The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
PSYCHIC INSIGHTS
19th annual Spring Psychic Fair continues today at Greystone Castle
CANASTOTA, N.Y. >> Tarot cards, dowsing rods, and aura reading stations packed Greystone Castle on Saturday as the 19th annual Spring Psychic Show started on Saturday.
Dozens of people filed into the old castle, seeking the insights of one of the 14 psychics gathered at the Canastota landmark or to peruse the wares of a handful of vendors.
For all who entered, fair organizer and retired psychic Connie Burke had one recommendation when interacting with the psychic world.
“You should not live your life by what a psychic tells you,” she said, instead referring to the in- formation yielded by a psychic as “guideposts along the way.”
Burke found her way to the psychic world at a young age, saying she knew people had certain special abilities as a child. Then as she grew older
into her late twenties, one man handed her a personal item and as she recalls it, “I just started rattling stuff off.” The man replied, “I’ve never met a psychic before.
That interaction led to a career in the field in which Burke auditioned and read before establishing a foothold with promoters. Burke said that everyone who sought her insights was different, but common topics of interest to her clients included work, relationships, and connections to those who had passed. Burke says she gives clients an opportunity to put forth a question after she tells them what she sees. One thing she refuses to do however, is to give a freshly grieving person a seeing.
“They need time to grieve,” she said.
For the sceptics, Burke’s message was simple.
“Either people believe in what we do or they don’t,” she said. “We’re not trying to change minds.”
Of those in attendance, one admitted sceptic Kaelyn Klass, from Chittenango, tried a psychic reading for the first time on Saturday. Before the reading, Klass’ interest in attending the fair was to check out the Greystone Castle. On a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being the most sceptic of sceptics and 10 being a true believer, Klass said she rated herself at a 2 before her reading. After the reading, she re-rated herself as an 8.
Her companions, Angela, of Canastota, and Jennifer Fitzgerald, of Oneida, also shared some of their thoughts regarding the fair.
Angela, who had been to previous fairs, said, “I had a good time. I had an aura read. It was pretty enlightening and fun.”
Fitzgerald added that readings help reaffirm certain ideas or beliefs a person has.
“It gives you the ability to pull what you already know,” she said. “You’re more grounded. It validates reality.”
Barbarah Hathaway, of Hathaway’s Elemental Light, was one of the vendors at the psychic fair, and in addition to her wares of custom wire wrapped jewelry, Hathaway gave small demonstrations on the use of dowsing rods in the search for certain objects or answers. Dowsing rods help users reconnect with “their higher selves” and point the way to the answer.
“Dowsing tools are there to show you how to reconnect with your higher self,” Hathaway explained, adding that the tools are thousands of years old and can take the form of copper or wooden switches.
Sunday will mark the second and last day of the fair, with hours of operating running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets for the fair are $8, and those who bring a non-perishable food to be donated to a local food pantry will receive one dollar off admission.
By partnering with “The Gift From the Heart Project,” the Spring Psychic Fair also raises non-perishable food items for those in need. Fair participants can knock a dollar off of the admission price by bringing a non-perishable food item to the fair. As of 3 p.m. on Sat- urday, Paul Lang, Burke’s significant other and coorganizer, said the fair had generated close to 200 pounds in food donations.
The lecture schedule for Sunday is as follows:
•2 p.m. -Barb Hathaway - “Dowsing 101: Reconnecting to Your Higher Self and Other Fun Stuff” - Come join Barb as she discusses how to reconnect to your “Higher Self” through the use of dowsing tools.
•3 p.m. - Sue-Ryn - “Helping Your Best Friend” – Come join Sue-Ryn in this informational lecture about alternatives for healing your dogs.
•4 pm. - Dennis Cole“Metaphysics of Love- The Journey to Meet Self” this interactive “play shop”/lecture with Q& A will involve the What, Where to, How& Why of our relationships.’