She says that although she cannot foretell the events of her own life, she can read her children easily. "If my kids are going to be sick, I can feel the illness around them," she says. "I could sense if they were lying to me when they were in trouble."
Miss Betty has been reading cards at the Lansdowne Inn for about a year, ever since the previous psychic, Elizabeth Roberts, known as Miss Bessie, took ill. Before she died at the age of 85, Miss Bessie asked Panselinos to bring in Miss Betty to replace her.
"There will never be another Bessie," says Joyce Wilson, who has been a friend and client of both women. "She didn't even charge all the time for readings. If you bought her some Depends, she'd do a reading. If you bought her lunch, she'd do a reading. She would always say, 'If I can just help one person a day. ...' That was the kind of person she was."
Angel in the seat
Miss Betty sits at the same table where Miss Bessie once sat, but not in the same seat ("An angel sits there," she says). Customers scrawl their names in her notebook, have a snack or drink while they await a turn and then pay $40 for a half-hour reading.
Some days, only two or three people seek her advice, but other times as many as 10 come to her table.
"I really, honestly believe she's the real deal," says Kim Rhoades, a bartender at the Lansdowne Inn and a client. Nearly a year ago, Miss Betty warned her that there would be a tragedy in her family two weeks before a close relative committed suicide.
As silk flowers sway in the breeze from the air conditioning, Miss Betty fixes her warm brown eyes on Wilson and warns her about gambling. "Go little steps," she says. "God don't want you to go big steps. He wants you to take little steps."
The older woman explains that while she cannot predict every detail - sometimes events that she foretells happened in the past or names or relationships are a little off - she believes that her readings can help people improve their lives.
"I can't pull a rabbit out of a hat," says Miss Betty. "All I can do is pray for you."
julie.scharper@baltsun.com
ONLINE
Watch a video of Betty Setters reading fortunes at baltimoresun.com/psychic
