The room is filled with token gemstones and books about angels and magic – all the standard psychic fare. But the man who comes to greet me is far from the long-haired gypsy type I expect. Smartly dressed in a dark suit and tie, the clairvoyant introduces himself with a smile and a steady look from his striking blue eyes.

He takes a tape from his receptionist and guides me through to a small dark blue room with two wooden chairs, a desk and a table holding a fan of tarot cards. He gestures to one of the high-backed chairs and I sit nervously, not knowing what to expect. He asks me for a personal possession; a piece of jewellery or a bunch of keys, and I hand over my ring. Then he turns on the tape recorder, closes his eyes and begins...

Spoke of cattle and sheep

John Starkey has been able to see people’s futures for as long as he can remember – a gift he claims to have inherited from his mother’s side of the family. “My mother was very poor sighted, almost blind,” he says. “And she used to come out with some very interesting things. “One day we were in church and she talked about all the cattle and sheep that were around. Of course there weren’t any there but we later discovered that the church had been built on old farm land.”

 It seems hardly surprising for such an apparition to prove true, considering the majority of the country was farmland at some point in history, but John goes on to speak of his other events which proved confusing for him during his childhood. “When I was growing up I didn’t know I was different to anybody else. I thought everyone saw images like I did. “I remember being in the church choir, standing in the pews and wondering why other people didn’t seem concerned by the things I assumed we were all seeing together.”

Keeping the gift controlled

But as time went on John began to realise that he was different to other people. “As I developed through secondary school I began to appreciate that I saw things others didn’t and that most people did not understand. “I might walk up to someone and say ‘your mum will get better’ but they would just look at me strangely and walk off.” After receiving such responses, John says he learned how to control his special ability. “Keeping that part of my mind switched on all the time became extremely tiring and almost debilitating,” he says. “Eventually it reached the point when I had to decide whether I would control it or let it control me.”

 Now John (55) has developed his skill into a thriving business. As well as his office on Penn Road in Wolverhampton he also travels to Birmingham and London to do personal readings and teach courses on the art of palm reading and tarot cards. He is certainly not under the impression that his gift is unique. “Everyone has the ability to see such things,” he says. “It’s just that those who access it are able to think in more of a free way. “To some it comes more naturally than others.”

He tries to describe what happens when he does a reading. “When someone sits down in front of me I try to forget them as a person and concentrate on their life force. I believe everything is made of energy and it is that which I feel and see. “The pictures I then get are very similar to those you get in the period between sleeping and waking. This is a state of medium which is like a sort of dreaming.” But sometimes the images John receives do not even make sense to him.

Pennies from Heaven

“On one occasion I told a lady I could see gold coins dropping out the air,” says John. “At the time we both thought this was a rather unusual image and dismissed it.” Years later John discovered what the image had foretold. “This lady and her husband later divorced and she got £50,000 in the settlement. “He was far from happy about this so had the money delivered to her in a lorry, all in pound coins, which it proceeded to tip all over her driveway.”

Part of John’s art is knowing how to describe the images in an appropriate way. “I believe I am working with an area to create a greater sense of well-being,” he says. “I wouldn’t like to frighten people, so I aim to present what is there truthfully but in a positive way.”

This is particularly important when John thinks he sees the end of someone’s life. “Sometimes I can see when people will die but I will never say that to them,” he says. “I might just suggest that they begin sorting out certain things. But it’s very rare that this happens.”

Curious clients

Most of his clients come to see John purely out of curiosity but others come looking for something more. “Some people come to me in states of distress,” says John. “The best help I can give them is to tell them exactly what I feel and then let them sort things out. “It is not for me to try and help create a solution. I’m not there to provide psychic advice.” But he does feel he has this gift for a purpose. “I am quite a religious person,” says John. “What I do is very spiritual and I strongly believe that spirituality and religion are highly compatible. “But it is the belief that is important not the religion itself. “I believe my purpose is helping people make sense of life, where we come from and where we are going.”

 Marketing executive Lynsey Tomkinson (23) went to visit John during one of his trips to London in March. She was surprised by what he had to tell her.

The exact circumstances

“I went to John because he sounded very genuine,” she says. “One of my relatives had been for a reading about 10 years ago and said that pretty much everything he had told her had come true so I was intrigued. I went there expecting to be told a lot of things about the future, things about my career, relationships and children. He did touch on all these points but the most interesting thing was when he began talking about a spirit that was in the room with us. He said it was a young man who wasn’t close to me but wanted to see how I was doing. He then went on to describe the exact circumstances in which a boy who had been at school with me died about seven years ago.”

 But was the instance really a visit from another realm or merely coincidence from a man who is good at reading people? Lynsey is inclined to believe what he had to tell her. “The detail he gave about the circumstances in which the boy died are just too exact, how could he possibly have known?”

And as for my own reading, John focused on the future rather than past events, one part of which already appears to have been fulfilled. He told me I was to find career success in a very tall, grand building with plate glass all down the sides and long polished corridors. Since that time I attended numerous job interviews at buildings that in no way matched such a description and had no luck. That is, until an interview last week in one of the impressive, tall glass buildings in Canary Wharf which finally proved successful. Whether this is simply a case of coincidence is not for me to say but I can tell you that, if the rest of my life goes in the direction John has predicted, I will be a very happy girl. So for those who are curious enough to pay John a visit and see for themselves he asks only one thing: “My advice to people tends to be don’t come for anything. “It’s all to do with expectations. Have none, come along, and see.”

To make an appointment with John in either Wolverhampton, Birmingham or London call 01902 334224.