GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

SECTION B

SEPTEMBER 2, 1994

Evenings Out

Columbus' own medium at large

An interview with gay psychic Tana Hoy

by Doreen Cudnik

"How did a nice queer boy from Lancaster, Ohio begin to hear voices of spirit guides?" I wondered as I sat down with my cup of coffee to prepare for my interview with Columbus psychic Tana Hoy, who has been heard on WWCD 101 FM for a little over

a year.

Well, the guides weren't talking, but I noticed that Tana himself answered a few questions before I'd even asked them. The following is an excerpt from our illuminating conversation. As for the rest-well, you'll have to call Tana and schedule your own reading.

Doreen Cudnik: Tell me a little about your past. When did you discover that you were psychic?

Tana Hoy: Well, at the time I was about 6 or 7 years old, I started feeling really different from children my own age. This was a separate issue from my being gay. I knew there was something very "undiscovered" about me. This sounds vain now, but I thought maybe I was just brighter and more intelligent than other kids. I knew that someday I would realize what it was that made me different.

That feeling continued on, and at about age 15, I began delving into different religions and alternative spiritual paths. By the time I was 22, I met a man who was a medium, and he introduced me to channeling, and that was when I had my first realization that I was a medium. So, he helped me develop my skills as a medium, whereas before that I was working on my psychic ability.

Can you tell me what the difference is between those two things?

Sure. I'm what's called a clairvoyant. A clairvoyant is someone who is able to foretell things before they actually happen. A medium is someone who works with a spirit guide and that's where they get the information from when they are doing a reading. So when I do readings for someone, it's a combination of both. Although on the outside, my reading would appear to be like any other reading, it's just the internal process that's sometimes different.

Columbus psychic Tana Hoy

So, to the person receiving the reading, it may not be evident to them that you're receiving this information through a spirit guide.

Right. Another tool I use when doing a reading is psychometry. Psychometry is holding objects and getting an impression from them. Whenever we wear something, say, a watch or a ring, or even clothing, our body gives off energy. So, I interpret the vibrations that I get from a particular object and work that into the reading. This object is usually something that has been worn by an individual for more than six months. And at the same time I'm also receiving information from a guide. So the reading is a combination of things.

When you first had an experience that pointed to your clairvoyance, did it frighten you? Or was it a feeling of “O.K., now I understand what this difference is." No, it never really frightened me. When I was 15, I was involved with transcendental meditation, so I guess because of my early experiences I was never scared of it.

The only problem I had in the beginning, and this is true of many psychics in the early stages of honing their craft, is not knowing how to turn it off! Sometimes, I'd be going through the day and I would get these weird feelings that would stay with me for a long time. And I wouldn't know where or who they were coming from.

I suppose your gift is somewhat of a blessing and a curse at the same time. Yeah, a lot of people talk about that. I believe that our intuition is the culmination of thousands of years of evolution that we've been given; it's a very natural defense mechanism. But sometimes we don't know how to control it and that's the worst part-the hardest part.

That's interesting that you likened your gift to "intuition." I guess that I believe that

everyone has psychic ability to a certain extent, it's just that some people have developed it more than others. Would you tend to agree?

Definitely. I always tell people that the difference between psychics and non-psychics is the same as the difference between doctors and non-doctors. I've simply studied it and developed my craft. Since I've been 15, this has been the focus of my life. But anybody can develop it. We've all been given different gifts, and we have to discover what we're good at. You may be a medium, someone else may be good at psychometry, I may be a good clairvoyant. If your trying to develop skills as a medium but you're really better using psychometry and reading vibrations from objects, then you're probably not going to excel as far as you could. It's just a matter of figuring out what your gifts are.

I suppose that many people don't develop these kinds of skills because we live in a generation that likes to have explanations for everything.

And especially considering our history as a country. This is a country founded on Christianity, and we've been told that anything different from that is something we should shun. Look at the Salem witch trials. And it's only recently that we've become more aware of other schools of thought and have begun to accept this stuff as natural.

In a lot of cases, women who were burned at the stake as witches were simply using natural means to heal diseases, such as herbs. It was nothing dangerous or cultish, it was simply different from what was acceptable at the time. It's interesting how the Continued on page 2