A Real Psychic Friend A real psychic friend By JoAnne Steglitz, Current Contributor, A Weekly New Jersey News Publication August 5, 1999 Gone are the seventies when ponchos were in, Woody Allen was still working exclusively with Diane Keaton and thanks to his lead, every slightly-neurotic-borderline-obsessive-east-coast-urbanite spent hours each week lying on a leather couch whining about passive aggressive tendencies and Oedipal complexes. While pundits blame HMO’s and Prozac for the waning interest in analysis, it just may be the spiritualists who have monopolized the time of the emotionally challenged. Thanks in part to Shirley MacLaine and Oprah Winfrey, today many of these same slightly neurotic borderline obsessive east coast urbanites (and normal people as well) consult psychics rather than psychologists. In order to better understand this trend ... which for many is a way of life ... I recently met with Hoboken’s psychic guru, John Traficante, better known as JT. Not only does JT perform psychic readings, but he has recently released a meditation CD called “Metamorphosis,” instituted a charity called “Rock of Hope,” and is currently writing a book entitled “Better way to Living from Soul to Surface.” I met JT at his office in the Chiropractic Center on the corner of fourteenth and Washington Streets in Hoboken. He was not what I expected. Young, slim and donning a goatee, JT s loquacious and articulate. He gives new meaning to the term “psychic friend.” While our session was scheduled as an interview, it seemed impossible for JT to contain his psychic visions. Between answering questions and explaining his spiritual philosophy, he counseled me as if he had known me for years. He told me I have lived many previous lives, specifically Native Americans lives. My first reaction was skepticism. My only connection to Native American culture is a literature course I took during college. “You are very ritualistic,” he said. “You like things done a specific way. You’re very into routines.” How could he possibly know that I eat dinner at the same time every night, that I greet each day with a Snapple iced tea, that not only do I have a favorite coffee mug, but I always use the same spoon to eat my cereal and the same knife to cut my meat, that my apartment is immaculate and house guests drive me crazy? “I always considered this part of my personality, obsessive compulsive,” I said. “No, you just like things done a specific way, it’s your Native American background,” he said by way of explaining my behavior. I realized that psychic or not, JT has a rare and powerful gift. And it is this particular flair that led JT towards the spiritual world. Specifically, he became interested in psychic reading as a teenager. “I would tell my best friend things, and then we would watch them as they happened,” he said. Today, JT teaches spirituality, encouraging others to become aware of their purpose and to fulfill their life’s dream. “Spirituality is the relationship between you, your purpose and the universe,” he explained. While JT does read tarot cards and crystals, he mainly focuses on people’s auras: the colors and energy that emanate from individuals. “I see, sense and feel through auras,” he explained. “All readers work in various ways. There is no right or wrong method. The important thing is that you help people.” In this way JT’s philosophy is startling similar to more traditional forms of therapy. He does not so much predict the future, as he helps his clients release bad energy so they can fulfill their destiny. Unlike therapy, however, JT only meets with most clients once or twice a year. Getting down to the nitty gritty, I asked him, “Do you think there are psychics out there taking advantage of unsuspecting, insecure people?” “There are good and bad people all over the world,” he said. “There are good and bad attorneys, and good and bad doctors. When you have a gift, you have a choice to use that gift in whatever way, good or bad.” Clearly JT has made the choice to use his gift for good. You can reach JT at 420-9770 or e-mail him at JTUNIVERSE@aol.com. Other articles about JT: Readings for the millennium: Where the new light will take you on your journey By Louise Thach, Hudson Current Staff Writer, January 04, 2001 Psychic helps the dead comfer loved ones left behind, A daily New Jersey news publication, 8/25/00 Psychic spreads hope: Says Princess Di directs his charity venture, A weekly New Jersey news publication, 11/30/97 A personal vision: Not just a psychic but a guide, Hudson Current, 1/26/95