It starts with uncertainty.
What does the future hold for me?
A question with answers that can come from many sources, both conventional and unconventional. To answer this, sometimes one must go past what is explained by science and what is seen with the naked eye.
You go to a psychic.
Though there are several in Corvallis, one stands out from the rest.
Her name is Susan Stark. She claims to offer insight through her abilities, as well as her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and master’s in Organizational Behavior, which combine a psychic aptitude with a more traditional means of education.
Stark doesn’t claim to hold all the answers on how being a psychic intuitive works. Yet, is still adamant about using her talents for the benefit of others.
“My desire is always to help people feel whole (and) get to experience the fullness of their lives,” Stark said.
What defines a psychic is a complicated topic, but is generally described as someone who has extrasensory perception, commonly known as a “sixth sense.”
For Stark, she recognized this sixth sense at a young age. “When I was in elementary school, I had what seemed like imaginary friends. I spent a lot of time with them, interacting with them. … I would now maybe describe them differently. I’d say they were beings or guides.”
Stark was able to sense energies around her that others could not. She now calls those experiences an “early psychic awakening.”
“In third grade, I got a report card that said how ‘wonderful Susan is’ but that she ‘spends too much time looking out the window,’” Stark said. “When that happened, I didn’t like that. So I stopped paying attention to the beings out the window.”
After that, it took until Stark’s mid-twenties to reconnect with her psychic intuitiveness.
“I had a pretty good life,” Stark said. “We were living in Berkeley, but something was missing. Someone gave me a reading. … That was the moment I realized there was more for me to do in this life in terms of helping people connect with themselves beyond their five senses.”
Stark’s psychic intuition can draw a number of questions, which might begin at the source. Where do these psychic abilities come from?
“My maternal grandfather was very religious and spiritual, through his Catholicism. My paternal grandmother was psychic,” Stark said. “I think I absorbed it from both of them.”
Stark’s maternal grandfather was a large part of her life. According to Stark, he contacted her at one point after he died.
In one of Stark’s previous homes, she had a shelf with framed pictures of her loved ones, some of whom had passed away. Her grandfather’s picture was the only unframed one and it would often fall onto her desk.
One day after she came home, Stark noticed the picture had fallen perfectly straight in the center of her desk. She interpreted this as her grandfather’s attempt to communicate with her.
Her grandfather is not the only one who has reached out to Stark from the great beyond. Other members of Stark’s family, as well as her old skating coach, reached out to her after they had passed.
In the more than fifteen years that Stark has been practicing her psychic skills, she has gained hundreds of clients throughout the world — all asking for one of four types of readings that she offers.
Clairvoyant psychic readings are readings aimed towards helping with life direction. During readings, Stark speaks with clients’ spirit guides, which, in spiritualism, are beings who act as protectors or guides to people.
Medium readings are for connecting with deceased loved ones, though Stark doesn’t guarantee that she will be able to. She often receives phrases or images that show she is connecting with the right person. These readings help people know how their loved ones are doing, or other questions they might have.
Animal communication, for talking with your pet — usually about why they are having certain behavioral or medical problems.
And lastly, pregnancy and baby readings, where Stark claims to speak to unborn children about information they would like to share, such as health-related problems.
“In a pregnancy reading, there’s often things that the mother or the parents want to know,” Stark said. “Along with other things I am tuning into the questions they have about labor and delivery and what the baby needs while in utero.”
On Yelp, clients of Stark have left reviews about her useful readings. Some say she was able to speak with their pets, predict career advancements, vitamin deficiencies and more.
Brandy W, one of Stark’s many clients, wrote on yelp, “She was able to state the first initial of someone that I was dating at the time. Susan told me that she didn’t think that he was in a good mental space to be in a relationship and she was right. She also told me that I had a vitamin deficiency that I needed to look into. My doctor confirmed her prediction two months later.”
For those interested in learning more about their intuitiveness and beyond, Stark recommended several steps.
“Get quiet and grounded so you can hear your inner guidance and learn to trust your intuition. Have a reading with someone you respect and trust. Try to find community with other people who are also inclined to tune into and practice. Like anything else you got to practice,” Stark said.
However, you have to be careful who you work with. Stark explained that many supposed spiritual guides do not have the best intentions. She suggested to focus instead on learning from others, instead of following them.
Stark credits many different people and tools for teaching her to use her abilities. Saying that Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan, the Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien, and Sonia Choquette were some of the foundational resources for her journey and could perhaps be for yours too.
To learn more about Stark or to book a reading, you can go to her site at susanstark.net.
