Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune

Tribune

Seen through a crystal window, Ana Anaya poses outside her home where, as Psychic Ana, she offers tarot card readings, astrology charts and contact with deceased friends and relatives. Anaya, 56, said her customers are often people just seeking advice. "It's almost like counseling, except that a psychic gives you answers where a counselor asks you questions," Anaya said.

More Local Business

• Mineral leases concern residents in eastern New Mexico
• PNM: Power Saver plan would reduce electricity use in peak demand cycle
• Air-bag waiver brings Tesla car plant one step closer to Albuquerque

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

There's no crystal ball in the quiet, wood-floored adobe home of Psychic Ana.

As you walk up the weedy path to her front door, she doesn't already know you're there or what questions you're going to ask.

She's not that kind of psychic.

You will be invited in with a friendly smile as she ushers you to a dimly-lit room with a plain wooden table, a few candles and a picture of the Virgin Mary hanging in the background.

Once there, she'll read your tarot cards, maybe your palm, or create an astrology chart.

Just don't visit before 3:30 p.m. - before then she'll be in the classroom using her real name, Ana Anaya, as a second grade teacher at Lavaland Elementary School on the West Side.

Though she has more than 30 years experience as a psychic reader, Anaya, 56, hasn't yet been able to quit her day job. And even though she says she loves teaching, she'd love even more to one day become a full-time fortune teller.

Being a psychic is an odd career by most standards. You have to be good at using the tools of the trade - whether it be tarot, numerology, astrology or straight-up clairvoyant readings, Anaya said.

You also have to understand that people are coming to you for advice, looking for someone to help them feel better, she said.

"It's almost like counseling, except that a psychic gives you answers where a counselor asks you questions," Anaya said.

It also involves a lot of self promotion, whether that be ads in the newspaper, readings on the radio or a giant billboard on I-25, all of which Anaya has done, she said.

"It's really all marketing because all you need to do it is a deck of cards," Anaya said, pointing to her favorite tool, a deck of Egyptian tarot cards.

It's hard to gauge how many psychics are in Albuquerque or the size of the industry nationwide. There is no central organization that registers psychics, said Dale Boyce, another psychic and owner of Noble Path Metaphysical Books at 120 Amherst Drive N.E.

Besides that, there are a lot of amateurs out there. And if you want to work your way up to the pros, you must first pay your dues, both Boyce and Anaya said.

"I studied the tarot for about 10 years, and I did three years where I didn't take any money for readings," Boyce said. "After that I started charging a little. You have to do a lot of it in a pro-bono way and then, when you get to proficiency, you can charge money."

Psychics who read out of Boyce's bookstore charge $1.25 a minute with a 10-minute minimum, he said.

Anaya charges $190 an hour, although sessions usually last about 15 minutes, she said. In a good month she can make somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000 before taxes.

Even though she works as a teacher by day, business is picking up. Maybe in another year she'll be a full-time professional, she said.

"It's going so well I'm sure I'll be quitting my teaching job," Anaya said.

Anaya's salary is about the average for many professional psychics, although "scam artists" can make a lot more, said Diane Miles, a metaphysical minister and director of the Association of Certified Psychics in New York.

"Real psychics are never going to get rich," Miles said. "We tend to accept what people can afford. The scam artists make the big bucks."

Scammers - people with no abilities who don't care about their clients and are just trying to make money - can net $100,000 a year or more, Miles said.

To find them, just pick up the phone and dial one of those 800 numbers, Miles said. If you want a real psychic, go to a psychic fair, she said.

Boyce holds one every Sunday at his store from 1-6 p.m.

"Also look to the spiritualist and metaphysical churches. They have psychic festivals from time to time," Miles said. "Those are people who are generally just looking to help others."

Anaya said she thinks everybody is a little bit psychic. But the skills are sort of like natural athletic abilities - some people have enough talent to go pro and are willing to work at it every day, while others seek out different careers.

Ever since she was a little kid in Albuquerque, Anaya has felt that she had a natural talent. She was more intuitive than those around her: she sensed feelings, got images and impressions from her friends and family, she said.

She used to talk about it back then with her grandmother, who was also psychic, Anaya said.

But there's an odd twist to those conversations, she said.

"She died in the 1920s, and I was born in 1949," Anaya said.

Her mother was a psychic, too, but wasn't really into it because of the bad image associated with psychics, Anaya said.

"Mom would have nothing to do with that," she said. "She was a modern 1920s woman, but she never discouraged us in what we wanted to do."

Still, even Anaya wasn't initially sure this was what she wanted to do. In the 1970s, she went to school at the now-defunct University of Albuquerque to pursue a philosophy degree, but that didn't really pan out, she said.

"I said, `What is my philosophy?' Well, I love the occult, I love tarot," Anaya said. "So I dropped out after three years and moved to Los Angeles to become a professional astrologer."

She studied astrology in Los Angeles, but her Catholic roots made her concerned about the ethics of fortune telling. She found an answer to her dilemma, however, in the Bible, she said.

"I came back to New Mexico after being in California for about 10 years and decided I'd get into canon law and study the Catholic religion," Anaya said. "I was surprised. I found no conflicts at all."

She originally moved back to Santa Fe in 1991, then went to Las Cruces and finally back to Albuquerque in 1998. Over that time, she finished her degree - switching her focus to elementary education with a bachelor's degree from the College of Santa Fe.

And despite the occasional little kid or drunk who crank calls her to ask if she knows what they're calling about, she says she's come to terms with her qualms about the reputation of her profession.

"To me, this is like an art form - it's a belief, it's religious, it's spiritual," Anaya said. "It's also important to remember that psychic readings, astrology - it's a small part of life. The rest is all around you. What I do is just a little piece of the puzzle. It's not the whole."