Looking in

Linda Schooler’s business card advertises people readings on one side and pet readings on the other. Schooler, a professional psychic for nearly 20 years, claims she has no greater preference for human or animal clients. Nonetheless, she lights up when asked to talk about her four-legged subjects. “Animals add such dimension to our lives,” she said, with obvious reverence. If your pet’s new dimension includes antisocial behavior and soiled rugs, Schooler can use her psychic skills to suss out the animal’s issues—or yours. Use your intuition to locate one of her many public appearances, or visit www.lindaschooler.com.

What does it mean to call yourself “psychic"?

It’s just something I do kind of naturally. I don’t know any other way to be. That’s hard to answer.

Is it an enhanced intuitive sense?

Yes, that’s a good way of putting it. I’m not “on” all the time. I really have to ask permission. That’s the only way I would do it, because I like to work with integrity. If somebody’s coming to me for a reading, then I’m open. I’m very honest if I don’t get anything, too. If the screen is blank, I’m going to tell them. That happens once in a while but not often. I’m like a radio antenna. It’s out there, and when I’m on, sometimes I might be finely tuned to the station, and sometimes I might be a little off.

What sort of transmission comes in?

Think about the last time you were at the beach. How do you recall that?

Pictures of the beach come to mind. Before people or events, there’s an image.

Perfect. That’s exactly how this is. I get a picture about something. Sometimes I’ll hear a song in my head. Sometimes I can physically feel things, but that’s not as often. Usually, when I’m doing a reading, I talk very quickly. It’s like a computer downloading information; I have to talk very fast to get it all.

A lot of people will say, “Don’t you remember me? I just sat with you a few months ago.” And I’ll say, “I really don’t.” I may be sitting with a person physically, but I’m really reading their energy, and I’m in a zone.

Do you believe everyone is psychic?

Absolutely. If you want to enhance your own ability, start working with your dreams. There’s a wonderful radio show called The Dream Weaver that’s really good, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday nights on Talk 650. I listen to that show, and I learn a lot. Your dreams are the key to your waking life.

When did you first realize you were psychic?

In my early 20s, I started meditating. I meditated for a year, and I read Edgar Cayce, and I read the Bible. The meditation helped me enhance my intuition and learn to focus. If you can clear that mental chatter, you can be receptive. That’s what intuition is; it’s being receptive, and then you get information.

How did you go from meditating to being psychic as a career?

I went to massage school, and before long, as I was working on people, I’d start to get impressions. I’d think, “I wonder if I should say something.” You don’t want to intrude, but you want to be helpful. It was years that I struggled with being intuitive. It’s not an easy path. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with wisdom. If I’m putting myself in the position to give suggestions, I feel like I have to be walking my talk.

I just stopped doing massage therapy after 20 years. My back was bothering me, and it was time. But in the intuitive work that I do, I hope to be a healer also.

Why get a reading?

It shows you that there’s more to life than just … what is. Especially when you see things that were discussed in the reading start to come about. It enhances your perspective.

What kind of animals have you read?

There was a bear at the Folsom Zoo named Ursula. She’s passed away, but at the time she’d had an accident and couldn’t use her legs, and the [zoo staff] wanted to know if she was in pain. So I got to sit with her. What an honor! It was just amazing. They were giving her such good care that I had a sense that she was OK and she really appreciated all the care that was given to her. I didn’t feel like she was in pain.

I’ve worked with horses, lizards, snakes and mostly dogs and cats. I was a Petco pet psychic for four years.

What are our pets trying to tell us?

They do have their own personalities. They’re carriers of unconditional love. Pets really do want to please; they just want to know what it is they need to do. They also pick up a lot of our emotional stuff, and they try to deal with that. They absorb a lot of our energy.

Creative visualization does work with animals, though. They’re real clear, so you can just get inside their head and tell them what you want, in pictures.