By Samantha Beidoun • Photo by Susan Ayer
Meet Scott Baker aka Chetan, a Dexter local that has homed in on powerful intuitive abilities. These abilities have helped him navigate his own life in a more meaningful way and allowed him to help others understand themselves better. Baker has found a connection to those who have passed and can tap into the spirit of those around him through psychic and tarot card readings.
I met Scott through his amazing wife, Jennifer, who helped me raise healthy monarch butterflies. The Bakers live just one street over. Recently, in speaking with a mutual friend, I learned of this incredible side of Scott I had never known and had the opportunity to really find out just who my neighbor is. Through a peaceful morning chat at the Dexter library, Scott Baker opened up about his life of many roles—from dishwasher to sergeant at Jackson Correctional Facility, his place in the world as a father of three, a husband, a friend, and how he has decided it is time to delve back into the realm of connecting with others through readings.
What was your first experience with the intuitive gift you have?
Scott Baker: When I was a teenager, I was hospitalized for being suicidal. I had horrible depression. I was a really good runner but got a knee injury in high school and that did not help in my plans–on top of that, home life wasn’t great. One night I had a dream where a woman in a sari came to me and took all of the rain away; all of my worries were gone. It was as bright as day in this dream. A few weeks later I’m flipping through a book at one of my childhood friend’s houses and a picture fell out, and it was of the exact same woman from my dream. I got goosebumps and almost started crying. My friend’s dad was deeply into the power of intuition and spiritual awakenings, and it was all just clicking for me.
What was your first step in harnessing your abilities?
Scott Baker: After the dream, and getting to know more from my friend’s dad, I went full bore into it. I traveled to most of the states, into Canada in multiple spots, and visited Ashrams and teachers. I read and meditated. I then found myself with a real connection to the kundalini energy and awakened that.
Tell me a bit about how this wove into your upbringing.
Scott Baker: I had a very abusive childhood, which a lot of people do that become empathic or sensitive. I dealt with two alcoholic parents and having to walk on pins and needles (constantly). There was a time I was telling my mom how excited I was about this retreat, and all this kundalini and stuff, and all of a sudden these Gregorian chants started rising from the basement. And my mom stops and looks at me, and I asked her if she heard that too. It started getting louder and the windows were rattling a bit. She told me, “That’s nothing. You just turned the radio on.” And I questioned that since I was right there with her talking, not in the basement with a radio. And she ran into the back bedroom, and that’s all I needed to know. I think the chants were trying to help me clear the space and give me some peace. I’ve had a lot of interesting experiences like that, which I think I needed. The power I found stumbled onto me when I needed it most and was life changing.
Was there religion in your childhood?
Scott Baker: I was baptized, but we didn’t really practice anything. I remember going to a Methodist church, but nothing of that sort really stuck. Some of the best wisdom I got was to just kind of soak in what you can with a bunch of different things and then kind of all mesh it together. And I think that worked for me well. And it can always change.
Do you find these abilities come easily?
Scott Baker: You must have a warrior spirit sometimes to do this stuff. It’s not always like roses. You have to dig in the dirt a little bit to try to flesh yourself out and that can be hard. You don’t always want to face some things, but you just do it anyway. I try to look at everything as a positive, even a negative experience is an experience that needs to happen. So, with that mindset it makes you stronger.
What is the most profound experience you’ve had?
Scott Baker: I’ve had a couple. I think probably the most profound was my first couple of trips to an Ashram. I had to be carried out. I’m lying there full of relief, but also feeling so sick, and didn’t need validation for anything anymore. It was like this awakening inside of me to get out all the bad, and then I was like out of it, like somewhere else for a while where I could see over everything and I didn’t want to come back from it.
Another profound experience I had was a car accident where I got a head injury. It was a near death experience–but not like seeing some light that I felt like I needed to go toward or anything. I think it was more after the fact. Stuff just started making sense to me (in a different way). Like, I must be here for a reason. Like, I had to get hit by drunk driver and, get a little bump on the head, which was a big deal, but I think some of the kind of shocking things (even like a suicide attempt) you go through is the stuff that makes you relatable to people in some way.
Where does your name Chetan come from?
Scott Baker: The name was given to me by a spiritual teacher years ago.
It means consciousness, awareness. She told me, “a spirit-like mind.”
What do you find challenging when interacting with others through readings?
Scott: The hardest thing is to be myself, and say what is coming to me, because I might tell you something you might not want to know. Or you might think I’m full of it. But my job is to try to just be a conduit. I don’t say I’m right or wrong, I might not even understand what I tell you sometimes, but it’s not always my message to be telling. It’s all about a process.
What can people expect if they come to you for a reading?
Scott: I’ve always thought of myself as kind of a jack of all trades–I don’t put myself in a box. I engage with our surroundings from smell, sight, audio. Anything at all that comes through as significant I will take note of. I watch my whole environment coming and going. I just try to always keep myself open as a conduit and try to clean my lens as much as I can and then we just have a conversation.
Scott Baker is available to schedule readings in most local places. He’s done them in parks, in homes, and anywhere that there is an open space for those wanting to connect. To contact Chetan and inquire about readings please email psychicreadingchetan@gmail.com or follow him on Tik Tok @psychicreadingchetan.
