Originally published in FLAUNT Magazine
Oct 2002

You might think that Halloween would be a favorite holiday for someone in my occupation. However, even as a child the notion of getting in some goofy get up and begging door to door for candy from strangers, was a concept that totally baffled me.

I suppose you could say I was a confused child to begin with. If someone could have given me a heads up that being a super sensitive freak of nature would eventually turn out to be a great endowment, oh the years of heartache it could have saved me. Instead, for most of my youth I was an easy target for other kids to taunt and tease without it even being Halloween. Little did I know that way down the road this holiday that I hated would end up being a major pivotal point in my life.

To add further disorientation to my upbringing, my parents for who knows what reasoning didn’t find it necessary to give out sweets. When it came to doling out the Halloween treats they gave out money, change to be exact. My dad would bring home rolls of coins from our shoe store and my mom would put them in a serving dish. I really don’t think they thought this out too well, because frighteningly I can remember swallowing a few, yes coins, not candy. (I know, I already said I was a confused child, but what kid don’t you know who unintentionally ended up with a coin in their colon, up their nose or in their ear?) So when the bell rang and the door opened, by the look on some of the neighborhood kid’s faces, I think they momentarily became as confused as I. Yet, when they went home that evening and checked out all that they had scored, they were some odd cents richer thanks to the strange family that handed out currency instead of candy.

I try to explain to people that visiting a psychic is like having unprotected sex or having plastic surgery. You want to be damn sure you know exactly who you are going to be sharing your energy with. I’m going to let you in on a huge secret here. You see, when I got my very first “psychic” reading, my roommates dragged me to an outdoor Reggae Fest where we each took turns sitting in front of a gypsy who read our fortunes. She predicted that I was going to drop everything and move to San Francisco. Being a fashion design student in Los Angeles with a 4.0, two years left to go and my entire life completely planned out since the ninth grade, I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, “ this woman is clueless.”

I don’t know what is more pathetic, the fact that I went to the gypsy in the first place or that I ended up dropping everything and moving to San Francisco for a guy. Either way, what she predicted had come true. So when my illusionary fantasy about the boy ended in painstaking heartbreak, it was time for another “reading.” I went in search of more psychic insight and here is where the story gets really scary. I was the one who didn’t have a clue. I happened upon a gypsy who, surprise, surprise, turned out to be a charlatan thief. She worked some hocus pocus black magic, freaked me the fuck out and ended up taking me for many pretty pennies.

As much time passed and I awakened to the realization that I had sadly been had, missy gypsy was soon to find out that she messed with the wrong girl. It didn’t take much to track her swindler-self down, although she was now operating out of a different location. Equipped with a big bad buff male friend, we confronted her and demanded back every cent I had forked over. Can you believe she gave it back? Not without of course informing me that she was “giving the money back, not because I threatened to go to the police, but rather because God wanted me to have it back.” Whatever the case, I considered myself to have something or someone more than luck on my side.

My quest for guidance lead me down the very long path of finding my own psychicness. After a few years of training, my first professional gig of putting myself out there as a real deal psychic was at a Halloween theme park where I read, six nights a week for an entire month. On the very first evening, my very first reading, was not just one person but an entire family of guess what? Suspense, suspense… gypsies. I was a bit uncomfortable as they crowded around me in a way that lead me to wonder if I was about to be mobbed. As I asked what I could answer for them, they stated that they wanted to ask about the well being of a friend. I immediately was shown that the person they were asking about had passed into spirit. I also was shown that these gypsies were testing me to see how genuine I was. I carefully explained that from my perspective, it looked as if this person was no longer living in the physical body.

What happen next was the experience that altered the rest of my life. The gypsies seemed to express an utter amazement over my ability to see what I saw. I must have passed their test because they all got individual readings from me. Although this family had no relation to the crooked woman who initially took me for my first psychic reading ride, this incident seemed somehow to bring me karmically full circle. I knew right then and there that this psychic healing thing would not just be my hobby, it was going to be my life. And that was fourteen Halloweens ago.

Halloween comes from the designated time Hollowed Eve. A day way back when that was originally set aside by the Christian Church to commemorate all the Saints who were not remembered on any other day. It seems that this once sacred occasion has now turned into a wet-t-shirt contest to see who can hold the grandest out of body festival. Still ranking as my least favorite holiday, I am amazed that people spend months and months preparing to look as outlandish as they can possibly be. They actually look forward to running amok and intermingling energies with thousands of other spirits in the streets of West Hollywood, Castro or Chelsea. Cheers to them. As for me I’ll be staying in my body, safely tucked away in the comfort of my own home waiting for the night to be over.

ARIES costume choices: Actor, Fashion Designer, Police Officer.

TAURUS costume choices: Banker, Pirate, Prince, Princess.

GEMINI costume choices: Astronaut, Doctor Evil, Favorite Super Hero.

CANCER costume choices: Ghost, Jailbird, Prostitute, Scarecrow.

LEO costume choices: Devil, President, Movie Producer, Uncle Sam.

VIRGO costume choices: Athlete, Cult leader, Jesus, Rock Star.

LIBRA costume choices: Race Car Driver, Witch, Vampire, Zombie.

SCORPIO costume choices: American Indian, Doctor, Ghost, Nurse.

SAGITTARIUS costume choices: Angel, Cupid, Tourist, Favorite Animal.

CAPRICORN costume choices: Austin Powers, Cinderella, Playboy Bunny.

AQUARIUS costume choices: Adam, Eve, Hippie, Statue of Liberty.

PISCES costume choices: Alien, Cheerleader, Hippy, Psychic.