Local clairvoyant discusses remote psychic readings

CLAIRVOYANT: Kelly Palmatier says she’s possessed psychic abilities since she was a small child. But only in the last 3 1/2 years has she turned her skill into a full-time profession. Photo courtesy of Palmatier

Despite social distancing, Kelly Palmatier says she can still talk to dead people. In March, the psychic shifted her business model from in-person to remote sessions, using platforms like Zoom, FaceTime and Skype.

“The spirit transcends space and time in the afterlife to reach us,” she explains. “They certainly don’t have any problems with a phone line.”

Over the last six months, however, conveying this idea to her clients hasn’t always been easy. “Not everybody understands that you can tap into energy from anywhere,” she says. “The misconception that a lot of clients have is that you can only do psychic readings in person.”

During the first month of the pandemic, Palmatier says she saw a 50% drop in sessions. Making the most of her lighter schedule, the clairvoyant learned video editing, which she now uses to promote her business. With clients’ permission, Palmatier shares two-minute excerpts from virtual readings on her YouTube channel.

“That’s been good, to help people see that remote readings are just as effective as in-person sessions,” she reports.

Inspired by the success of those initial clips, Palmatier has since launched “The Channeling White Light Show,” a whimsical variety program serving up a mix of psychic-related news, inspiration and interviews. Her first episode, which aired Sept. 2, featured a segment with Eric Bradford of Asheville GreenWorks, a local environmental nonprofit.

Meanwhile, Palmatier says she’s now back to doing about as many weekly readings, albeit remotely, as she was pre-pandemic. But these days, those clients are mostly concerned about the ongoing health and economic crises.

“People are a little more worried about what’s going on in their own lives, as opposed to reconnecting with their [deceased] loved ones,” she says. “So it’s been really nice for them to be able to get an outside perspective about what’s going on in their lives and when they can expect things to get better.”

This article is part of COVID Conversations, a series of short features based on interviews with members of our community during the coronavirus pandemic in Western North Carolina. If you or someone you know has a unique story you think should be featured in a future issue of Xpress, please let us know at news@mountainx.com.

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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.

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3 thoughts on “Local clairvoyant discusses remote psychic readings

  1. indy499

    If you are dumb enough to give a charlatan money for in person sessions, you might as well do the same for zoom sessions.

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