Photo: Chaiel Schaffel / WBZ NewsRadio
SALEM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Plenty of things need a license these days: fishing, driving, and selling alcohol all come to mind.
Massachusetts licenses another profession that might surprise the average reader: fortune telling.
Psychics, mediums, and other workers who “tell fortunes for money” are all required to hold an official Fortune Teller’s License, which is granted by each town’s local licensing board.
The idea might seem arcane, but the Massachusetts Law Library told WBZ NewsRadio the relevant statute was only passed in 1963.
Leanne Marrama is the co-owner of Pentagram, an occult shop in Salem, where the psychic business is a major industry employing hundreds of people. She is also a licensed psychic herself. Marrama is in favor of the licenses, which she feels give the profession more legitimacy.
“Having a license, it kind of validates us…It validates me as a worker in Salem. It makes me not look like somebody fly-by-night, with cards. It makes me not look like a silly person,” she said.
Marrama has been practicing as a psychic in Salem for more than 20 years, and says she’s had a license the entire time.
“This is a real job. It’s a real part of the economy,” Marrama continued.
The process in Salem is fully fleshed out, requiring about $75 in fees for a first-time applicant and an extensive criminal background check. The license granted by the city looks similar to a driver’s license, with an ID number, the city seal, and Marrama’s photo.
“If you have a criminal record, if you’ve harmed people, if you’re a sex offender, you’re not going to get a psychic license,” she said.
She also pointed out that without any regulation, intense competition from unlicensed psychics would drive the more-established mediums out of business.
“The people who have been doing business here for years would be bulldozed,” she said. Marrama said the main focus was on making sure the psychics in the business in Salem and elsewhere were safe people to be around. She compared the licensing with barbers, who also need licenses in Massachusetts.
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“I wouldn’t have my hair cut by someone who didn’t receive their license,” she said.
There are some limitations set out in the law. Businesses are limited on how many licenses they can have, and each individual psychic working at a shop needs their own license.
Marrama said she could see up to fifty clients a day herself on a day in October, when the city really gets busy.
As we talked in mid-July, Marrama was already getting ready for the October rush, packing candles.
“Make sure you feel a connection with the psychic you’re sitting down with. This is a magical process, and we all want you to have the best experience possible,” she said.
WBZ’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports:
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