Kathy’s Place
Every place possesses a particular energy, a soul symmetry that speaks to us at some fundamental level. We love the spot, hate it, feel ambivalent toward it, or sense a kindred spirit. For me, Cassadaga, Florida has that feel of I’m home, but…I could never live here.
Home: laid back, relaxing, is what it professes to be – a community of psychics and mediums –live and let live; when you walk into a bookstore and the clerk says, We’ve got readers on call…. And they don’t mean they’re going to read a book. They’re going to read you…if you are willing.
Never live here: when my printer dies, when my printer cartridge needs replacing, when I’d like to shop at a mall, when my car needs an oil change, when I yearn for a Barnes and Noble…
But. Cassadaga is always a very large BUT. And here’s why. Half an hour north of Disney World, where you can immerse yourself in a corporate view of what makes entertainment tick, Cassadaga invites you to immerse yourself in a very different sort of world, which corporate America can’t touch. Yes, there are books and websites and a lot of speculation, but in Cassadaga, no one really knows what’s going on. You drive in, park, and on a weekend, the parking is tricky. Squeeze into any space you can find. Then walk around.
But don’t walk too far. Directly across the street from the Cassadaga Hotel, next to the town post office, is where you’ll find Kathy, a psychometrist, a woman whose talent could challenge Stephen King character Johnny Smith any day of the week.
On the weekends in the Florida tourist season, there’s a wait. I’m sitting in the tiny waiting room, jotting down my questions. Rob is outside, walking the dogs around Colby Lake, named after the man who founded Cassadaga. Now and then, I stand up and look outside the window, checking to see if he is back at the car. I hope he hurries so he can take a spot in line. It’s already four PM and other people are coming in for readings.
The door to the inner part of the house opens and a blond woman steps out and sits down. She looks preoccupied, fiddles with her iPhone, then says something to me in Spanish, and quickly apologizes in English. “Oh, sorry.”
“Not a problem,” I say in Spanish, loving the fact that I get to practice my Spanish!
She’s Peruvian, has lived in Orlando for 8 years, and has been getting readings from Kathy for nearly that long. “She’s the best of the best,” the woman says. “Names, dates, events, nearly everything she has told me has happened. My youngest daughter was translating for me, now she (the daughter) gets her reading. Kathy’s a nurse, you know, so her health readings are accurate.”
Kathy is also outside the spiritual camp, just across the street, and the campers are not so happy about her somewhat garish signs. But she has been there for years and can hold her ground at the entry corner to Cassadaga. She can do it because she is good.
I explain that my daughter and I got readings from her in January and were both impressed.
Rob calls, he’s back from the lake, and I tell him he’d better get up here and take his spot. And then it’s my turn.
The setting is informal, the room is small. Kathy is a short woman with a pretty face, beautiful eyes, a quick smile, and wavy light brown hair that tumbles to her shoulders. She’s wearing jeans and an attractive sweater, and sits in a desk chair. I sit across from her. “That Peruvian woman loves you,” I tell her.
She laughs. “She’s a terrific person.” She frowns slightly. “Have I read for you before?”
“In January.”
“I see so many people, but you look familiar.”
I work my wedding ring off my finger and hand it to her. She fits my ring over her thumb, strokes it with her index finger, turns it slowly, shuts her eyes. For a few minutes, she’s quiet, then begins to speak. I jot notes rapidly. The highlights are intriguing:
“A business proposition pulls you back and forth to the west coast (California.). I see books everywhere around you. Something big here. Book writing is taking you to and from the west coast. A book is being converted to a TV movie or movie. Positive financially. It’s as if they want you to continue writing so the series doesn’t end.”
I then tell her I’m a writer.
“California happens by the end of this year. Your significant other picks up a BIG project that takes him to Chicago or somewhere in the Midwest. It comes out of the blue. So while you’re going back and forth to California, he’s flying back and forth to the Midwest. Positive for him. By mid-year next year, you and your partner purchase a property in the middle of nowhere, but near water – a creek, river, lake. I see animals playing down near the water. It’s not like a second home, it’s a refuge, a sanctuary, and it’s an older place that you fix up. It’s here you and your significant other recharge your batteries.”
After Rob’s reading, we compare notes. “The first thing she said to me,” says Rob, “is Canada. That I’m involved in a project with a Canadian (the Quebec encounters). That it’s going to be big.” He looks at me, suspicious. “Did you say something to her about Quebec?”
C’mon, I know better than that. I rarely offer any information at all. “Nope. Nothing.”
We continue to compare notes over dinner at the hotel. It’s easy to dismiss all this stuff as wishful thinking. But much of what Kathy told Megan and me in January has come to pass: the appearance on William Shatner’s show – Weird or What?; Megan’s personal life; details about my writing that she couldn’t possibly have known; details about my parents, both deceased; details about my sister. Some of the info must be interpreted. You have to make associations. So, we’ll see. The bottom line, I think, is that psychics read what’s most probable at a given moment. At any point along the way, we exercise our free will and the probability may change.
What I love about this town is the consensus reality: the dead are with us always, opening doors for us, communicating with us, helping from the other side. On Sundays, there are services at Colby Center – not your usual church service, but one in which various psychics give readings for people in the audience. A “message” service. And then there are the quirky reminders that you’re in a town where the norm is totally different than what lies beyond the city limits:
PS While in Cassadaga, I bought a t-shirt with these words on the front of it: Cassadaga, Florida, Home of the Happy Medium. It’s the same violet shade of one set of sheets for our bed. When we returned from the weekend, I removed the cases from the pillows we had taken with us and washed them, along with the new t-shirt. So yesterday morning, I wake up way too early and pull a pillow against me and see those words. I bolt upright, shocked that the t-shirt I bought is being used as pillowcase.
Rob must have put it on the pillow before he’d gone to bed – same color as the sheets, right? – but the next day when I mention it, he swears he didn’t do it and says that I did. But I only washed the pillowcases and t-shirt and I definitely didn’t put a t-shirt on a pillow! We write this off to high strangeness, the same high strangeness that has disappeared a $100 bill, socks, car keys…well, you know, all the stuff that has vanished into a quantum black hole over the years.
But really, a t-shirt as a pillowcase?
Did you search the meaning and interpretion for the symbols “pillow” and “case”?
That might offer you some insights. Even though it wasn’t a dreamed event, the genuine dream symbol texts often give great info into symbols that we may not think to check out and consider. Remember, too, that one word can be a”pun” for another word, or that the Oxford definition of a word may not resemble the symbolic relevance of that same word. And, think about it this way as well: what does “pillow” mean to you? What does “case” mean to you? What does “covering” mean to you? Lots of ways to approach this and see what your intuition whispers.
Thanks for the tips, Math! I’ll see what occurs!!
Wow. I wonder if the t-shirt is a reminder to watch for synchos leading to the California gig. Maybe something that would serve as a “happy medium” to something you desire? Seriously. A tee shirt as a pillow case??
I know, a t-shirt as a pillowcase. Very weird.
Great! Happy for both!
Your pillow case story reminds me of an incident in a previous house,during a time a friend came to look after me when I was ill. We had both stayed in all day,no visitors. My friend was in a single bed in a room across the landing from mine.We went up together & both entered our rooms opposite each other. Genuinely shocked I heard her shout “What the *uck! I went in & there on her bed was a bright yellow star shaped velvet cushion,it was a gift from my daughter and had 2 arms with hands on two of its star points. It had not been there before,it had been across the room on top of a pile of things for some weeks. It was layed on her pillow arms oustretched with the sheet tucked up to the arms! I hadnt done it,she hadnt done it,we had been alone all day! Synchronistically the boy next door told us next day the cottages were haunted,they heard stuff their side. We had not told him about the incident!
Weird story, Jane!
OOPs, a P.S. Gyps, How could I possibly have overlooked “Duckie”, the forensic pathologist in NCIS, who has coversations with his dead people; or the late agent Kate, who appeared to each member of the team as they searched for her killer. Great show, guys. A crime drama with a lot of quirky twists and turns, and very very relevant to the actual characters in our world today: Bin Laden, the wars,terrorists, Obama, etc. Well worth watching.
Oh my lord cousin J! I NEVER watch TV unless I’m out of books, and even then will go to my book closet and look thru old ones to see if I’m pulled to re-read again. But EXACTLY like you, I spend an entire day or weekend watching NCIS marathons, and of course the new season as well as all the old re-runs! Did you see Jamie Lee Curtis with Gibbs in this new season? Whew! I had to turn on the air conditioner! What I love about THAT part of the show is that it’s all so natural and accepatable and never offensive or overt like it is in soap operas. Lots is left to the imagination, leaving us wanting more. Abby’s quirkiness is a trip; Gibbs’ fatherly tenderness for her is so touching. Tony’s womanaizing is a great balance for his genuine gift as an agent. Ziva is mysterious and intriguing and fun. And McGee….what a sweetheart that we want to hug! The dynamics between the entire team is an underlying love and protectiveness they have for each other that only is expressed in dangerous situations. I never, ever tire of watching it. And, certainly, Mark Harmon gets better with age. You’re right, cousin.Here we are again! Sorry to get off-topic, gang. Just had to gab about this favorite (and only) TV series to which I am obsessively dedicated!
exactly! 🙂
Re:
“It’s not like a second home, it’s a refuge, a sanctuary, and it’s an older place that you fix up”.
Wow,that sounds like a very short plot summery of the Jonathan Franzen novel “Freedom” that I finished reading about a week ago.
It’s a good book,but I can see how just as many people hate it,as well.
And I hope the psychic is right about your good fortune.
Maybe the Charles /UFO story might be it ?
Doesn’t Whitley Strieber live in California,maybe he has a hand in your success with this story?
Only speculating.But if it is truly out of the blue,then you probably wouldn’t even know about it yet I guess.Maybe it’s the next story forming in your head that’s the big break? Keep that pen and paper handy.-)
OK, now I’ve got to get his novel.
I hope the psychic is right, too. Next time I see her, I intend to ask if she has ever worked with cops. She would be good, I think, reading a crime scene.
I’ve got to warn you though that it is not the happiest of novels…nor the saddest,but being a writer Trish,I think you will appreciate the way Franzen tells the story like a psychiatric analysis of the motives of each of the main characters.
So,you understand what drives them to act the way they do in almost a Freudian kind of way.
Cassadaga looks and sounds very similiar to Lily Dale. I’ve been there twice and loved the community. I’ve not had very good luck in being read by the two psychics I have seen in the past. One flat out told me she couldn’t read me and the other said nothing that connected. You are lucky to have had such a great reading!
Lilydale is on my bucket list.
I’ve heard from other friends that psychics can’t read them. But this woman was truly good, exceptional.
After posting it was bugging why Cassadaga sounded so familiar. I googled it and found on wiki that there is a Cassadaga, New York and is south of and immediately adjacent to Lily Dale! No wonder it sounded so familiar because I’ve been there. Synchro! Now next time I visit Lily Dale I hope there is a Kathy.
It’s my understanding that they are sister communities – the only two places of this kind in the U.S. I hope you find a Kathy, too!
I bought this HBO doco from Amazon called
“Nobody Dies in Lily Dale”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jquQCesQ-yI
And while the lady in the pink room looks the real deal,I have doubts about just how good the rest of them are.I still wouldn’t mind a visit to Lily Dale though,but my expectations wouldn’t be too high I have to say.
Since I’ve never been to Lilydale, I can’t vouch for anyone there. But I can vouch for Kathy in Cassadaga for Helen, a medium friend who lives there. We’ve gotten ridiculous readings in Cassadaga…nothing resonated, nothing happened. But oer the years, there have been enough good readings to keep pulling us back. In the eaerly 70s, my first trip there, I had a reading with a quadriplegic named Wilbur Hull. Another psychometrist. He blew me out of the water.
The only real reading I had was from a palm reader I knew.
His name is Andrew Fitzherbert and he had a book out on palm reading (which might be a bit hard to get your hand…or should I say palm on now…it’s probably out of print) called
“Hand Psychology: A New Insight into Solving Your Problems ”
https://www.amazon.com/Hand-Psychology-Insight-Solving-Problems/dp/0895294079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335069251&sr=1-1”
He was good,and since we only knew each other socially he couldn’t have known the information he supplied in the reading about me.It’s been about 20 years since I last saw him (he is in jail on a murder charge that I would bet my life on that he didn’t commit) and he did say we wouldn’t be seeing each other for quite some time and that in my later life I was going to come into a small fortune through a book or something like that.So I hope he was right about that,because he was dead on about just about everything else he told me in that hour session.I wish I still had the cassette tape of it,but it has either been misplaced or thrown out,unfortunately.
For those into murder stories you couldn’t get a much better real life case to try and solve yourself than this book;
“Five Drops of Blood: Murder in the Cat Protection Society” by Paul Wilson
https://ebookee.org/Five-Drops-of-Blood-Murder-in-the-Cat-Protection-Society-Audiobook-_1484573.html
It’s all about the case he was tried and jailed for.He was the first person in Queensland to be sent to jail on DNA evidence alone…which may give you some idea of the farce that this book uncovers.
If you read it,I would be interested to know which suspect in the book you think did it.
It’s really not that hard.-)
Well, I did write a novel, my first, called CRYSTAL SKULL, and it was my credentials when I went to work for LucasFilm on the Indiana Jones novels. But my version involves the reunion of two ancient crystal skulls and the resulting consequences. There were lots of synchronicities with real life crystal skulls when I wrote it. And then…onto Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
well i can’t keep up with you two and your fab works, either! i’d need a personal assistant and a team of horses and/or camels! 😉
Can’t wait to see your poems in the literary magazine!!
nor can i – thanks so much for mentioning!
Am thrilled for you!!
Is your “Crystal Skull” novel in print? I really want to read it!
As for Cassadega, I wish I had known about it when I lived in Atlanta, because I would’ve roadtripped for that! I had read about Lily Dale in a book by Christine Wicker and wanted to do a vacation there someday. Too many places to see, not enough money to see them all!
Ahhhh. I thought The Crystal Skull was one of Rob’s, and The Last Crusade. Either way, his Indy stories are great! As are your stories! The characters literally come alive and become part of our experience. Love it. Nica, especially, and of course Mira, whom I miss! We get so attached to these protagonists and then the series ends. Bummer. I have an on-going relationship with the TV series NCIS character, Gibbs. (Mark Harmon.) I understand it’s the #1 drama on TV, and I can see why. Gibbs and his group are powerful entities, each in his or her own role, and it’s just a good way to relax and enjoy leisure time. I like the “Gibb’s “head-smacks”, and at the end when he often goes off-camera with that wicked little smile. OK. I’m done. Yep. I do like the guy!
Ah, don’t we wish! It’s not that the series end, but that we change publishers, who don’t want an ongoing series, they want something new. Go figure. Haven’t seen that TV show, Math. Will have to check it out!
alright, cousin – now still another thing! ncis! i nearly fell out of my chair when i read this because i know we’ve never ever spoken of it and ncis just happens to be my one and only series of that sort that i watch – and i watch it for the depth of characterization of each of them – it’s informative and not too dreary – my fave grandson and i quit whatever we’re doing when that show comes on and we’re together – when i was last in louisiana we did day after day of ncis marathons!
and i can’t even get started on NICA!!! 😉
I also love your visits to Cassaga and would not want to live there. I used to get annual life readings for my birthday but my friend moved out of the country.
I’m thrilled she saw you surrounded by books to continue the series! And the sanctuary somewhere to recharge has a lovely feel. But the t-shirt pillow case, while fun, would have freaked me out as high strangeness contact that was a bit too close for comfort.
At the time I saw the t-shirt on the pillow, I figured Rob had put it on in the dark. If I’d known otherwise when I found it, I probably would’ve freaked. A trickster is afoot.
momwithwings, the MacGregors ALREADY have films from books! 🙂 Rob penned several of the Indiana Jones stories, several of which became Indiana Jones films!
I know there are some of the folks here who are relatively new friends of these two, so have no way of knowing their literary successes go ‘way back, including prestigious awards given to both for various efforts. A few of their older books are difficult to locate but are well worth the search. Trish’s Tango Key series is especially fantastic, (for me!) and she won the Edgar award for one of her earlier time travel novels that was superb!!! We’re all so fortunate to have them as the creators of this terrific blog that has served us well as a gathering place; a space where we are able to share thoughts and experiences with like-minded individuals and toss around ideas and speculations and thoughts on virtually all matters. OK, Macgregors…this has been your “publicity page” for the day! You are appreciated!!
Math – thanks for the publicity plug! But none of rob’s indy books became films. Last Crusade was a novelization of the film. Wishing your version of reality were true, though!
I’d love to visit this town…it would be fun to spend time in a place where I didn’t feel like I was the only odd one! The reading sounds like wonderful things are unfolding for you both…you must be feeling so excited about the possibilities!
When you’re there and glance around at all the people coming into town for readings, it’s liberating to know you aren’t the only weirdo!!!
like everyone else, i so love the cassadaga stories and want to jump in my car and head south every time i read one – course, most days i want to do that anyway, but more so with these terrific tales – love all the possibilities/probabilities coming ya’lls way! your terrifically detailed stories of cassadaga and its inhabitants allow us to feel – almost – as if we are there in those moments, as well – now, about the violet tee shirt on the pillow…..perhaps one of your spirit friends having a little fun!
That spirit friend theory: that would explain it, all right.
I have got to visit. every time you write about it I want to jump on a plane!
It is about time one of your books gets considered for a movie!! So exciting! But, I agree with Djan, please don’t stop the blog. It is my connection with sanity and people of like minds!!
It’s our connection with like-minded people, too!
Lovely post, and such a great reading! Made me long to visit Lilydale in New York again, Cassadega’s counterpart.
Have never been to lilydale, but would love that trip!
Love your stories and experiences of Cassadaga, it sounds a wonderful place to visit (one day perhaps!) Looks like it’s going to be a great year for you both, that’s good news. That’s life though, it can change dramatically for the better at any moment – if, that is, we do what we love.
Doing what you love: I can’t imagine it any other way.
Oh, I loved this post. I’ve been to some mediums before, a long time ago, and I know that the good ones get it right. Hope you still write your blog once you both get so famous and are traveling all the time. I so appreciate your take on the world.