Robbins, Shawn (1945-)

Shawn Robbins, a popular psychic best known for her many prophecies, was born and raised in the Queens section of New York City, the daughter of a businessman. As a child, her clairvoyant and precognitive powers began to manifest. She recalls that on her 16th birthday her mother tested her abilities by hiding all of her presents around the house. She found them quickly by simply walking around the room and pointing to where they were. As a teenager she read widely in the available literature trying to understand her gift.

She did not complete high school, and after dropping out she joined a band. For the next five years she attempted to establish herself as a musician in an all-female band. She grew bored with the grind, however, and in the early 1970s settled in New York as a professional psychic. Her first job was as a consultant to a large cosmetics company, but eventually she opened an office and began to offer psychic readings to the general public. Her career took an upward swing after she began doing call-in talk shows answering questions and giving brief readings to the audience. Her appearances led to her being featured in the pages of the popular tabloid, The National Enquirer, which regularly ran features on psychic predictions. While largely dismissed by many in the psychic community, the coverage in the Enquirer made her a national celebrity. That celebrity status was confirmed by several outstanding successes. Then, while in Boston to do a talk show, she was contacted by the local police who used her in the pursuit of some money that had been hidden by several robbers. Her success in assisting with the find created another area in which she could apply her skills.

Many of the stories of her early adventures, including her prediction of Patty Heart's arrest in 1975, were recounted in her autobiographical volume, Ahead of Myself, in 1980. During the 1990s, Robbins expanded her occasional prophecies and focused her attention on the new millennium. The effort resulted in two books filled with prophecies for the twenty-first century. It is yet to be determined how accurate she is, but by the end of her life the record she has produced will provide a wealth of material for evaluation.

Sources:

Robbins, Shawn, and Edward Susman. More Prophecies for the Coming Millennium. New York: Avon, 1996.

——. Prophecies for the End of Time. New York: Avon, 1995.

Robbins, Shawn, with Milton Pierce. Ahead of Myself: Confessions of a Professional Psychic. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1980.