Edinburgh Live recently visited local fortune teller Kalem Turner for a palm reading from, where our reporter received the best reading of his life despite hearing some surprising news .
Now, Kalem shares insight into the mysterious profession of fortune telling – sharing his journey to the field, the challenges of the job, and common misconceptions people hold when they come to hear their future.
Kalem’s journey with fortune telling began in his twenties when his aunt gifted him an ancient deck of tarot cards from her grandmother.
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He descends from a long line of what he termed “superstitious” women who passed along their intuition and respect for magical arts.
Since then, he has read thousands of palms after working as a fortune teller since 2018.
The psychic often works with clients who share deep secrets, which he said can be “a little crazy”.
He said: “People do tend to divulge and confess a lot of the time. It can get a little bit crazy. A lot of it is kind of like relationship based – that could be infidelity, or ‘I hate my mother, she never loved me.’”
Kalem worked in a number of professions before landing on fortune telling, even training as a mental health counsellor before making a business as a psychic. But he is firm that fortune telling is not a therapy session, despite what many customers come asking for.
Kalem reads tarot cards, palms, and astrology charts
(Image: Edinburgh Live)
He said: “A lot of people blur that line between tarot reading and therapy. At the beginning, if people were opening up during a reading, I would hold space for them. These days I would shut it down because I’m not a therapist, I’m not a healthcare worker. I think it’s dangerous to blur the lines.
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“You can’t give legal advice or medical advice. You’re not a relationship or a financial expert, but you can give a prediction. The only advice that I would give would be either how to cope with a bad prediction or how to change it.
“In counseling, the person is doing most of the talking, and it’s your job to be a mirror of what that person said. With fortune telling, it’s the other way around.”
By now, Kalem is used to delivering bad news to strangers, which he says is part of the job. Lots of customers come seeking only good news, but Kalem shares the full truth of his predictions.
He said: “Not everybody takes bad news well. The readings can be good or bad. I always tell people it’s the good, the bad and the ugly. And some people will say, ‘I’ll just leave out the bad parts’. But that’s not how it works.”
Kalem loves his job and says he is most suited to fortune telling of all his past professions – which included retail, catering, hairdressing, social care, and counselling.
He added: “There wasn’t a training course. There was no university of astrology for me, but it’s fun. It’s certainly been the most interesting job I’ve had.
“The variety of people you meet and the kind of things that you learn about people from different walks of life – it’s very unique in that sense.”
Kalem operates from Paddywax Candle Bar on Hanover Street and charges £40 for a 20-minute session where he reads your palms, tarot cards, and astrology chart. Bookings can be made here.
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