The very popular Theresa Caputo, “the Long Island Medium,” invoked and lifted spirits at Cherry Grove’s historic Community House on June 28. The house was packed for this televised event, a benefit for the Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG). All present had to sign release forms, attesting that they agreed to be videotaped for broadcast, and tickets sold for $50 apiece. The event raised $6,400 for APCG, according to organization Treasurer Eric Coyne.
Caputo was undeniably entertaining and, at the very least, left members of her audience pensive, thinking about our own departed loved ones. Ariel Sinclair, blonde entertainer and Caputo’s virtual twin, introducing the spiritualist, urged keeping “an open heart and open mind.”
Explaining her flashy, multi-colored dress, the medium declared, “My lifelong dream was to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader—or a dragqueen.” She continued, “There is more to life than is in the physical world—and your loved ones are with you … I’ve been seeing spirits since the age of four … My gift … is communicating with the dead,” and added, “I am a practicing Catholic … It took me a long time to embrace my gift with my faith.”
When the Community House door flew open suddenly, which it did, unexpectedly, several times, Caputo exclaimed, cheerfully, “Welcome in, Spirit!” She told us, “Your loved ones are going to give you what you need … to make tomorrow easier … They are with you in spirit … Your loved ones are going to acknowledge thoughts, feelings, and emotions.” And then she began to address individuals, noting that the spirits “piggyback,” moving from one person to another during the readings.
Caputo communicated with the spirit of the departed son of a woman who was not permitted to see him in his hospital room near the end. She said to the woman, “Your son’s soul just moved through us to validate that it was him.” The son’s spirit, speaking through Caputo, pointed out, “My mom always respected me—she did not always agree with my choices, but she respected me.” A vision of “white doves” came to Caputo and she gave the mother a hug that she said was from her child. “Mom, you are the most amazing woman … I am so proud of you,” was the son’s message, through the medium, to the woman.
“They keep restricting my throat area … They are choking me,” a symbol, Caputo said, of someone not being able to communicate at the end, possibly with a tube down the throat. She queried, of an audience member, “Where does the apron come in? Did your mom like to cook?”—which would not be all that unusual. She asked someone if the loved one, dreamed of the night before, had passed away from a blood disease, possibly from a transfusion. She told one Grovite, “You have an amazing aura … Your father’s at peace.” She told another, “Your mom just said, ‘No regrets.’ Do you understand that?” and, feigning impatience, ordered, “Stop talking to your mother—you’re fucking up my reading!”
Caputo talked to a Grove man about his late spouse, temporary departure from Fire Island, and return with a new spouse. He momentarily floored her by pointing out that the former partner was also his adoptive father—not an entirely strange situation before legal same-sex marriage. Caputo concluded, “He’s supporting that choice and decision … You continue to live your life with dignity and grace after all that you’ve been through.”
“No regrets—release every burden you felt with that departure,” she advised a woman who had taken care of her brother before he died. Caputo channeled a vision of a fatal automobile accident and saw symbols that suggested survivor’s guilt.
What an amazing evening Theresa Caputo gave us, after all!