Today is not my lucky day. As you read this, terrible, untold things might be happening to me, because this week my lucky days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But, forewarned is forearmed, and thus, I am well fortified in my bedroom, in my pajamas, reading a book, staying out of harm's way. I bought this protection for a mere $15 and two SEPTA tokens, where a psychic named Doreen read my palms and aura (a bonus upgrade), revealing priceless details about my future and my personality. Doreen Marks practices out of her home on 15th and Chestnut, reading tarot cards, crystals and offering sundry other psychic services. Her clairvoyance is hereditary, she explained, running mostly along the female line. She noticed her talents young, but she did not harness the power for profit until much later. Yet, for a person who bases her business on knowing the intimate details of strangers' lives, she was quite reticent about sharing the details of her own, deftly avoiding some questions and equivocating on others. Marks did, however, offer a small peek into the psychic world, explaining several psychic phenomena and discussing her perceptions. Auras, for instance, appear like a glow of bright or dark light around a person's body. They reveal information both about the disposition of the person and their fate. Mine was a light white-gray color -- a good thing, she said. Some auras are more unbalanced, she said, but when I asked what a bad aura would look like, she smiled portentously and warned, "you don't want to know." Marks' ability is untaught. While some learn to read tarot cards from books or courses, for Marks, it's as plain as the words on this page. But it's not as if she automatically sees the auras of every person walking down the street -- that, she joked, would just get confusing. So let's get down to brass tacks. Technical details about auras and lifelines aside, could the woman read my future? She told me a litany of wonderful things about myself and my rosy future, which will include true love (with a Leo, Gemini or Cancer), financial security and a successful career. She spoke in vague terms and prompted me to supply the details, such as when she remarked that an old woman worries about me, and asked me if I knew who it was. About the only verifiable fact she offered me was that I will die at age 82. So, look me up in sixty years, and I'll let you know how that goes. But, taking a page from Miss Cleo's book, Marks repeatedly insisted that her services are for entertainment and curiosity only, and on those, she delivers. And she got a few things right --I do plan to find true love, a successful career and financial security, and she might have been right about the rest as well. So all you Leos, Geminis and Cancers, maybe Friday will be your lucky day, too -- wink, wink.

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