I walked into my appointment with Christine Wallace a skeptic.
The logical part of me has always been wary of psychics and the magical abilities they claimed to possess. For a long time, the furthest I ventured into the world of the paranormal was reading up on my astrology chart in the Co–Star app.
But there was always a part of me curious about the merits of psychic readings. Though I kept it to myself, I often wondered if truth did actually lurk behind their insights and predictions. And with a growing number of people turning to psychics for guidance and wellness coaching, I finally decided to give the experience a try.
After conducting some research on the psychics operating out of Philadelphia (there are a lot more than you would think), I stumbled upon Christine Wallace, a psychic who has dominated the business for over 30 years.
Even before she took her services public, Christine was no stranger to psychic readings. “I kind of grew up in it because my grandmother used to do this as well,” she said. And while working as a psychic wasn’t always one of Christine’s aspirations, the universe had other ideas. “I realized that I had the gift at around 12 or 13, so it wasn’t really my plan to do what I’m doing,” she told me, “but it’s a gift and you should be using it to help people.”
I scheduled a palm reading in the hopes of getting the true psychic reading experience to uncover deep truths about myself and leave me with a set of predictions for the future. As Christine puts it, “the palms are just a general overview of what’s going on in a person’s life and approximately two years into the future.”
I was ushered over to a small table draped in a red tablecloth. A crystal ball and a stack of tarot cards were arranged neatly on its surface. Christine took her seat across from me and started to wave a piece of burning sage through the space between us. “This is just to clear the air,” she tells me before setting it down.
She advised me to hold off on asking any specific questions. “I always suggest that I should start and they should save their questions for the end of the reading,” Christine said, “and usually after the reading not very many have a whole lot of questions. They usually find that their questions were answered.”
“Is it alright if I tell you anything I see, good or bad?” she asks me. After a moment of hesitation, I gave her the okay, deciding to fully embrace the reading. She took both of my hands in hers, opened my palms, and began the reading.
Studying my palms under the lamplight, she started with an assessment of my character. “I think that one of the biggest things I can do is help a person to understand how they’re being seen by another person,” Christine states.
I was shocked by the accuracy of her analysis. From my unwavering honesty to my deep–seated ambition (as it turns out, I was a leader in a past life), Christine managed to nail many of my defining characteristics. She described how certain aspects of my personality influenced my interaction with the world around me. For example, she alleged that my nurturing spirit—a result of my Virgo Sun sign and old soul—makes me a valuable support system for my friends and family, and a North Star of sorts for people in search of direction.
The insight that Christine provided into my past and present ultimately convinced me of her otherworldly abilities. Christine pinpointed hardships and triumphs I have encountered over the years, explaining the mark each left on my life. She described areas in which I have made meaningful progress while highlighting areas where there is room to grow. I have never felt more vulnerable. I remember thinking, "she knows everything about me."
The experience left me with a newfound sense of understanding. The opportunity to see my life through another’s eyes proved more helpful than I could have anticipated. “[My clients] end up having a little bit more clarity as to where they are and what they should be focusing more on,” Christine said. “I am able to point out where the problems are and say, 'you should be putting your energy in this direction instead of that direction.'”
The reading ended with Christine’s predictions for my future. Her projections ranged from general, like how the next two years are my time to start making real progress towards achieving my aspirations, and then became more specific. Allegedly, an ex–lover will try to come back into my life before the year ends, and I will meet my soulmate unexpectedly next winter.
This glimpse into what the future holds, Christine notes, is especially helpful for clients that come in looking for “any advice or guidance, or if they’re just having problems in their life on any possible front like work, career, or money and they want to know if anything is going to change or if there’s something that they can do to help make it better.”
As Christine let go of my hands and my first psychic reading came to an end, I was floored by the magic of the experience. But this reaction is not unusual amongst her clients. “They’re usually saying, ‘wow, this is so fantastic!’” Christine remarks. “People are happy, and I’m happy to see them happy. It’s a big deal to get that positive feedback that I do.”
After experiencing the power of a psychic reading, clients are often left wanting more. “They have the tendency of coming back,” Christine observes. “They come back and tell me that some of the things I predicted happened and then usually at that point they’re coming back to have a deeper reading because now they’ve really seen the validity of the readings.”
The psychic services offered by Christine and other members of her field span beyond palm readings. Many clients will opt for a full life reading that combines a traditional psychic reading with a tarot card reading, often optimal for those searching for detailed answers to specific questions about the future. Christine also offers tea leaf readings which she claims are “the most specific and the most in–depth.”
As for which one a client should choose, Christine suggests that they select a reading that aligns with their goals for the session. “They’re all accurate, they just escalate in information,” she says, “it really just depends on how much information they want to have.”
I ended up taking away a lot more from my appointment than a good story and a couple of predictions for my future. I gained a greater understanding of myself and of the avenues that I can take to improve my life. My first psychic reading changed the way I think about my relationship with the world around me.
I walked into my appointment with Christine Wallace a skeptic, but I left a believer.
