| Psychics are everywhere these days: on TV, in | | | | Only the syndicated show "Medium" has much |
| the movies, in print magazines and newspapers, | | | | redeeming value. It's based on the real-life career |
| online, and in the police departments, hedge fund | | | | of a Phoenix psychic housewife who works for |
| offices, and corporate boardrooms of America. | | | | the local DA's office and specializes in finding |
| Once the victims of a bad image thanks to hokey | | | | missing people. |
| infomercials for psychic hotlines back in the | | | | Otherwise we have such hokum as "Psychic |
| Nineties and a kind of carnival milieu surrounding | | | | Investigators," "Psychic Detectives," "Psychic |
| crystal ball-toting psychic readers, the practitioners | | | | Witness," "Ghost Whisperer," "Haunting Evidence," |
| of this ancient art are finally getting some respect. | | | | "Psychic Kids," "Paranormal Tales," and |
| Yes, psychics are hot in this age of uncertainty | | | | "Paranormal State," the latter three on the |
| and anxiety. | | | | A&E channel, which now seems to thrive on |
| An article in the June 30, 2008 issue of | | | | such tabloid fare. |
| Newsweek describes the work of Laura Day, the | | | | The whole field, including the culture of psychic |
| New York "intuitionist" who charges her | | | | readers who serve eager clients in such New Age |
| high-profile clients a flat $10,000 a month for her | | | | centers as Sedona, AZ - in person, online, and by |
| services. On her client list are a big-name | | | | telephone -- seems ripe for satire. A |
| computer firm, a major Hollywood producer, and | | | | recently-released science-fiction/fantasy novel |
| a Wall Street firm. | | | | titled "I Married a Psychic" does just that. |
| Other corporate psychic consultants call | | | | The book revolves around a pair of spiritual |
| themselves "mentalists," side-stepping the stigma | | | | seekers who meet, fall in love, move to Sedona, |
| of the crystal ball and images of spell-casting | | | | and get involved in a series of cliff-hanging |
| Gypsies. One psychic who performed for years | | | | adventures. The wife of the title has |
| on cruise ships and shabby comedy clubs, says | | | | highly-developed psychic powers which she uses |
| Newsweek, has crossed over into the | | | | to foil a plot to sabotage the planet's richest and |
| mainstream, and now counts Fortune 500 | | | | most populous nation. That's right, China. |
| companies among his clientele. He calls the recent | | | | During the course of this outrageous and hilarious |
| interest in psychics "a new frontier." | | | | satire, she uses nearly every psychic trick in the |
| Television continues its tacky, exploitative ways | | | | book -- remote viewing, telepathy, channeling, |
| when it comes to portraying psychics in action. | | | | teleportation, ESP, and psychokinesis -- to achieve |
| Most of the shows now on TV involve ghosts, | | | | the impossible. No haunted houses, ghosts, or |
| haunted houses, talking to the dead, and solving | | | | talking to dead people for this psychic. |
| gruesome crimes. This is definitely out of step | | | | "I Married a Psychic" is on sale in bookstores now |
| with the realities of the psychic world, which | | | | and also online. It is due to be released in 2009 as |
| mainly includes ordinary people - overwhelmingly | | | | a trade paperback by a major sci-fi/fantasy |
| women - seeking advice on real-life issues. | | | | publisher. |