilege. What horrible things can I see in a reading? Poverty, illness, a cheating husband? Knowing about them in advance can help such a lot. Find the cheat; get the illness diagnosed at an early stage; pivot your career to stave off the chance of poverty.
I jump with both feet right into a terrible reading and find a course of action which can change things in real terms for the client. I love it.
What about altering the future — is that possible? So, for instance, you advise someone that something bad will happen at a certain time, and as a result that person is extra careful and cautious — are they able to avoid the bad thing occurring, or not?
Absolutely yes. If something is a lesson for you, a karmic thing, then you may just lessen it a bit, you know, by removing the element of surprise. But on the whole, you absolutely can prevent mistakes.
Usually people don’t heed my warnings. It’s the Cassandra curse — the mythological figure whose warnings were ignored. So I’ve seen people go into ill-advised marriages which end in swift divorces. I’ve seen people get divorced against my advice, and their divorced lives were much worse than their marriages. Those are two totally separate groups of people, by the way.
I have a thank you note from a chap who was a nurse before covid. He had a reading from me, pre-pandemic, and I warned him against nursing and advised him to work in research, and he actually followed my advice.
When most of his heroic colleagues were exposed to the first deadly variants of the virus, he was sent home from his comfy lab job, on full pay, safe and thankful.
Do you ever get negative reactions from people, about who you are and what you do? Do some people just not understand and think it’s weird?
Fewer and fewer people think it’s weird. It’s been my full-time job for over 22 years, so I’ve seen attitudes change. I haven’t really clocked many negative comments in my entire career, but whatever the number used to be, it is lessening.
What’s the most unusual thing that’s happened to you when doing readings, or astrology?
When you’re reading, nothing feels too unusual because you’re in the frame of reference of the client, and if it’s not unusual for them, you just go along with it.
At different times, I was doing a reading for two men, and as I was reading, I slowly came to realise that their wives were clients of mine as well. That was fascinating to me. Or reading for someone once, and while I was talking, I understood who she was — someone very well-known by name but not by face.
That feeling of dawning realisation in each case stayed with me more than any unusual life choice or experience.
How about seances? What kind of experiences have you had?
I know very little about seances and still don’t know for sure that they are true.
The theatrical nature of a seance, and how it’s less of a one-to-one endeavour and more of a display, endears it to those psychics who naturally enjoy putting on a show as opposed to solving life problems. That’s not very me.
Do you believe in guardian angels, and if so, what is their purpose?
I believe everything has a spirit — a soul, I guess. So there might be a spirit of a place, or a spirit of a tree. It’s not something that has a purpose, it’s something that’s a part of a bigger picture.