Other psychics say they thrive on their accurate predictions. Stacey Wolf, a psychic and medium working out of New York City, says people like her readings because they're inspiring and she reminds clients about who they are. Wolf says she started out by studying psychic ability books and mastering the skill, but that everyone has the basic ability. "It was a gift I was born with and had to develop, but we're all psychic. It's just like we can all play basketball, but not everybody's in the NBA." Wolf started giving readings at clubs and conventions around New York City and did celebrity predictions on the Geraldo Show. Now she works frequently on television and radio talk shows,'has authored five books, and feels comfortable charging $240 an hour. "I couldn't be in this business if I didn't cough up the goods," she says.
Most of her clients are by phone and Wolf meditates on their names ahead of time and jots down notes. She says she's learned to see images and feel things, and that it's the quiet moments when she'll hone in and hear the whisper of intuition. Wolf says she cringes at the late-night advertisements and sets herself apart from the hotline numbers.
Sadeghi says the television hotlines demean the psychic industry. "On TV they make it look cheesy and like they're just in it for the money. They take the credibility away from people trying to make a real practice out of it," she says.
Sadeghi has had in-person readings that
seemed money-oriented. She was drawn to the neon lights of the Lawrence Metaphysical Shop, 11 W 9th St. She said the reading was accurate, but she wasn't sure about the intentions. "She charged me $50 for 20 minutes and then, at the end, she told me my chakras were clogged and that she could fix it for $80. She didn't seem very sympathetic about it either," Sadeghi says.
Tina Lee, psychic consultant and owner of the Lawrence Metaphysical Shop, says she's doesn't think her fees are high and points to her eighth generation psychic lineage as reason for her prices.
photo illustration: Jeff Brandsted
Both Shainheit and Rothwell say to watch out for psychics who promise a deadon reading."Psychic ability is never so precise to tell the future exactly. You have to look out for the dollar amount and guaranteed accuracy," Shainheit says. Rothwell also says there's a fine ethical line between questions she will and will not answer, and she will never act like she has control over a client's future. She says her readings are about 75 percent book memorization and 25 percent spiritual counseling, but she's leery of clients that seem determined to have a reading. "People get addicted and think you're a guru and suddenly they're coming to you and not their therapist."
Rothwell says that's why she emphasizes that most of her Tarot readings and predictions aren't about her psychic abilities, but about being sensitive to the energy and feelings around her. "I just get vibes from people. I know what they want.
It's one of the reasons we haven't had shoplifters in the store. I knew what they wanted as soon as they came in," Rothwell says.
As for the validity of the field, Wolf says the increasing popularity of psychic studies is a good indicator of its authenticity. She was in a Florida Barnes & Noble and saw a section dedicated to Tarot readings and metaphysical studies, which indicated to her that the field is becoming more accepted. Shainheit says while psychic ability used to be shunned, shows like Joan of Arcadia are bringing the skill into the general public's eye.
Shainheit says that's why he opened his store: to create a place for discussion in the hope that more people will become open to what he says is a part of everyone's life already. Rothwell says she's sure psychic services will become increasingly popular, and banks her assurance on celebrities with their own personal psychics. "As long as it's something Madonna is doing, it will turn mainstream."
— Marissa Stephenson can be reached at mstephenson@kansan.com.
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