Every year, spiritualists, psychic mediums, and crystal fans alike gather in the Ohio Expo Center to shop, get readings and attend seminars at the Gift of Light event.
I started attending when I was around 8 years old, accompanied every year by my mother. I was stunned by the sparkling crystals and the kind people who would sprinkle me with “fairy dust” (glitter) and help me flip tarot cards with them.
The room that the expo was held in was massive, spanning the biggest part of the Expo Center. Artists would have large shows each hour where they would create beautiful sand pictures and blow them away at the end.
Tables of crystals were massive and took up three booths. There were many rooms you could enter to hear seminars or find mediums to speak with the deceased or simply just give you life guidance.
Needless to say, I was expecting that the fair would be just the same as it was when I was a child. I had stopped going for a few years, due to forgetting about the date or just being busy in school.
When a Facebook ad popped up for the Light Expo, I was eager to call my mom and buy tickets. It was still going to be held at the Ohio Expo Center, so my hopes were high that it would be just as great as before.
I was completely wrong.
I put in the address, picked up my mom and we were on our way. Upon arriving at the gates and purchasing our parking pass, we looked around for signs of the Light Expo.
The venue was held in a smaller location than before. The binaural drums were loud and used to draw attention to guests looking for the Gift of Light Expo, so we followed them.
When we opened the doors, we knew it was nothing like it was when I was a child.
There were a total of around 30 booths, almost a third of the size it had been. A few tarot card readers and maybe one or two actual mediums had booths, while the rest were crystals and some essential oils.
It was a surprise to see how young the crowd was; before the crowd had been middle-aged and older attendees, and now had teens and young adults on the hunt for TikTok famous moldavite (a powerful vibration crystal that went viral a few months ago).
We walked the entirety of the expo in around 20 minutes, stopping here and there to inquire about a product. There were few seminars happening, and we were able to watch as a man taught meditation and yoga to a group of ten.
The sand artists were gone and the visitors attendance number seemed to have gone down, as well. We attended on Nov. 6, the second day of the expo, when it was projected to be busiest.
Overall, it was disappointing. My mom found a medium she decided to see and met me back in 10 minutes to say it was one of the worst readings she ever had.
Apparently, the “medium” talked mostly to her like a normal conversation, and barely told her anything about the future or deceased relatives. It seemed like she was unable to even attempt to make something up.
There was a time when my mother would come back excited to explain her readings.
On the ride home, both of us mutually agreed we would not attend anymore. It was unfortunate to see the Gift of Light Expo in such a state.
