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| Getting metaphysical at Scottsdale's Vision Quest Bookstore | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Hansen Orf, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| July 5, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Then the overwhelming sights take over (photos)— the colorful mandala flags draping the walls, the dream catchers and wind chimes hanging from the ceiling, the magazines, books and music filling the shelves along the walls. There’s more: the displays featuring statues of Buddha and the goddess of mercy Quan Yin, feng shui tools and guides, singing bowls. Jewelry, gift items and decks of tarot cards spill out over the counter. All this is the vision of owners Apryl Douglas-Berlier, a psychic, and her husband, Rocky Berlier, an astrologer. Douglas-Berlier remembers vividly her first psychic experience. “I woke up in the middle of the night, I had a dream,” she says. She was 13 at the time. “This lady — in my dream she opened the door of this little apartment and she was wearing a black patch on her left eye, and keep in mind I did not know this lady, I’d never seen her — then the other part of my dream there was this man that was in it that was a close friend, and in the dream he was laying on the floor and there was a puddle of blood. “It was so vivid that I went to the location of the dream that morning and when I get there this woman opens the door, exactly as in my dream, wearing a black patch on her left eye. “Thank God, the only thing different than in the dream is I said, 'Where’s Sonny?’ and she said, 'He left. Someone tried to shoot him.’ “I get chills still today just thinking about it.” Over the next few months Douglas-Berlier, now 54, had three other dreams that came true, setting her on the path she’s followed. A professional psychic since the age of 21, Douglas-Berlier began working out of a small metaphysical bookstore in her native California before deciding to open her own store. “I kept buying all of the things that (the bookstore) had and I thought to myself, 'I could just do this for myself and not have to pay all this money!’ ” she says. “I started this little business in my home, started to do readings and accumulate money. I think I started my first store with $5,000.” From those beginnings, Douglas-Berlier and her husband have created the sprawling 10,000-square-foot Vision Quest, where customers can get readings from one of the many psychics available during business hours, browse the books, CDs, healing crystals and take classes on subjects ranging from past lives and relationships to what they call “meta healing” (Reiki, theta healing, healing circles, yoga and meditation).  Douglas-Berlier says one of her goals is to help her customers think with a more positive outlook for the future through metaphysics.“We get people from every walk of life,” she says. “It really is a word-of-mouth business where people tell their friends 'I did this the other day, do you want to go try it?’ “We get mainstream people, people that are into ETs (that’s extraterrestrials) and UFOs, people who are into yoga and meditation and holistic healing — there’s no specific demographic, it’s so varied.” Douglas-Berlier says many skeptics are surprised when they get their first reading. “Most people that come in (for a reading) are just honestly curious, and the first time they’re going, 'Wow, how do they know about my life?’ ” says Douglas-Berlier. “The big thing that we’re trying to help people with in their lives, through the readings and the products that we have, is trying to help you manifest your dreams,” she says. “It’s a place to come and gather and share a bond.” >> Vision Quest Metaphysical Bookstore is located at 2225 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Readings are usually 30 minutes for $40. (480) 949-1888 or visionquestbooks.com. >> The Health Spirit Expo and Psychic Fair is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 14, and Sunday, July 15, at Vision Quest bookstore. Free. Contact Chris Hansen Orf by email, or phone (480) 898-5684 |
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