Psychic Channels Dead in New Jersey

Medium Rouses Spirits for Local Bereaved

Psychic and medium Concetta Bertoldi whirled among fans recently at the Totowa, New Jersey Holiday Inn, channeling spirits from beyond. She says the dead are indeed among us; their purpose is to bring comfort, wisdom and humor.

Psychic Concetta Bertoldi Talks to the Dead

Concetta Bertoldi goes straight to the source to answer questions from the bereaved in attendance: Did I help my father enough when he was suffering? Is my departed child happy now?

She has talked to the dead all her life. She feared her ability as a teenager, but later decided she could help people both living and dead. Her brother, Harold, who had died of AIDS, finally convinced her from beyond. "I couldn't say no to my brother," she says in her book Do Dead People Watch You Shower? (Harper Collins, January 2008).

Harold was right. As Bertoldi spends hours channeling spirits, the crowd is roused to laughter, shouts and tears of thanks.

Poignant Messages for Bereaved from Beyond

Bertoldi's only props are wireless microphones and a small staff to remind her of the time and assist fans. Through her, the dead themselves convince their loved ones.

She assures one mother that her son is at peace, but hears something else from the spirit world. "I smell smoke," she gasps. "I see fire. Did he die in a fire? In a garage?"

"His trailer," the mother whispers, "burned down."

"Oh, darlin'," Bertoldi says softly. Then, more vigorously, "Smoke inhalation. He did not suffer. In fact, he'd had - let's say, one too many? - that night, and didn't even wake up. When they found him after the fire, they were amazed to find that his body was perfect, untouched. Is that right?"

The woman nods as astonishment ripples through the crowd.

Another woman asks for her mother. Bertoldi says, "You can talk to your mother in a second. Right now it's your husband who's standing behind you, and he really needs to tell you that he's sorry." The woman weeps.

Bertoldi stops suddenly. The man she addresses, a skeptic, is surprised. She says his deceased brother "put up a wall of energy so that I could not walk past you." She proceeds to fire off messages until he becomes convinced: the dead do live on.

Laughter from the Other Side

Bertoldi strives for lightheartedness, but the dead themselves often lighten the mood.

The spirit of a young man addresses his best buddy. "He says, 'Everyone knows what a good-looking guy I was,'" Bertoldi says. "He says you know you're as good-looking as he was, and, 'Do you remember all the girls we used to meet?'"

The buddy smiles.

"He says, 'Remember how we used to talk about some of those girls?'" The buddy sinks in his seat, nodding.

"He says, 'Don't talk like that anymore.'" The crowd erupts as the buddy colors to the roots of his hair. The spirit speaks sincerely, but he's not "dead serious."

"He says, 'All my love,'" Bertoldi smiles. "'All my love.'"

Concetta Bertoldi appears on Halloween in NYC!