Savannah Psychics: A Haunted History Through the Centuries

Savannah, Georgia has long reveled in a reputation as one of America’s most mysteriously haunted cities, where moss-draped oaks and cobblestone squares seem to whisper old secrets. Tourists flock here not just for the Southern charm and antebellum architecture, but to seek a brush with the supernatural. Savannah’s ghostly reputation is no accident – everyone from USA Today to the Travel Channel has crowned Savannah among “America’s Most Haunted Cities,” right alongside New Orleans and Salem​. Strolling the historic district at dusk, it’s easy to feel why. Lantern-lit haunted Savannah tours depart nightly, their guides spinning yarns of restless spirits and inexplicable encounters. But beyond the ghost tours and spooky legends lies a rich history of psychics, mediums, and mystics in Savannah – a legacy interwoven with the city’s cultural fabric from its colonial founding through the modern day.

In Savannah’s story, fortune-tellers peered into crystal balls on River Street, spiritualist mediums conducted séances in elegant Victorian parlors, and conjure women quietly dispensed charms in the backstreets. This long timeline of the “sixth sense” in Savannah spans diverse eras and influences: West African hoodoo practices carried by enslaved people in the 18th century, the Spiritualism craze that swept America in the 19th century, and a 20th-century revival of occult and paranormal interest that continues today. With a serious (yet slightly playful) look at real historical accounts – drawn from old newspapers, archives, and local lore – we’ll journey through the evolution of psychic practices in Savannah. From colonial root doctors and Civil War-era ghost stories, to Gilded Age fortune-tellers, Jazz Age mystics, and modern “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” hoodoo, Savannah has seen it all. Each era’s cultural currents shaped how Savannahians sought insight from the unseen.

So, step into the time machine and bring your imagination (and perhaps a healthy dose of skepticism). We’ll begin where Savannah itself began – on the windswept bluff of the Savannah River in the 1700s – and trace the enigmatic timeline of Savannah’s psychics and spiritualists. By the journey’s end, you might just agree that there’s something special in the sultry Savannah air, a sixth sense Savannah seems to awaken in those who wander its haunted streets.

Colonial Roots: Folk Magic in Georgia’s First City (18th Century)

Savannah’s fascination with the supernatural didn’t begin with ghost tour guides in top hats – it reaches back to the city’s earliest days in the 18th century. Founded in 1733 as Georgia’s first settlement, colonial Savannah was a melting pot of cultures and beliefs. General James Oglethorpe’s settlers brought European superstitions and religious fervor, while enslaved Africans carried profound spiritual traditions that would quietly take root here​. In those colonial years, “psychics” as we think of them today didn’t advertise on street corners, but the seeds of Savannah’s mystic reputation were planted in subtler ways.

African Conjure and Voodoo Arrive: From the beginning, enslaved West Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in coastal Georgia preserved folk magic and spiritual rites as a form of solace and resistance. They spoke of “haints” (restless ghosts) and laid secret charms to protect against evil. In the mid-1700s, members of Savannah’s First African Baptist Church surreptitiously drilled patterns of holes in the floorboards of the church’s basement in the shape of a cosmogram – a sacred Kikongo symbol​. This was more than ventilation for secret prayer meetings; it was West African spiritual geometry embedded in the very foundations of Savannah. Archaeologists later found hoodoo bundles under old buildings – little packets of grave dirt, iron nails, and herbs buried for protection​. Such discoveries reveal that even as English officials and ministers preached Christian piety in Savannah’s squares, African conjurers were quietly working their magic in the shadows. Enslaved root doctors became healers when official medicine failed, using botanical knowledge and spiritual rituals to cure illness or “trick” slavecatchers (for instance, rubbing graveyard dirt on one’s feet to throw off chasing bloodhounds​). Owners grew so fearful of this covert power that some banned African herbs on plantations, but their repression only drove hoodoo deeper underground. One legendary tale speaks of an enslaved conjure woman called Old Julie who was “known for conjuring death” on a plantation. According to later folklore, Old Julie “conjured so much death” against cruel overseers that her panicked enslaver tried to sell her away – yet the story claims her magic turned the boat around and forced him to keep her​. Whether or not one believes Old Julie truly bent a steamboat’s course, the legend attests to the awe and fear surrounding these early practitioners of Savannah’s mystic arts.

European and Indigenous Influences: The predominately British colonists of Savannah were officially Protestant and enlightened for their time, but many still held folk beliefs in omens and prophecy. Early Georgia records don’t describe any witch trials (unlike Salem up north), yet settlers likely consulted almanacs for astrological advice on planting and perhaps whispered of “second sight” (a trait in Scottish folklore) among the Highland Scots who settled nearby. In 1779, the city’s fate in the American Revolution took a mystical turn when hundreds of Black Haitian soldiers – the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue – arrived to help defend Savannah from the British. These men carried the Vodou faith of Haiti with them, calling on their loa spirits for protection in battle​. During the brutal Siege of Savannah, one can imagine West African war charms and Vodou prayers mingling with musket fire. Most of those Haitian fighters returned home after the war, but as historians note, their presence “planted early Vodou seeds in Savannah’s cultural soil”​. Through the busy port in the following decades, a trickle of Caribbean spiritual practices continued to flow into the city’s cultural mix​. By the dawn of the 19th century, whispers about “voodoo queens” and root workers operating in Savannah had begun to circulate among the populace​.

In short, the colonial era laid the spiritual groundwork: Savannah’s genteel facade concealed a subculture of conjure and clairvoyance. The common folk might not have openly advertised psychic readings in the 1700s, but an undercurrent of belief in unseen forces was very much alive. The stage was set for these traditions to evolve – or sometimes clash – with new movements in the centuries to follow.

Shadows of the Antebellum South: Ghosts, Visions and Conjure (19th Century up to Civil War)

As Savannah grew into a prosperous port city in the early to mid-1800s, its fascination with the supernatural only deepened. This was a paradoxical era: on the surface, the city’s elite upheld a veneer of Victorian Christianity and gentility, yet beneath that veneer, belief in spirits and magic persisted across racial and class lines. In the decades leading up to the Civil War, Savannah’s psychic history unfolded in two parallel currents – one driven by the conjure traditions of African Americans, and another influenced by the broader American appetite for Spiritualism and occult experimentation.

Conjure in the Quarters: Throughout the antebellum period, enslaved Africans and their descendants in Savannah continued practicing hoodoo (folk magic) for healing, protection, and occasionally revenge. Plantation owners alternately dismissed these practices as “superstition” and dreaded them as real threats. By the mid-19th century, accounts of powerful root doctors were common in the region. Southern lore is replete with references to curses placed on cruel overseers and charms used to improve one’s lot. Former enslavers later admitted that some enslaved people’s knowledge of poisons and potions gave them sleepless nights​. In the 1850s, one Savannah newspaper even printed a sensational tale (likely apocryphal) of a Lowcountry planter undone by a slave’s conjuring. While such stories were exaggerated for effect, they underscore the underground influence hoodoo had in Savannah’s culture. Enslaved conjurers often doubled as unofficial physicians, midwives, and counselors within their communities – a different kind of “psychic advisor,” one might say, whose power came from roots and faith rather than formal medical training. White Savannahians, too, were not immune to the lure of hoodoo. Plantation journals and later interviews hint that some slaveowners quietly consulted the very root workers they publicly decried, seeking love potions or prosperity charms. This uneasy dance – publicly disavowing “witchcraft” but privately believing in it – characterized much of Savannah’s relationship with folk mysticism during this era.

“Spiritual Warfare” and Ghostly Beliefs: The 19th century also saw a rise in ghost lore around Savannah. Long before the city was branded “haunted” for tourists, locals swapped ghost stories around their hearths. The hardships of frontier life and later the mounting tensions over slavery and war gave plenty of fodder for tales of revenant spirits. By the Civil War (1861-65), Savannah was steeped in spectral rumors. Soldiers marching off to battle were said to receive omens in dreams; families coping with devastating casualty lists turned to whatever comfort they could find – including the idea of communicating with dead loved ones. It’s around this time that the seeds of Spiritualism (the belief that the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living) began to take hold in America, eventually reaching Savannah after the war. During the war, however, survival was the more pressing concern. Hoodoo stepped in here as well: folklore holds that enslaved people used conjure to try to influence the war’s outcome. According to one account, root doctors cast rituals for Union victory, seeing it as a path to freedom – an intriguing twist on the concept of psychic warfare. When General William T. Sherman’s Union troops spared Savannah from destruction in late 1864 (presenting it to President Lincoln as a “Christmas gift”), some freedpeople whispered that spirits had protected the city from Sherman’s flames.

Amidst the turmoil, ordinary Savannahians also reported uncanny experiences. There were anecdotes of “warning visions” – a mother who “saw” her son wounded on a distant battlefield, or a slave who predicted an upcoming cholera outbreak with eerie accuracy. These stories, whether coincidental or embellished in retelling, suggest that the idea of a “sixth sense” was very much alive in Savannah by the mid-19th century. Even those who’d scoff at fortune-telling might admit to a strange intuition or prophetic dream.

nter Modern Spiritualism: In 1848, up in New York, the famous Fox Sisters sparked the modern Spiritualist movement with their purported spirit communications. News of this trend – séances, spirit mediums, and “rappings” from beyond – spread across the country in the ensuing decades. By the 1850s and 1860s, Spiritualism had made inroads in some Southern cities as well (even as it flourished more in the North). Savannah, a cosmopolitan port with many northern transplants and European visitors, did not entirely miss out on the craze. We find hints that at least a few Savannah residents were dabbling in Spiritualist practices in the 1860s. For example, archives of the Swedenborgian Church (also called the Church of the New Jerusalem) show a small presence in Savannah around that time​ – Swedenborgians were precursors to Spiritualists, claiming direct insight into the spirit world. And though formal documentation is sparse (perhaps due to Southern society’s conservatism), it’s likely that private séances took place in Savannah parlors after the Civil War, as grieving families sought solace. The end of the war in 1865 left countless broken families in its wake. Just as widows and parents in New York or Boston turned to mediums to contact fallen soldiers, so too must have some in Savannah.

In summary, the antebellum and Civil War period in Savannah blended folk magic and emerging spiritualism, setting the stage for an explosion of overt psychic activity in the later 19th century. The belief in unseen forces – be it the power of a curse or the presence of a ghost – had survived the age of reason and war. And with emancipation and Reconstruction on the horizon, both Black and white Savannahians would carry those beliefs into a new era of experimentation and commercial enterprise in matters of the spirit.

Reconstruction and Gilded Age Mystics: Séances, Palmists, and “Queens of Fortune” (1865–1900)

After the Civil War, Savannah entered an era of change and curiosity – one that proved fertile ground for the open practice of psychic arts. From the late 1860s through the Victorian 1890s, spiritualism and fortune-telling in Savannah shifted from the semi-clandestine realm of folklore into a more public (if still controversial) sphere. This period saw professional mediums and clairvoyants setting up shop in the city, catering to a clientele that ranged from society ladies to working-class seekers. At the same time, African American conjure women began advertising their services in print, asserting themselves as part of the urban economy. It was an eclectic scene: séance circles in fashionable drawing rooms, traveling mind-readers on stage at local theaters, and “hoodoo doctors” selling love potions behind unmarked doors.

Spiritualism Gains a Foothold: In the Reconstruction era (late 1860s–1870s), Savannah, like much of the country, experienced a wave of interest in contacting the spirit world. The trauma of the war and the massive loss of life made the promise of communication beyond the grave alluring. While the deeply religious might condemn séance-holding as blasphemy, many others approached it with open-minded fascination. By the 1870s, it was not unheard of for Savannah newspapers to mention spirit communication or local séance circles in passing. One local anecdote from the 1870s describes a gathering where a medium purportedly channeled the spirit of a Revolutionary War soldier to the astonishment of guests – a story recounted in hushed tones in the Savannah Morning News. Though such accounts were rare and often veiled in humor or skepticism, they indicate that Victorian Savannahians were experimenting with spiritualism along with the rest of the Western world. The city’s coastal, romantic atmosphere may have even enhanced the appeal; as one writer later observed, “the soft Savannah night and the glow of gaslight in a Gordon Street parlor was the perfect setting to imagine a ghost’s whisper in your ear.”

The Rise of the Fortune-Telling Business: Perhaps the most striking development of the late 19th century was the emergence of self-proclaimed fortune-tellers and clairvoyants as public figures in Savannah. No case is more notable than that of Madame Margaret “Peg” Smith, an African American fortune-teller who became something of a local legend. Madame Smith began practicing in the mid-19th century (likely as an enslaved woman prior to Emancipation) and by the 1870s–1880s was offering readings to clients of all races. She was bold enough to advertise in the Savannah Tribune – the Black-owned newspaper – as early as 1876, billing herself as a “Fortune Teller and Astrologist.” In an 1888 Tribune advertisement, Madame Smith proclaimed she had been practicing for fifty years and invited those seeking advice to visit her at 11 Margaret Street (near West Broad Street)​. She promised to “reveal the deepest secrets, unveil the future,” reunite separated lovers, and even provide “successful lottery numbers” to the lucky. Her florid ad went so far as to crown her “the Queen and Star Fortune Teller without a superior.”​ It’s a remarkable slice of history: a formerly enslaved Black woman running a thriving metaphysical consultancy in the heart of Jim Crow Savannah. People must have indeed lined up at that little house on Margaret Street, from anxious young women curious about marriage to businessmen hoping for a lucky number tip. Madame Smith’s long career (spanning into the 1890s) also suggests a continuity of conjure tradition adapted to an urban setting. Whereas antebellum root workers operated in whispers, by the Gilded Age a figure like Smith could assert her services openly, albeit to a primarily African American clientele (her ads in the Black press indicate that, although surely some white patrons came discreetly by night).

Not to be outdone, white and traveling clairvoyants also made their mark on Savannah in these years. Newspapers of the 1880s and 1890s carried tantalizing notices for visiting mediums and palmists from northern cities. One popular depiction of the era’s fortune-telling scene comes from an 1898 issue of Leslie’s Weekly (a New York illustrated magazine). In a spread titled “The Blackville Gallery, No. IV – A Blackville Fortune Teller”, a staged photogravure shows a stereotyped scene: an elderly Black woman in a kerchief reads the palm of a well-dressed “society lady” beside a hearth, while the fortune-teller’s husband smokes a pipe by the fire​. The caption teases in dialect, “Lawd, Chile! Yo’ Gwine to Marry Rich.” This satirical image (viewed now as cringingly racist) nevertheless confirms that fortune-tellers were a familiar part of late-19th-century life, enough so to be caricatured in national media. In Savannah, the reality behind that caricature involved people like Madame Smith – genuine practitioners who did indeed reassure lovesick girls “you gon’ marry a rich man” or counseled clients on marital strife and lost objects. The popularity of such services spanned the color line. While Black women like Smith dominated the local “psychic” trade, some white Savannahians preferred to consult imported gurus with a patina of exoticism. For instance, in 1893 a “Madame Viro” from New Orleans held court at a Broughton Street address, advertising palm readings and trance mediumship. By 1897, Savannah had even hosted lectures by members of the Theosophical Society (an occult spiritual movement of the period), reflecting the era’s hunger for mystical knowledge.

Mind Readers and Mystics on Stage: The late 19th century also brought traveling clairvoyants and theatrical psychics to Savannah’s entertainment venues. It was the golden age of stage magic and mesmerism. The Savannah Theatre and other halls saw performances by “mentalists” who could seemingly read minds or induce trances. One newspaper ad from 1876 touted the appearance of an “Oriental Mystic” known as Professor Haram – likely a gimmick with a costumed actor – who promised to hypnotize volunteers and perform second-sight demonstrations. The public was curious and less jaded than today, so these acts drew crowds. The line between genuine belief and willing suspension of disbelief was blurry. Some spectators went for a lark, while others came hoping to witness proof of the paranormal. Savannah’s newspapers sometimes ran tongue-in-cheek accounts of these shows. In 1886, the Morning News described an itinerant fortune-teller’s visit with amused skepticism, noting how citizens eagerly paid for vague prophecies. By 1900, advertisements for local clairvoyant services were commonplace in the city papers. One striking notice in February 1900 announces: “Madame Hearn, palmist and mind reader, tells past, present and future; life reading 25¢” – giving her address on East Broughton Street​. Right below, another ad reads: “Madame Ahmiad, Palmist, of the famous Zancigs, in the city for a short while… 102 Harris Street”​. The Zancigs were a renowned husband-wife mentalist team of that era, so presumably Madame Ahmiad was leveraging that fame during her Savannah stop. These tiny ads speak volumes: by the turn of the 20th century, Savannah had a thriving mini-industry of fortune-telling, complete with local “madames” and touring celebrities. Twenty-five cents (the price of Madame Hearn’s basic reading) was not a trivial sum in 1900 – clearly, there was enough demand that she could make a living.

Of course, not everyone embraced these mystical trends. The late Victorian period also saw a backlash against charlatanism. Clergy in Savannah regularly warned their flocks against consulting fortunetellers, calling it sinful and foolish. Skeptics wrote letters to the editor ridiculing the idea that cards or palms could reveal destiny. The city government at times considered ordinances to license or ban fortune-telling (as many other cities did to curb swindlers). Yet, despite occasional crackdowns, the practice persisted and even flourished. For many Savannahians, visiting a clairvoyant was as much a part of life’s menu of options as visiting a doctor or a minister – just another way to seek guidance in uncertain times.

By 1900, Savannah was in some ways psychically saturated. Séances, tarot readings, palmistry and hoodoo rootwork all coexisted in a peculiar blend. A person might attend church on Sunday, visit a palmist on Monday, and keep a mojo bag in their dresser drawer just in case. This pluralism of belief set the stage for the 20th-century evolution of Savannah’s psychic landscape, which would see charismatic new figures and the enduring presence of old traditions.

The Early 20th Century: Mediums, Mystics, and Secret Spells (1900–1940)

As the calendar flipped to the 1900s, Savannah’s obsession with the supernatural showed no signs of fading. In fact, the early 20th century brought even more colorful characters into the city’s psychic history – from charismatic female mediums who became minor celebrities, to quiet root doctors serving their communities in the shadows. This era spanning the Edwardian years through the Roaring ’20s and Great Depression was marked by social change (two World Wars, technological progress, the Jazz Age) that influenced how people viewed mysticism. Yet whether in flapper dresses or in mourning attire, many Savannahians still sought comfort and insight from those with a purported sixth sense.

The Palmist with “1,000 Eyes” – Madame Grace DeLong: One of the most intriguing figures to arrive in Savannah around this time was Grace Gray DeLong, a professional psychic whose exploits were documented in newspapers and city directories. Madame DeLong swept into town in 1911, and unlike the homegrown hoodoo practitioners of previous decades, she was a well-traveled professional medium of national ambition. Styling herself in advertisements as a “palmist, clairvoyant, medium, and life reader,” Grace DeLong quickly made waves. Her first ads appeared in the Savannah Tribune in 1911, announcing her “First Public Appearance in Savannah” at Mechanics’ Hall, complete with a “Spiritual Séance identical to one she gave at The White House.”​ The audacity of that claim – that she had performed for dignitaries in Washington – raised some eyebrows. (As one historian dryly notes, no evidence has been found of a White House séance by DeLong​, but such publicity stunts were common among itinerant psychics). Regardless, Savannahians were intrigued. For two nights in December 1911, crowds gathered to witness Madame DeLong “the Mysterious, Mystic Wonder Worker” demonstrate her gifts. According to her ads, she performed feats like reading sealed letters and conveying messages from spirits, and even incorporated then-modern technology by using “Moving Pictures and Feature Films” during her show – a clever blend of entertainment and mysticism.

Madame DeLong’s impact went beyond stage shows. She set up a consulting office (initially in the suburb of Thunderbolt) and advertised private readings. Interestingly, she advertised heavily in the African American press, suggesting her clientele in Savannah was largely Black (perhaps because Black communities were more accepting of spiritual consultation, or less served by mainstream mental health resources). Her personal life was as unusual as her career: she opened a photography studio in 1918, combining her interest in images with her psychic business. In fact, she often used the same logo – an Egyptian motif with a pyramid and radiant sun – to brand both her photo studio and her clairvoyant services​. She dubbed herself “The Woman with 1,000 Eyes,” implying omniscience​. Surviving city directories list her through the 1910s and early 1920s, and then she flits off to appear in records of Florida, Mississippi, and even Washington, D.C.​. Madame DeLong was a true psychic entrepreneur: constantly on the move, building a following wherever she went, Savannah being one of her strongholds. One can imagine genteel ladies climbing the stairs to her Broughton Street studio, perhaps clutching letters from absent loved ones or worries about financial ventures, seeking the counsel of this confident clairvoyant. While some likely walked away unconvinced, many others must have found reason to return – if not, DeLong would never have lasted over a decade on and off in the Hostess City. Her presence also signaled that Savannah’s appetite for the mystical had gone mainstream enough to support “celebrity psychics.”

Beyond DeLong, the early 1900s had its share of local fortune-tellers continuing the traditions of prior generations. Newspaper classifieds from the 1910s list several “Madames” offering readings. For example, a Madame Cairo operated in 1915 promising Egyptian secrets of the future, and a Professor Williams (likely a stage persona for a traveling medium) advertised spirit messages in 1920. It seems almost every block of Savannah’s downtown had some kind of psychic consultant – not unlike the plethora of psychic shops you might see in French Quarter New Orleans or New York’s Lower East Side in that era. This proliferation led to occasional scandal. In 1917, the Savannah Morning News reported on a fortune-teller arrested for fraud after a customer complained of being swindled out of a large sum in return for a promised treasure that never materialized. The judge admonished the public not to be so gullible, but people’s yearning for answers in troubled times often overpowered caution.

Hoodoo’s Quiet Continuation: Meanwhile, African American conjure practitioners remained active and adaptive, though they often kept a lower profile than someone like Madame DeLong. After Reconstruction, many Black Savannahians moved into their own communities on the city’s periphery, like Frogtown and Sandfly. Within these communities, root doctors and “workers” (as they were called) quietly plied their trade into the 20th century. In the 1930s, a folklorist and anthropologist named Mary Alicia Owens (and others working for the WPA) interviewed elderly African Americans along the Georgia coast about hoodoo practices. They found that even then, locals were reluctant to discuss conjure with outsiders at first​. But eventually, stories poured forth. One woman recounted how she suffered a string of misfortunes until she dug up a strange bundle buried in her yard – a conjure bundle of clay and cursed ingredients planted by an enemy. Upon destroying it, her luck returned overnight. Another spoke of a neighbor who paid a “witch doctor” to lift a hex that had made him fall ill. These accounts, from the 1900s to the 1930s, show that the belief in curses and spiritual cures was alive and well in Savannah’s Black communities. Hoodoo practitioners might not have taken out newspaper ads (segregation and secrecy discouraged such things), but word of mouth ensured that those in need knew whom to visit. Some sold homemade remedies at city markets or dealt in lucky charms like rabbit’s feet, blue beads, and bottles of “extract” (hoodoo oils). The commerce of conjure had taken a more discreet form.

One fascinating mid-century figure bridging hoodoo and the commercial sphere was Mamie Wade Avant, a Black Savannah woman born likely in the early 1900s who became a locally renowned fortune-teller and root worker by mid-century. Though she’s more active after 1940 (which we’ll cover in the next section), it’s worth noting that by the 1930s she was already honing her craft. Decades later, Emory University would acquire Mamie’s personal spell books and even her crystal ball – tangible evidence of a life spent in the mystic arts​. In an era when formal opportunities for Black women were severely limited, fortune-telling offered Mamie a measure of independence and respect within her community. She even had connections with fraternal organizations (the Masons and Eastern Star), suggesting her work straddled the line between folk spirituality and organized social groups.

Psychic Tourism – Early Hints: The 1920s saw Jazz Age skepticism and scientific progress (radio! automobiles!) collide with an occult revival. Nationally, magicians like Houdini debunked fake mediums, and interest in ghosts and Ouija boards was sometimes seen as passé. Savannah, being traditional, perhaps clung to its haunts a bit more. We see the seeds of ghost tourism starting to sprout in the 1920s-30s as well. Writers and travelogues about Savannah often mentioned the “haunted houses” one might see – the start of turning ghost lore into an attraction. A 1922 Savannah Press article humorously suggested a “Ghosts of Savannah” tour for out-of-towners, referencing famous haunted mansions on Madison Square and the eerie colonial Cemetery. It was half in jest, but prescient of things to come. And notably, some of those ghost stories were linked to psychics: one mansion allegedly had a ghost that only the family’s old Gullah nurse could communicate with (through some whispered prayer), hinting at a blending of ghost lore with mediumship.

By the end of the 1930s, Savannah – like the rest of the country – was grappling with the Great Depression. Hard times historically drive people to seek supernatural aid; when bank accounts empty, hope might be found in the turn of a tarot card or the promise of a lucky charm. Fortune-tellers in Savannah likely saw an uptick in customers desperate for guidance or good news. It was during these hardscrabble years that Mamie Wade Avant’s reputation grew, and others like her quietly helped people cope with uncertainty through spells and readings.

Thus, on the eve of World War II, Savannah’s psychic heritage was a rich tapestry. The gaudy public mediumship of the likes of Grace DeLong had left a mark, and the quieter, centuries-old conjure tradition persisted strong as ever. The city’s ghosts were well entrenched in local lore. The scene was set for the late 20th century, when Savannah’s mystique would step onto an even larger stage – from the pages of bestselling books to the itineraries of countless curious tourists.

Hoodoo Revival and Haunted Fame: Late 20th Century (1940s–1990s)

The second half of the 20th century ushered in dramatic transformations for Savannah – economically, socially, and yes, spiritually. From the 1940s through the 1990s, Savannah’s “sixth sense” culture both modernized and gained national attention. What had once been the domain of local folklore and quiet consultations began to attract outsiders’ fascination. Several factors played into this: the survival and adaptation of Gullah-Geechee hoodoo practices, a broader American counterculture interest in the occult in the 1960s-70s, and a cultural moment in the 1990s that suddenly cast Savannah’s ghosts and voodoo heritage into the limelight. By the end of the century, Savannah was no longer a hidden haven of hauntings – it was being celebrated (and marketed) as “America’s Most Haunted City.”

Mid-Century Mystics: In the 1940s and 50s, amid World War II and the booming post-war era, Savannah’s overt psychic scene was relatively quiet. The nation was focused on war and prosperity; visiting fortune-tellers may have seemed like a quaint relic. Yet, behind closed doors, the old traditions lived on. Mamie Wade Avant, introduced earlier, truly blossomed in these decades. Described by those who knew her as a gentle but powerful spiritual advisor, Mamie – sometimes known by her married name Mamie DeVeaux – was the person you went to when life went off the rails. She had a crystal ball, a deck of well-worn tarot cards, and handwritten pages of spells for every occasion​. She crafted mojo bags filled with curios, rolled dice to divine answers, and burned candles of specific hues for her clients’ needs​. Intriguingly, Mamie kept ties with some Masonic and fraternal circles (perhaps through her husband or her own social standing), suggesting she navigated both mainstream and subcultural worlds. Her home in Savannah was part-psychic parlor, part-spiritual supply store: oral histories say she stocked herbs like High John the Conqueror root and “Blue Stone” (copper sulfate crystals used in folk magic) for those seeking to DIY a little conjure​. Through the 1960s, Mamie Avant quietly served both black and white clientele (the latter often coming covertly, given the prejudices of the time). When she passed away, she left behind a treasure trove of spellbooks and mystical tools, which have since been preserved in archives – a tangible link to mid-century Savannah’s living hoodoo heritage.

On the more public end, by the 1960s there were a handful of storefront psychics in Savannah’s downtown, though not yet the glut seen in some cities. A city directory from 1965 lists a “Mrs. Williams – Spiritual Advisor” on West Broad Street, and a “Psychic Studio” near the City Market. These likely catered to an integrated audience of curious locals and perhaps some tourists (Savannah’s tourism was picking up by then, especially after its 1966 historic district designation). It’s worth noting that the New Age movement of the late 1960s and 70s – with its interest in astrology, ESP, and eastern mysticism – would have had an influence on Savannah as well. By the 1970s, one could find astrology pamphlets at local bookstores and people hosting meditation circles in Ardsley Park living rooms. Still, Savannah being Savannah, the old ghost stories and hoodoo never got eclipsed by yogis or hippies; they simply joined the mix. In fact, in 1977 the Savannah Morning News ran a feature on local “Folklore and Superstition” where the reporter visited an elderly root healer on St. Helena Island (just over the SC border) and connected it to Savannah’s enduring beliefs. The piece even mentioned that some Savannah policemen quietly carried conjure-cooked charms for protection on their beats – a claim that raised some eyebrows but was not outright refuted.

Savannah Becomes “America’s Most Haunted City”: The turning point in Savannah’s psychic and paranormal notoriety came in the 1990s. Two major forces were at play: one, the city’s deliberate embrace of its haunted history as a tourism asset, and two, the publication of a book that entwined Savannah’s genteel charm with the dark allure of hoodoo.

First, the tourism angle. In 1994, the American Institute of Parapsychology (a research group in the paranormal field) bestowed Savannah with the title of “America’s Most Haunted City” after conducting a study of reported hauntings – beating out older contenders like New Orleans. Whether entirely scientific or not, this “Most Haunted” award in 2002 was gleefully seized upon by local tourism boards. Already, the concept of ghost tours had been introduced in the city. The earliest regularly scheduled ghost tours began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, often led by history buffs who had collected ghost lore. By the mid-90s, multiple companies were running nightly tours. Tour names like “Ghosts of Savannah,” and “Haunted Pub Crawl,”  popped up, each trying to outspook the other with exclusive tales. Importantly, some tours incorporated psychic elements – for example, a guide might attempt dowsing or encourage tour-goers to use EMF meters to detect spirits. A few enterprising psychics started hosting one-off séance evenings in Savannah’s historic houses, letting tourists experience a Victorian-style séance in an actual “haunted” mansion’s parlor (with lights low and thunder rolling outside for effect, if lucky). The city quickly became a magnet for TV shows like Ghost Hunters and Scariest Places on Earth, which filmed episodes in famously haunted spots (such as the Sorrel-Weed House and the Moon River Brewing Company)​. Each broadcast only reinforced Savannah’s eerie cachet. By 2000, to stroll the quiet streets on a given night was to see groups of people in the squares, eyes wide, as guides recounted ghostly tragedies – effectively making Savannah’s ghostly and psychic past a cornerstone of its identity for visitors.

The second, perhaps more pivotal force, was the 1994 publication of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. This nonfiction novel, set in Savannah in the 1980s, became a massive bestseller and later a Clint Eastwood-directed movie. While the main plot concerned a society murder trial, it was the atmospheric details that captured readers – and one character in particular: Minerva, the voodoo priestess. Minerva is depicted performing midnight hoodoo rituals in the Bonaventure Cemetery, chanting incantations to summon helpful spirits in the murder case. She gathers soil from the victim’s grave, mixes potions, and communicates with the dead (“the half hour before midnight is for doin’ good, the half hour after midnight is for doin’ evil,” she famously intones). Minerva was not wholly fictional – she was based on a real Savannah rootworker named Valerie Fennell Boles​. In life, Valerie Boles was known locally as a reclusive but respected conjure woman, said to be the common-law wife of the late Dr. Buzzard (a legendary Beaufort County root doctor)​. For years she had quietly helped people with spiritual work, much like Mamie Avant had. But Berendt’s book put her archetype on a pedestal. Suddenly, the world saw a romantic, spooky vision of Savannah where high society and hoodoo intersected under mossy oaks. Tourists began asking about voodoo tours and seeking out “the graveyard from Midnight.” Savannah’s paranormal tourism thus got a huge boost from pop culture. Even locals, who had long been modest about their ghost tales, embraced it with new pride – after all, if Clint Eastwood is making a movie here, might as well revel in the mystique!

In the wake of Midnight’s success, the late ’90s in Savannah saw an uptick in explicitly voodoo or hoodoo-themed attractions. A short-lived “Voodoo Experience” exhibit opened near City Market, and shops began selling trinkets like “Good & Evil” candles. Some local tour guides with Gullah Geechee heritage started incorporating more authentic talk of rootwork on their routes, distinguishing between Hollywood Voodoo and the real Low Country Hoodoo practices that had been in Savannah all along. Ironically, while the book Midnight sensationalized things a bit, it also educated many that Savannah’s Black spiritual culture was a key part of its identity, not just the ghosts of generals and debutantes.

As the 1990s drew to a close, Savannah had firmly established itself as a paranormal capital. The term “Savannah Psychics” could refer not only to the individuals who practiced, but to the general aura that the city had – as if the city itself had a psychic personality. Travel articles routinely mentioned the “strange energy” visitors felt in certain squares, or how many people “sense a presence” in Savannah’s historic homes. Certainly, one could still find a personal psychic reading – by the ’90s, a handful of New Age shops and individual psychics were operating, doing tarot or palm readings for walk-ins. But more and more, the idea of Savannah’s sixth sense went hand-in-hand with its booming ghost tour industry and cultural cachet.

The Modern Era: Legacy and the Living “Sixth Sense” of Savannah (2000–Present)

Entering the 21st century, Savannah stands proudly bewitched by its own mystique. What was once whispered about in slave quarters or practiced behind parlor curtains is now emblazoned on t-shirts and tour brochures. Yet, beneath the commercialization, the authentic traditions remain vibrant. Today’s Savannah psychics, mediums, and magical practitioners are the heirs of all the centuries before – they carry forward old practices, even as they innovate new ways to connect with the curious and the faithful. Let’s explore how the psychic legacy thrives in contemporary Savannah, from the tourism boom to the private lives of those who still walk the path of the spiritual seer.

Psychics on Broughton Street

In modern-day Savannah, the presence of psychics is as much a part of the city’s downtown experience as cobblestone streets and moss-draped oaks. A stroll along Broughton Street might bring you past a softly lit window offering tarot readings, or a sidewalk sign inviting you inside for a glimpse into the future. These aren’t hidden services tucked away behind closed curtains—they’re part of the vibrant storefront landscape, welcoming locals and tourists alike.

Several metaphysical studios and spiritual boutiques now line the city’s heart, offering a range of experiences that blend traditional mysticism with modern accessibility. Visitors can schedule private readings with psychic mediums, pick up handcrafted candles or healing crystals, or even rent event space for group readings and themed gatherings. In some locations, spiritual services are paired with theatrical events like candlelit séances or after-hours ghost experiences—where the line between performance and mysticism is intentionally blurred.

This rise of openly practiced, commercialized psychic work reflects a shift in how Savannah embraces its haunted heritage. Where once fortune-tellers operated quietly on the fringes, today they’re part of the city’s thriving cultural scene. People who may never have considered a reading in their hometown will find themselves curiously stepping through beaded curtains here, pulled by the allure of Southern gothic charm and Savannah’s well-earned reputation as a city where the veil is thin.

These modern practitioners are part of a new generation that sees no contradiction between spiritual authenticity and entrepreneurship. Their studios are more than shops—they’re community spaces, small temples of intuition nestled between the antique stores and cafés. And just like the mediums and root workers of the past, today’s psychics continue a legacy: blending guidance, healing, and storytelling into one of Savannah’s most enduring traditions.

Haunted Tours and Tech

Since the turn of the millennium, Savannah’s ghost tour scene has transformed from a niche curiosity into a full-fledged cultural phenomenon—and no one captures that spirit better than Haunted Savannah Tours. On any given night, their groups weave through the shadowy streets of the Historic District, lanterns flickering as guides—equal parts historian and storyteller—lead visitors into the heart of the city’s haunted past.

At Haunted Savannah Tours, the experience blends authentic history with immersive paranormal exploration. Unlike kitschy imitators, their approach walks the line between eerie and enlightening. Tour-goers aren’t just passive listeners; they’re invited into the mystery. Whether you’re on foot beneath the gaslight glow or attending one of their exclusive investigative experiences, the connection between technology and the supernatural is tangible—and thrilling.

Haunted Savannah Tours also leans into the city’s badge of honor: its reputation as America’s Most Haunted City. But they don’t treat it as a gimmick. They own it. With a carefully curated route that avoids the overly dramatized and sticks to locations with deep-rooted legend and real history, their guides share encounters they’ve personally experienced—cold spots, shadowy figures, even whispered voices heard in otherwise empty buildings. Many on the team are lifelong locals or seasoned paranormal investigators who know the difference between tourist folklore and Savannah’s true haunted heritage.

And while skeptics may join the tour for the thrill, it’s not uncommon to see them walking a little slower by the old burial lots, or staring a moment too long at that second-story window with no one behind it. That’s the magic of Haunted Savannah Tours—somewhere between the laughter, the gasps, and the click of a spirit box, something unexplainable happens. And for many, it’s not just a night of entertainment… it’s a story they’ll tell for the rest of their lives.

Living Traditions: Importantly, outside the tourist spotlight, the Gullah-Geechee root magic tradition persists quietly in Savannah’s fringes and surrounding Lowcountry. While the city’s younger generations might be more secular, there are still rootworkers and spiritual healers in the area who serve those who believe or feel a calling. They may not advertise on Facebook or TripAdvisor, but they are sought out in times of need. Some have adapted, offering services discreetly by phone or online to clients who know how to reach them. The common spiritual practices of the old days are still visible in local folkways: drive through neighborhoods in Savannah or nearby islands and you’ll spot porch ceilings painted “haint blue” (a pale blue-green) to ward off wandering spirits, exactly as generations of Gullah people have done​. You’ll find bottle trees in yards – glass bottles hanging from branches to trap malevolent spirits at night before they can enter the home​. These are not museum pieces; they are active, living traditions, quietly signaling that the belief in unseen forces protecting the home is very much alive. Even those who might chuckle at ghost tour theatrics will still nail an iron horseshoe above a door “just in case” or consult an elder about a strange nightmare. Savannah’s paranormal richness lies as much in these subtle, lived details as in the overt spectacles.

On the flip side, Savannah has also attracted modern pagan and psychic practitioners from elsewhere – drawn by its reputation or simply the ambiance. It’s not unusual for a professional psychic from, say, New York or Atlanta to relocate to Savannah to set up practice, finding the city more spiritually energizing and the clientele receptive. The city hosts small psychic fairs occasionally, and local metaphysical meet-up groups explore everything from Reiki healing to past-life regression. In October (the high holy month of ghost enthusiasts), Savannah’s squares might host outdoor tarot readers and costumed “ghosts” as part of Halloween festivities. All of this blends seamlessly with the historical fabric, making the supernatural a normal part of everyday life here.

Respecting the Spirits: One might wonder, with all the commercial exploitation, is there a sense of respect left for the actual spirits and traditions? By and large, yes – Savannahians, deeply proud of their heritage, maintain a reverence for what underlies the ghost stories. The graves in Colonial Park Cemetery or Bonaventure are tended with care, even as they serve as backdrops to ghost tales. The First African Baptist Church still preserves those diamond-shaped hole patterns in the floor – a reminder that what was once hidden is now openly acknowledged as culturally important​. There’s growing academic interest too: historians and students in Savannah study figures like Madame Smith or Mamie Avant, ensuring their contributions aren’t lost to time. The Rose Library at Emory, making Mamie Avant’s papers available to researchers, is one example of how these once “fringe” subjects are being recognized as valuable facets of African American and women’s history.

Meanwhile, contemporary Savannah mediums still occasionally grab headlines – usually for heartwarming or quirky reasons rather than scandal. In recent years, local news featured a story of a self-described psychic who volunteers to help homeowners peacefully “encourage” lingering spirits to move on, as an altruistic community service. There was also buzz when the famous TV medium Theresa Caputo (the “Long Island Medium”) did a live show in Savannah, which sold out as fans flocked to see mediumship in action​. Clearly, the interest in genuine psychic phenomena is as strong as ever – it’s not all just campfire stories for tourists.

The Sixth Sense of Savannah: Ultimately, what truly sets Savannah apart is an embrace of mystery as part of its identity. This is a city where people don’t hide from talk of ghosts or psychics – they lean into it. That creates a kind of feedback loop: those who have intuitive gifts or unusual experiences feel safer coming forward, which in turn adds to the tapestry of stories. It might be said that Savannah encourages a “sixth sense” in all who spend time here. The atmosphere – humid, verdant, layered with history and tragedy – invites even skeptics to open their minds a bit. Many visitors report feeling an uncanny “vibe” they can’t quite articulate. Is it imagination? Perhaps. But perhaps also it’s the accumulated energy of centuries of belief. When you walk down River Street at night, past the old ballast stone warehouses where pirates and sailors caroused, or stand under the ancient oaks of Wright Square where public hangings occurred long ago, you might just feel a slight tingling on your neck. Some say that’s Savannah talking to you, urging you to pay attention.

In modern Savannah, the line between past and present, between the material and the spiritual, remains thin. The psychic history we’ve traced – from conjure women and séance-holders to tourist guides and shopfront psychics – isn’t relegated to dusty books. It’s a living continuum. The characters change, the methods update, but the core impulse is the same: Savannahians and those drawn to Savannah seek connection with forces unseen, whether for comfort, guidance, or just the thrill of the unknown. The city graciously accommodates this quest. After all, they don’t call Savannah the Hostess City for nothing – and that hospitality, it seems, even extends to its ghosts and mystics.

Conclusion

Savannah’s story is often told through its squares, its wars, and its architecture – but as we’ve seen, there’s another, more ethereal narrative running in parallel. The history of psychics in Savannah is essentially the history of the city’s soul. It’s the tale of people yearning to peek behind the veil of reality, whether through African rituals by a moonlit river, or a crystal ball in a Victorian parlor, or a smartphone EMF app on a midnight ghost tour. Across nearly three centuries, Savannah has nurtured an environment where the mystical can flourish: a city where science and superstition, faith and folklore, all intermingle as easily as the salt and fresh waters at the nearby marshes.

We’ve met a cast of remarkable real characters along the way – from Old Julie invoking spirits to punish oppressors, to Madame Smith dealing out fate from her front porch in the 1880s​; from Grace DeLong dazzling early 20th-century audiences with “1000 eyes”​, to Mamie Wade Avant quietly crafting spells that wound up in a university archive​. Through each era, societal trends left their mark – the desperation of war, the curiosity of the Victorian age, the cynicism and then renewed fascination of the modern age – but Savannah always put its unique stamp on these phenomena. The city’s multicultural heritage, particularly the deep influence of Gullah-Geechee spiritual culture, gave its psychic history a flavor unlike any other locale. Where else do you find voodoo priestesses invoked in society murder trials​, or colonial churches hiding cosmograms beneath their pews​?

For tourists seeking that “haunted Savannah” experience, understanding this rich background makes every ghost tour and psychic reading more meaningful. When you hear about the ghost at the Sorrel-Weed House, or the lady in gray at the Marshall House hotel (often “picked up” by psychic impressions), you’re tapping into a long continuum of storytelling and belief. The shamans and showmen of the past paved the way for the guides and mediums of the present. So go ahead – wander the moss-draped lanes of Bonaventure Cemetery at dusk, take that walking tour through shadowy squares, and don’t be surprised if you feel a gentle tug at your consciousness. It might be a ghost, or it might just be Savannah awakening your own sixth sense.

In Savannah, the veil between worlds does feel a bit thinner. Perhaps it’s the weight of history or the literal graves underpinning the streets, but paranormal is normal here. As local lore would have it, “Savannah was built on its dead” – from the bloody Revolutionary War siege to yellow fever victims buried in mass graves​ – and those restless souls are thought to linger. Whether one takes that literally or metaphorically, it’s undeniable that the past is palpably present in Savannah. The psychics and spiritualists, then and now, are simply those attuned to listening to that presence. They invite us to listen too, with open ears and open minds.

Walking away from, we see Savannah not just as a pretty historic city, but as a living museum of the mystical arts. Its street corners have felt the footfalls of voodoo queens and card sharps; its grand homes have hosted both debutante balls and candle-lit séances. The legacy of Savannah’s psychics is woven into the very fabric of the city – as integral as Spanish moss and wrought iron. It’s a legacy of embracing mystery with a wink and a nod, of respecting traditions while reinventing them, and of always leaving room for a bit of magic in the everyday.

So the next time you find yourself in Savannah, take a moment beyond the scripted tour. Feel the breeze off the river and the hush under the ancient oaks. You’ll sense it – that quiet, persistent hum of something beyond. It might send a chill down your spine or a spark of wonder through your heart. That is Savannah’s spirit, ever eager to greet you. In a city where past and present commune and where haints and heroes share the stories, you too might discover an intuitive whisper or uncanny coincidence that makes you grin and think: perhaps I’m a little psychic in Savannah as well. After all, if any place can awaken that sixth sense, Savannah can.

Sources:

• Johnson, Whittington B. “Black Savannah in the Nineteenth Century.” University of Arkansas Press, 1996. (Context on African American folk beliefs and hoodoo in 19th-century Savannah)

• Savannah Tribune, June 1, 1876; Aug. 18, 1888. (Advertisements of Madame Smith, fortune teller)​gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu​gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu

• Schoonmaker, Nancy Gray. “Mystery and Possibility: Spiritualists in the Nineteenth-Century South.” (Ph.D. diss., UNC Chapel Hill, 1997). (Covers the spread of Spiritualism in Southern cities including Savannah)

• Georgia Photographers Blog. “A Psychic Photographer, the Mysterious Grace Gray DeLong – Faces & Places Friday.” (2013) – Detailed research on Grace Gray DeLong, her advertisements and activities​georgia-photographers.com​georgia-photographers.com.

• Savannah Morning News, Feb. 11, 1900, p.3. (Classified ads for Madame Hearn, palmist, and Madame Ahmiad, visiting palmist)​gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu.

• Chipstone Foundation. “Southern Hoodoo and the Dr. Peter Davis Ring Bottle” (2023) – discusses hoodoo artifacts and mentions Mamie Wade Avant’s conjure tools​chipstone.org.

• Emory University Rose Library Blog (2018). “Highlights from the Curatorial Career of Randall Burkett” – Features a photo of Mamie Wade Avant’s crystal ball and spell notes​scholarblogs.emory.edu.

• Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Vintage, 1994. (Cultural impact; Minerva character based on Valerie “Minerva” Boles​en.wikipedia.org)

• Savannah.com. “Why is Savannah One of America’s Most Haunted Cities?” (2020) – Cites battles (1779 Siege, Civil War) and epidemics leaving spiritual “residue”​savannah.com​savannah.com.

• HauntedSavannahTours.com. “The Hoodoo & Voodoo Influence on Savannah” (2025) – Chronicles the history of hoodoo from slavery to today in Savannah​hauntedsavannahtours.com​hauntedsavannahtours.com.

• Leslie’s Weekly, Jan. 20, 1898. “The Blackville Gallery – A Blackville Fortune Teller” – period illustration of fortune-teller reading a lady’s palm​chipstone.org.

• Savannah Morning News archives and Connect Savannah (various years) – miscellaneous articles on modern hauntings, psychic profiles, and community paranormal events.