Psychics in Northeast Mississippi
6/11/2006 6:07:15 AM
Daily Journal
BY EMILY LE COZ
Daily Journal

Sabrina knew she had "the gift" from the time she was about 9 years old.
It was while a couple and their teenage daughter waited in Sabrina's
home for her mother to return and give them a psychic reading. To pass
the time, Sabrina asked if she could give the daughter her own reading.
The couple agreed and watched as the child accurately told them things
about the teen's life and her issues.

"I wasn't completely accurate, but I have gotten better with age, with
practice," said Sabrina, now a young mother to her own daughter and a
professional psychic in Northeast Mississippi.
Sabrina, who asked that her real name and exact location be kept secret,
said she inherited psychic abilities from her mother, who had received
it from her grandmother. They are of Romanian descent, as are many of
the psychics here and across the country.

Most descend from the same blood line, Sabrina said, and all share a
common professional courtesy: They respect one another's territories and
do not practice nor advertise outside their own boundaries. That is why
Sabrina, who operates outside her Tupelo hometown, said she declined to
reveal her identity - for fear of disrespecting any Lee County psychics.
Some others in the trade refused to be interviewed for the same reason.
In all, at least five psychics practice in Northeast Mississippi. While
some advertise, other rely solely on word-of-mouth to be found.
Paranormal in popular culture
Despite the secretive nature of the business, the psychic industry is
booming here as it is elsewhere with its increasing popularity in
mainstream media.

Television shows like CBS's "Medium," Court TV's "Psychic Detectives"
and the SciFi Channel's "Crossing Over With John Edward" have helped
normalize the paranormal by bringing it into the light.
In "Crossing Over," psychic medium John Edward gives audience members
messages from deceased loved ones. "Psychic Detectives" features real
stories where clairvoyants have helped law enforcement solve crimes. And
in "Medium," actress Patricia Arquette portrays a woman who sees into
the future and the past. Other psychics appear on television shows like
"Montel Williams," "Ricki" and "Larry King Live."

These programs' success arises perhaps because three in four Americans
believe in at least one form of paranormal activity, according to a 2005
Gallup poll.
The largest-held belief - 40 percent - was in extrasensory perception,
or ESP. Between 20-37 percent of others polled believed in one or a
combination of other things like ghosts, telepathy, clairvoyance,
astrology, communicating with the dead, witches and reincarnation. Nine
percent said they believed one could channel the dead into their own
body.

Psychics and religion
So, how do Northeast Mississippians - generally viewed as inhabiting the
buckle of the Bible Belt - fit into this picture?
Some scholars claim that the more religious the person, the more likely
they are to believe in the paranormal since they're already open to the
possibility of miracles and unexplained phenomena.
"Think about it," said Margaret Poloma, religion professor at the
University of Akron in Ohio. "Eighty-eight percent of people claim to
pray. That is communicating with the divine. And most pray-ers do hear
from God based on research I've done. You are dealing with what a
non-believer would say is communicating with the paranormal."

Communicating with God through prayer is one thing, but communicating
with the dead through psychic powers is another. Conservative Christians
- like those in the Mid-South - are less likely to believe in anything
outside the religious norm, said Michael Harrington, chair and professor
of religion and philosophy at the University of Mississippi.

"I found that the more conservative the believer, the less receptive
they are to this," Harrington said. "They tend to write it off to the
work of the devil."
That's not true of Betty or her clients. The Verona psychic, who also
asked that her identity be kept secret, said everything she does with
her gift reflects God's will: He is the one who gave her the powers and
He is the one who guides her visions.
A devout Christian, Betty does not advertise nor does she charge for her
services because she says she's doing the work of the Lord. If she got
greedy with her gift, she said, God would take it away.
"People hear about me from other people," she said. "They come to me or
call me from all over the country. A lot of them come with their
problems and talk to me, and then the Lord will begin to reveal things
in their lives about them. You don't tell them something that will knock
them down; you tell them something that will lift their spirits up."

'An eye in my mind'
Like Sabrina, Betty says she knew from a young age that she was special.
Here is her story as she tells it: One day as she reclined under a tree
on the family farm, a man approached and asked her to follow. The two
flew into the sky and gazed down upon a field of blooming cotton. The
man told Betty it represented the harvest that would come in her life.
They then flew over a field of pink flowers, and he told her they
represented all the people her gift would touch.
Since then, Betty, 65, says she has accurately predicted several events:
The exact day her brother would die, that her cousin's daughter-in-law
would bear a dark-skinned child, and where and when Hurricane Andrew
would strike.

"It's like I have an eye in my mind and I just see it," she said. "It's
a natural thing to me."
Betty also claims to see spirits who appear to her in a hazy form. But
she cannot call them at will. They come to her, as did her deceased son
not long ago.
"He was standing by a fence and he was saying, Mama, mama, mama,'" Betty
said. "I could see his face."
Sabrina does not see spirits unless they have unfinished business on
Earth, but she does report visions that pop into her head while talking
with a client. She knows the visions are accurate by the way she feels:
warm and light.
They must believe

The sessions produce better results when clients open themselves to the
process, said Sabrina, also a Christian. Some people come to her
expecting failure. They don't believe in her abilities and refuse to
actively participate in a reading.
When that happens, the session is doomed, she says. But when people come
with an open mind, Sabrina claims to be able to read them with 90
percent accuracy and help them find the right path.
She does this in one of several ways involving Tarot cards, sand,
crystals, palm readings, chakra work and meditation. Prices vary from
$35 to several hundred dollars, depending on the time and intensity.
Sabrina justifies the cost, saying that every
hour she spends focusing on a client is an hour she spends away from her
family. It is work, and Sabrina says she takes it seriously.

Despite the success of her venture, Sabrina admits skeptics abound. So
does Betty, whose own family sometimes doubts her gifts. But the women
say enough people believe to make their efforts worthwhile.
"Business here is not too bad," Sabrina said. "Of course, it's a small
town, so people want privacy, which is why we have a back entrance. But
we get a lot of business."