Clues from the unseen side

By Greg Guma | Vermont Guardian

Posted July 1, 2005

The change began in 1978, said psychic and astrologer Shelley Ackerman. That was the year an astronomer discovered Charon, an asteroid orbiting Pluto and named after the mythological ferryman who carried the dead across the River Styx. For those who value astrological signs, it is associated with holistic healing, particularly new discoveries in health and medicine. For Ackerman, it explains the current surge of interest in mediums and other occult topics.

Ackerman was in Burlington last week as part of Court TV’s support for the Green Mountain Chew Chew, an annual food festival held on the waterfront. As people lined up for psychic readings in a tent promoting the channel’s popular Psychic Detectives series, she and MaryLee Trettenero took a break to explain the show’s popularity and how psychics operate.

On the program, which also airs on NBC, case studies generally feature crimes where the police have reached a dead end. At that point, like a patient who has run out of conventional medical options, the cops turn to a medium who potentially can uncover clues by looking at photos, holding items of the victim’s clothing, or using tools like astrology and tarot cards.

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