who is the decider of your fate?

me vs a psychic in new york city

By: Shilpa Gupta (@shilpaguptastudio)

Walking through Manhattan, I kept making eye contact with psychic signs. Advertisements placed around the city touting $20 specials. I told a friend about this and she recommended a great psychic in the West Village she has just seen. But, I love taking (stupid) chances and ended up selecting some random shop. I felt pulled by her sign on the sidewalk. And when I called the number to ask about the special, I felt a tone in her voice I recognized. It just felt familiar. Like a girl wrapped in a woman’s voice.

She gave me the address to her SoHo residence and I walked with determination. I had so many questions to ask, but it was really just one question — “What do I have to do unlock the future of my dreams?”

As I approached, a bright pink sign flashed PSYCHIC on the window. I was charmed. I scrolled up the steps and as I searched for the doorbell, the door opened. Her eye was bleeding from the inner corner. She held a tissue scrunched in her hands, periodically patting the area to clear the blood. She said she had scratched herself just a moment before.

She was beautiful in a forgotten way. Young, but weathered. Thin, with long chemically blond hair. Her teeth were assorted in a jumble. It caused her mouth to sit in a small frown. But her voice was girlish, it felt alive. Soft, but with some kind of hope.

We sat together, in her small pink room. I was less charmed inside. It felt awkward sitting across from this stranger who I’d be asking my deepest question for the universe. What a curious thing it is, to sell the service of knowing.

Crinkled in her chair before me, she asked if I wanted a palm reading, a tarot reading, or a psychic reading. I decided on tarot because I felt it would be the most clear. I love the images the tarot creates. The stories one can weave. You can go on a journey with the tarot.

Yet, as she set out my cards, which I shuffled and placed into different piles prior, she set out the most amount of tarot cards I’ve ever seen in a spread. There were some cards I recognized. Some cards I knew were powerful. But, no rhyme or reason to why she brought out that many.

She began to tell me I had a long, beautiful life ahead of me. She smiled in a sweet, small way delivering this. She didn’t go into specifics, but she said everything I’m asking for is right there. I leaned to the edge of my seat, wide-eyed, salivating over what would say next.

Then, her tone abruptly shriveled. A frown reappeared on her face. She patted the blood re-forming on her eye.

“But something, or someone, is blocking you from receiving it.”

I was silent.

“This is concerning. You need to find out what’s forming this block around you or else you won’t receive what you’re meant for.” she assertively told me.

With apprehension I asked, “So.…..what do I do?”