THE VILLAGES -- An aura of energy surrounds everyone's heads, telling them what life has in store. So says Janet Carr, an aura photographer whose pictures show people as if they had colorful Afro hairstyles.
To demonstrate, Carr took a photograph of Sally Hoffman using her special camera hooked up to a computer at Saturday's Psychic Fair.
Hoffman was one of hundreds of people -- mostly residents of this sprawling retirement community -- who lined up at the Mulberry Grove Center to consult tarot readers, astrologists, iridologists, channelers who communicate with the dead, and foot massagers. The event was sponsored by the Parapsychology Club of The Villages.
Hoffman has a close family member who is seriously ill and wanted to know if she would soon get better.
Her photograph from Carr showed a large yellow-orange bubble floating around her head. That was Hoffman's aura and those colors meant she is a cheerful person full of loving energy and sunshine, Carr told Hoffman.
"It means when you walk into a room, you brighten it up," Carr said. The green colors around Hoffman's face mean "there's some healing going on."
Hoffman didn't take Carr's words very seriously, but she said it was an "uplifting message" she needed to hear.
"It's a blast, if nothing else," Hoffman said. "You can't live your life by what they tell you. But it satisfies my curiosity."
That was the point of the event, said Ina Anderson, of The Parapsychology Club of The Villages.
Parapsychology, alternative therapies and matters of the psychic world have grown increasingly popular among seniors in recent years, Anderson said. In the past year, she has seen her club's numbers climb to 155 members.
"I think people -- seniors -- are less hesitant today to say they're interested in this," she said. "They are at a point in their lives where they can finally say 'I'm going to do it and I don't care what anyone else thinks.' "
Most consultations on Saturday lasted 15 to 20 minutes and cost about $1 a minute.
But it was not only about wanting to know what the future holds.
Violet Castle, for example, broke each of her arms about six years ago and has been in almost constant pain since.
On Saturday, the 87-year-old Villages resident consulted Elaine Carpenter, a Reiki practitioner. Reiki is a combination of Asian healing concepts in which practitioners place their hands just above a client's body and use hand movements to direct and clear the body's energy.
"I'm the middle person between the Lord and the client," Carpenter said.
When Carpenter finished, Castle said she felt "very relaxed."
Ann Westin hypnotized participants to help them tap into their subconscious minds and rid themselves of phobias, anxieties and bad habits such as smoking.
Patricia Yoder, an acupuncturist, pointed a laser at a person's hands to check various meridian levels. A meridian, Yoder said, is a sort of energy force within every being. If those levels are unbalanced, it can lead to various complications, Yoder said. For example, if your gall bladder meridian energy is deficient, you can have eye disorders, chills and insomnia, according to Yoder.
"Who's to say this stuff doesn't work?" said Jim Baldwin, as he stood in line waiting to enter the event.
"If you believe in it, and it gives you some peace of mind, then why not?"
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