In the “Witch City” of Salem, psychic readings are a big business. In recent years the city has relaxed their regulations on licensing psychics, causing a boom in the number of (largely seasonal) practitioners plying their trade within Salem’s Fall/Halloween tourist economy. While many have welcomed the boom in business, some local politicians seem to be having some second thoughts about the sustainability of their current situation.
Monday night, City Councilor Joan Lovely came before the Licensing Board to discuss the proliferation of licenses. While she didn’t propose a cap or limit, the issue came up. “I don’t think we want a fortuneteller on every corner,” Lovely said at one point. [...] “At this point, it’s not far from being out of control,” member John Casey said after the meeting. Lovely, a lawyer, said she planned to discuss the “constitutional issues” of a cap with City Solicitor Beth Rennard.
The Salem News also interviews some local business owners and readers who are as “concerned about the skyrocketing numbers as anyone else.” Not interviewed is any voice in defense of the expanded numbers of psychic licenses and practitioners. That voice had to be provided in the comments, from Salem business-owner (Hex and Omen) and promoter Christian Day, who campaigned three years ago to relax regulations on psychic services, and runs the annual Festival of the Dead.
Speaking as the employer of the largest number of psychic readers and the single largest generator of psychic license revenue in the city of Salem, I want to go on record as being strongly against any sort of caps. While they would probably not affect existing businesses such as mine, the issue of caps concerns me two other reasons entirely.
First, I think there are serious constitutional issues with limiting fair trade, especially when that trade centers around a practice so intrinsically tied up with religious belief systems such as Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Spiritualism, and other faiths that embrace psychic work. In an age where so many people calling for less government intrusion into our lives, we should not be looking for more ways to regulate everything that businesses do, especially when those practices are an extension of the religious beliefs of a people. We would never dream of trying to restrict a Catholic gift shop as it is encompassed by the greater spiritual mission of the church.
The question now is if this is simply political posturing, or if Lovely, Casey, and other local politicians are testing the waters for a cap. There’s always been some tension between those who embrace the Mardi Gras atmosphere of Halloween in Salem, and those who’d prefer to emphasize other, more sedate, historical features. Preferring a Salem that was more, well, stereotypically “New England” in composition. The problem is that people love the Witches, and come to see them in droves.
“Last year, the City of Salem commissioned a marketing study that asked participants why they chose Salem. Among the various attractions that were checked off, like architecture (64.3%), maritime history (65.9%), and shopping (55.4%), 88.8% of participants included the Modern Witch in their response.”
Further, Salem-area Pagans are growing demographic (reportedly around 10% of the population), one that might not look too kindly on any measure that could be construed as anti-Witch in its intentions; and Salem’s economy, like many places in the United States, has suffered in recent years. Would a cap hinder one of their few growth industries? These are all questions and concerns that will no doubt be aired soon, as it looks like a renewed debate over these issues is looming.
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