Spiritual advisor Victor Gonzalez offers a tarot card reading to a customer during the Halloween-themed Witches Night Out held in downtown Allentown on Oct. 23. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Roughly one year ago, Heather Saracen was going through a particularly rough patch in her life.
Facing struggles and unsure of the path she was taking, she decided to consult a clairvoyant in hopes of convening with the spirit of a loved one from beyond the grave.
And while popular culture’s image of mediums, clairvoyants and psychics often conjures images of a cloistered woman hunched over a crystal ball, what Saracen got when she visited clairvoyant Cindy Bardwil was vastly different. “There were no dungeons or red velvet or any of that stuff,” she said. “[Bardwil] is just a normal lady that’s gifted and talented.”
Seeking spiritual guidance from a medium is an experience that has become less taboo over the years, though skeptics continue to cast doubt on the practice.
Spiritual advisor Victor Gonzalez offers a tarot card reading to Kathy Puca of Hamilton during the Halloween-themed Witches Night Out in downtown Allentown on Oct. 23. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR “I saw my first spirit as a teenager,” Bardwil said. “We did not choose this. It chose us, and it’s something that we live with.”
Bardwil, who said she can see visual representations of past events and spirits, as well as experience premonitions of the future, is one of the four women from Burlington, Monmouth and Middlesex counties who make up Psychic Treasures Unlimited, a business aimed at providing spiritual guidance.
Along with Bardwil, clairvoyant and Reiki specialist Aleja, card reader Charlotte and psychic medium Joann, who all requested to have their last names withheld, said their abilities are real and they are able to bring a different plane of existence.
“Of everyone who has ability, no two people have the same,” Joann said. “Everyone has a little bit of something else to bring to the table.”
The women of Psychic Treasures Unlimited said that whether people believe they and other individuals like them can actually speak to the dead and predict the future matters little to them, as they believe it is just one way they can help make lives better.
“This is what I grew up with. This is my world,” Aleja said.
“People want to know that love never dies — and it doesn’t,” Joann said. “If you have the ability, then you’re able to help someone connect to someone who still very much wants to be in contact.”
But skeptics see it differently.
“If clairvoyance was a real talent and communication with the dead was possible, then I would expect that some people would demonstrate it more openly and it would be used to get real knowledge of history,” said Eric Seldner, president of the nonprofit Red Bank Humanists. “My skepticism is grounded in the fact that historians are not exploiting mediums to better understand the Kennedy assassination or the life of Shakespeare.”
The American Humanist Association defines humanism as “a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.”
Noting that Halloween is quickly approaching, Seldner acknowledged that the thought of believing in such abilities makes for a fun holiday.
“There is something in our makeup as humans that wants a spiritual experience and a connection with a hidden world,” Seldner said. ”I am glad that these days we can indulge that impulse with a wink and smile at Halloween.”
With skepticism coloring a major aspect of their lives, some mediums have been known to adopt different names or become more guarded with their apparent abilities.
“I do sort of keep [my abilities] under my hat, so to speak, because of what people are going to think or say,” Aleja said.
“It is not an easy life to live,” Joann said. “You’re living in two separate worlds: human and spiritual. Sometimes you don’t know which world you belong in because if you say a certain thing, you look like you’re crazy.”
Despite the potential for ridicule and lack of acceptance, Joann stood firm that what she and many like her experience is the real thing.
“We’re not here to make anybody believe in is. What we do is validation enough,” Joann said.
Regardless of the skepticism, the American Federation of Certified Psychics and Mediums estimates that approximately 575,000 women and 95,000 men each spent more than $1,000 on psychic readings between 2011 and 2012.
The reason behind the continued support, according to Joann, is simple.
“When things are going crazy in the world … you can want to come and find some comfort and hear from your loved ones,” Joann said. “People come because they always need a pat on the back or validation.”
Television has also kept mediums in the public eye in recent years. Popular shows like TLC’s “Long Island Medium” and NBC’s “Medium” have garnered millions of weekly viewers, bringing the concept to homes across the country, for better or worse.
“I do believe in the ‘Long Island Medium,’ but I think when you have a lot of showmanship, sometimes it comes off as hokey,” Joann said. “Any human being that’s been pumped up that much is going to have a tendency … to let it go to your head a little bit.”