A path to self-discovery and our inherent talents are sometimes revealed early in life, although more often they make themselves known through a gradual awakening process, as Laurie Barraco discovered. The owner of The Mystical Moon, with locations in Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, is a former resident of New York who moved to Florida with her fiancé in 1990. “After Jim’s parents relocated to this area in 1989, we made several trips to visit them, which sparked our interest in living in a warmer climate. Jim and I got married and moved to Bonita Springs because it had and still does have a lovely small town vibe,” says Barraco.   

After trying on several careers, Barraco finally found her perfect fit in the field of metaphysics. “After high school I recognized that I liked working with children, so I became a kindergarten teacher. Several years later, I worked at Mel’s Diner part-time so that I could attend school to become a paralegal. I did that work in the late 90s and early 2000s until I realized that while I didn’t fully resonate with it, I did like helping people solve their problems. I just needed to find another way to do it,” says Barraco, who was noticing that she felt pulled in the direction of self-discovery.

Barraco followed her interests and studied meditation and metaphysics so she could use them as tools to dive deeply into the psychic realms. She took classes with John Holland, a psychic medium, author and spiritual teacher, as well as classes at Sacred Space, in Bonita Springs. These included the teachings of Alan Arcieri, a local spiritual teacher who wrote in Earth School 101 about the mystery of existence.

“I was interested in metaphysics during my teenage years and knew my mom went to readers for personal guidance. Later in life, I recognized how excited I would get about going to psychic development workshops presented by Hay House authors such as Sylvia Browne, a psychic and spiritual teacher.” While Barraco never dreamed she would ever be doing what her mentors were doing, her astrological sign of Pisces was pointing the way. “From an astrological perspective, Pisces people are intuitive, creative, follow their instincts, are in touch with their spiritual side and have a knack for reading people, which are some of my best qualities,” remarks Barraco.

Barraco left the paralegal work to enjoy life as a stay-at-home mom for several years. “I wanted to so spend quality time with my two children—my daughter, who is now age 22 and my son, now age 25. I also wanted time to contemplate what was next for me.”

What showed up next was a call from the owner of Sacred Space, Lani Fleming, offering Barraco the irresistible opportunity to manage the store and offer psychic readings and spiritual guidance to customers. “I’d already been doing readings for friends who affirmed my accuracy, so it felt very natural when spirit opened the door to my real calling. Eventually I did readings full-time and Lani hired someone to run the shop,” recalls Barraco, who opened her first shop in 2007, followed by a second in 2015.

Since then she’s developed a set of Mystical Moon Oracle Cards, written a book,  Psychic Development 101, created CDs and a Mystical Moon product line, and taught her own classes in psychic development, mediumship and the magic of manifesting. In her latest endeavor, Working Girl’s Magic, Barraco teamed up with Kelly Parsons, an intuitive business owner, consultant marketer and graphic designer. The duo offers business consultations, as well as tools and products for women interested in designing a business that blends and balances the business world with conscious, spiritual living.

The Mystical Moon locations are 8890 Salrose Ln., Ste. 107, in Fort Myers and 8951 SE Bonita Beach Rd. in Bonita Springs. For more information, call 239-939-3339 or 239-301-0655 and visit TheMysticalMoon.com and WorkingGirlsMagic.com.