The Star Talks To Donna McCue

Hands Tell A Story

BY ILENE ROIZMAN

"People are reluctant to go to that place of metaphysics where there are things you can't prove," said Donna McCue in her serene, softly colorful Springs house. Part of it is fear of the unknown, she believes, and part of it is fear that someone's every secret will be revealed, particularly when she, or anyone equally in tune with the realm of metaphysics, taps into her intuitive "knowing" and sees aspects of a person's life seemingly more clearly than that person can herself.

What an intuitive does, Ms. McCue explained, is to see someone's "clear crystal dreams without all the brambles in the way"-all those obstacles we run up against and tend to use as excuses for not accomplishing all we wish to. "You have everything you need. It's all in you," she said. "I'm just here to point it out and help you see it."

Taking On Challenges

And though Ms. McCue feels that anyone could do the same, she does realize that she's "a regular mom with a gift," one she's been aware of since about age 4. As the oldest daughter in a family of eight children growing up in Syracuse, she was always quick-witted and outspoken, blurting out things sometimes without considering their effects on others. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that she felt a need to speak the truth regardless of consequence.

While "the key thing about being a psychic is to be in the moment," Ms. McCue has also maintained the kind of childlike quality that allows her to take on challenges, gleefully proclaiming, "Okay! I can do that!" without fear of being wrong. She is "willing to listen and take the risk" of telling people sometimes difficult-to-hear truths about themselves.

Fine-Tuning

Not that she dwells on-or even pays much attention to-negative or sad parts of a person's life, though they are always present. What Ms. McCue focuses on instead is putting a voice to people's inner longings, she said, to "direct them where their real gifts are." She sees it as a form of alignment, of fine-tuning someone's life path.

What Ms. McCue focuses on is putting voice to people's inner longings.

Her method is to give someone one very thorough reading, not an ongoing series. "If you really listen, once is enough," she said. "You'll hear everything you need to hear at the first reading."

Ms. McCue also emphasized that she's not the one responsible for what people do with the information she provides them about themselves. She related the story of a woman whom she told would be involved in a relationship, and the woman ended up complaining that it didn't happen-but she didn't do anything to help it along, either.

"I told her, 'You're not going to meet anyone unless you get out of the house,'" she said.

Planting Seeds

What she does is show someone "a pathway."

"Everything I say should be planting a seed," she said. "When they leave me is when it starts."

In other words, she's not telling anyone what to do or not to do; she's helping people to see what they already know to be true about themselves and then manifest their own dreams.

Ms. McCue uses people's hands as maps to their lives. She's quick to point out that what she does when reading someone's hands isn't a parlor game; she believes that our hands are a fairly reliable "road map" to who we are, where we've been, and where we're going.

Her first book, "Your Fate Is in Your Hands," was published by Simon and Schuster in January of this year and is now going into its second printing. In it, she describes what the different parts of the hand signify and relates a number of stories of people whose lives changed as a result of her readings. The book goes into detail about how each finger, each mound, and each line is related to a specific aspect of life.

Thumb And Pinky

For instance, in Ms. McCue's interpretation, the thumb signifies willfulness, and the shape of the thumb-its length, thickness, curvature, positioning, etc.-reveals how willful a person is (or isn't).

The picky is the finger of gratitude and "is largely responsible for revealing our communicative abilities," she wrote. "Many successful singers, actors, and playwrights have long and well-formed pinky fingers; the longer the finger, the greater the ability to communicate with others."

Ms. McCue has enjoyed some success with this book: She's read from it at BookHampton three times, the first time drawing an unexpected crowd of 85 people. Part of her success at personal appearances certainly stems from her natural performance style-and her experiences as an actor and standup comedian.

First Reading

When she arrived in Manhattan as an 18-yearold with no previous acting experience, but an abundance of chutzpah, she approached John Schlesinger, who was directing "Midnight Cowboy," and told him flat out that she thought she'd make a good actress. He agreed and gave her a small speaking role. Ms. McCue studied with Sandy Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse and with other acting coaches, who, she said, told her she had "good timing and was good with improvisations."

But it was her first palm reading, when she was 13, that was to determine her fate. The psychic told her she'd live on an island, be married, have two children, and be a teacher. All true.

"Bring 'Em On!"

She lives in Springs with her husband, Larry, and their sons, Daniel and Alex. "I wanted to be around people who chose the best, that's why I chose this place," she said, Also, "there's a strong spiritual community on the East End" that draws many creative people with a willingness to explore metal physical issues. The teaching part of the prediction is realized through Ms. McCue's readings, lectures, workshops, and book (there's another in the works).

Ms. McCue has invited anyone interested in what she does to visit her Web site, www.donnamccue.com http //www.donnamccue.com, which is vivid, interactive, and informative. And she extended a special invitation to all the skeptics out there: "Bring 'em on!" she said.