Juve The Spa's Tarot reader, Tracy Martin, demonstrates the use of Tarot cards during a simulation of a reading at the spa in Alpharetta, Ga.. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe)

Sure, they still give facials and hot-stone massages. But a growing number of spas are dipping their pedicured toes in the supernatural, hoping for more client loyalty in a market that's become increasingly crowded.

At Juve the Spa in this north Atlanta suburb, patrons can get a metaphysical add-on to any spa service, such as a $100 US tarot card reading or a $175 one-hour astrological consultation.

For $200 an hour, you can talk to an American Indian shaman at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Calif. Or try "soul regression therapy," a guided tour through past lives, for $90 an hour at Ruby Room in Chicago, a spa that also touts sessions on "dream therapy" and "energy healing for pets."

The spiritual offerings, once unheard-of at day spas outside California or New York, are catching on everywhere. Adamo Day Spa in Cohasset, Mass., has an on-staff astrologist. Vitality Unlimited spa near St. Louis, Mo., will schedule tarot readings at spa parties. Whispering Waters Day Spa in San Antonio, Texas, offers $70 "polarity therapy" sessions, where patrons work with a healer to align life energies.

To some, it may sound like a bunch of high-priced hooey. But Julie Sinclair, editor of American Spa Magazine, a trade publication for spa owners, says it's going mainstream.

"Everyone's incorporating this stuff in their spa menus. People are still coming for traditional massages and facials, but they're ready to explore something deeper," Sinclair said.

"It's not hippie-dippie-do stuff," insists Kate Leydon, owner of Chicago's Ruby Room, billed as the first all-spiritual-healing spa in the U.S. "It's very modern. You will see it starting in day spas, and then it won't be a novelty, something people do every year or every five years, but something people do regularly."

It's also another way for spas to make money and attract guests in a competitive market. The International Spa Association, the biggest spa industry group, says that between 1995 and 2004, the number of U.S. spas more than quadrupled, to 12,100. But the most recent figure for the number of visits to spas, 136 million, is actually down slightly from 2001.

So amid all the soothing music and waterfalls at spas is an intense battle for customers. For many spas, the strategy is to expand their focus beyond the massage tables.

"The spas that are just here for what we call the fluff-and-buff, they still have their place, but that's not where the industry is heading," said Juve owner Susan Kuse. "I think the spas that go a little bit deeper and really pay attention to health and longevity are going to be the ones that succeed."

Juve's tarot reader, Tracy Martin, works five days a week with the title of Intuitive. She performs readings at a candlelit table, holding her hands palms up and asking the client to place her hands on them so she can get an energy reading. Then Martin asks the client to shuffle the tarot cards and lays them on the table slowly.

Instead of telling a client's fortune, Martin mostly listens to the client's problems, then advises how to overcome them. At one recent reading, a client talked to Martin about a child with a learning disability and a sometimes forgetful husband. Martin advised the client to stop running from negativity and find a way to learn from bad things. She pointed to a card -- the Queen of Cups, thought to signify balance and harmony -- and suggested the client's home life could improve with work.

"It's about treating the whole person," Martin said after the reading. "Someone's coming in, their back hurts, they're getting a massage. Well, there very well may be emotional issues going on. Maybe there's a reason this person is harbouring stress that's making their back hurt."

Which is not to say that everyone who visits a spa is ready to jump into metaphysical therapy. At ShaNah Spa in Santa Fe, N.M., owners last year added a teepee and three-hour sweat lodge ceremonies with an Algonquin Indian. So far, they have only done a handful of the ceremonies.

Tarot reader, Tracy Martin, demonstrates the use of Tarot cards. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe)

"Not everyone wants to do it," said assistant spa director Roberta Rolnick.

At Juve, Kuse says some patrons are offended that tarot and astrology are on the menu. "They say, oh, that's voodoo, you shouldn't even be offering that in this part of the country."

But Juve has a client return rate of more than 50 per cent, good performance for a spa that's less than two years old, Kuse said. Some people come monthly to talk to Martin, or schedule her for girls-night-out parties.

"I really see these therapies as going hand-in-hand with the spa experience," Kuse said. "Not a lot of people get it, but the ones who do are very, very happy with it. And all the time more people are coming in asking for it."

If you go...

Juve The Spa owner Susan Kuse gestures as she talks about some of the products and services, including Tarot readings, in the lobby of the spa in Alpharetta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe)

Adamo Day Spa, Cohasset, Mass.: www.adamodayspa.com or 781-383-3011.

International Spa Association: www.experienceispa.com

Juve the Spa, Alpharetta, Ga.: www.juvethespa.com or 678-566-8101.

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, Calif.: www.postranchinn.com or 800-527-2200.

Ruby Room, Chicago: www.rubyroom.com or 773-635-5000.

ShaNah Spa, Santa Fe, N.M.: www.shanahspa.com or 800-974-2624

Vitality Unlimited Spa, Webster Groves, Mo.: www.vitalityunlimitedspa.com or 314-968-1808.

Whispering Waters Day Spa, San Antonio, Texas: www.spa1.com or 210-614-1772.