Maria Papapetros

Early life and career

Born in Heraklion Crete Greece to parents Chrysa and Vasillios Petropoulos, both of Greek descent and immigrants of Asia Minor. Her father was born in Istanbul in 1895 and her mother in 1912 in Izmir Turkey. Maria’s three older brothers (Nicholas, Johnny, and George) were born within two and a half years, with only a few months between them and were a league of their own. She came along six years later July 20, 1943 in a starving environment. Food was scarce because of the German occupation. She was always protected and cared for by her brothers as a toddler, but too young for them to play with. She always played with her make-believe friends and was a happy child.

When she was six in June 29, 1949 her baby sister Emerald arrived, and Maria became the middle child over night. She was always a mature child but now she had to grow up really fast. Five children, three of them teenagers practically were too much for her mother. She became her mother’s helper assuming responsibilities being the oldest girl, house chores; cleaning, ironing, sweeping and dusting. She was doing the grocery shopping by her seventh birthday every morning before going to school, as the boys were not to be trusted with cash.

She had to toughen up fast and stand up to her brothers when they started their bulling. She was her mother’s closest friend and loved the power of it. By her tenth birthday 1953 she was a grown up, independent, responsible, and a caretaker. She had missed the boat to childhood. She was an avid reader and had started writing her first book by that age. She loved school and had an ear for languages. In 1957 the family moved to Piraeus, the seaport of Athens. The end of the same year her father had suffered a stroke and all her brothers were in the army making a dollar per month each. In June of 1958 at fifteen she quit high school and worked in a tobacco factory to help support her family. September of 1958 she enrolled in the Greek American Cultural Institute night school till 1961, when she moved to Munich Germany, and worked at Siemens in the transistors assembly. She started English night school there till the end of 1963, where she returned to Greece.

Marriages

In July 20, 1962 on her birthday met a nice man – while he was vacationing in Greece – named Lazaros Papapetros 17 years her senior Greek born and a resident of Los Angeles California. He went back to the US a month later, and she moved to Munich Germany. They were married in in Athens December 29, 1963 and in February 19, 1964 she made her home with him in California. She divorced him in June of 1971 inconsolable differences.

On January of 1974 she remarried with another Greek man residing in Los Angeles, and annulled the marriage six months later December 1974. She has been single ever since.

Family

In her first marriage she gave birth to a son named Randy Papapetros. He was born on January 29, 1965. The middle of her thee brothers Johnny lived in Frankfurt Germany married Doris and had a son named Lakis in 1968. All of her other three siblings lived in Los Angeles. Her oldest brother Nicholas married Lois Dale Johnson; they had two children, William Petropoulos born July 17, 1963, and Cynthia Chrysa Louise born February 7, 1966. The youngest of the brothers George married to Soula had one daughter Mary, born march 23, 1962. Maria was very close with all of her family. Lois and Nicholas divorced in 1970. When Maria got divorced in 1971 she invited Lois and her children to live with her in Reseda California. The three cousins were very close in age and were thriving. Maria’s son Randy was a super intelligent child, his IQ level measuring over 160, put him in a category of a genius. The gifted programs of Tarzana elementary school were not enough for him, so he was enrolled in a science program, and bussed at a local university. Randy attended UCLA at 8 years of age till 12. He died suddenly on July 14, 1981. A cause for his death was never determined. After the autopsy and many biopsies, four months later on Thanksgiving day, a death certificate was finally issued bearing the results; UNKNOWN AND UNDETERMINED CAUSES. Maria’s sister Emerald and husband Takis Sarris, live now in Greece. Brothers Nicholas, Johnny, and their parents have all past on.

Psychic History

Maria’s family noticed her intuitive gifts since infancy. She herself remembers instances that had puzzled her – for just moments – since the age six. Her first psychic encounter – that could not be ignored, occurred when she was twelve years old. She had been gifted a wrist watch which no one in her family had ever owned and was agonizing over how to wind it so it wouldn’t stop working. Her thought process was if the watch stopped, her mother would take it to the watch repairman and that would cost money that they didn’t have, and then would be taken from her. She went to sleep with these thoughts and had an experience that changed her life forever; a man appeared in a dream and without saying a word, showed her exactly how to wind the watch. She tried it the following day and it worked. Psychic awareness dawned on her overnight. She was discovered by Gail Eaton, a practicing psychic she had gone to for a reading in Van Nuys California in 1972. Shortly after, journalist Hal Jacques interviewed her for weekly magazines, Globe, Star and Inquirer. She started practicing professionally in March of 1974. She studied meditation with Tarot psychic Joan Culpepper of Hollywood, and metaphysics with Jenita Cargyle of Palos Verdes California. One of the highlights of her life to this day was meeting the founder of Divine Science, Dr. Joseph Murphy. Her in depth spiritual awareness stems from his books (The Power of your Subconscious Mind) and his weekly lectures on positive thinking at the Wilshire Ebel Theater. In 1975 she started teaching three hour Psychic Development and Meditation Workshops for everyday living, successfully. In 1979 she started recording her meditations with musician George Brown of Kool and the Gang. In 1980 she took part in a controlled psychic study (Locus of Control) at UCLA with Dr. Jan Berlin, supervised by Dr. Thelma Moss. The results were astounding and invited her to be the only psychic referral at UCLA. As a mainstream psychic she has made many television appearances in most networks and has had her own TV show in Greece. She consults with clients on both coasts, and in many other parts of the world. She has a rewarding relationship with the entertainment industry on and off screen as a psychic consultant (Paramount’s The Butcher’s Wife). She has also been credited as psychic to the stars (The 100 Top Psychics in America; Paulette Copper, Paul Noble). Maria has created a series of meditations with Vanessa Williams, produced by George Brown.

Places

Papapetros lived in Greece 1943 until 1961. Germany 1962-1963. She lived in Los Angeles 1964-1982. She became (bi-coastal) New York and Los Angeles 1983-1994. Papapetros made her home base in East Midtown New York 1994 to present time. Maria Papapetros has lived in various cities and countries during her travels; Iraklion Crete and Athens Greece. Munich Germany. Encino and Beverly Hills California. Tokyo Japan. Nicosia Cyprus and Sugarland Texas.

Friends

OLDEST AND DEAREST Of California; Nephew William Petropoulos and niece Cynthia Petropoulos. David & Debra Cohen, Gigi Krueger, Bob Paduano, Dena Paduano, Rich Reams and Yota & Ilias Batsaras. Of NY; Christine Carrier, John Bazos, Nuni Madai, Sally Pansing Kravich, Vanessa Williams, Theresa Henkelmann, Nicolas Eftaxias, Stathis Antonakopoulos and Kelly Rutherford. Of CANADA; Panagiotis Mourdoukoutas. Of GREECE; George Psaradelis, Giannis Kalogeropoulos, Gregory Melas, Eleftherios Gig ourtakis Antonis Taktikos, Dimitris Lazaridis. Of TURKEY; Ela Barlas. Maria Papapetros has many close friends all over the world.

Papapetros began delving into her own psychic abilities in 1970 at age 26 when she was living in Los Angeles and was “discovered” by spiritual consultant Gail Eaton, to whom she went for advice. Eaton suggested Papapetros’s psychic talents. Soon after, Papapetros began studying metaphysics and meditation with psychic Joan Culpepper. In 1974, Papapetros opened her first practice in Beverly Hills, CA.

While she has flown as far as Tokyo to consult with clients, Papapetros has homes and offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Sugar Land, TX, and Athens, Greece. She has written two self-awareness books and has produced a series of meditation CDs. She currently resides in New York City.

Papetros studied psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles.

In the media

Papapetros has been a guest on many national television programs, including Late Night with David Letterman, Donnie & Marie, The Maury Povich Show, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition and E! Entertainment Television and the Fox News. She has also appeared in periodicals such as Vogue, Redbook, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour and Ellopia Press Magazine USA.

In January 2011, Papapetros partnered with Lifetime Television and their Year Of You promotion, where readers of The Cosmic Lowdown blog on Lifetime’s website could enter for a chance to win a private psychic reading with Papapetros.

Ties to law enforcement

In 1978, Papapetros spoke to law-enforcement officials about the Jim Jones mass-suicide case in Guyana. Papapetros also worked with many of the defectors and survivors at the Human Freedom Foundation, which was set up to help former members of the cult deprogram themselves.

From 1978-1979 she was brought in as a psychic consultant on the Hillside Strangler murders in Los Angeles. In 1992, she consulted with the Harris County Sheriff’s office in Texas regarding Rex Warren Mays, who was later convicted of killing two girls and was subsequently executed in 2002.

Ties to Hollywood

Having worked with numerous celebrities, producers and actors, Papapetros is known by many as “Psychic to the Stars”. In addition to film and television projects, Papapetros has acted as psychic consultant to two of actress Demi Moore’s films, “The Butcher's Wife” and “Ghost”. For “The Butcher's Wife,” she was the first person to receive an on-screen credit for an off-screen role as “psychic consultant.” In addition to Moore, the film’s producer and director were both clients of Papapetros at the time.

Papapetros’s celebrity clients have included Goldie Hawn, Mary Steenburgen, Kelly Rutherford, Dennis Haysbert, Marcia Cross, and Vanessa Williams, who has even hosted one of Papapetros’s “Psychic Empowerment Workshops” at her home. Papapetros has been listed in New York Magazine’s “Best of New York.”

Contributions to parapsychology

In 1980, Papapetros participated in a study at UCLA’s Department of Psychology. Conducted by Dr. Jan Berlin, it was one of the first controlled investigations of parapsychology