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ESSEX JUNCTION, Vermont (Community News Service) – When it comes to the supernatural, couple Frank Chodl and Betz McKeown say they have it all under control.

“I work with the dead and she works with the living,” Chodl said. He and his wife travel around the country offering psychic sessions, spiritual touch healing and intuitive readings to clients seeking answers outside of traditional methods.

The two joined some of New England’s most experienced psychics, mediums and other experts at the second annual Vermont Psychic Expo, held August 9-10 at the Champlain Valley Exposition.

Blue-curtained booths lined the walls of the event center, where mediums, tarot card readers, crystal enthusiasts and other guests offered their mystical services this weekend. Supernatural senses and well-functioning air conditioning filled the air, occasionally interrupted by the beat of drums and the echo of singing bowls. Visitors walked past rows of vendors selling crystals, handmade jewelry, incense and, of course, personalized readings.

Sitting next to a station where you could take a photo of colorful clouds surrounding your body – supposedly to capture your aura – was Dianne Rockwell, a spirit medium from Lancaster, Massachusetts. She has dedicated the last nine years of her life to reuniting clients with their “dead but not yet dead” loved ones, she said.

“I feel it’s a sacred duty to give a voice to those who can’t answer the phone, send a birthday card or stop by after work for a hug,” Rockwell said. “But the love and the relationship are as strong as ever.”

Before becoming a medium, Rockwell had a career as a wedding cake designer. It wasn’t until 2015 that she reluctantly attended a workshop recommended by the late Mavis Pittilla, sometimes called the grande dame of British mediumship. Rockwell said it was there that she discovered the depth of her lifelong intuitive abilities.

“We’ve used way too much logic instead of listening to our hearts and doing what feels right – because that won’t lead you astray,” she said.

Sitting across the photo booth from him were Chodl and McKeown. Chodl said he was only eight years old when he first encountered a spiritual being.

“It didn’t frighten me or worry me, I actually felt comforted,” he said. “And since then I have been aware of contact with entities.”

He taught fine art photography and digital media for 34 years before he and his wife sold their North Carolina home about three years ago, moved into their RV and began following “energy” across the country, he said. Vermont held the strongest pull, something the couple felt immediately when they left New Hampshire and entered the Green Mountain State, he said.

Chodl’s mother also had highly intuitive abilities, he said, and helped him become who he is today. When he published his first book, “Connections: A Journey to Understanding,” he was teaching at a public school in the Bible Belt, he said. He was surprised one day when the principal of his school requested a signed copy to display in the library.

“People are starting to open up, but at the same time we are experiencing a lot more resistance because of our openness and awareness,” Chodl said. “Change scares us to death.”

Most people he meets are surprised to learn about his Roman Catholic upbringing, his preparation for the priesthood in seminary and his ability to quote entire Bible chapters, he said. But Chodl believes his religious background could be a way to change people’s views about the psychic world.

“It’s this fear-based mentality that keeps them from exploring other opportunities that might allow them to grow,” Chodl said. “They want the status quo, even though it never really existed.”

But not everyone is afraid to turn to spirituality. Clients turn to hypnotherapist and astrologer Megan Parker to process repressed emotions. In particular: anger, fear, sadness, guilt and pain.

“I use a guided, hypnosis-based visualization process with my clients to release those big emotions and then work on their limiting beliefs,” Parker said. “And we look at the blocks and triggers that are keeping them from pursuing what they really want in life.”

Parker said she uses astrology to help clients understand their soul purpose, karma and life path, a method she will demonstrate in a workshop on “Astrology Basics” at the event.

Parker used Lady Gaga’s birth chart – a snapshot of the stars in relation to her birth place and time – to help her audience understand zodiac signs and horoscopes, which the attendees seemed to enjoy.