PA News: Psychic’s business booming in tough economy

**Valigarmander** · 02-08-2009, 03:31 PM

Source: CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The housing crisis will deepen, the country could fall into a depression and laid-off workers may need to start their own business.

If this sounds like the advice of a financial planner or an economist, think again. It's a reading from psychic medium Roxanne Usleman.

As the economy tanks, Usleman's business is booming.

"It's more types of people I have never seen before," says Usleman. "Men in the business world, high-powered jobs, stock market, Wall Street."

Since last fall, she says she began to see a new type of client -- a "logical, [A-type] of personality." Many of them are "just completely lost," says Usleman.

Relationship advice, typically the bread and butter of the psychic business, has been supplanted by something new.

"Should I merge with this company? Should I bring in a partner to my company," are the kind of questions Usleman gets from her clients.

This is not the fortune teller of popular imagination. Wearing a Diane Von Furstenberg dress, Usleman met with CNN at her sparse but tasteful office in midtown Manhattan. There was no crystal ball in sight when she gave a personal reading on the economy.

For a typical reading, she grips a client's photograph or set of keys and consults "the angels."

Business is good, she says. Usleman sees five or six clients a day and charges up to $135 a pop for sessions that usually last more than an hour.

Businessman Bruce Levy was skeptical at first but one of his clients pushed him to get a reading.

"What I expected was something like Ouija boards and someone looking at my palm and seeing my lifeline," says Levy.

Instead, he found a psychic who he says helped him find the answers.

"She helps me make better decisions," Levy says. "She is able to make me see things that I wouldn't otherwise see. I just think that she has this intuition that gets through to my subconscious in a way that I can't."

There are no national statistics on the business of psychics. But Usleman's experience is backed up by anecdotal evidence from other psychics around the country. Liveperson.com matches psychics with customers on its Web site and says the uncertain economy has been good for business. Some psychics charge up to $20 a minute for advice.

Many people simply feel like they have to do something, according to Professor Gita Johar at Columbia Business School in New York.

"The biggest reason people are going to see psychics is probably that they want to feel in control," says Johar, who studies consumer behavior.

"And when they see that their financials aren't looking so good and they really can't turn to their financial adviser -- they haven't been getting really good advice and so they have to turn to someone else."

Are people taking control or just wasting money?

Financial adviser Ryan Mack says adding the cost of a psychic reading into an already stretched budget is not a good investment.

"Regardless of what the stars say, regardless of what the map says in terms of -- if Pluto is lined up with Mars," says Mack. "You have the ability within yourself to save, to plan and to be diligent."

Metal Man · 03-08-2009, 05:09 AM

Corresponds perfectly to the Anthropological hypothesis that, the more uncertain success is, the more likely the people involved in whatever is goin' on turn to magic.
Psychic-reliant superstition isn't for me, though. My form of superstition is purely related to "The will of the coin/die" which, in my universe, is stronger than any Psychic.

I call it "The unstoppable randomness of reality."

02-08-2009, 03:31 PM	#1
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	PA News: Psychic’s business booming in tough economy Source: CNN.com NEW YORK (CNN) -- The housing crisis will deepen, the country could fall into a depression and laid-off workers may need to start their own business. If this sounds like the advice of a financial planner or an economist, think again. It's a reading from psychic medium Roxanne Usleman. As the economy tanks, Usleman's business is booming. "It's more types of people I have never seen before," says Usleman. "Men in the business world, high-powered jobs, stock market, Wall Street." Since last fall, she says she began to see a new type of client -- a "logical, [A-type] of personality." Many of them are "just completely lost," says Usleman. Relationship advice, typically the bread and butter of the psychic business, has been supplanted by something new. "Should I merge with this company? Should I bring in a partner to my company," are the kind of questions Usleman gets from her clients. This is not the fortune teller of popular imagination. Wearing a Diane Von Furstenberg dress, Usleman met with CNN at her sparse but tasteful office in midtown Manhattan. There was no crystal ball in sight when she gave a personal reading on the economy. For a typical reading, she grips a client's photograph or set of keys and consults "the angels." Business is good, she says. Usleman sees five or six clients a day and charges up to $135 a pop for sessions that usually last more than an hour. Businessman Bruce Levy was skeptical at first but one of his clients pushed him to get a reading. "What I expected was something like Ouija boards and someone looking at my palm and seeing my lifeline," says Levy. Instead, he found a psychic who he says helped him find the answers. "She helps me make better decisions," Levy says. "She is able to make me see things that I wouldn't otherwise see. I just think that she has this intuition that gets through to my subconscious in a way that I can't." There are no national statistics on the business of psychics. But Usleman's experience is backed up by anecdotal evidence from other psychics around the country. Liveperson.com matches psychics with customers on its Web site and says the uncertain economy has been good for business. Some psychics charge up to $20 a minute for advice. Many people simply feel like they have to do something, according to Professor Gita Johar at Columbia Business School in New York. "The biggest reason people are going to see psychics is probably that they want to feel in control," says Johar, who studies consumer behavior. "And when they see that their financials aren't looking so good and they really can't turn to their financial adviser -- they haven't been getting really good advice and so they have to turn to someone else." Are people taking control or just wasting money? Financial adviser Ryan Mack says adding the cost of a psychic reading into an already stretched budget is not a good investment. "Regardless of what the stars say, regardless of what the map says in terms of -- if Pluto is lined up with Mars," says Mack. "You have the ability within yourself to save, to plan and to be diligent."

03-08-2009, 05:09 AM	#2
Metal Man Fairy-Slaying Maniac Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: 1592 Miles Away From Here Gender: Posts: 18,062 Thanks: 148 Thanked 683 Times in 482 Posts	Corresponds perfectly to the Anthropological hypothesis that, the more uncertain success is, the more likely the people involved in whatever is goin' on turn to magic. Psychic-reliant superstition isn't for me, though. My form of superstition is purely related to "The will of the coin/die" which, in my universe, is stronger than any Psychic. I call it "The unstoppable randomness of reality."