It is with deep gratitude to my ancestors that I sit with you here. Welcome. Have a seat on my imaginary porch, from here you can see the thick forest that surrounds us. The pine trees are tall and dark, the scent is sharp and clear. There is soft moss on the ground and in the distance we can hear a wood-pecker’s rat-a-tat.
Step into my imaginary home here in the woods, if you like. The fire is burning in the hearth, there is a pot of strong coffee on the stove. Sit down, tell me about your life. I will listen, just like my ancestors did, and I will try my best to do what I can to help you on your path.
But first, in case you are interested, I will share a few bits of my story with you. It is always good to know who we are working with and who we choose to open our lives and hearts to.
My name is Lotta. I was born in the early 1980s and grew up in a town a few hours south of the arctic circle. The forests, the sea, the coming and going of the snow and ice, the darkness and the midnight sun are part of my own story. As are the traditions practiced by my people who kept the old ways and the old lore alive until the 1960s.
My early life was a curious mix of the mundane and the spiritual. There was talk of ghosts and hauntings, of the talented local healers who could stem blood, of how to read the signs all around us in nature and of how the wider world spoke to us and showed us the way.
There was a belief in fate, but also in science.
On my mother’s side there is a lineage of strong women, women who had to fight for themselves and their children, women with a second sight, women with visions in their dreams. There are also hunters and people who worked on the land. On my mother’s father’s side there is a strong Piscean tendency with many talented musicians, dreamers and story-tellers.
I want to honour them with this work.
On my father’s side there are industrialists and a blend of misfits and manifestors, more emigrants than people who stayed put in the old country, there are adventurers and fire keepers, priests and artists.
I want to honour them with this work.
All of them stand behind me as I walk through this life, trying to do the best I can with what I have been given.
I was born early and spent my first months in between the worlds. This was the beginning of my story as a seeker, as it is for so many who have experienced illness early in life.
As a child I always sensed there was something more out there, especially in the boreal forest around my hometown. I spent hours in the local library pouring over books about parapsychology, astrology, magic and mysteries. I spent a lot of time in nature too, alone or with my grandmother who taught me and my brother how to forage for mushrooms and stay quiet in order to listen.
In my teens I found paganism and witchcraft. I followed that path on and off as a solitary practitioner. It was often a lonely journey as there were few people I could share this interest with at this time in my life.
In my early twenties I felt a tug to expand my horizons and as often I knew I had no choice but to act, there was only one path. I followed it and it lead me to London.
I landed in the city, wide eyed and young, and fate brought me to a shared flat where I was fortunate enough to meet one of the many people who have acted as guides and helpers on my way. My world and my heart opened up, I met my husband and I got to explore the multitude of spiritual practices on offer in this city with magic nestled deep into its very foundations.
During my Saturn return I experienced a sort of spiritual crisis, a life crisis, as Pluto also opposed my natal Moon. This was the full Tower of the Tarot experience. Almost all the old structures crumbled and as I crawled out of the wreckage I knew I had changed and everything had changed.
I found astrology and shamanic work and I didn’t look back. For years I inhaled everything I could lay my hands on about astrology and I stared to practice seeing and hearing in a way which I am only now realising is a continuation of the traditions of my people. I also worked on understanding my chart and the charts of others until I slowly started to crack the code and the symbols started speaking to me.
I’m on an ever unfolding, ever fascinating path. I feel deep gratitude to life and the fates for bringing me my husband and my son and for our home near the woods on the outskirts of London. I’m also grateful for the friends and mentors who have helped me along the way.
When it comes to my astrology work I especially want to thank my friend Amy Bird who has taught me so much about this ancient art and also about life and how to have really good honest and heart opening conversations. And also my shamanic mentor Chris Holt, whose sessions go deep and have been the catalyst for so much healing and growth.
I am still learning, but I feel a deep inner knowing that I am being guided and held on this journey through life and so are you.
If you have read this far I thank you.
With love,
Lotta