Summer 2005
Let Cleo Point the Way
by James Bright
Art Work by Jeremy Cardona, Colorado State University-Pueblo student
“It felt weird, you know, sitting across from some strange lady I’ve never met before, and her telling me that soon I’d find the ‘lover’ I’ve been waiting for,” said Amanda White, a Colorado State University-Pueblo junior, after her first-ever palm reading.
Around eight o’clock on a Saturday night, Amanda and I pulled into the driveway of one of the many new “psychic reading” places that have popped up in Southern Colorado. The house was an undistinguished South Side Pueblo residence: not fancy but not scary either. As we stepped out of the car, Amanda threw me a nervous glance. She had been talking about this reading for over a week and was excited to finally be having it.
Over the past several years, the popularity of psychic readings has grown. No longer is being a telephone psychic a money-making business, although some still do quite well. Today’s psychics and those seeking the advice prefer to have tête-à-tête readings. This may explain why all over the country, not just in Southern Colorado, psychics have been opening their houses to strangers for the benefit of private readings. Since the beginning of fortunetelling, psychics have used their homes (or carts, or tents, or whatever) to allow their customers a relaxing environment for readings.
When we walked up to the door of the local shop, we were not sure whether we should knock or just go in. Reluctantly Amanda took the first step into the building. The interior of the house smelt of burning wood and olive oil. The entrance was dark, but within a half minute after a bell rang announcing our presences, a small middle-aged woman walked out of a backroom and greeted us with a friendly smile.
“Hello,” she said, “and welcome to my home. I presume you’re here to receive a reading?”
Amanda smiled back and said yes. After only a few minutes of discussing payment ($20 for a twenty-minute reading) and rules, Amanda and I sat at a small round table. Cleo (not her real name) sat opposite Amanda. Cleo reached across the table and took hold of Amanda’s hand. With her left index finger she traced the lines of Amanda’s palm, the whole while making strange faces, mixed with smiles and curious glances.
When Cleo finally spoke to Amanda it was about many different things, but the overall focus of the conversation was that soon Amanda would find love, graduate from college, and find a job in a “the medical field.”
“I see,” Cleo said, “that soon you’ll be working with the ill, not necessarily as a doctor but as a helper.”
Amanda, after the reading, didn’t feel that she gained a whole lot of information from Cleo.
“I felt as though she told me things that weren’t out of this world. She pretty much told me that I would find love. The whole graduation from college thing, she probably got from the fact [that] I had a CSU-Pueblo jacket on.”
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