Posted on 06/28/2006 4:30:33 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
SALEM — In a paranormal public hearing last night, dozens of psychics argued before a city licensing panel about what the future holds if Salem cracks down on rogue clairvoyants.
Unfortunately, no clear vision emerged from the meeting.
One side told councilors the city needs to embrace its standing as the Witch City by allowing more licensed psychics. But opponents warned that oversimplifying the process could bring predators bent on making an easy dollar, rather than ethically telling fortunes.
The debate unfolded before a hearing of the City Council's licensing committee, which is pondering tightening its regulation of Salem's fortunetelling businesses.
The city now issues licenses to four shops, which can then license five individual psychics apiece. Yet some believe their trade is being unfairly singled out.
"They don't restrict the number of pizza parlors," said Christian Day, a local witch who runs a psychic fair in October. "... I've never heard of a psychic getting pulled over by the police because they were using their intuitive talent to determine whether to go left or right," Day said, pointing out that psychics operate within the law, like any other business.
Acquiring a license means submitting to a criminal background check and paying a $25 fee. And many unlicensed soothsayers are working in the city now.
But setting up a psychic shop in Salem shouldn't be as easy as registering at City Hall, said licensed reader Cynthia Pelletier.
"If somebody wanted to open a liquor store just because they felt like it, the city wouldn't let it happen," she said.
And allowing more psychics into the city could mean an influx of readers keeping a closer eye on the bottom line than on a customer's stars, some said.
"You hold a person's life in your hands," said the Rev. Barbara Szafranski, the owner of Angelica of the Angels. "Sometimes people come to you on the verge of collapse. If you have an untrained individual doing readings, you're bringing down the city, you don't bring it up."
But licensed reader Doug Johnson said the current licenses are too restrictive — they prevent psychics from performing readings at more than one location.
And Day said there's a citywide trend to "de-witchify" Salem.
Salem police Lt. Andre Ouellette, the investigator for the Salem Licensing Board, wants police to have more authority to go after readers who aren't licensed.
"Twenty years ago, anyone could come in and read, and it was a fiasco," Ouellette said. "We had home invasions because people were fighting among themselves."
Ouellette said police often get reports from psychics being threatened by other readers, including one recent allegation where one was forced to perform a sexual act to keep his job. He said police routinely receive reports of business scams, where psychics offer to remove a curse in exchange for a hefty fee.
"Everybody wants to come to Salem to become a reader because that's the place to be," Ouellette said. "But if you open it up to 10 more, they're going to want 20."
If nothing else, the evening revealed a deep split among the city's psychics.
"What I see here is a group of people that should be in harmony, not disharmony," said Linda Weinbaum, a licensed psychic. "... We all should be sharing in the ecstasy of helping people throughout the world."
Why doesn't the city just impose an excess prophets tax
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