Laura Lenhard
About Laura
A fascination with the metaphysical world has been a lifetime in
the making. While caring for her mother and grandparents, all
of whom passed away from terminal illnesses within a year and a half
of each other, Laura spent a great deal of time working with
Hospice. The Hospice workers, both here and in California,
helped her understand that it is commonplace to find that when you
are living with and caring for a loved one who is terminally ill,
very often you find yourself experiencing things that cannot readily
be explained away - not that Laura wasted much of her time trying.
“My family is predominantly Irish, and I grew up with folklore and
superstition being treated as a matter of fact rather than fancy.
I had a cousin in Pennsylvania who read tea leaves, and people came
to see her from miles around, and I’ve been reading tarot cards
since I was a teenager. Adding to all that, my father served
in the Army during the Korean War and returned with a love of
Eastern philosophy and its religion – so reincarnation was mixed in
with Catholicism as part of my overall spiritual upbringing.”
All of these experiences finally led to a realization that, for her,
traditional religion didn’t deal with spirituality, death and the
afterlife in a manner she could relate to. Laura is hoping
that “Talisman will be a place where people can meet and gather to
discuss ideas and issues concerning aspects of their personal
beliefs and experiences without fear of ridicule or judgment.
In addition, we are going to offer our patrons the opportunity to experience diverse spiritual encounters by contracting with individuals representing a variety of psychic abilities. We’re planning to host tea leaf-reading parties, pet psychics, handwriting analysis, past life regressions, tarot card and other readers. We’d also like to hold workshops on such topics as creating a home altar, practical gem magic, aromatherapy and creating effective herbal formulas – we’re just planning to talk to our customers to find out their interests and needs, and then do our best to try and meet them.”
Among
these is a local jewelry maker who grinds her own gemstones and
incorporates fossils and other natural elements to make truly unique
pieces of wearable art; a Connecticut metalworker and his wife who
make regular trips to the deep South to buy intricate metalwork from
antebellum mansions which they turn into gorgeous candelabras and
amazing yard art; craft items made by Lakota artists from the Pine
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota including smudge fans, medicine
bags, rattles, and beaded jewelry; fabulous gothic jewelry; a
Brazilian farmer who creates wonderful agate coasters – “my gemstone
wholesaler keeps this guy in business” – and an Australian
taxidermist who has a working agreement with the local aviaries to
supply her with expired birds. In addition, Laura notes that
“I’m working with an art dealer who makes regular trips to Mexico
and brings back the best folk art and Day of the Dead stuff. I
loved this idea in California, where it’s celebrated on November 2nd
with people having picnics on their loved ones’ graves and in
general, approaching death with a sort of festive gaiety, and hope
my patrons with come to appreciate it as well.”