EAST BRIDGEWATER — For much of Sunday afternoon, there were more psychics in Jerry
and Kristy Bowlin's backyard than in Dionne Warwick's Rolodex. Although Warwick, the
queen of TV psychic-hotline infomercials, was not present, there was a heavy whiff of
the supernatural in the air.
Off in the shade, Jerry leaned across a table not much larger than a TV tray and
with a deck of Rune cards, dealt Mirlene
Lucas her destiny. Rune cards use symbols from an ancient Viking alphabet to
tell fortunes.
The 26-year-old Brockton woman wanted to know — what else? — about her love life.
"I guess it's going to start coming around," a smiling Lucas said after her 15-minute
session.
Twenty yards away, a Tarot reader interpreted the energies of Raina, a young
woman from Braintree. The Tarot reader's contradictory wardrobe of dungarees
and sports jacket, Doc Martens and silk necktie might have made Raina question if this
guy can see into his own closet, never mind her future. But like Mirlene, she felt she
got plenty of psychic bang for her 10 bucks. "I'm not going to base my life on it, but
I thought it was an accurate reading," she said. "I have to admit, he knew a lot
about me."
A lot of folks knew about the fair even through it wasn't advertised, "I guess
they must all be psychic," Kristy Bowlin said with a laugh.
One hundred or so people came to the Bowlins' house, keeping seven psychics busy.
For $10, they got a reading, some time in the sun and a chance to steep themselves
in the world of metaphysics and the mystical. "We've done a few of these (fairs) in
the past," said Kristy, fondling a tiny crystal quartz in each hand. "They're good
for bringing people in to see what we offer."
The Angels' Loft, the Bowlins' home-based store and psychic reading center
on Route 18, offers just about everything for the supernaturally inclined: meditation
sessions, Reiki books, even the latest copy of The Witches Almanac."
"I think a lot of this is helpful," Lucas said. "I've read a lot of books on
metaphysics and it make you look at things differently." Differently also describes
how some people look at psychics. some think they're simply bunko artists. Late-night
television is littered with unemployed actors and 1-800-RIP-OFFS.
"Oh, psychics have had a bad rap for years," Kristy says. "Some people try to take
advantage of people, but you have to realize that only you have the power to change
your life."
The 38-year-old Kristy sees psychic healing as a method, a tool to open up a person's
spirituality. She can't tell you what Keno numbers to play or if a safe is going to fall
on your head someday, but when she squeezes the crystals and slips into a trance, she
says she sees a persons aura. "I help people open up, give them a stronger sense of
themselves," Kristy says. "I don't take credit for it, but what I do is the equivalent
of pulling a tree off a person's leg. If they don't move down the road, they'll just
get stuck all over again."
Some might scoff, but Kristy takes this psychic stuff seriously. How seriously? She
chose it over her family. They raised her a Jehovah's Witness, and to them, crystal
channeling and Reiki energy healing are straight from the devils play book. "They're
appalled with this. I haven't spoken to them in 10 years," Kristy says, not a shred
of remorse in her tone. "I became involved in this a long time ago, after my father's
death, she says. "I realized I had a gift." She says turning her back on her family's
beliefs wasn't easy but she had little choice. I opened up a door and I was willing
to step through. When you do that, you're in another world."
