I consider myself a pretty open person, but ultimately I am a skeptic when it comes to the strange world of psychics, magic, North Korean propaganda and of course, the Willard Preacher.

So when I decided to visit and get a reading from Ms. Salli K, the only “professional psychic” within almost 70 square miles, I went into it as open minded as possible while still ensuring that I wasn’t going to give in to cold readings, educated guesses, and other tricks of the trade that I have come to discover this industry requires. In the end I was pleasantly surprised, but we’ll get to that later.

She is located in a small neighborhood behind the Sheetz on the way toward the mall. It’s a little tricky to spot, but eventually you’ll find yourself driving down a little dirt road and you will see her office at the bottom of a small hill. Inside you are greeted by Ms. Salli K herself, who actually reminded me a lot of the character Madame Serena from the 1989 movie “Teen Witch.”

That part was already awesome because I loved that little woman growing up. There might not have been a beaded doorway or an awesome headdress, but there was a lot of crystals, candles, bottles of oils, geodes and incense inside, all of which she sells and utilizes for readings and such. Basically, it looked exactly what you would want your psychic’s office to look like.

When I walked into Salli K’s office and began feeling it out, I was pretty convinced that even if this wasn’t the work of the otherworld, it was going to be a really cool experience nonetheless.

Along with a friend, we decided to get our palms read before walking in, but after Ms. Salli K told us she was having a holiday special on an expanded 15 card Tarot readings for $35 we quickly changed our minds. I don’t know if it was the atmosphere or the fact that we were spending a collective $70 dollars, but at this point I started taking this way too seriously.

It was then that she showed us her Tarot cards which she told us were 30 years old and the only deck of its kind. She told me to pick them up and begin to shuffle them, which I did with shaking hands, because at this point I was getting really nervous that this woman might be able to see into my soul, and if I messed up her cards I was sure I would wake up the next day with warts and/or as a toad.

I asked if I could take a picture of my card layout but she told me that psychics have their own techniques and they don’t like to share their arrangements, so basically, no pictures, but it looked something like this:

She assured me that she would relay exactly what she sees, good or bad. I was squirming in my seat at this point, making sure to keep a poker face in case she tries to go off my reactions in a cold reading.

I can’t speak as to whether or not my poker face worked, but I can tell you that at the end of my 10-15 minute reading I felt hollow, transparent, and a little worried to talk to anyone about the experience. She said some things that were quite specific — stuff that you really wouldn’t think anyone could guess about yourself. However, she also missed some important stuff. For instance while she might have been freakishly accurate about my love life, she did follow it up with “You know how girls can be.” Nope…I don’t. I’m gay.

Despite the obvious flaws, it was actually a lot of fun. As a college kid — or anyone, for that matter — it’s hard to justify spending that much money for something like a psychic reading, but neither of us regretted the trip at all.

Am I convinced that psychics and magic are real? No, not really. However what I can tell you is that it’s a lot of fun to pretend it is, especially when the person is really good at what she does and can make you wonder if she’s the real deal.