Story by Jillian D’Onfro | Photos by Brandon Weight
Bill Dee, an East Syracuse resident, receives a oneness blessing from Pamela Kramer. These blessings are a form of energy transfer, where the blesser helps another reach higher states of consciousness. Through the blessing, individuals are inclined to feel joy stemming from an awakened awareness of their higher self, according to Kramer.
The main room of Greystone Castle hummed with a peculiar energy. The 14th Annual Canastota Spring Psychic Fair drew a diverse crowd from all over Central New York: healers, mediums, psychics, animal whisperers, believers, skeptics, and the simply curious. This year, a record 14 mystics came to offer their services to the public, promising to soothe troublesome aches, reveal hidden paths, or communicate with people who’ve passed on—for a price. The people who paid the initial $7 entrance fee clearly believe more than others, but for every individual staring deeply into the eyes of a scarved woman reading tarot cards, another picked up brochures skeptically, or pored over psychic-made scrapbooks with expressions suggesting they weren’t quite swayed. By alluding to deep self-realization or a chance to envision the future, for around $45 for fifteen minutes, the mediums tempted that insistent “perhaps” wriggling deep within us all.
Betsy Rengert, owner of the closed Seven Rays Bookstore, purchases David Bennett’s book using a mobile payment system on his iPad. Bennet, who’s married to psychic medium Cindy Griffith, wrote Voyage of Purpose about his multiple near-death experiences and resultant spiritual awakening.
Two women clutch L-rods, one of several types of dowsing tools. Meant to magnify a body's intuitive response, the rods sway in one direction or another to signify a "yes" or "no" answer to a dowser's carefully worded question.
Anne Dougherty generally performs two different kinds of readings: past, present, and future or head, heart, and soul. Dougherty also welcomes any questions her customers may have.
Dougherty begins a tarot card reading for Angel, a Canastota, N.Y. resident. Tarot readings are, according to Anne, a two-way form of interaction with one's higher self. Each card has a meaning, and it is the medium's job to help interpret them for the client.
Angel preferred not to give her last name. Dougherty said that people wishing anonymity is common at psychic fairs. There is still a stigma associated with receiving readings, she said, and some women and men keep their readings a secret from spouses, colleagues, and employers.