The Great Ganesha

So, in the vein of recent “offbeat news” postings that I’ve been doing, here’s one more

Those of you who had the pleasure of being in the US during the Clinton years, might also remember one of the highlights from then. No, I’m not talking about the budget surplus, I’m talking about Miss Cleo! Remember her? That woman with the Jamaican accent who appeared on all those late-night informercials? Touting a psychic hotline which charged 99 cents per minute? Doesn’t ring a bell? Perhaps this will:

Well, it was all going dandy until The Smoking Gun dug up her birth certificate. Woo hoo! Turns out Miss Cleo was nothing more than a valley girl named Youree Harris. Around the same time some people got together and sued the hotline. That led to an investigation by the Florida State Government. Which of course, was covered in excruciating detail by Court TV with a three-page article on their website.

Anyhow, recently, Miss Cleo just came out of the closet. She said she was inspired to do so by a teenage godson. Well, good for her and all that. But as a psychic shouldn’t she have seen this one coming? She is a psychic, after all. Oh wait. She’s not a psychic, but a “spiritual counselor.”

She says she’s actually not a psychic but more of a spiritual counselor or spiritual adviser. [link]

Oh. In that case, my bad! She also says,

I’m more a shaman, an elder in a community who has visions and gives direction to people in their village. My clients and my students are my village. I take care of this community. If you sit down at my table, you have to take away a lesson and not just learn what is going to happen tomorrow. I also perform weddings—both gay and straight marriages—and house cleansings and blessings. [link]

House cleansings? What the hell? Is she a maid on the side? Ok, I’m being facetious, I know what she means. But given all of her functions, I’m going to go to her the next time I need a document notarized…

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