Photo by G lenn Triest

Char: "Interpreting another language."

One Singular Sensation

Detroit's
nost famous
psychic,
Char Margolis,
Ir'vvorks with
everyone from
Hollywood stars
to the police.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
ASSISTANT EDITOR

I

here is hardly a sign
of things to come.
Char' s home is at
the end of a dusty
Southfield road.
Wildflowers are abundant
(Char loves lilacs and lily of
the valley). Heavy trees hug
the side of the road. It could
almost be a farm on the
edge of a forest.
The road begins to fork.
A dilapidated sign points to
the right. Its only word:
Char.
Her full name is Char-
lene Margolis, and her roots
are anything but extraordi-
nary. Like many, she was
raised in Oak Park, went to
Wayne State University, got
a job teaching.
Then Char began to cul-
tivate what she calls her
"gift" — a psychic ability
that continues to amaze
even the most confirmed
skeptics.
"I'm not one who usually
believes in this stuff," said
a recent visitor. "But she is
really something."
Char discovered her tal-
ent 17 years ago when she
and her best friend went to
a psychic in Detroit. Appro-
priately enough, the woman
lived across the corner from
a funeral parlor.
"We expected an old lady
with gray hair wearing a
black veil," Char admits.

What they got was a young,
blonde Joyce Thomas, "who
started telling me things
about my life that no one
could ever know."
Char was so impressed
by Ms. Thomas that she be-
gan to constantly call her —
"sometimes six to eight
times a day" — with ques-
tions.
Ms. Thomas had her own
query: Why wasn't Char de-
veloping her psychic abili-
ties?
For years, Char had been
able to sense things, but
was never able to put a
name on her skill or har-
ness it. Ms. Thomas helped
her cultivate her talent,
which Char describes as "a
gut feeling. What I have
done is develop it to the
point where I know how to
really listen."
She began with small
parlor groups, quickly build-
ing a good enough reputa-
tion that she was able to
quit her substitute teaching
job and work full time as a
psychic.
Char moved to Califor-
nia, where she works out of
Los Angeles and Montecito,
near Santa Barbara. The
Hollywood personalities for
whom she has done a read-
ing include the late jazz
great Miles Davis, Con-
gresswoman Bella Abzug,

"General Hospital" star
Tristan Rogers and film di-
rector Blake Edwards.
She once had lunch with
actress Shirley MacLaine,
too, and it doesn't take a
psychic to figure out what
they discussed.
Though much of her
work is in California, Char
continues to maintain her
Southfield residence, a 10-
acre farm that's home to
two horses for whom Char
leaves the radio on all day
in the barn. An animal
rights activist, she has any
number of cats living with
her at a given time (she has
two now, but if she finds
more abandoned, she'll take
them in).
She generally does her
readings in a room adorned
with pictures of ancestors,
books — The Union Prayer
Book and the Horseman's
Encyclopedia are just two
— and Indian artifacts.
Over the fireplace is a pic-
ture of an Indian whom
Char says resembles her
"spirit guide," named
"White Feather."
Char, who does most of
her readings by phone, al-
ways begins by reciting a
prayer for protection
against "evil spirits." Then
she waits for the "thoughts
that come into my head" via
the good spirits. "I'll have

an image or see something
out in the room that starts
to take form."
She will call out a letter
that begins a name relevant
to the client, and soon the
name itself (often deceased
relatives). Then she gives
suggestions — "You need to
finish that book you've been
working on; don't keep
putting it off," or "Look for
a change in your husband's
career."
Char believes she is "in-
terpreting another lan-
guage" when she works, and
tries to help guide others
through life's difficult choic-
es. "Life is a school," she
says. "We're here to learn.
Tests are put out in front of
us all the time."
Her readings, she says,
often give hope, helping oth-
ers know that God and an
afterlife exist. "It opens a
whole new world for peo-
ple," Char says. "It gives
them faith that there is
more out there, that we
don't die."
She stresses that she
works with the good and de-
livers positive messages de-
signed to help. She never
discusses dates of death,
saying, "I don't play God
with my gift."
A firm believer in rein-
carnation, Char believes she
has had quite a few previ-
ous lives — as a singer in
love with George Gershwin,
as a resident of France and
as a psychic. "I think my gift
came so easily and is so spe-
cial," she says. "I know I
had to have done this be-
fore."
Char was for 12 years a
regular on "AM Los Ange-
les," and continues to make
twice yearly appearances on
"Regis and Kathie Lee." She
also has been a guest on
"Sally Jessy Raphael" and
"Entertainment Tonight,"
among others. She served
as an adviser to actress
Demi Moore during the
filming of The Butcher's
Wife.
Char also volunteers
with the police, once help-
ing the Santa Maria, Calif.,
division with a mystery in-
volving a missing couple.
Knowing nothing about the
case, she provided the police
with the first names of the
two, where their bodies
could be found, and details
about the killer.
"I have no trouble saying
Char helped us, when we
really had no place to look,"
Santa Maria police Lt.
Aubrey Patterson said. CI