Fortune telling: truth or hocus pocus?

Kayla Kiley | Cadillac News Tara tells a fortune with tarot cards during Kayla KileyÕs reading recently at Pathways in downtown Cadillac.

How accurate are “psychics” or “intuitives?”

Do you get a general, hokey-pokey reading that — like most horoscopes — can be applied to anyone? Or do you actually get correct, bone chilling details?

This was something I ventured out to discover, in lieu of the nearing Halloween holiday.

I walked out of Cadillac News’ double doors and dodged cars on Mitchell Street to push open the glass door at the downtown store, Pathways.

I made my way to the front desk and asked to have my fortune read. I was then escorted to a wistful little room at the back of the store. I sat at a small table covered with starry pink cloth, decorated with a candle and crystal.

Carly, who doesn’t use a last name, took a seat across the little bistro table. She said she is an “intuitive,” and reading stones is her specialty. According to Carly, she can hear, see and feel things that her spiritual guides show her.

How it worked:

I put my hand inside the bag of stones, and under the direction of Carly, we both closed our eyes and I asked my spiritual guides to help me choose the rocks that would best help reveal my fortune.

As instructed, I put my energy into the rocks by using my hand to shuffle through the stones. When my hand naturally stopped rumbling over the rocks, I took my hand out of the bag and said to Carly, “OK.”

My “general casting”:

For my “general casting,” Carly took the bag and slowly dropped on the table 10 stones of various colors, shapes and sizes.

“The general casting shows you the strongest pull in your life,” she said. “(The general casting is usually) whatever is weighing heavily on your mind — something you’ve been thinking about or whatever your angels or spirit guides think is the most important for you to know right now.”

In my case, my general casting focused on my career.

“I see a change in work — I see more expansion with a focus on late fall and early winter, and you’ll have a new job opportunity,” she said. “The guides keep using word ‘expansion.’”

She said she sees huge opportunities in the work place and it should happen within a year or two.

“I still see you being in the media work with journalism, but you being a bigger face in the public — like Katie Couric. Do you know who that is?”

That was odd. My aunts keep saying I should be like Katie Couric. But I don’t do work in television, so how could a change from print to television happen?

“If you continue to do what you’re doing now, you will reach the top,” she said.

Carly said she saw me as “more of an anchorwoman — just like Katie Couric.” She even gave me locations where I might be receiving opportunities.

“Los Angeles, briefly. I don’t feel like you’ll take the opportunity in North Carolina,” she said. But the guides didn’t show her everything because they need to “leave it a little open ended because of free will.

“Tomorrow you could make a life changing decision,” said Carly, referring to the fact that at any time I could make a decision, which would then change my life path.

What Carly experienced:

During my reading, with her eyes closed, Carly listens and sees what her guides tell and show her. While she could hear my guides if she wanted, she only listens to her own guides because she trusts only them.

Carly said she has three guides, who portray themselves as two female voices and one male voice. Carly explained her guides communicate with mine — they listen to what my guides have to say, then relay the information to her. And this is how you get your reading from Carly.

Carly’s guides use a number of her senses to help her relay information to me. They flash scenes, which she said is “symbolic, and they play out like a movie.”

Later in my reading, I asked about my little brother. And well, her description of him was pretty accurate.

She closed her eyes and said, “My guides show him being a little lighter haired than you (Kayla). He’s muscular, but not overly so. He has a bigger than average build — like a high school football player without the extra fat.”

Not only do her guides flash her scenes and speak in her ear, they also draw white lines between the stones to better help her read my fortune in the correct order.

Meet my guides:

Carly said most people have between one and three spirit guides. Curious to see how many spirit guides I had, I asked. She closed her eyes and said she saw an astounding five. There were two “bright white” guides right at my sides, who have been with me since birth, she said. And behind me, there were three “runners.” Her spirit guides explained to her that these “runners” are not always with me, but they were there because I was going through a time of stress.

“They’re kind of like memory banks,” she said. “You have so much going on in your life right now — they’re helping you to remember all the information you collect throughout life. They’re there to help you learn and grow.”

Carly could also see the auras of my guides. I had the two white guides at my sides, and behind me, I had a turquoise guide to my right, a gray one in the middle, and a pink one to my left. While they all had an outline of a person, Carly said guides can disguise themselves however they wish, and they only reveal what they want you to see.

My forecasted future:

I asked again about my job.

Carly said when her guides showed her a vision of me for my future career, I looked a little different.

“I saw you behind a desk, sitting there talking with icons beside you — like they do on the news,” she said. “Your hair is straighter, you don’t have highlights, your hair isn’t layered, you’re tanner — maybe you’re in a warmer climate — and because of your job, your eyes are brighter.”

What’s odd is about a week after I had this fortune telling done, my boss told me I will be delivering a newscast on Cadillac News’ online paper. Pretty strange, right? Well, who knows. Maybe that is my first step to moving toward televised journalism. And maybe my fortune is coming true. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.

Tara, the tarot card reader

In order to see how my fortunes would match up, I tried a tarot card reading.

Tara Henson is an “intuitive” who has been doing readings for 15 years. And as my spirit guides show her my fortune and warnings, the cards help her focus. “(The cards) seem for me to verify the things I’m feeling,” she said.

Like Carly, Tara’s spirit guides use all her senses in order to deliver readings.

“I try to channel your guides,” Tara said. “I sometimes feel someone touch me, or there’s a pain in my chest or a sensation in my leg, which could mean somebody is going to have a heart or leg problem. I’ve smelled coffee. But they usually show me things more than anything.”

My general casting — the message my spiritual guides most wanted me to know — was different on this day. So, to bring the focus back to the subject matter of my article, I asked again about my career.

How it worked:

Tara closed her eyes and told me to say one word. I said out loud, “job.”

I shuffled a stack of tarot cards with various images and words on them. While shuffling, as instructed, I asked my spirit guides to come through and help Tara deliver their messages for me.

When I felt that the cards were shuffled enough, I stopped and put the pile in front of Tara.

“I see you staying in the media, but you’re not meant to be here,” she said. “You’re too ambitious. You’d get bored. You need to move to a place with more action and things going on.”

She told me she feels that I’m meant to be in southeastern Michigan, like south Detroit or Port Huron area. I thought, “Yikes — I hope not.”

She then said, “Your finances look better — maybe you’ll have some extra work thrown at you.”

But my spirit guides weren’t very interested in telling me all about my career. Apparently, they were more focused on my romantic life. I found that interesting, given that my two readings happened one day apart.

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