Santa Rosa Mystic Fair draws those seeking answers

Psychics, spiritual healers, palm readers and astrologers gathered for the third annual Santa Rosa Mystic Fair over the weekend, an event that - as perhaps was predicted - drew a lot of open-minded folks, the curious and even a skeptic or two.

Under one roof at the Sonoma County Veterans Building, fairgoers could have their aura photographed for $25, have their palm read for $15 or buy a $27 bag of “Hoodoo bones” from the Lucky Mojo Curio Co. to help foretell the future.

“Meridian tapping therapy” and “DNA chakra activations” that promise to “move beyond a mere human experience to a higher level of beingness” were just some of the unusual offerings, along with crystal wands used to heal and “clean out negative energy from a person, animal or space.”

The wands could be easily recharged “by placing under a full moon, or sunlight or smudged with sage.”

“It’s great to have all this in one place. You see all types of people who are open and friendly,” said Jewels Nocera, 28, of Bodega, whose partner was attracted to the healing and health-oriented aspect of the fair.

One of those friendly people was Terry Kettle, a Santa Rosa woman who is a phlebotomist by trade but learned how to read palms and do astrology 30 years ago.

“I meet a lot of interesting people. I get a lot of vibrations,” she said of the Santa Rosa fair, not much different from ones she has attended in Wyoming and Florida. “It’s like a spiritual community that comes together.”

When it comes to her customers, “I know how stressed they are, how much they worry, sleep - how much rest they get - the loves in their lives,” she said of what a person’s palm can reveal. The left hand, she said, will tell you about your past life.

She offered a free reading to an intrepid reporter who sat down at her table.

“You over-think, over-analyze things,” she said, looking at his upturned palm. “You’re also a heavy-duty worrier. You also have a temper that when you get mad, you do it very well. It is starting to mellow out.”

She added that her subject has “lots and lots of projects going on at the same time and they’re not done. You’re also burning yourself out too fast. You need to start slowing down and take a little bit of time for yourself.”

The reporter appreciated that advice and didn’t argue with what she said next about what the fate line portended:

“As far as your job or career, it might not make you rich, but it will make you happy.”

At a nearby booth, Sandy Duveau of Citrus Heights was taking pictures of people’s hands with a specialized electromagnetic camera that produced Polaroid-like images purporting to show their auras - red for stubborn, yellow for adventurous, for example.

“Those orbs are your angels watching your back,” she told one young couple.

“Don’t ask me for technicalities,” she said of how the camera works. “I don’t understand any of it.”

She said the camera has sometimes been used as a “ghost-buster,” capturing things not ordinarily seen, or even documenting the aura of animals.

“It’s predicted horse races in Florida by doing horses’ auras,” she asserted.

Perhaps among the most interesting items for sale were some from Lucky Mojo Curio.

The Forestville company has all the “paraphernalia of conjure,” from zoological curios to folkloric amulets, talismans and charms.

A bag of “Hoodoo bones” lists among its ingredients alligator tooth, abalone shell, coyote claw, rattlesnake vertebrae and raccoon penile bone.

“It’s divination. You can do it with cards, bones, dice,” explained Yose Witmus, who was manning the booth. “You need to learn how to do them.”

As opposed to Voodoo, she explained that hoodoo is mostly based on folklore with no strict rules.

Garth W., a 35-year-old Santa Rosa man who withheld his last name, came away impressed by a Reiki healer who discerned a lingering spinal injury he had as a child, without putting a finger on his back.

“It blew my mind,” he said.

And the Tarot reader “was just spot on - everything I’ve been going through, my whole life experience,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.