Local psychics say they talk with spirits, your dog, and see the future unfolding

The medium is the message

The idea of mediums and being able to communicate with the dead became popular in North America in 1848. The Fox sisters in Hydesvilles, New York claimed that they were able to communicate with a spirit. They said the spirit would knock on walls and furniture in response to questions they asked.

While they later confessed that they were actually the ones making these noises by cracking their knuckles and toes, the sisters had already become famous for their gift. Their work was what sparked a spiritualism craze where people believed they could communicate with their dead loved ones.

Even Canada’s longest serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, got swept up in spiritualism, declaring he could speak with his long-dead mother, Isabel, the late Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and even Leonardo da Vinci.

That craze has continued throughout time. In a recent study by Ipsos, it found that 20 per cent of Canadians have consulted a psychic and 11 per cent have been to a medium. 

Catherine Chafe, owner of Inner Light Metaphysical and Divine Connection on Kent Street in Lindsay, has been practising for more than 10 years, after a near-death experience. It was then she realized she has the gift of a psychic.

“I think everyone’s born with (the gift), it’s how your life turns, how people come in your life, and how they leave your life that plays a huge role in that trigger of acceptance. The more assured you are of who you are and your thoughts, the stronger connection you will be as a psychic or medium,” said Chafe.

Chafe is both a psychic and a medium, but not all psychics have the power of communicating with the dead. “If you’re a psychic, you can tap into mediumship and all the clairvoyance, but if you’re just a medium, you can’t.”

While many picture a psychic or medium as someone with a crystal ball or using tarot cards, Chafe said if someone is a legitimate psychic they won’t need those, and while she does have them in her reading room, it’s just for entertainment. “Most genuine psychics…just need pieces of paper to help with the organizing or calming of their thoughts once (spirits are) ready to approach because a lot of information comes forward.”

For Chafe, it’s all about energy. The spirits she connects with are able to shift what she thinks and feels, leading her to be able to communicate with them. “We can tell that somebody is speaking with us if a random thought comes into our head. And if the random thought is while we’re in solitude, that message is for us. But if we’re in the presence of somebody else, that is for them.”

While Chafe connects mainly with energy, Truly Folkes-Dubourdieu owner of Truly Medium in Lindsay, finds that her process in connecting with spirits is a little different than most mediums. Not only can she clearly see, speak, hear and feel the spirit she’s interacting with, but in some cases the spirit will actually enter her body.

Folkes-Dubourdieu starts each session with a prayer and asks for protection to keep the dark spirits out. Then, the spirit comes in, often choosing to stand near her. “I ask (the spirit) if they want to communicate through conversation, or if they want to enter my body.”

If the spirit chooses to enter her body, she will take on their mannerisms and facial expressions. She likens it to the 1990 movie Ghost. She always warns clients about this beforehand, as it can be hard for many to see. The downside for her, is in these cases she’s able to feel how the spirit died.

She only began practising 15 years ago. Folkes-Dubourdieu is a generational medium, with her mom, grandmother and grandfather all having the gift. “Most of the time when I introduce myself, I say, ‘I’m a medium. I talk to the dead,’ and people just kind of look at me for a minute, and either they’ll engage, or they won’t.” For the most part Folkes-Dubourdieu has found that people do choose to engage as they have a curiosity.

Folkes-Dubourdieu loves what she does, which is mainly helping people find comfort and work through their grief. “They’re getting to recognize that their people are still around, and they do still care about them, and they are checking in on them, even though they can’t see it for themselves.”

Folkes-Dubourdieu has also made a point to shut spirits out when she’s not in a session. The experience of communicating with them is very draining, and if she was always in contact with them it would be exhausting.

When it comes to the skeptics, Folkes-Dubourdieu points out that if someone isn’t at least open-minded, they probably aren’t going to spend money on psychic or medium services. She also noted that there simply aren’t enough hours in a day for her to realistically be Googling all the information she would need to know about each client and the person they’re trying to connect with.

“You’re not going to change a skeptic. They’ll find holes in whatever you tell them. So, for the most part, the people who are coming to see me, they’re at least curious,” she said.

Chafe has found a similar mindset in her clientele. The people who are willing to pay for this kind of service are likely going to at least be open to belief.

During my interview with Chafe, she was able to give me a bit of a reading. It’s important to note the only thing Chafe knew about me before the interview was my name, and the story I was writing. I gave her no other information about myself.

She was able to sense almost right away that someone on my mom’s side of the family had died recently; my grandfather died in August. While skeptics will argue that a quick Google search could lead a psychic or medium to know everything about them, I’ll be the first to admit Chafe said some things that left me unsettled as there was a low possibility she could have known any of it.

She was able to hear playing cards from the spirits around me, both of my mom’s parents played cards all throughout their lives. Chafe also saw my grandfather with a dog – specifically a chocolate lab. My family had to put my chocolate lab down last year. She also heard water in the background; my dad’s parents lived right on a lake.

Perhaps the thing Chafe said that swayed me more towards the idea of believing in this power was when she asked me if my grandfather was connected to royalty in any way, and she saw a figure of the Queen with him. It has been an ongoing joke in my family for years that my grandfather always claimed he met Queen Elizabeth when he was a child. No amount of Googling could have found that piece of family lore.

As for prediction, Chafe said that within the next 10 years I will move out west and obtain a food allergy at the age of 28. I’ll be happy to give an update if these things happen.

Chafe also pointed out that in her work the energy of those she’s talking to is important. “You have purples, oranges and reds, the yellows come in every now and then. You’ve learned to suppress (your feelings), and self-regulate, because when you get upset, you focus so much on the problem, rather than how to fix it. You get hurt easily,” she told me. I don’t disagree with her assessment.

Chafe has a rule to take three days off a week, given that communicating with the spirits has a physical and emotional toll. “Doing seven days a week, that’s not good. (The spirits) will strip you of your gift right away. And that does happen. My uncle and my great grandmother, they were psychics as well. And my uncle, he just lost it one day. He said the gift wasn’t there.”

Sabrina Campbell, owner of 6th SensAbilities in Lindsay, is a different kind of psychic. She communicates with animals.

Like the other psychics, Campbell believes that everyone has this ability. “I wish (everyone) knew that they all had this ability, and that the animals are here to teach us and that they are way smarter than us.”

Campbell has been doing this for the last 15 years. “A lot of the times the animals will contact me through (their owners),” she said. Oftentimes someone’s pet will give them a “weird look” which will cause the owner to search how they can better understand their animal. Often, in this area, the first result that will come up is Campbell’s services.

She believes that animals are telepathic, leading her to be able to communicate with them, even if they aren’t in the room. Even the pet someone owns says a lot about them. “A lot of the times you see those big guys with little dogs. I love that, because that says that they are gentle enough to be able to process their feelings,” said Campbell.

(Mackenzie King be lieved he could speak to his long-dead Irish Terriers, too. He had three over his lifetime, naming each one Pat. After their deaths, he held seances to communicate with them.)

While it may be the animals that get people to visit Campbell, she says most of her sessions dig deeper than simply telling people about their pets. It’s about helping people heal and learn more about themselves and their emotions.

In her sessions she hopes to be able to explain to people that everyone shares emotions, but feelings are unique. To her, if people learn that they don’t own the emotion of anger, it’s easier to let go of it.

During my time with Campbell, she was able to sense the presence of my dog, Reilly. He wasn’t in the room, and I hadn’t shown her a picture of him. She saw that he had the energy of a small dog, and despite not being a lap dog he seemed to think he was. Rielly does indeed tend to think he can fit in places that are much too small for him.

Campbell also could see that he makes funny facial expressions, which is absolutely true. I have never seen a more expressive dog in my life. “He’s super sensitive. And if an animal is sensitive with touch, then they’re sensitive with feelings as well.”

Helping others

At the end of the day Folkes-Dubourdieu is grateful for what she’s able to provide for her clients. “I’m very blessed to be able to do the work that I do. It…has been life changing for people,” she said. One client of hers had spirits telling her she should get a mammogram. She eventually did, and it turned out she had breast cancer.

It does happen on occasion that a spirit simply doesn’t appear. “There’s so much that has to happen (the spirit) ends up having to do what we call life review, and that takes time as well. And when they’re in life review, there’s no communication to the outside,” said Folkes-Dubourdieu. It isn’t as simple as someone dying and realizing they’re dead; they need time to come to terms with it.

She’s found that especially if someone died suddenly or in tragic circumstances, it could take their spirit time to process it all. As well, some of them do have unfinished business and things left unsaid that make it difficult for them to communicate.

Her hope is that through her services people can come to realize that those we lose are always with us. “Hopefully people will start to remember that they are loved, and they are protected, and they are cared for.”