The original London Psychic Centre, founded by Zak Martin in 1982, was Britain’s first permanent psychic and New Age venue. The Centre, based at the Sherlock Holmes hotel in London’s Baker Street, attracted hundreds of people weekly to attend demonstrations, lectures and workshops, and to consult the country’s leading psychics, astrologers, healers and complementary medical practitioners. Resident speakers and consultants included some of the U.K.’s foremost New Age figures, including Sasha Fenton (author "Moon Signs"), Jane Lyle (author "The Lover’s Tarot"), world-famous healer Tom Pilgrim, parapsychologist Maurice Grosse of the Society for Psychical Research, author Marian Green (editor Soluna), renowned occultists Zachary Cox, Seldiy Bate and Nigel Bourne - among others.

The London Psychic Centre, which was the subject of numerous TV programmes and newspaper and magazine articles throughout the world, was the forerunner to the many psychic venues which now exist throughout the UK. However, the London Psychic Centre enjoyed a reputation for style, excellence and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere which has not been equalled by any of its imitators.

The Centre was forced to close in its fourth successful year when the hotel in which it was based was sold. Now plans are underway to recreate the London Psychic Centre on the internet.

For further information contact Zak Martin at the address below, or email Zak at zak@isis.ie.


Press Reviews of the London Psychic Centre

PSYCHIC FAYRE

Beverly Pagram looks in on a centre which deals in the unknown

The London Psychic Centre offers forty-five specialist stalls offering a bewildering spectrum of wares. Dragon’s-blood incense, mistletoe, mandrake, pyramid kits, aura goggles, crystals, tarot readings, trips to Venus (courtesy of meditation with the Aetherius Society), mandalas, I Ching, numerology, Atlantis handbooks and other-worldly vegetarian samosas…. Organizer Zak Martin hopes the Centre will not just preach to the converted. You don’t have to be an apprentice medium to attend - anyone with a passing interest in the popular cults of yoga, meditation, astrology or dream interpretation would find it interesting…

The consultants were a friendly, fascinating crowd, many happy to chat for ages with no fee. Jean Currie, picturesque in flowing robes, symbolic hardware and picture hat, specializes in astrological birth control and natal charts.

Patricia Villiers-Stewart sold booklets "explaining the mystical significance of numbers and space". In the reflexology corner, cries of delight could be heard as clients, refreshed from bouncing on a mini-trampoline, felt their feet enter a new age.

Kirlian photography (by which the electromagnetic field around an object or person is monitored) was being demonstrated. Kirlian electrography is apparently used in medical research, where its potential use as an early warning system for cancer cells is being explored. Early-warning systems are what Madame "Call me Dot" Morgana has aplenty: "Ring me on Sunday, or just light a blue candle and tune into me for absent healing," she advised.

Sir M.K.Ghandi, guru to George Harrison and Peter Sellers, takes his astrological consultancy equally seriously…

(Beverly Pagram / Ms.London, May 1982)

Enter The Psychic Discussion Forum

FEEL THE FORCE

Psychic Guide

The London Psychic Centre takes place from 11am-6pm at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel, 108 Baker Street, W.1. Admission includes lectures and demonstrations which take place every hour and cover such topics as clairvoyance, astrology, auras, mediumship, reincarnation and palmistry. Private sittings are on the expensive side. However, this centre, founded by New Age guru Zak Martin, has a reputation for giving value for money, and its consultants are among the most respected in the country. The atmosphere at the Psychic Centre is relaxed and friendly, providing the ideal conditions for visitors to meet and converse on subjects of mutual interest.

(Charlotte Ramsey / Time Out, November 1984)

PSY-CHIC

Clairvoyants and mediums have seen it coming for ages. Now the rest of us have caught on to the fashion for all things psychic

Suddenly it’s chic to be psychic. Paranormal powers like healing, clairvoyance and ESP have gained a new credibility. Sceptics dismiss it, but more and more people are turning to psychics for help.

The London Psychic Centre is one of the major paranormal haunts. Gathered in the room are a dozen different psychics and mediums. There’s Jo Martin, "seventh child of a seventh child". There’s Bill, a psychic healer. There are tarot readers, crystal gazers…

The Centre has been operating for two years, holding meetings, lectures and demonstration sessions. But its main purpose is to accommodate members of the public looking for psychic help.

The clients are immensely varied. There’s a businessman, bright as a new pinstripe, standing nervously in the corner. And a tracksuited teenage girl, complete with Walkman…

"The majority who come to the Centre are intelligent, professional people who need guidance, a little helping hand," one of the organisers, Moira Tait, explains. "We do get more women than men, but then I think women can understand how a clairvoyant works, because they use their intuition more than men…"

Around 300 people visit the Centre every week for personal consultations with the various psychics and mediums.

(Paul Keers / Mail On Sunday, September 1984)

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

Hamish Horsley visits some of London’s practitioners of the occult arts.

The London Psychic Centre meets at the suitably named Sherlock Holmes Hotel (Conan-Doyle was a convinced believer). It is the creation of Irish psychic Zak Martin, who, disillusioned with the growing commercialism of New Age festivals and the "90% sham" of practising occultists, decided to provide something of a shop window for the psychic arts…

The centre in full swing is a colourful sight. Clairvoyance, ESP, meditation, healing, magick, astrology, all curiously co-exist in an open and friendly atmosphere. Lectures and demonstrations continue throughout the day…

Religions, East or West, are kept away. The emphasis is on self-awareness and not religious awareness, with a generous approach towards counselling and advice. "Fortune-telling is not our concern," said Zak. "Serious seekers are not interested in that. They want intelligent information and practical guidance…"

(Hamish Horsley / London Alternative Magazine, September 1982)

This site is soon to be developed. Consultants and traders interested in taking part, contributing to, or linking your site to the London Psychic Centre online can get more information from here shorlty.

Psychic Discussion Forum | Email Zak Martin | Zak Martin Homepage

Write to: Zak Martin, 7 Sussex Terrace, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Phone: +3531-667-4258