SPIRITUALISTS' STOCK RISES
By SHERRI ACKERMAN
sackerman@tampatrib.com
Some
people ask about their jobs - whether they'll find one or they'll lose the one they've got.
Others fret about
making the mortgage or salvaging their 401(k).
"You can just see the look on their face," says Cissy Mercer,
a spiritual healer in St. Petersburg. "They're kind of scattered and all uptight, which is normal with the economy
like it is.
"They're worried. We all are."
So worried, they're flocking to Mercer and other Tampa
Bay area psychics and mediums for guidance that used to come from career or financial advisers.
Lisa McKown is a regular
at Mercer's shop, The Enchanted Forest. She recently went back to school to study health care administration because "that's
where the jobs are these days."
"My main concern," says McKown, 47, of St. Petersburg, "is the money
going to be there? Is it always going to be there?"
Psychics and mediums nationwide are experiencing a boon, says
Rosemary McArthur, aka the Celtic Lady. Founder of the American Association of Psychics in Colorado, she oversees similar
organizations in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Since October, her business - mostly telephone readings - has increased
by 5 percent.
"People are in fear," she says. Instead of focusing on long-dead relatives or unfaithful
lovers, customers in crisis want to know about the future of their money or whether they should hang on to their businesses.
McArthur doesn't tell people how to spend their money - no reputable psychic does, she says - but she does try to soothe
their souls, teaching them to let go of the stress and negativity and focus, instead, on what's really important.
"I've
become like a counselor instead of a medium," she jokes. That's how Mercer, a spiritual healer, feels when
she sees frazzled clients show up for readings. This time last year, their biggest concern was how to pay the Christmas bills.
Now they're facing losing everything.
"I sit them down and give them a five- to 10-minute healing to balance
them out," Mercer says.
Free.
Business doubled in November for Ptah Ankh Heru, Psychic of the Ages, who also
is Pamela O'Brien, ordained minister. Most of that business has been online. These days, Ptah fields as many questions
about finances as she does relationships. Most go something like this: "Am I going to keep my job?" or "Is
my boyfriend going to find a job?"
She doesn't try to predict the stock market, but Ptah likes to offer a little
advice for those searching for the next big thing.
"Go green," she advises. "That's where billions
of dollars are going to be spent. Save the planet. Save us, and make some money."
Ptah works for Psychics
in the City owner Andrea Angelikoussis, whose Pinellas Park shop is booked at least a month in advance, mostly
by customers new to the psychic world.
"The economy is bad, but business is not," says the numerologist, who
can be heard every Thursday morning on WMTX-FM, Mix 100.7's "Nancy & Chris Show." For many, it's a need
to reach out, to confide in someone, she says.
"People need to hear they're going to be OK."
