The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Intuitive Reader: Donna Hart gives a psychic reading to Anne-Marie Furmanek at the open house.

The curious gather at open house of psychic academy

Berkeley academy opens a Willow Glen office on the Avenue

By Christine M. Lias

The dark-haired woman sits in her chair, eyes closed, palms suspended in air. She begins to drag her fingers through the air, at times flicking her fingertips as if to rid herself of something stuck on them. She smiles slightly and envisions the woman sitting opposite her on a college campus, books piled on her desk. She explains in detail what the other woman is going through--relationship problems, being a good friend.

The dark-haired woman, eyes closed, has never met this woman she has fully described. All the information that was given to her was the young woman's name. Psychics call this process "feeling people's energy."

The Willow Glen office of the Academy for Psychic Studies, which recently began operating, opened its doors to curious Glenites on April 5. Twelve psychics, most of whom are students at the academy's Berkeley office, offered their services for $8 at the site at 1090 Lincoln Ave.

About 50 people dropped in, many leaving with colored drawings of their aura, the energy fields that surround the body. Some came to have their chakra (energy centers) cleansed of negative energy. Others had the opportunity to ask the psychics questions about love, business or their future.

"I see you five years from now, alone, very much concentrated on your career," the dark-haired psychic told one woman.

The Academy for Psychic Studies opened in 1982 in Berkeley. The Rev. Cathleen Hodgson, director of the new Willow Glen academy location, says she was first drawn to the psychic world after having a reading done herself.

"I was looking for some way to heal myself and ended up loving it," Hodgson said. "I took some classes and saw that my self-esteem got better. My life got better. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed with it."

Hodgson said she held the psychic open house to acquaint the neighborhood with the academy's services. The academy's South Bay office had been located in Santa Clara for four years before its lease expired last month. Hodgson saw Willow Glen as a "cute community" that she was drawn to.

That's great news for some, including 19-year-old psychic student and reader Joy Butler. Butler, dressed in a bright floral jumpsuit, with perky curls bouncing around her face, has changed tremendously since she was first drawn to the academy three years ago, Hodgson said.

"Cathleen gave me my first reading on my 16th birthday," Butler said. "I didn't come back for a couple of months, even though I wanted to. The reading was right on, and I wanted to learn how to do it."

Butler explained how shy she used to be, how her hair used to hang in her face. She said her body tingled during the reading.

"Why was I feeling this? It felt very different. I wanted to find out more," Butler said.

Butler and her brother began to take classes at the Santa Clara location three years ago. Butler, who lives on the outskirts of Willow Glen, said the move is a welcome change that brings the academy closer to home.

The academy offers a free healing clinic on a drop-in basis, every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Classes, meditation and readings are given on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

"They've been around a long time and have a solid reputation and foundation," said Demetri Rizos, manager of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, of the academy personnel.

"Everyone has psychic abilities. The information has been around for a while," Hodgson said. "Throughout every culture, there has always been a healer, a shaman. These are very normal feelings."

And for the skeptics, Hodgson has a detached viewpoint.

"A person has their own beliefs and will continue to have their own beliefs," Hodgson said. "We won't try to prove anything, but this is very real. And if you talk to anyone, see how their life is so much better, that's our testimony," she added.

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