This article was originally published in the November 2017 Princeton Echo.
When you see the sandwich board sign on Witherspoon Street advertising the tarot card, palm, and crystal readings of the Princeton Village Psychic, promising they are “open late,” you’d be forgiven for thinking it looked sketchy.
However, if you proceed down the alley between Mandalay Trading Company and Alchemist & Barrister, you might be surprised to find their rather professional looking, spacious, and light-filled location.
Inside are white leather couches, freestanding crystal rocks, statues of palms stretched artfully to the sky, and shelves of above-average candles. Besides a trio of inexplicable beige teddy bears on the sofa, it’s tastefully and professionally done.
A quick visit to the website, which billed Gina as a “naturally gifted psychic spiritualist” with more than 47 years experience, had given the impression that outside of high foot-traffic times, it was wise to make an appointment if you wanted to find it open.
After speaking briefly with Gina and being given the breakdown on services and pricing (one palm for $25, two palms for $35, half tarot deck for $45 and full tarot deck for $85), I wondered if there was anything else; Jeanne Dixon-level stuff. When asked if there was anything without cards or palms (“props” is the word I wanted to use, but didn’t), Gina replied, “For $375, I just read you.” Palm reading it is, then.
Arriving for my appointment on a Saturday afternoon, I found Gina sitting in a lawn chair outside the store — for lack of a better word. What do you call a psychic establishment, anyway? Supernatural Boutique? Clairvoyant Corner? Telepathic Tunnel?
Gina is tall and thin and looks to be in her 60s or early 70s. Dark hair and dark clothes, if you see her in the alleyway, she’s probably having a smoke — though she may light up in the shop if you bother her enough (more on that later).
She quickly ushered me inside without much greeting. Remembering I didn’t have cash (it’s cash only), I was told I could get it after and hastily ferreted into a smaller room off the waiting area. It felt bizarre to be rushed in, especially when there were no other customers waiting. Who doesn’t want to make sure their clients can pay them before they provide the service? Psychics, apparently, who no doubt withstand many second thoughts after people have a few drinks and impulsively decide to get a reading, then think better of it once they walk around the corner to the ATM.
My goal was to not to tell her much about myself, to see what she could “divine” from a blank slate. This included not telling her I was writing a story on the experience (more on that later).
Once we sat down, she immediately took both of my hands, placed them palm up on the table and began. “You show a strong and healthy life, no medical issues.”
Off to a roaring start.
“You’re in a good place with your work,” she continued. “You have a lot of options. October, November, December will be busy and you have a very important New Year.”
While I suppose some of this is true-ish (I am recently getting back into work after being a full time parent), the language was so vague and widely applicable, I had a hard time buying into it. Everybody has options. Everyone feels busy. Most people attach significance to the New Year. She also said, “some travel will be involved.”
She went on to say, “You don’t mean anybody harm or wrong. You go out of your way to help people.”
In full disclosure, I don’t really go out of my way to help others. In fact, I often think I need to do more — anything, just one thing — besides take care of myself and my family. Over the holiday season, I got as far as picking up two fliers on local volunteer organizations. Fliers which then got buried under a pile of random papers on the kitchen counter.
Then she asked me how I felt about the person I was in a relationship with. Not wanting to lead the witness, I picked the first general relationship statement I could think of that applies to most couples.
“I feel good.” I paused. She probed. “We have the usual ups and downs.”
“Give it time. Be patient but don’t focus on that right now. Don’t blame yourself for anything.” While some might relish this permission, I actually think we all need to take more responsibility for the outcomes in our lives.
She went on to say the person I’m in a relationship with “can be stubborn and a little controlling.” My husband may have his bugaboos, but those aren’t two of them.
“You need to clean house. Downsize,” she continued. (We are currently looking for a home nearly twice as big as the rental we have been living in). “You’re holding onto a lot of things,” she added.
“Physical things?” I asked.
“Both physical and things from your past,” she replied. To which I couldn’t help thinking, who isn’t?
She went on to say, “You need healing.” Again, who doesn’t? “But I’m not going to go into all of that because you’re skeptical.”
Ah, now she was onto something. In my attempt to be poker faced, she hadn’t missed my lack of credulity. “I can read your eyes and face,” she added. Not necessarily a psychic skill, but on point.
Curious to hear more (perhaps because she presented an idea then told me she wouldn’t say more), I asked how it worked.
“It’s about your chakras,” she explained. “You give me information such as your name, birthdate, where you born. It takes two days and costs $125.”
Umm, wait, so this wasn’t an on-site reading she was hinting at? Don’t chakras have to do with energy and need to be felt in person?
“What kind of information comes back in the chakra reading?” I asked.
“Whatever comes up, I tell you. I don’t hold back anything.” She paused. “I’ve been doing this for almost 50 years.”
That may be true. But her “chakra reading” sounded like getting the personal basics to do a bunch of Google searching to me.
“I wouldn’t want to do it now because you’re not ready,” she added. “You’re held back by financial concerns and responsibilities.”
I was brought back to the familiar refrain in my head. Who isn’t? I am indeed financially meticulous, but if something I valued had a $125 price tag, that wouldn’t stop me from buying it.
Suddenly it hit me. I was in a reverse psychology vortex! During the few minutes I had been there, Gina had dropped hints at other services followed quickly by pointing out my underlying skepticism that would prevent me from saying yes.
Maybe she was picking up on an absence of belief — in her. (It’s worth saying that I am not without belief in the supernatural. I once paid a hefty fee to visit a “spiritual guide” who spent 90 minutes sharing themes from my past and present). Or maybe this was a well-practiced, subtle shaming technique Gina regularly used on customers to get them to splurge on something they normally wouldn’t?
After a few more innocuously vague statements on my life (“You’re meant for children but you’ve had some health issues.” I have two kids), the real fun began when the reading was over.
She had told me on the phone the reading would take 25-30 minutes “depending on what you ask.” We’d been there just over 10. And then I made a critical error.
In getting up to leave, I turned off the record button on my phone. Which Gina didn’t know had been on.
She began aggressively and repeatedly telling me I had to, “delete that right now.”
Then she barked out her door in an urgent fashion for what I can only refer to as her bouncer — a girl in her late teens or early 20s — whom she summoned to make sure the deleting had actually happened.
Why is she so opposed, I wonder? Does the content that her customers pay for not belong to them? While it would have been more up front to let her know, if I had, it might have stopped the reading before it started. (As an aside, it is legal to record a conversation so long as the person recording is a party to the conversation).
After repeatedly scolding that it was “sneaky” and “not nice,” she asked how I would feel if she had done that to me. When I replied, “I don’t know how I would feel, I don’t do this for a living,” she had the strangest response.
“I don’t do this for a living,” she snapped. “I have a husband who supports me.”
Okay, so side hustle, then? What a bizarre thing to get defensive about when you have a storefront advertising your psychic services.
As a last attempt to stand up for myself against unrelenting chastisement, I left saying, “I can’t recommend your services to anyone.”
“Please don’t. I have enough customers.”
So, there you have it. Proceed with caution.
Princeton Village Psychic, 26 Witherspoon Street. 609-924-0992. princetonpsychic.com. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Princeton Village Psychic — cash only — offers palm, tarot card, and crystal readings.,
