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COSMOPOLITAN.CO.ZA | SEPTEMBER 2019TY
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Karamo Brown, to name a few),
rumours abound about who else
has sought offscreen guidance
from the beyond. A few A-list stars
have allegedly seen psychics to
communicate with dead pets. Lili
Reinhart tweeted about wanting
a refund after a psychic told her it
would get better, but in fact, it got
worse (she never clarified what ‘it’
was). So, who are the psychics
giving celebs these readings?
Surely they’re not just pulling off
the highway at the first neon sign,
right? The whisper network is strong
in Hollywood.
At just 23 years old, Henry
is already the biggest name in
this category. He started doing
readings while still in high
school and went pro shortly after
graduating early at age 16. He
snagged his first celebrity client
- American Horror Story actress
Sarah Paulson – at just 17 and
word spread quickly from there.
He got his own show after blowing
a sceptical producer’s mind with an
eerily accurate reading.
There’s also Thomas John, who
has advised celebrities like Jennifer
Lopez, Jenna Dewan and Sam
Smith, and starred in his own series
called Seatbelt Psychic, which had
him posing as a ride-share driver
to give readings to unsuspecting
passengers. Another is Jayne
Wallace, who has read for Kate
Hudson and Kim Kardashian West.
Henry says he communicates
with spirits and enters a ‘daydream-
like state’ during readings.
‘I sometimes will get a smell,’ he
says. ‘I might hear a noise. I might
have a vision. Sometimes, I’ll
even get a physical sensation
that corresponds with how
someone died.’
You don’t have to be a celebrity
to tap the services of a celebrity
psychic, but you do have to have
a lot of patience and a lot of cash.
The waiting list for John’s $800
(about R11 800) one-hour phone
sessions is several years long. If
you need immediate guidance,
he does do emergency sessions
at $375 (about R5 560) for
15 minutes or $1 275 (about
R19 000) for an hour. Henry
still does private readings, but he
has a staggering waiting list of
more than 175 000 names. In
comparison, Wallace is accessible- her waiting list ranges from one
to four months long, depending on
the location, and she charges just
$250 (about R3 700) for a half-
hour reading in LA.
But what do you really get from
a reading with a celebrity psychic?
Do famous psychics even deign
to do readings for non-famous
people? Like, um, me? Turns
out, yes.
When it comes to fortune-telling,
I am far from a sceptic. I’ve had my
tarot cards, palms and birth chart
read. I’ve laid on a table, covered
in crystals, while a woman chanted
over me and connected with my
spirit plant (it was a living stone,
that type of succulent that looks
like a rock, and I’m still not sure
what that says about me). I’ve had
a healer beat me with herb bundles
and give me a handful of birdseed
and sequins in front of a church in
Mexico, and I’ve shaken Magic
8-Balls so hard that I thought they
might crack. But when I first get on
the phone with John, I can’t tell how
things are going. ‘Do you have
any connection with Boston?’ he
asks. I’ve been there once, on the
Chinatown bus from New York, but
I wouldn’t call that a connection.
‘No,’ I say.
‘Okay, that’s weird, because
I saw Boston,’ he says, and for
a split second, I start to wonder
if maybe this isn’t legit.
Then he moves on. ‘By the way,
they have another thing coming
through,’ he says, speaking of the
spirit guides he’s communicating
with. ‘You have a book that is
going to be turned into a movie.
Are you trying to take a book and
turn it into a movie?’ Actually, I am.
‘I get this really strongly,’ John
continues. ‘And what I’m feeling
is, this would be a movie more for
teenagers and young adults. Like,
adults may see it too, but it feels
like it’s for, like, 18-year-olds.’
I had written a young-adult
novel and started working with