My 2 weeks as a telephone psychic

I was recounting to my friends on my recent trip back to Philly that when I lived there in 1997, I answered an ad to be a telephone psychic working for the Psychic Readers Network with Miss Cleo.  They encouraged me to write this blog about the adventure.

When I first moved to Philadelphia, I intended to start my healing career as a counselor and budding Reiki teacher/practitioner.  Of course, it was supposed to happen RIGHT AWAY!

As those of you who have trained with me through the Reiki Training Program, all of those transitions take time, and often, they occur on Divine time, meaning, you may have to get creative with how you earn a living before your vision ‘takes off’.

So, since I had been reading Tarot cards for friends and fun since I was a teenager, I thought, why not ‘audition’ for Ms. Cleo.

The auditions/interviews were held at an old brick house about an hour’s ride outside of the city.  The ‘waiting room’ was the living room which had curtains of purple fabric draped all around, like a genie tent on the inside.  There must have been 15 or so women sitting in the living room with me, many chatting to each other.  I was quiet, taking in the whole scene.

In many ways, this was another part of my process in ‘coming out’ or being validated as a healer.

Ms. Cleo called my name and I went into the dining room with her next door.  She handed me a deck of Tarot cards and asked me to read for her.  I don’t remember the details of the reading, but I do remember her being very sweet and encouraging and impressed by my ability to ‘tune in’.  After the reading I was ‘hired’ and given the employment paperwork and info to set up my home phone.

Over the next week, I probably had about 10 calls, but no readings! The Psychic Network had an incentive that callers could get the first 3 minutes free.  So, many of my callers at 2:45 minutes into the call would hang up.  Blah!  So much for earning a living!

The second week, there was one caller, however, who did stay on the phone with me for about half an hour.  She had problems in her relationship and in her housing circumstance.  She didn’t need a psychic to tell her what was going to happen to her, she needed resources.   I went straight into social worker mode and gave her community resources and contacts to help her out.  It cost the caller $100 or so for that call.  I made less than half of that amount.  And I was left with the feeling that it would be a better path for me to pursue being of service as a counselor and social worker than as a psychic, because I could give people the tools and resources to help them change their life rather than just dictating their fate.

After only two weeks as a telephone psychic, I went back to Ms. Cleo and thanked her for her time and for the experience.

Since then, I still read cards on occasion, and have done some parties and events where I’ve gotten paid for my ‘skills’.  But the Cleo experience reminded me of what my passion is, empowerment.  And Reiki, counseling, art, writing, and all the other areas of my life I bring to my work reflect that vision and have been helping many people ever since.

Copyright 2018 Eileen Dey Wurst