Psychic consultant Ruth Lordan has a penchant for verbosity and high energy. Maybe it's all that reading and clairvoyancing. I suspect it's just how she is wired.
Psychic Ruth Lordan can see into the future and there may be even fewer rich people
She is so talkative that I was reluctant to interview the "45-year professional" who has written her first book, "Gleanings From the Fields of Life — A Psychic's Guide to the Galaxy." It is a "culmination of what I have learned so far in doing more than 100,000 readings for people. The problems they have brought to me and the solutions I saw. Now I am entering the realm where people who I am going to be helping have different kinds of problems so the solutions will be different."
Lordan has been a longtime presence on local TV and radio, including a weekly appearance on Bob Sansevere's FM 105 the Ticket. That came to an end — and Lordan said she saw it coming — Monday when Sansevere's show and other locally produced programs on the sports station were cut by Cumulus Media. For the past 20 years on Wednesday and Thursday she has been at the Medina Entertainment Center at 6:30 p.m. for private readings. Lordan seems especially excited about a meditation class she is teaching July 18 at CMS Fitness in Bloomington.
In additional to giving short answers here Lordan also did not spar with me the way she usually does. We are very comfortable disagreeing with each other and we do it without taking the rejection personally. She also thinks we may have known each other in a previous life when we were nuns. Chew on that.
We did not go to mass during our interview but we did visit the Minneapolis Farmers Market. Last year I posted a photo on Twitter of some candied jalapeños that intrigued her, so I thought we could do that to spice up my startribune.com/video (expected to be posted Monday).
I told Lordan that my biggest problem with her book is that it does not include any of the interesting, non-psychic-related stories about her jet-setting with celebrity friends. "That's not what this book was supposed to about," she said. That wasn't my only complaint, mixed in with a variety of mischievous questions.
Q: Direct me to the pages in this book where I learn more about Ruth Lordan. I thought there was very little about you here. For example, are you Jewish or Christian? I'm not sure. On page 49 I thought you were Catholic but by page 154 I learned you are a Jew-Bu and I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to say that.
A: Life isn't permanent, everything is evolving. Jew-Bu, Jewish Buddhist. I recently put it together and realized I was a Catholic nun in my last life, which is why I have to live with such structure and schedule. But I am constantly evolving.
Q: You wrote about being a psychic child but how did you become a professional?
A: Don't laugh. I had my degree in philosophy and the next step was going to law school. I wasn't liking it. I was in New Orleans and saw a sign in the window that said, "Palm Reader Wanted." I took the job. I had been reading palms in college. I learned all the psychic skills and tools and toys. You don't need them but they are fun. I believe you have to be born with it, although I see James Van Praagh is opening a school where he'll certify you. You need to work at it, develop it. You have to practice. People ask why I do short readings; it's like practice. If you are a pianist or guitarist you need an instrument to practice on, so doing lots of readings is like doing my scales.
Q: As a child you were nicknamed "Little Lucky Piece" by family members who benefited from your telling them which horse to bet on. How much money have you won at the horse track?
A: Let's just put it that when those relatives passed on I got to live happily ever after.
Q: Page 26 you wrote, "Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. Leviticus 19:26." Are you telling me you have never eaten a rare steak?
A: I have, but the point of that was not to pick and choose your Bible verses. The same people who want to say the Bible says homosexuality is bad, psychics are the devil, all kind of things, well, if you are going to go by one rule, go by that, too.
Q: Page 142 reads that if you feel that you have been cursed or possessed, there are a variety of techniques that can help remove the negative energy. What if you don't believe in curses, does that make you immune to them?
A: As Plato said, whether you believe in light and the sun or not, it exists.
Q: OK. I've been put in my place!
A: I have a philosophy degree [said sing-songy]
Q: You say you believe the Ten Commandments are designed to protect us from ourselves. How does that fit with the philosophy of some that church is for people who don't know how to behave?
A: They go together.
Q: What is your greatest challenge as a psychic?
A: Balancing the truth and being more sensitive to what people can handle. For much of my career I have laid it on the line. People know I'm blunt and I realize some people cannot handle it. I've been very fortunate that many people who come to me go-getters, they are ready for it. I am getting people now who are sincere and they can't handle the truth, so I'm learning to say it pleasantly.
Q: Who is a psychic you admire?
A: Humm. Good one. Not many of them. None of them [who] are famous. This man. The Thai Buddhist monk who taught me the gift of meditation and has authorized me to share that. He has a school in Thailand in the jungle which I do try to help support.
Q: Are there any psychics you enjoy?
A: Nah, I'm a Leo. I get jealous.
Q: How can you tell your psychic is a fraud?
A: What I've found in Minnesota is there aren't as many frauds as there are people who truly believe they have it. And what they do have is intuition, but intuition is emotion based, so it's not as pure. And if you are with someone who is asking for extra money for spells, for this or that, if they are telling you what you want to hear, if their own life isn't working the best they can make it, their own house isn't the best they can make it, I would be cautious.
Q: Have you ever cast a spell on an old lover?
A: I plead the Fifth.
Q: You believe in reincarnation: How many past lives have we shared?
A: I heard the word "two." I would have to put you in a meditative state and see you. Have you ever been drawn or thought you were a nun? Maybe we were in that Catholic life together.
Q: I've never thought I could be a nun, not comfortable in an organization where the highest status a woman could attain rhymed with none. I would say no. And no to the meditative states, too.
A: I do see you now as a young girl I would have known in a garden. Maybe Chinese.
Q: I do appreciate Asians and their stuff.
A: We may have know each other then. The energy of Quan Yin.
Q: You change with the times by doing phone readings and Facetiming. Your "Psychic Vibe" meditation on your TheRuthLordanClairvoyantExperience Facebook page is a popular daily read. What other changes or trends have you noticed in your field?
A: One of the most interesting things is what I've seen about palms. I used to always see tons of children in people's hands, and women were always asking how many children they were going to have. Recently I did a party with young kids; NOBODY cared about how many children they were going to have. I would say for the last five years I have not been seeing as many lines on the hands of kids and remember my clientele is pretty much educated, elite. They're not procreating.
Q: Is there any other psychic arena you'd like to pursue?
A: I have always wanted to be the psychic Ann Landers; a column were people would write in and, of course, a psychic talk show. But teaching meditation to corporate clients has become a new focus because it's part of wellness.
Q: When you were in Vegas you tried to place a bet on the Vikings winning the Super Bowl in 2017?
A: I wanted to bet on them for the playoffs and possibly 2018 when the game will be here. I feel they have a chance to win the Super Bowl in 2017 and in 2018, possibly, make the playoffs. But I wasn't able to make that bet.
Q: You do animals readings. Who's easier to read, animals or people?
A: Horses. They overwhelm, they overpower, I have no control. They just come in [to me] and lead.
Q: A horse can't tell the owner if your reading was off, though?
A: The owners know. I've read for many barns around here. The horse will tell me what's physically wrong with it, what food it wants, what outfits it wants to wear, for the dressage horses, which tricks they want to do for the riding horses.
Q: What won't you eat from the farmers market, famously picky eater?
A: No. I'm famously vain and like to be thin.
Q: You're a world traveler, you've been everywhere …
A: No, not everywhere.
Q: Where haven't you been you want to visit?
A: Australia, Bali, Africa when it gets safe, Northern Europe, New Mexico, South America.
Q: OK, you've still been a lot of places. I want know what the weirdest food is you have ended up eating when traveling to a remote locale and didn't have any other choice.
A: Humm. [A drink which was] basically LSD, I stayed away from it. Weirdest food … menudo. I was in Ventura, California being fed menudo for my birthday. It's good luck. I could not eat it. It just made me nauseous and that doesn't happen.
Q: You've never had chitterlings?
A: No, I don't eat pork.
Q: Why don't you know the questions I have typed on this paper?
A: I didn't put my mind to it.
Q: Sheldon on CBS' "Big Bang Theory" says psychics are "malarkey" and not just full of "mumbo jumbo" but "extra jumbo mumbo jumbo." What do you think of that?
A: I don't spend my time watching shows like that. Most likely I would look at a character, see a flaw with them and have no respect for them and it wouldn't matter.
Q: You were married to a rock musician, Bill Lordan of Sly & the Family Stone and Robin Trower-fame, which is not mentioned in the book. What is your favorite kind of music?
A: I always say I was married a minute. The Jewish side of me had to worship the golden calf, i.e. marry the blond-haired blued-eyed person.
Q: Since you were married to a rocker, what is your favorite music?
A: Once again, evolving. Last year I would have said Daddy Yankee, was my favorite music because I was way into my Latin dancing. Now, it is symphony and opera. And I am really excited about new music. I am going to hear from Jesse Johnson from the Time, who is now the guitar player for D'Angelo.
Q: Have you ever done a reading for Prince?
A: No, I don't know him. The only time I ever slightly read him was when you asked me about him.
Q: But you're at Paisley Park all the time.
A: No. I've been there maybe four times. It's one of the best places in the world to hear music. Period. A beautiful atmosphere. I went there on my birthday last year, candles, beautiful [aromas], lovely, almost psychedelic from the '60s light shows. Amazing sound system. No alcohol. No tobacco. I love it. We don't know what we have here in Minnesota. We're lucky.
Q: Why do I have these very detailed, I call them Grandiose Dreams where I am hanging with famous people. For example, FLOTUS Michelle Obama invited me to do a 10-minute video interview. I got into a huge fight with my editors who wanted to send a Strib crew with me. I stood firm in my "No," because I am my video crew. I went to the White House alone, as normal, and Mrs. Obama was a blast. Twice I have dreamed about being at a theater in Minneapolis with Hillary and Bill Clinton at the Orpheum. In another dream I was with Mitt Romney? I also did something artsy with Bush 42. The only one of these dreams I'd entertain while awake was seeing Mrs. Obama again. I saw her once and she was playful with my camera, before Barack Obama announced plans to run for president.
A: My psychic feeling is that these dreams are your angels manifesting for you to start making them happen. Not that they are going to happen; you have to start making them happen. You need to interview political people. You are in a position of power where you can do this. Time for you to move up, not be afraid of them. They should be afraid of you.
Q: I think some of those celebrities would be afraid of me and I don't think Bill or Hillary would like an interview with me.
A: They would love it, they need all the press they can get.
Interviews are edited. To contact C.J. try cj@startribune.com and the see her check the Fox 9 "Buzz."