PRESENT DAY SNIPPET: I’M GOING TO REVEAL A SECRET…MY PSYCHIC, ZETA, ADVISED ME TO START MY SUBSTACK

How I went from non-belief to full-on “woo woo”

When I first moved to Todmorden, West Yorkshire (into my Dad’s house) from Minnesota, USA after my first husband had left me, I had no money, no job, and no direction.

A year after I was discarded like yesterday’s rubbish, things were looking up: I’d interviewed at a startup marketing agency for a writing job (not very well paid and I’d earn in a year what my ex had in a month but it was a start) and I’d gotten accepted to do a PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education) at the University of Manchester to teach primary school children. I couldn’t really afford not to work for another year nor the cost of tuition. I didn’t know which path would lead to the life I wanted so I consulted a psychic.

In the year I was out of work, I subsisted on the £500 a month my ex gave me as “alimony” and by working as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Todmorden and tutoring school children a few days a week in Rochdale and Oldham. I took the odd jobs I could get and having a Master’s degree but no job prospects in the post-Trump and post-Brexit landscape left me feeling hopeless and worthless.

I had to rush dress for an informal interview when visiting Grammy one day only to be told the place was no longer hiring/had a hiring freeze in the uncertainty of the post-Brexit vote landscape.

Besides being heartbroken, I was learning happiness in simplicity and Michael made me feel alive again (but that’s a story for another day – and the whole reason for the Substack in a semi-How I Met Your Mother sort of thing with “mother” just being husband with no plans for children as of yet – or ever).

I’d never gone to a psychic before or for a Tarot reading but I was curious yet sceptical. This was March 2017 (seems crazy it was 7 years ago). She was a local lady named Katavia Hall. A few years later in 2022, I decided to listen to the recording I’d made of the 2-hour long session only to discover to my surprise that many of her predictions came true, including that Michael would be a good fit for me. I’m not sure what led me to listen again.

After mine and Michael’s honeymoon to Mexico (which was for our first anniversary) in 2022, I’d landed my current editorial job (managing a European copy editing team at a major FTSE 100 company) and I felt I’d finally “made it.” It had taken 6 long years with Michael by my side to build the life I wanted, but I’d done it. 

The husband I feel lucky to have!

Something made me seek out a psychic reading again only to discover (very sadly because I did feel melancholy at finding out the news) that Katavia had passed away in the intervening years (in July 2021). I was a year too late.

I was talking to my brilliant, intelligent, adorable “eyebrow lady” Stephanie and we got to the topic of psychics (like hairdressers she’s heard it all and we have talked the gambit) and she told me about this amazing psychic on Instagram who had done a reading for her called Zeta at Zee to Zen. Steph had said everything Zeta had predicted had come true for her business. My curiosity was piqued again.

I loved my first session with Zeta in November 2022 where she spoke for several minutes of things that resonated with me. Then, I talked about Grandad’s book and without even realising it when I looked back at my recording and notes for the session a year later, the timelines Zeta had given for “finishing” edits and finding my own creative inspiration were spot-on. Zeta’s website promised she’d be my “spiritual bestie,” which feels true despite her possibly having hundreds of clients.

I had another reading almost a year later on the 1st of September 2023 as Zeta advised only getting readings when most of the previous reading had come to pass. When she has read for me she has mostly predicted extended timelines for my journey – with predictions one to two years out. I was feeling anxious and had another reading at the end of September 2023 again before I went to Florida to visit my family and I found even more help and direction.

Most of the shorter timeline cycles have come true and she even asked if there was some anxiety around someone having “health issues” or “sickness” in the family, which I dismissed (was that Grandad Ted, my Dad, Derek? Who knows now…). She says she never reveals things she doesn’t think people can handle at the time.

Since that first reading, I have bought candles and crystals. I have had readings with another wonderful local psychic in Hebden Bridge, Donna Preece (also amazing). I have gone to Face Yoga and new moon sessions hosted by my beautiful friend, Marie, with whom I’ve also had sessions in acasma (quantum energy healing), cosmic healing, reiki, amazing facials, and so on. Marie was way ahead of me in “this stuff” but I always admired her calm, peaceful energy even if I wasn’t sure if it was all “made up.” I even recall that my late father-in-law, George, believed in the book The Secret and the “power of positive thinking.”

I don’t necessarily have a “daily practice” but my mind is more open to the blessings the universe can bring. For some, I’m now considered firmly on the scale of “woo woo.” 

At my end-of-September session, I asked Zeta if I should focus on writing my novel or a short story collection I’d started and she said something along the lines of writing the stories would help me find my voice – a different voice – and did I have a platform where people could see my writing, somewhere like Substack?

At the time, I’d only just signed up to Zeta’s Substack and was enjoying the posts but I’d never heard of the platform. I didn’t think anything of it. Many of Zeta’s subscribers don’t have Substacks of their own; they are often businesswomen and not writers. They are there for her (understandably) and the spiritual guidance she brings.  

Zeta said joining Substack wasn’t a “psychic” suggestion, just her personal recommendation. She said the spiritual guides were saying to look in my “phone notes” and that what I wanted to say was practically already written for me. When I scoured my phone notes from years ago, what did I see? Only copious notes about all the dating disasters (and slight successes), heartbreak, and lessons I’ve learned and so on – so we come full circle. Of course, I had diaries and emails and all sorts of supplementary material to tell this version of my tale – the journey from the beginning, the ups and downs of dating and life that led me to Michael and where I am now.

My psychic

Zee

suggested I write this Substack and here I am.

And this week, I’m thankful she has become a new subscriber. Thank you,

Zee

. I cannot wait to see what the universe has in store for me next (especially after the heartbreak and setbacks I’ve suffered this year already with losing Derek and my Dad).

If you’re new here, check out some popular previous posts:

• Why I’m writing Why We Met

• Captain Cambridge

• My very first date

• My first kiss, my first heartbreak

• The red-haired sex god: how things ended, AKA that time I went full-blown hot-crazy scale

• The air traffic controller

• The guy with the fake eye

• My best date ever with the finance CFO

• The sweetheart tech bro

• The one who reminded me of Patrick Bateman (a la American Psycho)

• When I f*cked my married professor and karma bit me

Thanks for supporting me. It really does mean a lot.

Next up, the second person I met in Starbucks part two (read part one here).

Have a read of some of the other posts I’ve written, including the one on why I’m writing this newsletter/blog in the first place – and the odd “present day snippet” of what I’m up to lately.

Have you ever had a psychic reading or Tarot reading? Do you believe in it all or feel like it’s a bit too “hippy dippy woo woo” or something in between? Let me know in the comments.