Rev. Kathleen Hoffman says that she draws things that anybody can see right in front of them, as long as they pay attention to the world around them. The pastor of the First Spiritualist Church of Onset is a “spirit artist,” drawing the spirits of people’s deceased loved ones. Often, these are people she has never met. She simply sees their spirits standing before her, and she draws their portraits. Her clients have praised her for the accuracy of her drawing.

“All art comes from somewhere,” she said. 

Art and faith collided at the Fall Holistic Fair, held at the Wareham Elks Lodge on Saturday, Nov. 5. The fair was a fundraiser for the church and a throwback to Onset’s earliest history. The village was founded as a camp for spiritualists, those who wished to communicate with the dead.

“Spiritualism is a religion, a philosophy and a science,” Hoffman said. “We follow nature's laws… We didn’t start it, we’re just continuing it.”

The Elks Lodge was filled with crystals and other mystical items. There were plenty of tarot cards, too, but Faith Caporiccio sees the cards as a crutch.

“Tarot is just a tool for a psychic to use,” she said. “You don’t need tarot cards to get a reading.”

After the death of her father and her son, Caporiccio wanted to reach out to them through Hoffman. Hoffman did not use tarot cards, but her table was decorated with a crystal ball and a plastic turkey.

“It’s nice to hear that she picks up on them and has a message from them,” Caporiccio said. “Very calming. She hit on a lot of points. I had a second reading and they both said the same identical things. She put my mind at ease.”

Artist Jary Rego, of Mattapoisett, makes jewelry from crystals, seashells, bear teeth, boar tusks and other spiritually significant items from the natural world. He creates the jewelry, but gives credit to the crystals, which “created themselves.” A half-eaten cranberry muffin sat next to his dictionary of healing crystals and a lighter he used to smudge sage.

“I like them, so I acquire them,” he said. “In nature or on the internet. I like picking things that I would like to wear. Things of nature that you may resonate with.” 

His father was a healer in the First Spiritualist Church.

“If you believe in the afterlife, it’s the place to be,” he said. “If you believe the world has more to offer you, go there.”

Christina Piscatelli looked for herbal medicine, teas and crystals to soothe a pinched nerve in her neck. She is intrigued by the symbolism of crystals. Rose quartz, for example, represents love, while clear quartz represents energy.

“I’ve always been into spiritualistic things,” she said, checking out a stand selling gemstones, fossils and coprolite (labeled as “fossilized doo”) imported from Madagascar. “I wondered what stones would be good for pain. If you pick up different stones, you feel different energies from them.”

She said that both she and her mother could see and feel things that others could not.

“Some people can’t handle that stuff, you know?” She said. “I say, don’t block it, because everyone is capable of seeing beyond what you see in your everyday life. You just have to be open to it.”