It's in your future
... to check out this guide to psychics in Fort Myers
BY ELLA NAYOR enayor@florida-weekly.com
You may be looking for answers to

age-old questions of life and meaning, or you may want to communicate with a deceased parent, looking for advice on a career or romantic decision.

Or, you may just want to find out why an old beau jilted you for another.

Either way, if you're looking for guidance in our secular world, we've found some people who can give you that compass you're looking for.

In luxury-oriented Fort Myers, where people depend on their upscale hairdressers for instant beauty and plastic surgeons for the fountain of youth, psychics and mediums have carved out their own special niche for guidance.

And for some, visiting regularly with a medium is as close as some folks get to getting in touch with their spiritual side.

Smart people - real estate moguls, bank presidents and the like frequently enlist the help of area seers to guide them through the murkier times in their careers.

Some of them even count mystics for advice on which way the market will go. But it's the overall uncertainty in the world that seems to be making psychics and other spiritual healers more desirable than ever before.

Zachary Vandyne

"There has been a big awakening here," said Marlene Cleckner, owner of the Masters of Healing and Light Center in Fort Myers.

Cleckner who is a licensed massage and Reiki therapist said that there is a shift in thinking which is more in favor of psychics and other readers.

At one time clairvoyants, psychics and such did not hold such a favorable seat in the community.

In the past five to six years Cleckner said she has seen a huge increase in the traffic to meet with readers or other spiritual practitioners.

There used to be wariness and discomfort about seeing any kind of spiritual healer. It was such taboo in some cases that local spiritual mainstays like Planet Earth in Fort Myers used to stay open by veiling itself as a bookstore, said present-day owner Joey Carver. The business has been around for nearly 30 years.

But exposure in the media to TV shows such as "Medium," coupled with increasingly stressed out people, is drawing more customers to readers and healers, Cleckner said.

Ernestine Cline

"It's made a whopping change," she said. "The awareness has grown."

A recent Gallup survey shows that just about three in four Americans hold some paranormal belief - in at least one of the following: extra sensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, ghosts, mental telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology, communicating with the dead, witches, reincarnation, and channeling. At the time of the poll, there were no significant differences in belief by age, gender, education, or region of the country.

It is the current uncertainty of the world and increase of life stresses that make the services of psychics and spiritual healers more attractive than years before.

"The world feels like its spinning out of control," said real estate agent Sharon Robinson. "The readers help us understand it better."

Robinson sings the praises of Cleckner whom she has been seeing for massage therapy since 1994. She added that seeing a spiritual healer helps her to stay in tune with her body.

Marlene Cleckner

"It keeps you in balance," she said.

Meanwhile others like the unique help they feel they get from a psychic compared to clinical therapists. Linda Heiligen sees Fort Myers psychic Barbara Havens when she needs insight about a career move.

"You get truthful answers," she said. "She zeroes in on the problem right away."

Heiligen trusts Havens in a way a parishioner tends to look towards a priest or minister.

And though the professional community is more on board with using mystics for help: still their message seems to remain "buyer beware."

"I am not going to say there is no such thing as a psychic," said Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat who represents Fort Myers. "I don't know. But the buyer should definitely beware."

Aronberg, 36, is no stranger to the mystical world. In 2002, as an assistant attorney general, he deposed the well known TV psychic Miss Cleo. The woman who posed as a world class Shaman psychic would lure people to call into the show for help. But instead callers got connected with telemarketers who would read from a script - bilking vulnerable people of their cash.

The politician has had his own brushes with the psychic world. For kicks during a festival in Delray Beach, Aronberg plunked down $10 to palm reader. She told the outgoing and polished orator that he was shy and mathemically inclined.

"Everything she said was completely wrong," he said.

But Aronberg also believes that if kept in perspective, there is nothing wrong with checking out a mystical reader.

"Treat it like an entertainment expense, like you would if you go to the movies," he said.

Rose Thorn, a Fort Myers psychologist, is pretty open to the idea of psychics as long as the client is not depending on them to solve their problems. She said she believes most good psychics like clinicians have strong intuition and an ability to look into the inner workings of others.

But a good psychic like a good clinician will help someone help themselves.

"The ultimate wisdom is inside one's own understanding," Thorn said.

But for some people who want to reach this wisdom, psychics and healers is the way to go. And whether a client chooses an astrologer, palmist or Tarot card reader a certain amount of faith is required with each practitioner.

The people who follow use a variety of methods to provide guidance to their clients. Don't worry if you're not 100 percent convinced (who's that sure of anything anyway). Besides, it's really just another point of view. Have fun.

Zachary Vandyne

Palm reader

The 24-year-old is an old soul in a young body. His sing song voice seems to break into melody as he shows clients what he sees in their palms. Without any formal training, Vandyne can uncover secrets locked in the tiny grooves of our hands. He considers himself a natural mystic.

"I look at what the palms tell me," he said.

Vandyne spends most of his time in India where he practices his arts which include palmistry and Tarot cards.

>>Philosophy: "I just keep trying to empower people," he said.

>>Cost: Vandyne can be contacted at Planet Earth in Fort Myers. Costs are typically $100 per hour.

Joey Carver

Tarot reader

Tarot cards is a tool for helping people get guidance. Carver urges people to understand that freewill overrides any prediction by the cards.

"What is picked by a reader is not set," he said.

The cards are considered popular because they are something tangible to see. But like anything else it's still a tool.

>>Philosophy: "It's good for brainstorming," Carver said. >>Cost: Contact Carver at 939-3969

Sophia Prescott

Astrology

Sophia Prescott can know more about you than your own mother just by asking the stars. Astrology has been used by royalty for thousands of years to predict events.

The woman with a light German accent scrutinizes natal or birth charts and planetary movements in order to understand why a person is conflicted in their marriage or facing opposition in achieving career goals.

>>Philosophy: "Astrology can tell you right away what you need to do to be put on the right track," she said.

>>What to expect: Some time giving Prescott information about your self, including date and exact time of birth. She will analyze energies present at the time of first breath and discover any insecurities, potential, skills and personality traits.

>>Cost: $80 a natal chart. Services are performed At Planet Earth in Fort Myers. For more information, check out the Web site at www.planetearthcenter.com.

Glenn Klausner

Psychic medium

Communicating with the departed is as natural as chatting with a friend over coffee for Glenn Klausner. The soft-spoken man has professionally been helping the living connect with the dead for 12 years.

"It was a calling," he said. "I've had the gift all my life."

Klausner works to relax clients with his easy smile and disarming banter. He conducts readings in person or via the phone.

"The spirit is omnipotent," he said. "There is no limit to time and space. It doesn't matter how far away the spirit is, its still going to make the connection." Klausner who has been rated as a top medium on BestPsychicMediums.com is compassionate towards his clients and reminds them that spirits can be helpful guides but cannot solve an individual's earthly problems.

Glenn has a weekly radio show on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. at www.contacttalkradio.com.

>>Philosophy: "Be open-minded and positive," he said. "Don't be negative. Spirits do not know anything but pure love on the other side."

>>Cost: Klausner charges a flat rate of $350 per hour. He can be contacted for an appointment at 437-0007.

Ernestine Cline

Angel reader

Cline, a svelte older woman with a sweet southern accent, gives readings in a soothing, cozy room at the Masters of Healing and Light Center in Fort Myers. Filled with totems of angels and calming scents, the center implores one to relax and let Cline find any angels or guides surrounding you. During readings, Cline can also detect evidence of past lives. After getting a vision she sweeps broad colors across a canvas or sheet of paper and creates a picture of the angels or past lives.

She also makes soul portraits, which can illuminate a person's energies and auras or colors.

"They can identify past experiences that leave a mark on the present," she said.

>>Philosophy: "It's very healing," she said. "It helps explain each life." >>Cost: Contact Cline at 481-0193.

Dolores Inkenbrandt

Aura photographer

Dolores Inkenbrandt uses a specialized camera to captures the color images of a person's aura. The Kirlian camera incorporates a person's aura or electromagnetic vibrations with biofeedback to measure the one-of-a kind signature of a person's mental, physical and emotional well being.

The photography shows the past, present and future. After the pictures are done, some folks have been known to recognize images from their past. The sensitive equipment can give a client a quick snapshot of their emotional difficulties or hang-ups.

Inkenbrandt wants people to learn about how they can help themselves heal.

>>Philosophy: "I interpret something that I believe the camera to be saying," she said.

>>Cost: An aura photo and interpretation costs $25. For more information, call 939-3201.

Marlene Cleckner

Pendulum reading

Cleckner who has owned the Masters of Light and Healing Center in Fort Myers for 15 years knows a thing or two about helping people feel better. Typically she lays hands on clients and performs the Japanese art of Reiki. This helps balance people's chakras or energies.

But aside from her massage therapy Cleckner also works with pendulums to help find out what's going on in someone's life.

For it to work correctly a person must fist bond with the pendulum.

The pendulum is just another tool to get to the path.

"Not everybody's drawn to the same thing," Cleckner said.

>>Philosophy: "It gives answers," she said. "Energies go through the pendulum."

>>Cost: For fees and to make an appointment, call Cleckner at 939-3201.

Barbara Havens

Psychic reader

Havens has worked since 1984 to help people see and understand what's going on in their lives. She has a long list of faithful clients who come regularly to her Fort Myers home for readings. Her low calming voice resonates a sense of wisdom.

During readings she often gets a flash of pictures in her head.

She considers herself successful when clients understand what she sees or "get it."

"That's when I get jazzed," she said.

>>Philosophy: "Hopefully they will walk away with a peace of mind they didn't have before," she said.

>>Cost: For prices and to set up an appointment with Havens, call 590-3079.

- For more information on psychics go to

www.bestpsychicdirectory.com.