Psychic Fair In Gilboa

GILBOA — Cherry Valley historian Susan Murray-Miller has been talking to the dead for half-a-century.

A self-described “spirit communicator”, Miller is the owner of The Plaide Palette, a cozy boutique in Cherry Valley, NY that offers a full line of Irish, Scottish, British and Welsh teas and foods, Irish wool sweaters and scarves, crystals, gemstones, dowsing and divining supplies, pendulums. witch balls, spirit balls and friendship hearts, lots of incense and jewelry, crystal and smudge kits, peace flags and lots more.

"I have enjoyed running my store and business for the last 40 years,” offers Murray-Miller. “Lots of wonderful people out there and what a learning experience they all are."

Susan Murray-Miler, Cherry Valley Town Historian, will be the keynote speaker at Gilboa Historical Society’s Fifth Annual Psychic & Craft Fair on Sunday, Sept. 15, 11 am-4 pm under the pavilion and on the porch and grounds of the GHS’s Gilboa Museum & Nicholas J. Juried History Center on Stryker Road in Gilboa.

“I love the energy of psychics, authors, vendors, and Fair-goers at each year’s event. People come to have fun, visit our museum, get into the spirit of the thing, and support the work the Gilboa Historical Society does throughout the year. It’s a Fun-raiser as well as a Fund-raiser !” said Linda Karlsen, Chair of the Gilboa Historical Society’s Fundraising Committee and creator and prime move of GHS’s Psychic & Craft Fair.

“This year, we’ve added several new features to the Fair, some talks and a mini-book fair as well as a few new vendors,” Karlsen added.

Noted local historian and author, Susan Murray-Miller, the event’s scheduled speaker, will offer two talks at the Gilboa Psychic & Craft Fair, “The Art of Dowsing” and “Talking to the Dead”. A widely read author, her popular books include A Town Between the Turnpike: Cherry Valley, NY; Differently Double: An Emeryville Saga; and Time Between: The Hauntings of Cherry Valley.

The Art of Dowsing

A woman who died in childbirth. Six children, from just hours old to 19. A male cat. 

These are some of the 187 bodies Susan Murray-Miller found while dowsing the burial site behind the Roseboom Church in upstate Cherry Valley, NY.

A practicing dowser, Murray-Miller will explore the art of dowsing with the Gilboa Historical Society Fair audience and explain why many feel it can connect us to our inner selves and the world around us. The local historian will explore the history of dowsing, and share lots of fun stories and a hands-on demonstration. The audience will also get a chance to participate. Because, as Suan says...”if I can do it, you can do it.”

For those unfamiliar with the term, a Dowser is a conduit for knowledge from the spirit world. Dowsing is used to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials without the use of scientific tools

Dowsing rods, pendulums and the use of your hands and senses will be discussed and demonstrated. Handouts will be available.

Talking to the Dead

Murray-Miller describes her lecture, “Talking to the Dead”, as a “frighteningly fun and insightful look into the world of ghosts.”  As an experienced spirit communicator, Murray-Miller is familiar with the “”who-is-and why-is-why” of the spirit world. Her fifty years of dowsing cemeteries, talking with the dead, clearing homes and businesses of unwanted presences and generally making a nuisance of herself within the spirit community for many years has helped her glean a wealth of information and many tales of the hereafter and what exactly does happen after you cross over.

“I see ghosts, I’ve been seeing them since I was a child,” said Murray-Miller “I feel them and most of all I listen to them. They too have something to say.” 

As a Spirit Communicator, Murray-Miller is often asked to explain the difference between a ghost and a spirit? What is an earthbound spirit? Who comes back to be with you or visit you and who doesn't. Who are your guides and why are they with you in the first place?

The spiritualist realm has a long 19th century history. For example, there are many White House stories of seances and spiritualism, most dealing with the Lincoln family. Mary Tood Lincoln, whose son, Willie died in 1862, and who was said to have held eight seances in the White House, was heavily influenced by spiritualism and seances, which were rather common in her day because the Civil War changed how Americans understood death and how they mourned

“While spiritualism, a belief system centered on a doctrine in which the dead can communicate with the living, existed long before the Civil War, it was not popularized until the mid to late nineteenth century. By 1897, it was believed that spiritualism had more than eight million believers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes,” writes author Alexandra Kommel in her essay, “Seances in the Red Room”.

Murray-Miller will answer audience questions as she weaves funny and not-so-funny tales of spirits, ghosts and hauntings that will get her audience thinking about the wonderful and sometimes frightening and very misunderstood word of the spirit.

The Gilboa Historical Society’s Psychic & Craft Fair is an annual fundraiser to raise money for its general operating expenses in 2024-2025. 

Fair creator Linda Karlsen summed it up. “We want Fair goers to enjoy themselves. Have a little fun. And we hope they don’t forget to pop into our wonderful museum to see our latest exhibits as well”.

General admission to the Fair is $5.