The occult is a fascinating, somewhat misunderstood part of society, and is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them.” Usually associated with Satanism, animal sacrifices and “dark magic,” it is something that plagued previous generations with fear — especially when religious laws ruled the land. This fear led to the infamous Salem Witch Trials, where dozens of women were executed, via the gallows or drowning. However, many don’t realize that Long Island has had its own brush with witch trials, decades before Salem. 

It was 1658, out on the East End of Long Island. Elizabeth Howell had just given birth, and shortly after the delivery she became bedridden with a fever and grew delirious, claiming a black figure would lurk at the edge of her bed. She said she felt as if she were being stuck with pins, and a neighbor seemingly confirmed the account when they pulled a pin out of Howell’s mouth.

Before her death, Howell named her tormenter — Goody Garlick, a neighbor known for appearing whenever tragedy struck. This was enough evidence for the people of East Hampton to accuse and charge Garlick with witchcraft.

At the time, Long Island was part of the Connecticut Colony, and the governor, Thomas Welles, had different views on accusations of witchcraft than his other New England counterparts. Garlick wasn’t put to death, but she was required to appear before an early version of a parole board after her husband had posted bond.

Garlick was a healer, offering fellow East Hamptonites herbs if their health was on a downslope. If these herbs did not work, the Puritan society at the time all had the same mindset; she must be a witch, and witches are evil, vile individuals who want to harm others. In reality, these claims were just town gossip that could, and did, stir enough fear into the residents to make the accusation. The same can be said about the trials in Salem.

Witchcraft isn’t this dark, scary practice. Like most things in the universe, there are good and bad aspects of it. If not used properly, it can of course cause harm to an individual — but it can also be used for lighter, more pleasant things in life. Yes, a powerful witch has the capabilities to hex someone, but that same witch may also have the power to send healing and loving energy to someone too.

The Write Psychic

Tara Lamberti, of Saint James, is just like any other middle aged Long Islander. She has a dog she adores, and works a nine to five from home due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But unlike most other Islanders, Lamberti also has a gift — she is a psychic medium and reiki master. Her website, thewritepsychic.com, lists her services, along with blog posts from Lamberti on various topics that fall under the umbrella of witchcraft and the occult.

“I knew from a very young age that I had an ability,” Lamberti explains, sitting in front of an astrology themed tapestry and a mirror behind her desk. The pendant of her necklace dips past the view of the webcam over the Zoom call, and the warm toned lighting of the room compliments her red hair. 

“My earliest memory is from when I was a toddler. I was talking to who I called my ‘guardian angels,’ and I remember feeling somebody patting my back in my bed, like they were putting me to sleep. It scared me, but at the same time I also knew this was a good person,” she says. “My parents were always super supportive, and [I think] that’s why I’ve been able to really grow and learn about my abilities. If I said I was hearing voices, or saw someone in my room, they never said I was lying.”

Being able to communicate with those who have passed on to the otherside is truly a beautiful gift that many individuals possess. Lamberti still does work with her spiritual side, whether it is during a reading for an individual or through premonitions.

“When I’m doing a reading, if I see a rose, to me, that means it is a grandmother coming through. If I have a dream, I immediately write it down when I wake up, and if I have a premonition, I’ll make a post on my Instagram asking for guided reiki to be sent somewhere.” This past summer, Lamberti had a premonition about the midwest, and made a post asking for guided reiki to be sent to the midwest, specifically Nebraska. Days after posting about the premonition, a wild fire tore through Western Nebraska.

Unlike the star of TLC’s show Long Island Medium, Lamberti does not go up to individuals when out in public if a message from the grave comes through — she tries to avoid them.

“When I go out, I protect myself and often visualize that I am literally stepping into a bubble,” she says. Protecting themselves from outside influences on their energy is not uncommon for witches: some wear crystals, others wear some type of headscarf as a “veil” to protect their heads from outside energy and some, like Lamberti, will imagine themselves in a bubble.

Extraterrestrial Experiences

The sound of coffee beans grinding down to a fine powder is loud enough to drown out the pitter patter of the rain. The aroma of various flavor shots permeates through the small coffee shop. Janet Russell sits in the back of The Bean in Patchogue, a brown zig-zag headband holding her long, white hair out of her face, a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose and an iced tea on the table in front of her.

“I’m the real Long Island medium,” she jokes. The atmosphere of the coffee shop might match the dreary day outside, but Russell is far from boring — a retired mail carrier, the first female mail carrier in the area, she now carries messages in a new way. 

Unlike Lamberti, Russell did not realize the gift she possessed until she was in her twenties.

“It was March 27, 1962,” she says. “I was 22 years old, and pregnant with my youngest daughter. I was on route 112 in Medford, across from the diner, on my way to a doctor’s appointment. It was around sunset, but I remember seeing something in the sky with lights, so I pulled over, and looked up, because I was curious. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in my doctor’s office, an hour late to my appointment, and I remember the doctor thinking ‘why is she sunburnt?’ I told him I wasn’t sunburnt, and he looked shocked — I guess he hadn’t said that out loud.” After questioning why she was an hour late and sunburnt on her face, the appointment went on, and Russell headed home, wondering what happened in the hour she had lost.

It wouldn’t be until Russell was in her fifties that she learned what happened in the lost hour she says opened up her psychic abilities.

The answer is plain, and somewhat simple: Russell had been abducted by aliens. 

“I had taken a few classes about aliens and UFOs at the library, because the subject had always interested me,” Russell said, sipping on her iced tea. She went on to explain that she had heard about a group of individuals who were abducted by aliens, called Star People, and decided to attend the meeting. There, Russell learned about “scope marks,” which are little scars on an individual, usually from someone who had an encounter with extraterrestrials. Russell still has the scope mark on her arm, nearly sixty years later. Following the meeting, Russell attended a regression therapy session, and finally got answers about what happened some 30 years prior.

“Everytime I tell the story, it brings it right back to reality,” Russell laughs. “These creatures, they looked like reptilian snowmen, and were huge.” Those creatures, often called Greys, were the ones Russell had her encounter with. They were the ones who gave her the scope mark she still has to this day.

“The entire time, they were telling me they wouldn’t hurt me. Not verbally, of course. It was telepathically told to me.”

After her scope mark, she was led through the Greys’ spaceship. Along the journey, she was brought into what looked like a NICU unit, where she saw 20 incubators filled with embryos. 

“The last one was a little girl, and I just remember crying  and thinking ‘she’s mine, she’s mine.’ At the time, they thought I was pregnant with twins, but...” Russell says with a shrug.

Beyond her television career, Russell has also used her gift to help with missing persons cases, the most famous one being the disappearance of Katie Beers. Russell was able to tell police that Beers was chained by the neck and in a concrete bunker. Seventeen days after Beers disappeared, police found her, exactly how Russell described her, in a concrete bunker under her abductor’s garage.

“Gabby [Petito’s] family reached out to me, and I’ve been communicating with them,” is all Russell would share about the Blue Point native, who, at the time, was missing. Days later, Petito’s body was found, and her boyfriend is still missing.

“He’ll get his karma.”

(Since Russell was interviewed the remains of a white male were found in a nature reserve in Florida. They were identified as Brian Laundrie’s, the boyfriend of late Petito.)

Familial Fascinations

“I’d say the first paranormal experience I had was when I was a little kid, about six or seven.”

Samantha Dickerson, 23, is like many adults in their early twenties. She’s in school to become a mechanic, works part time at a car dealership, and when she isn’t working or in school, she’s hanging out with her boyfriend. Unlike most twenty-somethings though, Dickerson has been having “otherworldly” experiences her entire life.

“He was standing in the doorway of my room, at the top of the stairs. He had to be at least six feet tall, and he was wearing a hat.” Dickerson shivers slightly at the memory. “But he just...stared at me, and I felt a huge wave of anxiety and fear wash over me. I laid in my bed, glued to the spot I was in, just staring at him. It had to be for hours.”

Dickerson described what is a typical visit from the Hatman. The Hatman is believed to be a shadow person who sits and watches people, usually sending those he visits into sleep paralysis. 

“The exposure I had to witchcraft and magic as a kid makes sense as to why I have empathic qualities,” Dickerson said. An empath, which is what Dickerson identifies as, is an individual who possesses a paranormal-like ability to comprehend the emotional or mental state an individual is feeling, according to the Oxford Dictionary.

“I remember one time, I was in a friend’s house, and walked into the living room and got a dreadful feeling, similar to what I felt when I saw the Hatman — whatever happened in that house was not good,” Dickerson says with a slight laugh, the streetlights illuminating their side profile as they drive down the Long Island Expressway. 

“One time I was driving through the remnants of Kings Park Asylum, and something felt off in the air,” she says. “There was a string of white Christmas lights dangling out one of the windows on the higher floors of one of the abandoned buildings, and it did not sit well with me. At that point, the threat of MS-13 lingering in the shadows didn’t seem too scary...it was whatever inhuman thing that was stuck lingering [on] the campus grounds that made me uneasy, but at night you can’t drive like an asshole, because that’s a guarantee for a cop to pull you over. I didn’t want to stop on those streets, so as I was driving out of the asylum with my friend, I was internally panicking because the energy and vibes were just off. I’d never been so relieved to be on a main street in my life.”

Despite being able to feel a shift in the air, Dickerson never really feared witchcraft, or the powers it could give someone, because she had never seen a family member use it for harm.

“I didn’t necessarily get into witchcraft myself until the pandemic hit. I had seen a few TikToks on how to do basic spells, but I didn’t trust those videos to teach me. I did my own research and readings, because witchcraft isn’t a cute little quirky hobby you should just pick up,” Dickerson explains. “If something is done wrong, it could very easily have a negative effect on either the person the spell is intended for, or the individual performing the spell — it could lead to a familial curse, tainting your bloodline.”

Dickerson started on her personal journey with a deck of Tarot cards, which are properly cleansed, and only touched by Dickerson. If another individual touches her cards, she immediately cleanses them, whether it be by knocking on the deck, allowing them to soak in the light of a full moon, or by smudging the deck with either sage or lavender.

“There was this one time I was with a friend, and I had just gotten my [tarot] deck, we went for a drive and ended up at Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai. I did a tarot reading, but there was an immediate shift in the air. A guy walked past the car, and it was almost like he was looking through us. He went down the dock near where we had parked, and for the next twenty minutes we watched, only for him to never come back from the dock. It was about 10:30 at night, so it was pitch black on the dock. We then saw someone come running up the dock, and I peeled out of my parking spot so fast. Whatever energy was on that dock was not meant for us. I’m getting the chills thinking about it right now.”

Since Dickerson identifies as an empath, energy shifts like those mentioned above tend to weigh heavily on her. Even in her day-to-day life, something as simple as going out to eat or running errands can lead to unwanted emotions flooding her.

“If I’m having a heavy empath day, I’ll veil. I’ll usually use a bandana and wear it over my hair, to ‘protect’ myself, in a sense,” she explains, which is somewhat similar to what Lamberti does before she goes out, but Dickerson uses a physical item to protect herself instead of just visualizing it.

“I had a friend who was seeing a girl who was ‘into witchcraft.’ To be blunt, this girl didn’t know what the f*ck she was doing. When they broke up, I swear she hexed him. I went out and purchased some crystals to protect him, and made him a protection spell jar. After that any weird occurrences stopped. And that is why you do not mess with sh*t if you don’t know what the f*ck you’re doing.”

The occult will most likely remain a misunderstood part of society. While religious laws no longer rule the land, people are still skeptical of what they cannot see or understand. All three individuals profiled in the piece above have experienced something they cannot fully explain, but have chosen to embrace it rather than run from it, no matter how long it took. Think about how many small children talk to things that are not there, or say they’re just “talking to grandpa,” even though the grandfather they mention passed years beforehand. Sure, people will claim ghosts aren’t real, and that witchcraft is fake, but is it really?