My Life Across the Table (2 page)

Introduction . . . 1
1:
My Life . . . 11
2:
Absolute Destiny . . . 23
3:
Meeting Peter Hurkos . . . 39
4:
The Socialite . . . 59
5:
The Librarian . . . 69
6:
The Fireman’s Wife . . . 83
7:
The Bookie . . . 101
8:
Blood on the Wall . . . 119
9:
A Texas Story . . . 141
10:
Unwelcome Home . . . 165
11:
The Chase . . . 189

I have been a professional psychic for more than forty years. Though I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, over the years I have been very blessed to live and work with people from almost every walk of life, and read for people from just about every country, culture, and faith. When asked what I do, I tell people that “I have the most interesting job in the world, because no two people’s lives are ever alike.”

Every time a client says, “Wow! Karen, I’ve been coming to you for readings now for over 30 years or more,” I still find it profound and amazing, and have always believed that my extraordinary psychic gifts are truly a “Gift from God.”

My work is about the lives of everyone, from deeply personal issues such as marriage, divorces and substance abuse in families and with loved ones, to helping CEO’s make corporate decisions. I have predicted many marriages, and then danced at them, and have predicted many babies, and then been blessed to become a part of their lives, too. I wouldn’t change a moment of it, because what I have shared and learned from my work is priceless.

I advise many large corporations that started with the seed of an idea when we met, and continue to guide them through their growth with large and small decisions in the ever changing environment of global business. I have worked with just about everyone, from homicide detectives in Europe, the United States and Latin America, to MP’s in London parliament. For many years I have given readings to the leaders of Japanese media, bankers in Brazil, record company presidents, world famous entertainers, high ranking politicians in the United States and abroad, housewives, rocket scientists, lawyers, contractors, movie stars, and artists.

Every single individual that has come to me holds a very special place in my heart, and I am humbled and honored to share in their lives so intimately. I feel blessed everyday by my work, helping my clients by “touching” their lives, healing their pain and opening spiritual doors they didn’t know existed.

I have had the privilege to influence tens of thousands of people, dramatically impacting their lives for the better, by guiding them through the obstacles of life, and opening their hearts and their minds, to a life so fresh with possibilities each day.

I didn’t know that my extraordinary gifts of seeing, knowing, and feeling things about everyone, and everything, were not shared, understood, or welcomed by everyone. The reality of that message was very painful, and clearly delivered to me by a group of girls I tried to fit in with, not long after entering junior high. Their cruelty was surprising to me even then. It didn’t take me very long to realize that they couldn’t possibly understand that the information I knew about people and their lives, has always been like breathing, or knowing what color my eyes are.

Whether I have met someone face to face, or have just heard their name, I have always known what was currently going on, and what was going to happen, and was born with insight into people’s lives and circumstance. In many readings there will be long term predictions of five or ten years before an event occurs. Their readings have provided very specific signposts, helping them become aware of upcoming issues or events along the way.

I grew up around my Aunt Dorothy, a spiritual reader for over 50 years, and my mother’s friend Rachel, a card reader. My child’s “gift of sight” was very clear to everyone except me. In my early teens I was introduced to the legendary psychic Peter Hurkos, who in 1964 had worked on the Boston Strangler case in Boston, and psychic and astrologer Jeane Dixon, who had famously predicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On sight they recognized and nurtured my psychic gifts, helping me grow as a person, and teaching me to trust what I saw in my readings. Over the years Peter and Jeane exhibited a deep and abiding trust in my gift, repeatedly referring many of their long term clients to me for readings. We remained good friends for the remainder of their lives.

It started out with simple things in everyday conversation, no big revelations. Then quite literally, no matter who I was talking to, I would unconsciously start giving them a reading, as my gift took over every word that came out of my mouth. I couldn’t help but notice the startled look on people’s faces after a 10 or 15-minute conversation. They would stare at me and say, “How did you know that?” I was already very shy, so freaking people out just by talking was driving me crazy. I had no idea how weird this was for people, to meet some young girl that knew intimate details about them, and spoke to them like she was living their life.

I was just being myself without realizing that whatever I was saying was completely unnerving almost every person I spoke with. I couldn’t open my mouth without predictions falling out. Whether it was about someone’s life or the world in general, I couldn’t imagine what was happening to me, and what I was supposed to “do” with all of the information I received about people?

When I was 12 I was recommended to a reader that had repeated many of the predictions I had made to a mutual friend over breakfast. She finally put a name to what was going on with me. She told me that I was a psychic, and that I would be doing “The Work.” I came to find out that “The Work” meant I would be giving readings, and that my life’s work would be in spiritual practices. I was sure she was wrong.

I had been around psychics since I took my first breath, and I thought that I knew what a psychic was. My readings were nothing like my aunt Dorothy’s, my mother’s friends, or the way my mother’s intuition was exhibited, and though I had already started giving readings, the only people I would even agree to read for were other psychics, because I absolutely refused to accept the fact that being a psychic was “God’s Plan” for me.

Shortly thereafter, my world simply fell apart. Major health, family and money issues engulfed every part of my life. Finally, I asked God if he was mad at me. The answer came through a friend when she said, “Karen, you keep asking God to show you the door. You are standing in it! Open your eyes!”

It was the beginning of my life.
Over the years I came to understand why, for so many years throughout my childhood I had simply refused to accept that I was psychic. Because my gift has always been there and it is all I have ever known, the information about other people’s lives has never come to me like a bolt out of the blue, or watching a television screen, or some other unusual out-of-the-normal experience. When a client calls for an appointment and sits across the table from me, it is as though I quietly step into their life for the duration of their reading. I have always described what a reading feels like for me as “being there” with them, in their life. I see what they see and will see, feel what they feel and will feel, and experience what they are, and will experience. I am not looking at something outside of myself. It is as though I am right beside them, seeing and experiencing what they are seeing and experiencing. In great detail I am literally seeing and feeling whatever they are going through, whether it is from the past, the present or the future of their lives.
I am forever amazed at the details that are revealed in my readings. When I see a person that my client will meet in their reading, regardless of whether it is business or personal, I will see where that person is from, what they sound like, if they have an accent or speak another language, their education level, how they dress and carry themselves, if they are married, separated or divorced. I will see if they have siblings, and how many, if they have children, and how many, and even if their parents are alive, where they live, and the nature of their familial relationships, and most important in a reading when other people appear, what is the persons intention and purpose in their life. The reason their lives are crossing paths.
I believe everyone has God given “gifts.” Some people are gifted with the ability to paint, some write, sing, and dance. Others are blessed with a talent to teach, to parent, and some to heal. Seeing, knowing, and feeling are some of mine, and recognizing my psychic “gifts,” and the responsibilities that come with them, have opened doors for spiritual growth throughout my life that I share with you in this book.
My Life Across the Table is a collection of true stories inspired by clients and experiences that have touched my life in ways I could not have dreamed possible.
This book has taken me many years to write, because every one of the stories that I have selected, represent a deeply personal experience in my life. People and experiences that have affected me profoundly, and have helped me grow spiritually, as a psychic, and as a person. Please, remember that I am human, too and although I have an innate ability to “see, know and feel” I am still awed, surprised, inspired and sometimes shocked to my very core, from my experiences.
I have found myself giving readings in every conceivable location, for my seat mate on an airplane, to a conversation in the aisle of a grocery store, but most often I give readings in my dining room. I usually sit, in what has always been referred to as “the psychic’s chair,” at a small round dining table with a continuously filled coffee mug and a bottle of water at my side. My friends and clients know this table intimately, and I consider myself very lucky that the table in my dining room can’t talk!
I share my stories with you to help bring awareness to my world as a psychic, to help demystify the false prophecies, and help you understand that we are not alone in this journey through life. There is a higher power that we can all connect with, and that resonates through all of us.
Every one of us has a purpose in this life, and a destiny to fulfill in our lifetime here on Earth. While certain parts of our lives are fated or destined, I have always believed that we are born with free-will and the opportunity to make choices, or have control over many of the issues in our lives. My purpose in this life is delivered clearly through every reading. It is to help guide my clients to a better understanding of their free-will choices, and what is destined, along their journey in life.
When I was writing My Life Across the Table my wish was for you to take away something from my deeply personal stories. I hope you learn to look at yourself, your life, your spirituality, and the world around you through different eyes, in a new light of possibilities.
Though I have changed my client’s names to protect their privacy, every one of the people, experiences and stories in this book are true, and hold a permanent place in my heart.
When I first started giving readings I didn’t realize the sheer nature of the work, nor could I have known the lifelong, emotional and spiritual impact my clients and their stories would have on my life.
These stories have taught me many lessons about life, and I carry within me a clear and certain knowing that there is a plan for every one of us. I know that without exception, every single person has a personal journey leading them to their destiny.
I wish for you to find many things in these stories. I wish for you to find the gift of an open mind, spiritual growth and self acceptance, because none of us are perfect, we are not supposed to be, so allow yourself to be human. If you are in pain, or in trouble, ask for guidance, and know with certainty that it will be available when you need it the most, and be open, because it may not come in the package you expected, but when it arrives, have gratitude and listen with your heart.
I hope you enjoy the stories I have chosen to share, and that in some small way they can convey the impact and importance of the work on a psychic’s life. I live in gratitude every day, for having been entrusted and blessed with an extraordinary gift, and the opportunity to live this amazing life.
I hope that you learn to trust your instincts, and to listen to that still, small voice that lives within us all, and that someday you will join me across the table.