0:00 I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen, and to ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?" Dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. Be focused. 0:13 Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. You were never Little Red Riding Hood. You were always The Wolf. They taught us to stay small, to stay quiet, to stay hidden, because once, being seen could get you burned. 0:29 But we're still here, and we're done hiding. This is Pyreproof. I'm Epiphany. The witch wound ends here. 0:41 If you have ever dimmed your gifts to keep the peace, hidden your tarot deck when company came over, or wondered what would happen if you finally stopped playing small, you're in the right place. 0:52 Welcome to the Pyreproof Podcast. I'm Epiphany, your worthy witch. 0:57 This is where we talk about what it really takes to be seen in your power, because when you know your worth, you're dangerous to everyone who benefits from your silence. The witch wound ends here. 1:08 I am honored to introduce you to our guest today, someone who makes magic feel less like a mystery and more like a well-lit path. 1:15 Ally Barbera is a village witch, intuitive mentor, and the founder of the Village Witch Haven. She works with tarot, numerology, mediumship, and the Akashic records. 1:26 She's also a lifelong entrepreneur who loves a good system, and that combination is exactly why I wanted her here. She grounds the mystical in real life. Ally, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. 1:39 Before we dive into the deep, I'm curious, what's your morning ritual? Is it candles and journaling, or coffee and your inbox? 1:48 Right away, I do check my inbox just because I'm a business owner and I wanna make sure that any of my clients for that day, in case they need anything. 1:55 But then once I get to the haven, which is my office space, I come in, I right away, I say hi to the haven. I touch the walls. I say, "Hi, haven." [laughs] And I, I do a cleanse with some Florida water that I made. 2:08 I turn to the west and I cleanse that, and then I have some ritual oils that I use for protection, for opportunities and success, magnetism, and just a village witch oil that I made. 2:17 So I have this whole oils thing, routine that I do, and then I have a spray that I charmed to be my alignment with my soul clan. It's just a body spray. 2:25 That's the joy of rituals, is we get to pick the how, but we can also pick the when. It doesn't have to be regimented. 2:33 That's fun that you say, "Hi, haven," too, 'cause it reminds me of Encanto when they're like, "Hola, Casita." Which is my favorite movie. [laughs] Oh. 2:41 I love that you mentioned oils and sprays because there is truly a magic to having these rituals that kicks- start our day. What's that intention that you're infusing with those oils and sprays? 2:55 Each one has a separate intention, so I've made them all my- well, the spray I bought and charmed, but the oils I've made myself. So there's a protection one. 3:03 There's a magnetism that I use in combination with success and opportunities because we don't wanna magnetize everything. [laughs] So I like to be specific. And then I have a village witch oil, which is just me, my... 3:14 Who I am at my, at my soul, in my core, just bring that in. I have a calm oil for the days I need it. I don't need that every day. But each one has been, ingredients have been carefully chosen, timing, all of that. 3:24 And then so the intentions are in the oil. I do say something as I put each one on that goes along with it, but the intentions are in the oil. Ditto. I feel like we are twins. That's awesome. 3:34 I would love to swap notes sometime. Um, and then just out of curiosity, is there a tarot card that you feel really drawn to right now, that you feel like kinda symbolizes this phase of life you're in? Yes. 3:48 As a Gemini, it's hard to pick one, but I'm gonna try to narrow it down. 3:51 [laughs] But I would say, I, I would say The Chariot right now because I'm going through a lot of transitions and moving forward, and it does take that kind of willpower that's assoc- that I associate with the Chariot card to push through some of the tougher moments. 4:06 So I feel, and I also feel like it's an important time of my life and I'm... Choosing a major arcana card makes more sense for that from my perspective. 4:12 So I'm gonna go with Chariot, but if you ask me tomorrow, I might have a different card. [laughs] Which is so fair for us heavy air sign gals, which I know we're both Gemini and have a couple of Gemini placements. Yes. 4:25 Absolutely. What's your favorite witchy thing that has nothing to do with business? Oh, okay. Favorite witchy thing that has nothing to do with business. It's so hard because I'm so intertwined, my, my business. 4:38 I'm trying to think what I even do that's a little bit separate. I'll say there's kind of something that I mix together. Mm-hmm. I'd say color magic, which is something I was interested in before I knew the name for it. 4:49 So I kind of work with that, not so much... Oh, God, I am not sure that I can answer this one 'cause I'm so intertwined. 4:56 No, I love that, and that's a completely fair answer too is they're so integrated with who you are, 'cause you did mention that you're a lifelong entrepreneur. Um- Yes... 5:05 which I would love to, just as side quest here, w- what was that first entrepreneurship, a dip into it for you? To back up, I had always worked in small businesses since I was 15. 5:16 I opened, my dad opened a real estate company, and I was his admin assistant. I had business cards at 15 years old that I used to pass out at school. I was in real estate school at 18 while I was in high school. 5:25 This is back when you would go to... Couldn't do them online. You have to actually go [laughs] to class. Right. So I'd always worked in small businesses, and then my first business that I opened was a beauty business. 5:34 I'm a, I say I'm a retired makeup artist. I still own that business, but I had just... I had been... 5:40 Actually, for a long time I didn't wanna open a business, 'cause I watched my father do it and I watched how hard it was, and I used to say, "I don't wanna open a business. You have all this responsibility," all of that. 5:48 And then I did it myself [laughs] because I realized- Here we are. [laughs] I had to go... I realized I couldn't have someone over me telling me how to do things. 5:56 The reason I started with my own business, because I didn't wanna be at a, in a career that I was unhappy with for the ma- 'cause it's the majority of your hours, right? Your days, your months is spent at work. 6:04 So I said- I don't want that. I have to do something that I love. And at the time it was makeup, so that's how I got into the first business. 6:11 Which I can totally believe, because your makeup is always so on point, Jessica. [laughs] Thank you. I appreciate that. Come do my podcast makeup. [laughs] Happily, I would love to. 6:22 [laughs] So you've said yourself that you call yourself the Village Witch because of this lifelong dream to live in a car-free village with all your friends and family, spending your days doing readings, rituals, and spell work. 6:34 And the really cool thing is you've made that dream a reality right here in Charleston. So paint me a picture. What is a day in the life of Village Witch like for you? Yes, and I still don't have a car. 6:45 I [laughs] got rid of my car a few years ago just... And I realized I didn't really need it here, so I'm living part of that life for sure just [laughs] by no car. 6:53 I live about 15 minutes away from the haven, so I walk every day into the haven. 6:58 And I've gotten to know people, different employees and store owners, and I see them outside or I pop my head in and I say hello to them, have some conversation. 7:04 Some have even become clients, which was not anything I was trying to do, but just in talking to them. So I say hi to all of them. I walk my same path. I appreciate Charleston. I appreciate being here. 7:15 I love seeing the palmetto trees up against the pastel buildings, and it's still, even the thousands of times that I've done these, this type of walk, I still appreciate it. 7:24 So I appreciate where I am, and I just feel connected to the soul of Charleston and also to the people who are actively living here. So it really does feel like a village. There are still cars. 7:36 Other people have them [laughs] that could do without them, but, but I can't do anything about that. But it still feels... 7:41 How can you not walk down an alley or a cobblestone street and get a little bit of a village feel? As you were describing it, it was making me picture the opening... I love movies and I love a... I'm such a musical girl. 7:52 So I immediately was thinking of the opening of Beauty and the Beast when she's walking through the village and singing the song, [laughs] and all of the villagers have their part to play in this grand story. Yes. 8:03 I love that. That's where I live in my soul [laughs] and in my mind, even if that's not always exactly where I am. That's awesome. And it is... 8:11 You are getting to see the, the heartbeat of Charleston being right there, while also, y- because you don't have a car, you don't have to deal with the particular and unique joy of trying to find parking that's not [laughs] $40. 8:25 But I would love to... 8:27 We'll dive further into what it's like to be in a space that's deeply a part of a more, a traditional religious background, but I did wanna touch on with you being in Charleston, Charleston does have this 8:41 thinner air quality, I would say, this thinner connection to the spiritual realm, because it does have such a re- rich history, and I would love to hear, like, how that has impacted your experience with the city, if at all. 8:56 Yeah. So I feel the same way. The first time I ever came here, I... it felt different. I call it the lowcountry magic. I attribute a lot of it to the Gullah tradition and the history and what they brought in. 9:06 I always, I've always felt like that's where it came from, but then the decades and decades of people being here with their own magical traditions, their own... 9:16 even if they didn't call it that, just that, that mix of all of that being here. But I think, I don't know if there's a ley line or something. I know I've had my astro-cartography done, and I am... 9:26 I do well in this particular area. But you saying that, and so many other people have, it's not just the way that I feel about it. It is something in the air here, and the only... 9:35 I just blanket term lowcountry magic, and I have an idea of [laughs] where it comes from, but that's the best I can figure out. Yeah. I couldn't agree more, and I love that term, lowcountry magic. 9:45 And I don't know if you've ever driven, like, all the way down to Bluffton, Beaufort, but there's this point when you hit the wetlands, the marshes, that it gets even thicker. I wish I could bottle up that feeling. 9:56 It's such a beautiful thing, and absolutely, I do think it's attributed to the ancestral lands and the people who've lived here for centuries and have had to really carve a reali- reality for themselves that preserves their culture and preserves their practice. 10:11 So I think honoring that is a beautiful and the right thing to do. So it, that kinda ties into the next question. So you said you talk to your ancestors. 10:21 There's the silly part, and then I wanna c- circle back to the ancestors piece of it. 10:25 But you talk to your ancestors, work with the moon, and host seasonal circles, but you also love a color-coded Google Calendar, a good checklist, and a step-by-step plan. 10:34 So I have to know what color is ritual on your calendar? Ritual is blue, a kind of warmer blue, I would say. Mid-tone warm blue if we wanna get specific. [laughs] That's amazing. 10:49 Do you consider that color-coding a part of your color magic? Yes, I definitely... When I chose the colors for each different thing on my calendar, I did think about that, so it's another... 10:58 Yeah, there's so many different ways you can work in color magic, and that definitely is, was one of them. 11:03 I feel like even with the branding colors that I picked for everything, I wanted it to imbue confidence and creativity and excitement, and even a bit of that childlike whimsy. 11:14 I feel like everyone's talking about whimsy, but I also feel like us, us mystical gals, we're like, we're not new to the game, we're true to the game. You know what I mean? [laughs] Yeah. 11:22 [laughs] So going back to the ancestral piece, what is it like for you to work with your ancestors? 11:27 I feel like there's a broader cultural conversation happening where people who are of the white persuasion, we have to really figure out what is our spiritual culture and who are the, the ancestors and guides that we want to work with, and how do we do that in a way that's also respectful of other cultures and traditions? 11:49 Yeah, absolutely. And as you say that, I am surrounded by two ancestors altars on either side of me, because I have so much stuff that I couldn't fit them on one. You the same thing with you? 11:57 [laughs] So there's different types of ancestors, right? There's our bloodline. There can be our ancestors. W- to, to me, witches are our ancestors, whether or not we are related to those. Those are a type of ancestors. 12:08 In terms of working with your ancestors' bloodline or adopted family, that's all the same to me, whatever that- I think as long as you're working with them, and they are your culture and your tradition, that there's 12:21 a respect there, as long as you're not dipping into maybe other people's ancestors. 12:25 I'm sticking with my ancestors, the people who I either knew or knew of, or they were great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers, and I feel very safe doing that, and feel welcome. 12:35 And I also think that's a thing that I would've gotten some infor- information by now if I was working with people, working with them in the wrong way, or working with the wrong ones. I would've felt that. 12:44 These are presences that have been with me for my whole life, and I have recognized it, and I, I work with them. I give offerings. I talk to them. They help me a lot. 12:53 In fact, I shouldn't jinx myself, but whenever I start to feel sick, I call them in, if I get a little stuffy nose or something, and I say, "Please, I'm so busy this week. Please don't let me be sick." 13:04 [laughs] And the next day, every time, I wake up fine. So I feel like they... That's just one example, but I feel like they really do listen. So I hope I answered your question in that way. If I... 13:16 I don't know if I don't know if I went too much off on a tangent there. Where- wherever we flow is where we're meant to go. I love ancestral work. I have my ancestors on the wall. 13:27 I have them on my altar, and it is such a magical space to step into. I also get ready on my altar because I want to be with them as I start my day, and, and I have an ancestral mirror that I get ready with. 13:38 And mirrors, that's a whole other convers- We could probably have a whole podcast on mirrors. But I think that's really beautiful. 13:44 And having done the ancestral work to get to know my ancestors more, not just the ones that I have lived experience with, but the ones behind that, beyond that, I feel like that's also impacted my own narrative, my own story, because I realize that I'm carrying on the next chapter of their story. 14:00 Has that been a part of your journey as well? Yeah, absolutely. I think I've always innately felt that, especially on my mother's side of the family, and that could be because that's 14:09 the side that was more in my life younger. 14:12 But I also think there's something for a woman and her maternal grandmother, just from how many client readings I've done, how often they come through, sometimes the spirit guides, that kind of thing. 14:20 But yeah, I, I do feel that we are 14:24 carrying some of the good and the not so good sometimes that we're carrying on into different generations, and that is something to look into and see what might need to be healed and what can... 14:34 maybe could be emphasized to help us going forward. Have you connected with it? Is this witchy practice also a part of your ancestral lineage that you know of? Not that I know of. 14:47 I have been told that by a psychic medium who I've been going to for years, who actually became my mentor at one point. She had pinpointed some people in my family. I thought maybe I could see it, but it wasn't... 14:58 it's not obvious, so it's just speculation at this point, but it wouldn't surprise me, especially with my family coming from Italy, Sicily. There's a lot of [laughs]... 15:09 It's covered in religion at a certain point, but there's a lot of magic and witchcraft that started there or that was very prevalent there. So makes sense. It does. 15:18 And I had this sense when I was working through my ancestral history of that there was something about the witch trials there, and I kept digging and I kept digging. 15:28 And on my mother and my, my, my mother's maternal side, like mom and then great-grandmother, they, 15:36 up beyond past the Foxworthy's and then her parents, they were like at the heart of the trials, and not on the good side. 15:46 They were on the persecuting side, and that was really heartbreaking to learn, and also made a lot of sense because I do think that there's been such a lifelong journey in my own practice of 16:00 quieting their voices in their fear and their uncertainty of the unknown to reclaim my own. So it's like I w- I would've loved to have learned that there were, 16:14 in written record, witches in my lineage, and maybe there were, and maybe it was like even that they were, and they were so afraid of it that they persecuted others to keep themselves safe. I can't know. 16:24 That's not something that's on a court record, but it is really interesting to learn the narratives of our ancestors so that we can also learn what cycles we wanna break as well. Yeah, absolutely. 16:34 And I got chills as you were saying that. That's my sign for recognizing something happened. So as soon as you started saying that, I just covered over here. [laughs] Oh my gosh, yes. I call them truth bumps. 16:46 [laughs] Oh, that's amazing. So I would love to hear, like when did you know you're intuitive? 16:52 If it's not something that necessarily was handed down to you from a, a parent or a grandparent, what was that journey like for you to discover this part of yourself? Yeah. 17:01 It started very young, and it wasn't in my family at all. I'd never heard anyone talk about it. But I grew up in a house that was from either, either the late 1800s or early 1900s. The records seem to be one of those. 17:11 We can't get a straight answer on when it was built. But an old house, it was an orchard, and in, in like a land that was an orchard in Massachusetts. 17:17 It was not that way when we moved in, but it r- we did have some blackberry [laughs] bushes and things, but the house was very old. 17:23 And when I was, I think I was about five years old, I woke up in the middle of the night to see two people walking through the door of my bedroom, straight through the bedroom, and out through the wall, the window. 17:33 And they had... The man had a top hat on, the woman had a hoop skirt on, and I had no... 17:37 At five years old, you don't know what people from different eras are supposed to look like, and I didn't know anything, so I just told my parents, "Hey, these people walked through," and that was it. 17:47 And that, that was my first of many sightings. I think I was around five. 17:50 I'm not sure if I was five or six, but I was very young, and that continued over the years with not as much in that house, but different places, my church that I grew up in, my mother used to take us to, and my friend's house, and all these different places, premonition dreams, all these things. 18:04 So I would say I knew it from a, a very young age, was my... That's my long answer to your question. 18:09 [laughs] No, and I think that's so many witches' stories, is this childhood, like you didn't even know to be afraid of it, right? Right. It was just a part of your lived experience. 18:19 It t- it tends to be when you share it with an adult- And they get afraid that you're like, "Oh, should I be afraid, too?" 18:27 I'm really curious to hear how was that news received when you said, "Hey, two people were walking through here." I'm so lucky that my parents have been so supportive. 18:39 And I al- I have this theory that we're, we all have psychic abilities. Some of us are just born with the dial turned up a little bit more. 18:44 If your dial is turned up and you have a supportive family, and then you take time to develop your skills, you can really run with it, and that's the reality that I've had. 18:53 So I don't remember their exact reaction, but I know that they didn't make me feel bad or make me feel ashamed or like I had a vivid imagination, and then I was making things up. 19:01 So I don't remember the exact words, but I know that it was enough to not make me feel foolish or be scared. That's really wonderful. 19:10 That is the dream, and there is a multiplying impact of having that feeling of safeness to really explore this part of yourself. I'm so glad that you had that. Thank you for sharing your story- You're welcome... 19:23 your origin story. Hmm. Um, so you came back to professional readings in 2023 under the name, and let me know if I'm saying this wrong, Temeni112? Close. Temeni. [laughs] Temeni? Okay. I was like, oh, like Gemini? Yeah. 19:41 Okay, that cl- okay. What's the story behind that name? Is there numerology hidden behind it? So the Temeni part is I was born on the Taurus-Gemini cusp, so I've always considered myself a Temeni. Sure. 19:51 And 112, which is the ring I have on, [laughs] it's a number of mine. Everyone... Or a lot of people... Well, not everyone, but a lot of people have their lucky number. Yeah. 20:00 Mine was always 112, which I didn't realize it was weird to have a three-digit one until people started saying it to me, but it was a number that I used to see and hear a lot. I'd open up a book randomly, and it... 20:09 Or a magazine, and it would be on page 112. Someone would walk by me and be like, "Oh, there was like 112 people there." 20:15 And for the longest time, I heard it, so it started to have meaning to me because what a kind of interesting number. [laughs] It's not like someone saying three or four, like 112. Right. So it became a sign for... 20:28 I'd see it on license plates, all that thing, and I, a lot... And I would start to say the more I see one, or if I see a lot of 112s in a day, it's gonna be a good day. 20:35 So maybe there was some self-fulfilling prophecy there, but really it just became a number that I was drawn to. So then when it was time to, or when I decided to open that company, I wanted to... 20:45 And at that time, it was numerology only. When I first opened the business, it was just numerology, so it made sense to have a number in there. So that's... And it was a very, it was not taken by anyone. 20:56 [laughs] That name was very distinct, so I didn't even have to worry about trademarking at that point. [laughs] It is so distinct, but I love that there is something, too, 'cause you're a May Gemini, correct? Yes. 21:07 You're cusping, yes. 21:08 So there is something, there's a quality that is different between a May Gemini and a June Gemini, and we talk about that with all the different signs, like a January Capricorn versus a December Capricorn. 21:19 So it's so fascinating. I love astrology because it really is the study of patterns, and patterns just, oh, they tickle my fancy. 21:27 So continuing on with the numerology, so you started offering numerology readings professionally back in 2011. But when your on-site beauty business took off, you only read for friends and family for a while. 21:37 Looking back, did that feel like a pause or like hiding? I would say it felt more like a pause because it really was only because I was so busy. I was lucky to be so busy with my other business. 21:48 It didn't feel like anyone said anything to me, or I was ashamed of it, or... I got really good feedback from it, but I just couldn't do both, so I had to choose. So yeah, it definitely felt like a pause. 22:00 And learning our bandwidth is such an important part of entrepreneurism as well because I do think there's this inherent part of a Gemini that almost wants two things going on at the same time because it keeps both interesting. 22:13 Have you found that to be true for yourself as well? I own two businesses today, which is what I was trying to get away [laughs] from- [laughs]... 22:20 and I go between two places, and I did the snowbird thing, and then my boyfriend lives in another state. So I have this duality that I wanna simplify, but then I think- [laughs]... I end up back at it all the time. 22:33 It's, it truly feels every time I try to silo myself, and it could also be the neurodivergence, but if I try to hone in and focus on only one thing, then I tend to burn out quicker because I need a sense of novelty. 22:48 And I think that's the gift that having two things gives us is it keeps something fresh always. Yes, I totally agree. When, what... 22:58 Knowing that you started with Temeni, it was numerology only, and then there was this shift. What did it take to say witch out loud in public, especially as a part of your business name? Yeah. I started slowly. 23:12 I started just calling my events and classes the Village Witch by Temeni112. Mm-hmm. So I put my feelers out there. And then I think I just got to the point where I was like, "You know what? This is who I am. 23:25 This makes sense. If people don't like me, they don't like me. You know what? That's their problem. And if they are, they think what I do is foolish or not valid or whatever, they'll figure it out in the next life." 23:35 That's what I, I just said that to someone last night. If somebody is so, "Oh, this is not, this is not real, and you're evil," and all that, okay. You have then... 23:41 If you don't get it this life, I hope you do, but if you don't, you'll come back in the next life and hopefully learn it, or you're gonna keep coming back of being obs- accepting and actually realizing that [laughs] a lot of this is, would be helpful to you. 23:52 But I just got to that point where I didn't care anymore. I didn't feel... For so long, I felt this need to be this... I was a professional person. 24:01 I'd owned a business for, since 2008 and a couple businesses, and I had this, this image. And it wasn't fake. It was a real, it was an image, and I was, that it is who I was, but it wasn't who I was anymore. 24:12 It was still part of... I'm still professional [laughs] and still part of who I am, but it wasn't what I needed to lead with. I didn't feel that I needed to, I didn't feel that I needed to lead with it, so I just, 24:23 I renamed the business and didn't look back. I love that. 24:27 So it felt like a bit of when they say what's in a name a lot, a lot is in a name because there's, going back to the numerology, there's a frequency in a name, and me choosing to go by my full name, Epiphany, versus Pip or E, I've had lots of nicknames across the time, and people can call me nicknames, absolutely, but I always attribute myself to Epiphany because I love the resonance of that. 24:50 But there is something to the claiming of the name Witch, and even with Worthy Witch being my TikTok handle, there was pushback with that because of some fear around that. 25:02 And if it's people I don't know, then I have a very similar approach. It's that's their journey, not mine. But if it's somebody that's dear to me, I know that they know my character to, enough to know that I'm not evil. 25:15 But it's also a learning opportunity to what is a witch really? When I say witch, what are you envisioning? Because if it's the scary villain from Snow White, it's a completely different... 25:26 That's a media narrative versus what witch would really mean. So I guess what I'd love to hear is what does that word mean to you? 25:35 To me, a witch is somebody who honors the unseen cycles, and this can be the unseen cycles in astrology, in nature, or just the unseen in general, the energy, the spirits, the, their own personal cycles. 25:47 It can be really any of that you can't actually put your finger on. Someone who recognizes that and honors it and works with it in whatever way makes sense to them and resonates with them. That's beautiful. 25:59 And there's, in that, this inherent sense of agency. Wouldn't you say it's a reclaiming of agency that you have as an individual? Absolutely. 26:10 You rebranded the Village Witch Haven in late 2025 and shifted your focus to teaching, mentoring, and building community for solitary witches, and there's this shift then. What was... Was there a particular moment? 26:25 I know you said you'd started naming your events that, and then it was a progression, but was there a particular moment where you're like, 26:34 because of something somebody said or because of this interaction with a client, now I'm ready to really claim this and really shift all of the branding to, to be witch forward, if you will? 26:45 I don't know if there was a particular moment, but I could-- When I would say or type out Temeni 112, it stopped having that feeling to me of excitement. It started to feel just a little blah and stagnant. And 27:00 I think I, I did have a reading with someone at one point who said, "If you change it, that's gonna bring in momentum." That's not why I changed it, but I was already thinking that. Mm-hmm. 27:08 But really it was, but the main thing is that the name Temeni 112, it didn't ha- it didn't feel right to me anymore, and I wish I had a better [laughs] answer for that, but it really just came down to a, a feeling when I would say it and write it. 27:19 It wasn't there anymore. And I loved writing and typing and saying the Village Witch. I, that lit me up because that was who I was or am. [laughs] It just felt like a natural move. 27:31 So I can't pinpoint the exact moment, but it was more of the feeling of hearing or typing the names. 27:37 That's a really beautiful and, I think, helpful thing to share for people listening because there is this question of what does it feel in your body to, to resonate with something? 27:49 And what does it feel in your body to say something that you don't resonate with? And can we trust ourselves enough to actually question that? And just because 27:59 this is a larger lesson of just because we say one thing one day, we can shift, we can change. I could change my style drastically tomorrow. Last week, I was telling you I got my flat helix pierced. 28:13 [laughs] And that felt like fun and just a new addition, and she's still sore, but I love her. This new addition of just something fun and funky. 28:23 However we present ourselves or however we talk about ourselves or however we brand ourselves, it's more important that it actually resonates and aligns with us. 28:31 Maybe that's my human design three talking, but I, which for those listening, it, it's a learning through doing. It's leap before-- Like, just leap, and then figure it out later. 28:42 And but being true to yourself, being true to alignment, being true to what resonates with you, you don't have to be held to a social narrative. 28:50 I will say my, in my past, I very much saw and branded myself as a good Christian girl, and that was so much of my identity, was being good, and I saw my value because of the theology in being good. 29:07 And now I really recoil to the word good because what does good even mean? Good is, good is based off of what? Social narratives, right? It's like this egregore almost that we put a bunch of being a good girl. 29:20 We put so much meaning into that label. And so from 30 to 38, I'm, will be 39 in six months. I can't do month math. I'll be 39 soon sometime. 29:33 And I am now almost four decades in really reclaiming that identity and who I am. But to shed it initially was a tower c- card moment, speaking of tarot cards. 29:44 To shed that identity and say, "Actually, I'm going to go against the grain. I'm going to reclaim my agency. I'm going to explore who I actually am versus what I felt I needed to be," that's a really 29:56 scary but freeing thing. It brings a level of freedom. Like how you were saying, "I don't care." I've reached a point where I don't care to-- about what people think about who I am. 30:06 I am who I am, and I know I'm a good person. Yes. Yes. That's the thing, and it's so freeing, like you said, to feel that and just go, "You can like me or not like me. I really don't care. I wish you the best. 30:18 I don't wish anyone harm, but if we're not aligned, that's okay. We don't have to be. I'm gonna-" Exactly. "... do what feels right." 30:26 Have there been other seasons in your life where you felt like, "Okay, up to this point, I've been XYZ, and now I'm deciding to choose a different path"? 30:35 So much of my life was an identity as a business owner, 'cause I opened my first business at 25. So before that, I was still figuring out who I was. So that really, I think, has been my biggest one, is just- Mm-hmm... 30:46 business owner. I had a coaching company at one point to help small business owners, and I still enjoy helping business owners, but it's... Yeah, that, but that was really who I was for most of my adult life. 31:00 And there's a sense of responsibility that comes with that, with being a business owner, because you know that your life, your livelihood is also attached to the impact that you're making in your community, which is the magic of it, too. 31:15 It's like, wow, I- you are living the village witch life and getting to really support your community on this soul-deep level. 31:24 So you've pushed back on how social media reduces witchcraft to beautiful altars, expensive tools, and curated rituals, which is an, an important topic to discuss. 31:34 So what's one thing you'd tell a new witch that they don't need to buy in order to be a witch, and what should they do instead? Yeah. There's a lot of things. 31:45 The one that comes to mind first is black salt, which is just incense ash and salt. You don't need to buy it. You can make it. And I'm a big fan of making as much as you can. 31:57 I make my own little candles, like I said, my ritual oils. I make my own spell bags. I cut fabric, and I don't sew them, 'cause I'm not that talented, but I wrap them up with twine. Yes. 32:06 And what I use then feels more like me, and it feels like it has more energy in it. So if someone gets joy from something, if they're like, "No, I love this black salt, it makes me happy," by all means go for it. 32:15 But don't feel like you have to buy. In fact, you can be a witch and not have anything. You can just do it with... 32:23 There's more than intention there, but we'll, we'll, we'll say that's a big part of it, but being aware of cycles, intention, putting all those things together, you could do it that way. 32:31 You could have one candle and a lighter. You really don't need much, so I think there's a lot of pressure for people to buy a bunch of things, and I don't think you need it. 32:39 If it makes you happy and it's in the budget, go for it, but it's not necessary. It's interesting because it's like the more you learn and the more... There's knowledge and then there's wisdom. 32:50 The more it becomes like a lived in, embodied wisdom versus the knowledge, like just speed reading about all the different things that you can do. 33:02 The more you know and understand, the less you need, per se, because it's, you understand energy. You understand alchemizing. You understand that 33:17 sometimes the tools, while helpful, can also be a crutch and something that holds you back. So it's just been really fascinating to be on that journey myself as I mature in my practice. 33:31 But I can take a candle from the dollar store and have cast my spell and my intention with it. I can Reiki infuse it. I can... 33:42 There's so much I can do with a 10 cent candle, or I can thrift something, clear it [laughs], clean it. Yeah. But 33:50 there are so many things that you can do that doesn't require going to a crystal shop that looks like it's a part of a tech company, that it's all glossy and everything's $300. There's, there's no shade in that per se. 34:03 It's just you don't have to do that. I love crystals so much, but I've fallen victim to that and been like, "It's so pretty." [laughs] Um, but the, the crystal within itself isn't what makes me a witch. Right. 34:15 It's within you. Yes. None of the tools are what make us a witch. They're tools. They help us do what we're trying to do if we want to use them, but they're not the source of the magic. What... 34:26 I get ahead of myself, 'cause we're gonna talk about the tarot side of things with your business, but 34:31 when you're using a tool like tarot to divinate, also knowing that you have your psychic abilities, how do you differentiate between using the symbolism of the tarot to facilitate the structure of the conversation versus them sitting down and you tuning into the energy present and intuiting the messages that way? 34:54 I think it's another one of those things that's so intertwined for me. Mm-hmm. Sometimes I might start off by looking at the card traditional meaning, and there's so many meanings, first of all, for each card. 35:05 If you, even if you're just talking traditional meanings, there's so many meanings for each card, so I use my intuition to grab the right meaning. And then I call in my ancestors. I keep a little pin from my nana. 35:14 It's actually a, it's a phone. It's like an old telephone, and it was a pin that she had, so that helps me communicate, and I hold that in my hand, and if I get stuck, I say, "Nana, can you..." 35:23 And she'll send it through my mouth [laughs] which just comes out very quickly. She helps me be more direct in my communication, unlike I just was with that. 35:30 But yeah, I think with tarot, again, I just, I use a mix of traditional meanings and intuition. I let my intuition guide me, but I do work with the cards as well. 35:39 I don't just use them to have something pretty in front of me. There, there is, there are messages and power there from my perspective in the way that I work with them. I love that your nana gets involved. 35:49 [laughs] There's something about nanas. I have a nana, too, my mom's mom, and she rides so hard for me. Like, [laughs] it does not matter who- Yeah... I talk to, psychic, medium, not, they're reading my aura or not. 36:00 They're like, "Oh, [laughs] there's a maternal presence here that's super strongly..." Yeah, that's Nana. Nana, Nana rides hard. 36:08 But it's just fun to have those people that you know are, like, truly in your corner and helping guide and direct you on your spiritual journey. H- Now I'm super curious. 36:20 Is there any particular message or lesson you feel like you've received from Nana on this side of things that has directed your ship of life? Oh my goodness, she's been around for so much. I knew her... 36:31 She passed when I was 10, so I knew her in life too, but most of my life that she's been gone, but- There's just so many. She comes through in readings a lot with direct advice or comments. 36:41 "I like when you wear the baseball cap, it looks nice on you," that type of thing. Like comments about, "Don't lose any more weight." Those type of comments. I'm like, okay. 36:47 But I think it's c- what happens is I feel her leading the pack, but I also feel my ancestors, other ancestors and guides with her, so it's more like she's speaking for them. 36:57 I, I had a recent situation, I have a situation going on right now with something that I think I, I had not priced at what I'm worth, and I'm convinced that my ancestors and guides made everything fall through until I got to the right price, and now it's moving very smoothly. 37:13 So I feel very strongly that they were there for that one. I, I can't prove it, but it's my intuition saying they were changing things, making... 37:22 what felt like ruining them [laughs] until I got to the point where I'm finally at a number for something that is what it should be. I heard this very fabulous 37:32 on TikTok, like she was giving, Martha Mae Houvier, she said, "Someone's budget... Like your budget does not determine someone's value for what they're offering." Which was a really interesting perspective. 37:48 She was sharing about another influencer who'd had a product launch, and some people were giving her a hard time about the, the price point of it, and people can have their various feelings, but it does come back to, is there quality there? 38:02 Is there integrity there? Is there, is there an impact there? Mm. 38:06 But going back to resonance and coherence, does a price truly reflect your value and the impact it's gonna make with the people who enter into that energetic exchange of money? That makes sense to me. I like that. 38:22 Is that also an intuitive practice for you in terms of how you evaluate what to charge for something? I use my intuition for everything that I do. It's just, it's what happens. 38:36 So yes, I do my market research, I make sure numbers make sense, all of that I'm going to do, going to do my due diligence in that. But if I... 38:44 A lot of things for me are with typing or writing, and if I do that and I look at it and something feels off, something doesn't feel right in my body, then I might say, "Let me look at this again, tomorrow probably, 'cause I'm in it right now. 38:54 Let me give myself a day and come back to this." 38:57 And, and quite honestly, I do also lean on some people in my life, other business owners or family members, and just run stuff by them if I really can't figure it out, if I've tried, if I've got my pendulum, if I'm [laughs] gonna do it. 39:07 That doesn't happen too often. Usually my intuition alone will help me- Yeah... in the, the putting in the logic there, but, but I do use that, yeah. It's hard not to. 39:15 [laughs] It's hard to develop your intuition and then shut it down. Obviously, there are times I haven't listened to it, but [laughs] as, as we all have. 39:24 But once you're, once you start using it, it's like you're working out that muscle, it's hard not to use it. 39:29 I like that you talked about the market research side of things, 'cause you do bring both this, the magical and the mundane, the strategy and the intuition. I would love to hear, like, how that works for you. 39:42 Is it something where you step into the strategy first, you start doing the research, and then you see what, through the research, resonates? Is it the flip side? What does that look like for you? 39:52 I think it's usually intuition first. If I'm coming up with a new service offering, that usually comes out of nowhere. I'm not even... I'm not thinking, "What should I add or what should I change?" 40:01 But all of a sudden it comes through, and I go, "Okay, that feels good, but let me look at it. Let me see, does that make sense? Do I have the time in my schedule for it? How much time would I schedule for that?" 40:10 So I go into that kind of, I guess Mercury helps me a little bit there, I'm going into the details and the business side of things, but I let my intuition bring me to the thing, and then I let my logic and my business sense, all that, make it into something that I can actually [laughs] work with instead of just an idea. 40:25 I love that. And I'm curious, I know you have various kinds of sessions, but if I booked an intuitive reading with you, what does that look like? Could you... 40:34 How do you turn a reading into next steps for someone to take with them beyond the time with you? So the way that I take... 40:43 So I'll just stop, I'll start and say I use tarot, Akashic records, numerology, psychic in- mediumship, whatever makes sense for the person's question or questions, I use the right modality. Sometimes I check it. 40:53 I think of, I have a doctor who's an MD, ND, so medical doctor and naturopath, and he'll sometimes look at a symptom from Eastern medicine and then check it with Western, or vice versa. So I, I do the same thing there. 41:03 Oh, remind me of your original question. I just took myself on a little tangent. No, I love that. So how do you... 41:09 What does the session look like for you, and then how do you turn that reading into next steps for the person? Yes. Thank you. So I get the questions from them, and I use a modality that makes the most sense. 41:20 Different modalities, Akashic record is really good for soul questions. Tarot can be good for that, but also for more mundane, physical world things. 41:26 So I determine the question, which modality or modalities are going to work best, and then I ask the questions to the tarot cards or to the guides or to the person, the loved one who's passed who I'm speaking to, I make sure to ask them what should they do next, because they wanna give us advice, whether it's, again, a person who's passed, an Akashic guide, the tarot cards, numerology. 41:45 Those modalities want to give us advice, but we have to ask for it sometimes. So let's... 41:50 Usually I'll start with trying to figure out maybe what the root is, what's going on here, the situation, and then what is the advice? How can they best handle the situation? How can they best move forward? 41:59 What do you have for advice? And then I pass on that advice. And I don't really do any readings that don't have an advice question, because I want people to be able to leave with something. 42:08 And in fact, before I do my readings, I have a whole ritual and I talk to my ancestors and guides and I say, "Can you please help this information come through clearly and concisely, and can you please help this person leave with information that's in alignment with their highest and best good that helps them going forward?" 42:21 So I ask them to help give me the information that way, and it's, that seems to be... I've never done a reading where that, where advice didn't come through for my client. 42:32 So it's almost couched in the advice, like how you're approaching the knowledge gathering portion of it is, how do we make this as beneficial for the client as possible? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. 42:44 And 'cause would it be great to go into the Akashic records and see all of our past lives? First of all, they won't show 'em. I've try- I've tried. [laughs] We don't get to see all of our past lives. 42:52 I just would like to, as a tourist, go through and see all of that of my own, but yeah, [laughs] that would be so cool. But yeah, you have to ask the questions and get the advice and then have... 42:59 And then people can leave with something that they can improve their lives with going forward, or else it's been a nice experience, but is it helpful? 43:06 And my biggest thing, no matter which business I've owned, from beauty business to coaching to the Village Witch Haven, I just want to help people with whatever it is that I'm good at. 43:17 There's a lot of things I'm not good at. I can't parallel park, I can barely do math. I'm just not good. But if I can help someone with something, I so badly want to do that. 43:28 So that, that kind of, I guess, that urge, that soul urge that I have also impacts the readings in a way. Yeah. It sounds like it's something that is your central driving force, is this desire to help others. Yeah. 43:42 So you put a big emphasis on building confidence in one's own intuition instead of depending on outside authority. How do you teach people to trust themselves when they're used to looking for a guru, if you will? Yeah. 43:56 There, there's a lot of things you can do. The one that comes to mind is I teach people intuition exercises, which are just little things that you can do at home or out in the world that are not emotionally tied. 44:07 For example, one is the parking lot test, where you go into a parking lot where you know what the parking lot looks like, maybe it's your work or your doctor's office. 44:14 Before you leave the house, guess which spot's gonna be open. Is it in the front of the lot? Is it in the back? Is it under the garage part? And then go there, see what it is, and write it down. 44:23 The amount of times people I get texts and emails, "Oh my God, it was the exact spot." So they're not emotionally tied to it because they're gonna get a spot. They're not really... 44:30 They don't-- It doesn't really matter if they get it or not, but they do. So I, I teach them exercises like that so that they get confident, but it's not anything heavy. It's not any life-changing thing. 44:40 You start with the smaller stuff, and then they can begin to translate that into more important questions. That's really smart. 44:48 So starting with the exercise with lower stakes things that they can feel like fun and playful about, and then build on the confidence from there because it's giving their brain that evidence that they do have an intuition, they are in tuned to things. 45:02 Yes. And it's-- Once you get that evidence, you get confidence, and then you just keep building up on that, and that's so important. How do you tell real intuitive guidance apart from fear or wishful thinking? 45:15 So I think it's different in everyone, and this is how I teach it, too. Yeah. I feel my-- the voices that I hear, and I know not everyone has an internal monologue, but when I get intuition, it comes either... 45:27 When I get intuition, it's in a low voice, and it seems to be from my s- my stomach. It feels like it comes from there, and they say the same thing, and they'll say it a few times if needed, but that's it. 45:37 My fear or anxiety comes from up here. The voice is higher, and it's faster, and it starts going on different things. It's, "Oh my God, you didn't have this, and then what about you didn't have this, too? 45:47 And then you didn't do this thing, and that's wrong. And what if this happened? And what if that happened?" The intuition voice is much more calm, says it, and the intuition comes out of nowhere, too, a lot of times. 45:57 The intuition is I'm just walking down the street and then, oh, this, and it's just that low, quiet voice where the anxiety or the fear one is when I'm starting to think about something, and then it's just rolling over. 46:09 I make the comparison a lot [laughs] and we'll see if my dad listens to this, but my mother's very calm and level-headed, and my dad, he-- I love him. He can roll into the next thing, and he gets... 46:21 'cause he talks a little bit more fast, more fast, and he's just more expressive. Like sphenetic. Yeah. Yes. And he's-- I'm not saying that in a bad way, but I can compare them. 46:29 For me, those two personality traits match with the intuition [laughs] and the fear one. Sorry, Dad. No, that's perfect. I, I feel like it is-- 46:39 I'm somebody who also has that, like, pure O OCD, so it's more-- it's all in, it's all in my mind, and that's been the hardest bit of 46:51 my intuition, first undiagnosed, but then coming to that realization of the difference between ruminating and intuition, the difference between fear and anxiety, how it feels in my body. 47:05 I feel like anxiety lives, like, right here, and it's this fluttering if it's excitement, and it's, like, rapid pace, almost like a hummingbird, like, if it's pure anxiety, and then dropping it down more into my gut. 47:21 And reiki has been such a helpful part of that journey as well, just allowing me to really come back to my body, bring harmony to where there's disharmony. 47:30 But I feel like people don't really talk a lot about how a lot of the manifesting gurus out there, a lot of the mindset gurus out there, it can actually be really harmful or very confusing for somebody who has OCD type ideations and how-- or really any mental, um, anomalies. 47:51 There's so many different-- Like, our brains are so complex. But what does that look like to learn to trust your different cues and know where they're coming from is a journey in and of itself. Absolutely. When 48:06 y- you work with the Akashic records, I would love for you to explain to somebody, we probably could have done this earlier 'cause they're like, "What's an Akashic?" 48:14 Please share what is the Akashic records and what happens in an Akashic session? 48:21 So the Akashic record are the energetic soul-- the energetic record, excuse me, of everything your soul has ever seen, done, thought, experienced in any lifetime. 48:28 This lifetime, and if you're a believer in past lifetimes, which there are in, in all of those lifetimes, too. 48:34 So the way I explain it at the beginning of a reading is imagine that there's a room with just file cabinets as far as the eye can see. Everyone has a drawer and a file cabinet. You'd have an Epiphany drawer. 48:43 We'd open that up- And while I was doing the reading, I would ask the guide, the librarians, "This is her question. Can you give me an answer to this question?" And they would pull out the right file. 48:52 Obviously, it's not a real file, but they give it to me in feelings and words and pictures, and it's my job to translate that because they're not... 48:59 Trust me, I wish they were just like, "Here's the answer to your question," but they're not doing that. [chuckles] So I have to translate it coherently and then explain that to the person in the chair in front of me. 49:09 But that is the best way I can explain it. It's another realm. It's a, it's another realm where everything is stored. I think there's Bruce Almighty or Evan Almighty, one of those movies where they pull out a file. 49:20 You would... Y- I'm not good with movies like you are, [chuckles] but they pull out the drawer in a file cabinet, and it keeps going and going. That was meant to be the Akashic Records from what I understand. 49:29 That is, I think, a, a beautiful and perfect example of what it looks like with the joy. I know exactly the scene you're talking about. And also the translating bit. There is... 49:41 What I think some people don't necessarily realize coming into spirituality is there's so many different types of languages. There's the language of numbers. There's the language of symbols. 49:50 There's the language of I see a cardinal and I think of my grandma. The language of birds, the language of flowers, the language of stars. 49:58 And I find my experience has been that the universe source, our guides, they will try their best to speak to us in languages that we will understand. 50:12 And I think maybe it's my Aquarius moon or that Gemini heavy placement, but I have this... 50:17 My driving force is to understand as much as possible because I want to have as many languages in my toolkit as possible to be able to translate that to help others. 50:27 And when people say, "Oh, I channeled this program," or, "I channeled this oracle deck," or whatever the case may be, that sounds so otherworldly. 50:36 And what I like about the way that you talk about things is it's so grounded. It's like, listen, there's a process here that I'm going through to, to find this information, to translate this information. 50:46 And ultimately, what I think is so valuable for how you approach it versus people who may be in our space and don't always operate out of integrity is that everything is couched in this how does it help my client? 50:57 How does it really give them something that supports them moving forward? Yeah, absolutely. And as the client myself of readings, I've had readings, not so much Akashic, 'cause I've had very good luck with those. 51:08 I have one particular person and then the couple hundred that I did worked with in training. 51:12 But beyond that, I've had readings where, tarot readings where I've gone in, I've had a very direct question, and I've walked out and said, "I don't even know what they told me. It was wrapped in so much 51:25 nonsensical [chuckles] information that my head's spinning." And they'll say, "Does that make sense?" And I'm like, "I, I think so, but it doesn't." 51:33 [chuckles] And I don't ever want anyone to have that kind of experience with me. Right. Thank you for that word salad. I'm still hungry. [laughs] Yeah. Exactly. So what did your... 51:47 What or what has your entrepreneurial background taught you that maybe spiritual businesses often miss? Yeah. I think just having a foundation, a pa- you know, 52:00 h- knowing how to invoice and set up your client, your calendar, and your booking system, and follow-ups, and having liability insurance, and all the things that are very boring to most people. 52:10 This is what I did in my coaching company. I loved this. I loved helping people set the foundation because we have such a heavy focus on marketing in our world right now. Make sure you market this. 52:18 But if you market so much and it's actually effective, which a lot of times it's not going to be, but if it is, what if you end up with 1,000 clients, but you have no infrastructure for your business? 52:27 It's going to collapse, and I hate to see that happen to people, but it happens a lot. So I think people need to realize you, you're still a business owner. 52:35 Now, if you are a, a psychic or somebody and you work for another company, then maybe you don't have to deal with that, and that's fine. But if it's going to be just you, 52:43 make sure you have your website and your payment system set up, and have all your ducks in a row before you even start taking clients. 52:49 It's going to be so much easier, and it's so important, and don't write it off because it doesn't seem fun or it doesn't seem t- it doesn't seem spiritual enough for you. 52:58 It's still an important part of business in this world that we live in. Do I wish I could live in that witch's cottage and people would come in, and I would do a reading, and they would give me dinner for that night? 53:07 Yeah, absolutely. I would love to live in that type of society. Mm-hmm. I have rent and bills and health insurance and all those things that we all do. 53:15 So I have to charge money for it, and to do that, I have to have a business that is not going to be shut down by the government. 53:21 [chuckles] So you have to do certain things, so I wish people would understand that and stop running your... 53:27 Don't run your business as if it's a casual thing because you're gonna get casual results then, which is to say, not much. [chuckles] So I feel pretty strongly about that one if you can't tell. 53:38 And also on the flip side of either just not getting the business coming in or having the business coming in and, like you said, collapsing, like having this burnout moment because you don't have the infrastructure that's supportive of you. 53:52 So 53:53 what I wanna dive into is for the people listening who have a spiritual business, and they're balancing that, the magical and the mundane, what is one systems habit that you think every intuitive business owner should adopt? 54:08 So if they're in the services part of that, I would say definitely a good booking system that does it for you, where you and I are talking right now, and someone can be booking with me. 54:17 They're booked, they're paid, it's in my calendar, and I haven't had to do anything. It's efficient for them, it's efficient for me. So doing that kind... 54:25 I would say that is a, one of the most important things that I see. Don't DM me for an appointment or text me. You're gonna go crazy if... 54:33 That's fine if you have five clients, but if you have 50, your phone's gonna be blowing up all the time. You're not gonna be able to keep track of all of it. You're gonna not show up for some appointments. 54:41 You're gonna forget. Don't put yourself in that position. So I, I could answer this with a lot of different things, but that's the first one that came to mind today, so that's what I'm going with, a solid booking system. 54:50 What you were saying about the text messaging made me curious. Do you have a particular boundary ar- around texting? How do you tend to communicate with your clients? It's mostly over email. 55:02 That's just how they book, and they don't even usually have my number. [laughs] Unless it's... If they have an in-person appointment, they'll have it in case they get lost or anything. 55:10 But it's funny, as we've been on, I've had one person text me since we've been on, but that's pretty rare. So most of them will email me, and quite honestly, I don't have a lot of in-between communication. 55:21 I'm okay with it. I'm not saying I have a- but it... They just tend to wait until the appointments, or a lot of times I have people who I see at classes and appointments, so we might catch up then. 55:29 But I would be careful of when I answer texts and emails, and I have learned this from my other business. I'm going to have my business hours, and outside of that, 55:38 you're not gonna hear from me, but I will always respond in, within my working hours. 55:43 The invention of the send later feature on phones was revolutionary [laughs] for me, because I do tend to work late at night, but I don't wanna reply late at night. Mm-hmm. 55:54 So being able to schedule it where it is responding during normal business hours, I think that's helpful for both of us. No one wants a text message [laughs] at 1:00 AM. So I'd, I appreciate that as well. 56:06 It's also setting your own energetic boundaries and deciding what you are comfortable with or open to. 56:12 I've also seen people put at the, the footer of their emails a message like, "I'm replying to you when it makes sense for me, but feel free to do the same" type of thing. 56:22 Maybe I am replying at 10:00 PM, but y- you feel free. That doesn't create urgency for you. You don't have to reply right now. 56:28 So just almost like communicating that this is what operates best for me, and I'm holding space for you in that as well. Yes, I agree. 56:39 So you host meetups for readers, intuitives, energy workers, metaphysical shop owners, and other practitioners who pour their energy into others. So who holds space for you? 56:50 What does that healer's own- I'm very lucky to have a family who I'm very close with. My parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, my boyfriend, a lot of close friends. So I have an incredible support system. 57:02 I used to always say, before I was in this, this work, I used to say, "I must have done something really good in a past life, like I saved a bunch of puppies from a burning building, because how did I end up with such a great family?" 57:12 Extended family even, too. I'm incredibly lucky. So I have so many people to lean on, and I do. I'm not afraid to. 57:20 It is hard sometimes to ask for help, but I've learned over the years that sometimes I need to, and I'm just very lucky with everyone that I have in my life. 57:30 I love that because you, we have to fill our own cups, too, and if we're pouring out all the time... And Reiki's interesting 'cause it's not... I don't get worn out, out from using Reiki ever. 57:40 It's just this self-fulfilling thing. But at the same time, when we are pouring out to people and we are energetically pouring into them through our in- abilities, w- who's pouring into us? What helps us stay grounded? 57:57 And the more regulated my nervous system is, the more doors tend to open as well, because I allow, I can allow myself to be in a space of receiving. Have you found that to be true as well? Absolutely. 58:10 Even just, I get that nervous system regulation from hanging out with friends, and I did that last night. And I came home and I... Or I came actually back to the Haven after, and I felt so calm, and I noticed it. 58:22 And it was just a regular, we went out to dinner and nothing special, and I was like, "Oh, this, I wish I could be at this level all the time." And I am more and more. 58:29 I work on that, but it's just being around them that makes me feel that way. 58:35 As a fun, like, local call-out, since we are in such a, a fun city with a lot of different things, I would love to hear what is a Charleston place that either you're a regular of or you highly recommend if somebody was coming to town? 58:50 Ooh, okay. So I love Home Team Barbecue downtown. I like the Sullivan's one, too. I, I do like a High Cotton or SNOB brunch. Mm-hmm. 58:57 I'm on East Bay, and I'm right in that area, so I like those areas, or those restaurants. Excuse me. Went to Blind Tiger last night. That's, like, a regular spot. 59:04 So I'm very much in this 29401 [laughs] zip code in terms of where I go. Not having a car impacts that, but I've always loved being in this area. So those, Home Team is not in that zip code. 59:14 But yeah, those are probably... I could probably think of another 10 or 15 more, but those are the more, more recent ones, and those are the ones I seem to be at the most. I love that. SNOB has never, ever let me down. 59:25 [laughs] Shout out to SNOB. Y'all are amazing. [laughs] That's amazing. I w- I would say mine right now what's coming to mind is Anson. 59:34 Anson is, it's like a steakhouse, but incredible service, phenomenal food, and also it's just very sentimental 'cause Tyrone proposed to me outside of Anson's. 59:45 It's just a special place, but when you walk in, it's two stories, and even the way... Have you been? 59:51 No, and I walk by it all the time, and I was thinking before you, 'cause we talked about this recently, I think, and I thought that day I had walked by and said, "I need to go there at some point. 1:00:00 Why haven't I been there?" And I don't know what the answer is. I'll go with you. Let's go. Okay. Let's do it. Even just, like... Yes. 1:00:07 Even just sitting at the bar, like, I love s- It's something that Tyrone and I do a lot, is we'll choose to sit at the bar 'cause then we get to talk to the bartender, make friends. It just, it feels so more communal. 1:00:18 We're all, like, on the same level, and we'll sit at the bar. They have this phenomenal appetizer that I swear, I hope they never take it away. It's, like, in a cast iron skillet. 1:00:28 It has these little pockets in it, and they do these puff pastry and lobster and butter and Cajun seasoning situation. I don't even know. I think they call it, like, lobster caviar or something like that. 1:00:40 It's phenomenal, and I can taste it right now thinking about it. That's what I love, is, like, when food becomes a memory and, like, this whole sensory experience [laughs] that you, just transports you, right? 1:00:52 Yeah, and we have a lot of opportunities for that in Charleston. 1:00:55 So you've said that so many people in the witchcraft community can feel spiritually isolated because it is a very, because we are so self-directed in our practice, if you don't have mentors or community or anyone in your everyday life who understands that part of yourself, like that can make one feel a bit like a silo. 1:01:14 So what would you say to the listener who's practicing alone right now and doesn't know a single other witch? 1:01:20 I think luckily, the, the internet can be a good and bad thing, but I think there's a lot of ways that you can connect, even just going on meetup.com and depending on the area of the country you're in, sometimes you can find some like-minded groups there. 1:01:32 I've had luck with that in different places that I've lived. Or just messaging someone who posts a lot of things that you like on, on social media. Those would be... 1:01:41 And I like the Meetup one because then it gets you out and meeting, meeting people in person. Online connections can be nice too, but certainly that or Facebook groups, sometimes you can... 1:01:50 There's a lot of witch Facebook groups, regional, where you can actually... I've made several friends through those where I would just put a post up and say, "Hey, I'm Ali. I'm in this area. I'm a practicing witch. 1:02:00 I would love to meet other people, anyone interested?" And then people comment. 5 out of 10 fall through, but then you get some who don't. [laughs] Life happens, I understand. 1:02:09 And I've made really good friends from those groups too. You can use the internet to connect with other witches in person in your local area. 1:02:18 And the funny thing is I feel like that's what drew us together is I had put this call out having moved to this city just a few months ago and put this call out on TikTok, "Where are my spiritual witchy baddies in the South? 1:02:33 Like where... Please tell me you exist." [laughs] And that has, gosh, like 2,000 comments I think at this point. There's so many people who just came out of the woodwork. "I'm here. I'm here." 1:02:43 And it was so wonderful to see. 1:02:46 It brought a tear to my eye to, to think some of these people were saying they were in the city I'd moved from, the city that I thought no one was like me in this suburb of this larger city. And so it's just so funny. 1:02:58 It's put yourself out there and you will be amazed at what then becomes magnetized to you. 1:03:03 And now we're hosting this Witchy and Worthy pop-up, which by the time this is published, we'll have already had our first one in Charleston. 1:03:11 We have another one coming up in Cary and hoping to have more beyond, in the Carolinas and beyond as time goes. 1:03:17 But having these opportunities to gather, to discuss, to feel less isolated, and it really comes down to sometimes doing the uncomfy thing, which is getting out of our comfort zone and stepping into, to new spaces with new people. 1:03:34 Yeah, absolutely. 1:03:34 And I do something in, here in Charleston where I have these witches gatherings, which are once a month free gatherings where people are at different coffee shops or wherever it may be, and just for people to meet. 1:03:45 No agenda, no anything. I just facilitate. I have a little, I have a scheduling link there [laughs] so I know who's coming. And people meet, they make connections. 1:03:55 I've seen friendships form out of this many times, and it's just a really cool... 1:03:58 And I'm saying that, I'm sure there are many other people in different cities doing that too and in, in different ways, but there are opportunities out there. You just have to dig sometimes to find them. 1:04:08 Maybe you have to dig a little bit more if you're in a more isolated place, but they do exist. I'm so glad you brought that up because I was looking at the calendar and I can't wait to come to one soon. 1:04:18 And that's the thing is also sometimes you can be the initiator. 1:04:22 Sometimes it's going and attending something, but you can just decide that there's something in your world that you would like to see more of, and then you be the initiator that makes that happen. 1:04:31 So I'm so glad you brought that up, and I'll bring this up at the end as well to remind our listeners, but listeners, all the links to find all the magical things that Ali is working on will be in the show notes. 1:04:42 So you can access that and check everything out. And if someone listening feels this pull but is afraid to be seen, what's one practical step they can take this week? 1:04:54 I would just either pull a tarot card or light a candle or tap into your intuition. Set a timer for five minutes, 10 minutes, it doesn't have to be a big chunk of time, and just do that. 1:05:05 And then try it again next week or try it a couple times in the week, and you slowly begin to form a practice based off of that. 1:05:12 And it can just be a very-- it could be channel writing, it could be anything that you want. Simply lighting a candle, a real easy one, an intention candle. 1:05:19 In the morning, and I do this often, light a little chime candle or whatever you want, tea light, and state out loud or you can say silently what your intention for the day is. 1:05:27 And it can be a mundane, it can be a physical thing, it can be a spiritual thing. It doesn't matter. Say that, light the candle, let it burn for a little bit, extinguish it. Make sure you do that part. 1:05:34 Or if you're gonna be there, you can let it melt down if it's a smaller candle, but this is just meant to be a quick thing. Let it burn for five minutes, and then go on with your day. 1:05:43 And I-- and that small practice I feel like can really make a difference. Absolutely. And fire safety first. I'm glad you brought that up too. [laughs] Oh, amazing. 1:05:53 I wanna thank you so much for your time today, and I wanna end this episode the way that I'll end every episode, which is in your own words from your own perspective, what does pyre proof mean to you? 1:06:06 It immediately brings to mind I've, I've seen some of my past lives in, in different readings, and there were several where I was a witch, and there was one specific that I saw where I was 1:06:16 persecuted and I was burned at the stake. So this, believe this was in Europe somewhere. Most likely would've had to been, but that's what it, like the village I was in. 1:06:24 And since then, when I've seen that in movies or I saw it in a wax museum one time, a woman on stake, I immediately start crying. It's just like an, an automatic reaction that I see there. But I think 1:06:36 a lot of us have gone through that or similar in past lives from my perspective. But we're here this time and we're not being persecuted, at least in that, that way that we were before. 1:06:45 So it's like we have this strength in I think what's happening in our society now or our culture. 1:06:50 There's a lot more people who are open to this and who are connecting with us, and that is giving us this collective strength that is making us stronger and- Pyreproof, essentially. I love that. That was beautiful. 1:07:03 Thank you for sharing. You're welcome. Where can people find you, work with you, or take a class? So my website, villagewitchhaven.com, has all of my information on there. 1:07:14 There's a link to the calendar that has all of my classes and events and everything that's going on each month, and that's constantly updated. Also on social media, on Instagram or on TikTok, Village Witch Haven. 1:07:24 And yeah, and I'm active on all of those. [chuckles] Is there one that is the best first step for someone who's curious about working with you? Either Instagram or message me on my website just using the contact form. 1:07:38 Okay, perfect. And is there anything launching right now or you're cooking up that listeners should know about? Yeah, I actually have two things. [laughs] So I have a mentorship which is on my website. 1:07:52 It's something I've been doing just privately, quietly for the last year or so. But I'm launching it to the public in November, so [chuckles] we're, we're right at that right now. 1:08:01 And that's a one-on-one mentorship for people who are on their path as a witch, and they just want some, some guidance, customized guidance. 1:08:07 I actually do an Akashic records reading at the beginning and at the end to help form the mentorship and the topics that we go over. And then in early 2027, I've been working with this... 1:08:19 Again, haven't launched it publicly yet, but it's called The Wayfinder. It's a new one-hour service that I'm doing, and it combines a diagnostic part. 1:08:26 So if somebody comes with a certain issue or a question, something they've been working on and they haven't been able to make any progress with, then you come in for a Wayfinder. 1:08:33 What I u- what I do is I use tarot, Akashic, numerology, all of that as a diagnostic, and then I start using folk magic, Italian folk magic, spell work within the session to actively start working on that. 1:08:44 And then they leave with like a prescription, so to speak, of things to do at home if they'd like to continue it. 1:08:48 Because what I find is the intuitive insights readings are fantastic, and I still do those and I stand by them, but I g- give that advice and it's great, but sometimes people don't know where to start or they have trouble. 1:08:59 So in the session, we act- I actually get it going for you. I can't do the whole thing for you, but I can get it started together, and I've been getting really good result. 1:09:08 People are having really good results from doing those, so I'm very excited about The Wayfinder. That's amazing. And of course, when you say W- Wayfinder, then I'm thinking about Moana [laughs] 1:09:20 'cause they're wayfinders, so I just love it. I love it. Like you are, you're helping them find their own way. That's really beautiful. Ally, thank you for showing us that magic and structure can live in the same house. 1:09:33 Listeners, everything Ally mentioned today, including her links and current offers, is in the show notes. If this episode stirred something in you, don't let it go quiet. 1:09:42 Subscribe to the Pyreproof newsletter, where your spark gets delivered straight to you three times a week. Share this episode with a friend who needs permission to be seen. Until next time, live unburnable.
