31 Jan Jusstine in Variety Magazine
From Psychics to Feng Shui, Seekers Look for Answers
By Shana Ting Lipton – Thurs., Nov. 3, 2005
When MGM was on the auction block, clients of Jusstine “PsychicGirl” Kenzer already knew that the Lion would belong to Sony. “I had two people come to me from different areas of the business,” says Kenzer, who says she responded to the bidder that had “the most energy around it.” Kenzer says she also knew that the sale would happen “at the 11th hour.”
From follicles to toenails, Hollywood has an endless appetite for personal care. However, the town’s little-advertised psychics, astrologists, healers and feng shui specialists are impossible to quantify and trusted with their clients’ lives.
Hal Sparks, star of “Queer as Folk,” says his life “completely changed” since working with feng shui expert Deborah Rachel Kagen. He sought her out five years ago in hopes of boosting his career. Since then, he says, “I’ve increased my income at least double every year.” Among her recommendations were hanging feng shui crystals over Sparks’ desk and bed. “They’re sort of a psychic bodyguard,” says Kagen. She also advised Sparks on his bed’s positioning because “it can make or break anyone’s life. Feng shui is acupuncture for architecture.”
The seemingly random nature of the entertainment industry might be enough to make you believe in the power of inanimate objects. However, “satori” specialist Dr. Bradley Frederick says his work is not about superstition but making the world more sensible. “I believe there is no randomness in the universe,” Frederick says. A licensed physiotherapist based in Soho at the Intl. Sports Medicine Institute, his counseling technique includes guided meditation and hypnosis. “All people who are successful deserve to be successful,” he says. “People who aren’t successful, there’s a reason and there is a way to change the energy flow to get what you desire.”
For some people, however, there’s no way to make them believe. As founder of Skeptic magazine, executive director of the Skeptics Society and author of books such as “Why People Believe Weird Things,” Dr. Michael Shermer dedicates his life to debunking what he calls “flapdoodle flummery.” “After a century of rigorous scientific research on ESP, feng shui, tarot cards and the like, there is still not a shred of evidence that it works,” Shermer says.
However, spiritual therapists may be less about hocus-pocus and more like Glinda the Good Witch, pointing Dorothy toward the power of her own ruby slippers. “It helped me get in touch with my characters and get over my own fears,” says writer-producer Ron Cowen, a Frederick client and self-proclaimed cynic. Still, no guru replaces patience.
“The Red Sox will happen,” Kenzer told TV producer Kathryn Vaughn about a sports pitch, but it didn’t sell. Months later, Vaughn produced “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Her makeover subject in Boston? The Red Sox.