Scottish by blood.
Seeker by nature.
Teacher by calling.
Rooted in the mystery traditions of the West, my work weaves together Hermeticism, astrology, tarot, Qabalah, witchcraft and animism. I honour the old ways while walking a very modern path.
In the house I grew up in, an dà shealladh, the two sights, was mentioned the way you might mention that someone had a good ear or a bad back. It was not romantic. Nobody performed it. It came with rules about what you did and did not say aloud, and with a quiet expectation that you would be useful with it rather than impressive.
That upbringing gave me two things I still work from. The first is a high tolerance for the ambiguity of spiritual experience: a thing can be real to you and still be difficult to prove, and both halves of that sentence matter. The second is a dislike of spectacle. The people I trusted most were the least theatrical.
When I began reading seriously I found the same material I had grown up with running through written sources I had never been told about. Charms recorded in the Highlands sat beside medieval planetary magic. The plant lore in my family's kitchen turned out to be the tail end of a herbal tradition with a paper trail centuries deep. Hermetic philosophy answered questions my folk practice had only gestured at. I have been following that seam ever since.
A tradition survives by being understood, not by being guarded.Why I teach
Occultism has an old habit of secrecy, and some of it was earned: people were hanged, drowned and ruined for this. But secrecy outlived its usefulness and became a business model. Knowledge is withheld to create scarcity. Fear is manufactured to create demand. Beginners are told they are not ready, and then sold readiness.
I do the opposite, on purpose. I show sources. I name where a practice came from and where it was invented last Tuesday, because both can be worth doing and you deserve to know which you are holding. I teach the technique and then I get out of the way, because the relationship you build with spirit, land and your own mind is not something I can have on your behalf.
Four commitments I keep
History first
You will always be told where something comes from, and how old it actually is.
No fear as a sales tool
You will not hear that you are cursed, doomed, or spiritually behind.
Doubt is method
Testing a result and keeping a record are ancient practices too.
Your practice is yours
The aim is your own competence and discernment, not a lifetime of dependence.
What I actually do
I run the Esoterica Academy, where courses, study circles and mentorship run through the year. I read privately for a small number of clients. I lead two covens, one online and one local, and practise as a member of two closed covens, alongside a closed study group in astrology and tarot. I facilitate seasonal rites, séances and workshops, in Southern California and online. I write long essays, record a podcast, and make short teaching pieces for anyone who will never take a course and should still get something true.
Letters from the fireside
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