Alli of Embrace the Face Podcast

In this episode I’m talking to Allison of the Embrace the Face podcast. Alli talks about being a Christian witch, sobriety, and how she’s called to help others.

https://linktr.ee/embracetheface

Transcript

Welcome back to Your Average Witch, where every Tuesday we talk about witch life, witch stories, and sometimes a little witchcraft. Your Average Witch is brought to you by Crepuscular Conjuration. In this episode I’m talking to Allison of the Embrace the Face podcast. Alli talks about being a Christian witch, sobriety, and how she’s called to help others. Now let’s get to the stories!

Kim: Alli, hi, welcome to the show. 

Alli: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. 

Kim: Oh, yay. Thank you for being here. Can you please introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you? 

Alli: Sure. I'm Alli Anderson. I'm a nurse, a Reiki master, an intuitive healer, an initiate of the Modern Mystery School International, and I have a blog, podcast, and I post daily content on mostly Instagram and you can find me at Embrace the Face. 

Kim: What does it mean to you when you call yourself a witch? 

Alli: To me it really just means being in tune with Mother Earth, with Gaia, using all the elements that we can do, you know, our own healing work and help to heal humanity. Did you grow up a witch? I did not. However, I did always resonate. I was not a reader. You know, you have like that park reading, or like you have to do summer reading. The only thing I ever wanted to read, because my parents could never get me to sit down and read, was books about Salem witch trials, and like druids. That was the only thing I ever would read. No interest in anything else. Occasional murder mystery, but I always went back to reading about Salem and witchy things. 

Kim: Did you ever do any witchcraft? 

Alli: Not really, not growing up, not until, honestly, not until my 30s I really started embracing it and practicing it as part of my own, you know, ascension and self-healing. 

Kim: Do you feel like you have any sort of family history of witchcraft? 

Alli: I've looked into it, I've asked, but it's kind of like yeah, yeah I did because I do come from Celtic background so my family, my Irish heritage is actually from a place called Rathkeel, Ireland which is apparently home to the Irish Gypsies which makes a lot of sense. When we found that out, everybody was like, wow, Alli, that makes a lot of sense for you. So I think somewhere in there, you know, genetically within my DNA, I think it's definitely intertwined. But nobody in my family actively talks about or practices any anything except me, and I'm open about it. So and they just know me, you know, being me. so. 

Kim: Can you introduce us to your practice? Like if you if you are a daily witch, can you walk us through what that looks like? 

Alli: Sure so every day I do my my grounding, connecting, protecting. I do my self Reiki, I cleanse my space with either usually dragon's blood, sage, or with palo santo. I burn a lot of incense. I cook with a lot of herbs each meal. Some days if I'm feeling up to it, I make fire cider. I've made different tinctures and concoctions. I love, I have a little cauldron that I frequently burn resin with. 

Kim: Do you wander through your house with it? 

Alli: Oh, I do. And my kids are like, oh boy. Me too. I've always done that. I think I've always, like even, you know, in my early 20s, but my kids are very used to the cauldron. They're always like, oh, here we go, mommy. Okay. Yeah, I just, I kind of just like incorporated. I'm a plant lady. So, you know, I talk to my plants. I garden. So, my hands are always in the dirt. I don't wear gloves, I don't wear shoes usually. We have this ginormous tree in our backyard that people come to our house and the energy is just incredible. They ground themselves. I've held meditations around it. Just really being, for me, being one with Gaia, with Mother Earth. So whether it's in the kitchen or outside or burning stuff in my home. 

Kim: Burning stuff in my home? (laughs) 

Alli:  I like burning stuff. 

Kim: Me too. (laughing) 

Alli: Not the whole house. Not the whole house. So homeowners would not appreciate that. Homeowners, what do you call it, the insurance, they would not appreciate that. 

Kim: I am not a plant person, partly because I am a cat person and the cats destroy everything in my life. Yes. I love them because… I love them. In fact, listeners, I was late to this interview because Gecko was on my lap and being the sweetest boy.

Alli:  And that's totally fine because there's no such thing as time, right? So eventually this would get done and you can do all the cuddling. 

Kim: It is happening right now, it's fine. How would you say witchcraft has changed your life? 

Alli: It's helped me to be me, actually. It's helped me to, you know, fuck what everyone else thinks and stop worrying about what other, ultimately what other people will say or think. And I'm a nurse, so it, you know, to me, witchcraft or whatever I'm doing is also a therapeutic healing practice. So it's, you know, it really helped me to be free. And I am so grateful for that. 

Kim: (coughs) 

Alli: You're okay. I love this interview. 

Kim: This is who I am, everyone. 

Alli: This is how I am on my podcast, which you'll have to come on one day because it's like just very channeled and laid back and like just... Okay, yeah. If it's strict, then I'm like... Oh, I can't be strict. I can't. I'll give you a quick example, and I'm still infamous for this. So when I worked in the hospital, I hope I can go off tangent. Yeah. And I, when I worked in the hospital setting, my last position was in research and education. And I used to have to sit, long story short, I used to have to sit at the round table with people, with like the VPs and the CEO and everybody. And they'd all wear, literally, I called them the suits, because they would just wear suits. And I would walk in with like my tea and my scrubs and I'd like sit down at the table And I remember once and I had like handwritten notes one day which looking back probably wasn't like hospital professional But I had my ideas out on paper and they were perfectly good ideas but like I was the only Everybody always says like you just walk in and you're just like whatever like, okay Like everybody else is like back straight and like I'm just kind of like you know would sit in the chair and lounge back and…

Kim: Yeah you're real and they're fake.

Alli:  Yeah well, yeah. 

Kim: Which is why fuck corporate.

Alli: Yeah yeah pretty much. I left I left two and a half years ago.

Kim: Good!

Alli: Oh and my practice, to going back to my practice is Reiki so I a lot of everything is energy healing and a lot of what people don't know is that Reiki is within the scope of practice of a nurse, at least in New York State. I don't know about like Arizona where you are. 

Kim: That's interesting. 

Alli: Yeah, so they're beginning now to like, I was a member of the Holistic Nursing Council and I'm a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, which is a national membership. And they're starting now to bring nurses in to do energy healing work on patients post-operatively, in the operating room, and it's really up and coming. So it's been interesting. 

Kim: How do you, how do you annotate that? How do you bill for that? 

Alli: That I don't know, actually. I know that some of the positions, like in the city, some of them are volunteer-based, And then on Long Island, you work under the, there's a whole, like at one of the big hospital centers, there's like a whole center for holistic health. So I guess they just have their own billing. And then- 

Kim: I just know when I had, cause I'm an occupational therapy assistant and there were some things that I can't bill for because it's like, it's out of my scope or whatever. Your insurance doesn't cover, like, massage. 

Alli: Yes, yes, yes. So there's gotta be something because they are legitimate like positions. They hire people to be the Reiki nurse. 

Kim: Nice. 

Alli: Yeah, yeah. 

Kim: What is your biggest motivator in your practice? 

Alli: My intuition, my divine guidance, I guess you can say. I've definitely evolved over the last few years, especially since leaving the hospital, I've evolved. But I really just hone in on my intuition and go with the flow. 

Kim: You look so not cold. Has your motivator changed since you first started out? 

Alli: In like practicing witchcraft? Definitely. I've also been to Salem the last two years, Salem, Massachusetts, and I've met a lot of really creative healers and witches. I've also developed my tribe, I guess you could say. Like it's a community and we each have our own little gifts and we each motivate each other. So we're like, it's cool. Like we get together weekly on Tuesday nights, actually at my friend's local crystal and healing shop. And yeah, Charmd Eclectic Healing in Balmore, New York. So all services, Reiki readings, everything and everything energy healing and eclectic metaphysics. So we meet every Tuesday and we motivate each other. We like recently we looked into human design and how can we energetically connect with that. 

Kim: What are you? 

Alli: I’m a projector. Yeah, so I'm apparently here to be a guide and speak my truth. And it's funny, because before I found that out, I'm always talking about the Vashuddha, the throat chakra. So always having speak your truth, speak your truth, that's my motto. Speaking my truth so you may live yours. So when I found that out, it kind of just made sense. And again, that was intuitive guidance to look into that and know more about myself. So I think that's the motivating factor, having like a community of like-minded individuals that you can sit with and really brainstorm with each other and just raise each other's vibe.

Kim:  I, yes, absolutely agree. Super important. I hope everybody has the sort of community that I have and that it sounds like you have. 

Alli: Yeah, it's been life-changing, I think, for me. 

Kim: Me too! 

Alli: Yeah, and I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm a very, like, I can isolate very easily and make excuses not to go out or, you know, even just go up the block, but to really push myself out of my comfort zone has been a tremendous change in my life, like for the better. 

Kim: Yeah, I hate having people at my house. I hate visiting other people's houses, but I started hosting a fire at my house every Gem Show. And Theresa, our mutual friend, Theresa Mariesa, former guest on the show, actually is coming this year. So I'm super excited. 

Alli: Very cool. Oh, she's been traveling all around.

Kim:  I know. Yeah I was going to what is it something spring? Palm springs? Yeah she just went there again. Wild. 

Alli: Yeah it's cool she goes to cool spots. She goes to a lot of like energy vortex spots. 

Kim: She's going up to Sedona from here. 

Alli: Oh yeah. 

Kim: I kind of want to go but I don't know if I'm able. 

Alli: Right! 

Kim: Me too,  I've never been. Pack me in your bag. And you made me realize that human design would be an interesting question, so I just added it. 

Alli: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it is a part of, you know, everything is energy, so human design is a part of that. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Alli: I don’t know much about it, but I’m learning.

Kim: Yeah, I got a reading from a, I don't know what you call them, people who do it. 

Alli: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what are you?

Kim:  A manifesting generator. 

Alli: Very cool. You make shit happen, I like it. 

Kim: I guess. Yeah, well, I'm not doing it right now, so. What is your biggest struggle when it comes to witchcraft? 

Alli: I would say, so I am still, as I've evolved, I am still involved somewhat in my Roman Catholic Church and my children go to religion, you know, at the local church and I feel like that's my biggest struggle. I didn't have the greatest experiences over the last year or so with the strictness, the looking down upon of healers and just women having gifts. And to be specific, there was a day, I don't know if you're familiar with Padre Pio. And so he was a priest who had known gifts, intuitive gifts. And he, people would come into his confession booth and he would be like, you're lying. Do not come back to me until you- or you're not being truthful. Don't come back to me until you're ready to wholeheartedly confess. Which to me, I don't feel any longer that you need to go to confession. So this is like a whole, a whole, I could talk about this for hours. But long story short, somehow it came up in my confession of the work I do and I was told I was dangerous. I was told that I needed to stop immediately and that how dare I go around saying that I have these gifts and I do these things and I use tarot or oracle or indigenous herbs. Meanwhile they're burning frankincense and myrrh, you know, at every every single mass. So it's just that has been my biggest struggle but it's something I feel like… I'm in the choir so I'm involved in that so I was involved in a prayer group but kind of backed away from that because they were way too conservative and old-school. So that has been my biggest struggle, but it's something that I'm finally you know, coming, coming out of on the top versus like being stuck in it. And I feel like that's been something I'm learning to move on from and still just be me. Because I was told by many people who know me as a Reiki master through church, oh no, you can't do that. That's bad. You can't do that. So, you know, if I really told them about what I do, walking around with a cauldron in my house, then I'd probably- 

Kim: You'd be excommunicated. 

Alli: Yeah, and I'm just happy that- 

Kim: Wait, would you? 

Alli: I don't think so, no. But I'm a Eucharistic minister, and they knew this about me before I did that, so they approved all that. But it's just like, I'm just happy on the days I walk in and I don't burst into flames. That used to be my fear. But now it's like, okay, I'm me. God- whomever anyone believes in, as long as you have that light within and that like Christ consciousness per se where you're just that heart-centered energy… like I feel like that- and you know who you are and you stand by it, like then I feel like that self-doubt and that obstacle kind of goes away when you embrace who you are if that makes sense. That's what I learned from it. 

Kim: Okay, tangent time. 

Alli: Okay. 

Kim: Well, as far as the list of questions, I know I have listeners and friends who are in the church and witches. How do you deal with that? What you just described. 

Alli: In the very beginning, probably a year and a half ago, about a year and a half ago was when this priest told me, you know, that I was dangerous and all this. And the first thing I did when I left was I was crying. I actually passed out in the pew. I lost consciousness in the box. I felt like something, to this day, I feel like something energetically came over me to protect me so that I didn't have to hear what he was saying, kind of thing. And I woke up to him with a water bottle being like, okay, you need to leave, the next person needs to come in. So I was- 

Kim: That’s it?! What if you were having a stroke? 

Alli: Yeah, yeah, that was it. And like, you know, physically I was okay, and I was able to walk out of there, but the first person I called was my dad. And my dad grew up going to Catholic school his whole life. He has stories about the nuns, you know, from back in the day with the rulers and you know all that. And my dad said to me you have to understand that he is a human. Although he, you know, he responded that way, like he, he is not God. Like he, he is a human, he had a human response. He should not have, you know, that, that's way too much of a reprimand. Like, confession is about forgiving and reconciliation. So my dad just kind of like, you know, he, my dad doesn't understand me in the work that I do, but he loves me and he basically told me, like, you know, you're not a bad person. You're not, you didn't break the first commandment using tarot or oracle, which is also what I was told. And you know, just to keep keep trusting, trusting the process. And I did not go… I used to go to daily mass. Like I loved… just, our church is beautiful. The stained glass, the goddesses and everybody, the Saints on the walls, and I used to love just being there. I always feel at peace. I light candles at Mother Mary and I stopped doing that. And I felt like I almost was like free, kind of. I don't know why I felt I needed to be at church. It was a total realization for me that like, I don't need to be at church. I don't need a man-made religion to tell me what my relationship with God or Jesus is. And when I started to really be okay with that and process that, he had said, like, oh, you can come and talk to me if you want to on the side, the priest, but I never made that appointment because my husband said, like, no, like, the modern... 

Kim: Don't torture yourself. 

Alli: Yeah, like, why do you have to explain yourself to anybody. Like, modern church, and what's interesting is our church just announced that they were, so if anybody resonates with this, that our Roman Catholic diocese was just, is now gonna be replaced with the Dominican diocese, like the Dominicans, which they actually recognized Mary Magdalene and Sophia, who, as their co-patronists, their co-patrons, and Saint Dominic is the one who started the Dominion. Saint Dominic was the worst of the worst. He was like a bad doer. He was just a really bad guy in his early life, but he did his own self-healing and then, you know, came about and formed this Dominican sect of Catholicism. Whereas it's pretty cool, I think, that they recognize Mary Magdalene and Sophia because in the current sect that I'm in now, they shun Mary Magdalene and Sophia. So it's just interesting, like I think if you find, if you still want to remain in the church, find the sect that works for you, that makes you feel welcome. And if it doesn't make you feel welcome, then you have to look within and figure out, like, what do you need to do to truly just continue to embrace who you are, regardless of what your beliefs are. And now I feel like I'm rambling. I'm sorry. 

Kim: You're not. I... that's super interesting to me, because I've never actually, knowingly at least, talked to a Christian, I'm going to call you Christian even though I know... 

Alli: Ultimately, yeah, Christian, yeah. 

Kim: Yeah, I have not talked to anybody, had anybody on the show that I know of who is of that faith and a witch. So this is super interesting and I didn't know that when I was getting ready to talk to you, so that's exciting. 

Alli: Yeah, yeah, it's definitely, um, I'm open about it. It is, I know a lot of people have talked about it on like my social media and I know a lot of people reach out and say this is why I left the Catholic Church and went Lutheran, or this is why I left and went evangelical, this is why I left. And I think it's just a matter of embracing who you are, and I embrace all religions. I practice and research and you know, I do rituals according to Buddhism, to Paganism. I practice them all. I think it's just a matter of, I'm from New York, I was raised Irish Catholic. I was actually raised half Jewish, half Catholic. My mother is Jewish, but I chose for some reason at 13 to go and make my sacraments. Like I felt called. I was also very clairvoyant as a teen. So I'm wondering if like something spiritually like led me there. Never practiced it, got married in the church. I had a child out of wedlock. Like that is not okay with the Catholic church. They let us get married. I didn't go to church for like 10 years, but when we moved to where we were five years ago, our church is very local. A family friend is the director of the religious education department, so my kids go there. And I'm a member, I wanted to be in the choir, so I did that. So like doing things that work for me and make me feel good and heart-centered and connected, connected to the divine. 

Kim: That's something that bothers me about relationships and religions is that they let you get married.

Alli:  It's like who made these rules? 

Kim: Exactly. Who are you to  *let* me do anything?

Alli: Yeah, we had to sit down with like multiple people like these like big figures within the church and like they had to approve us to get married in the church because I was pregnant at the time. 

Kim: Okay, do they make non-pregnant people do that? 

Alli: No, but everyone in the in at least Roman Catholic would have, if you get married in the church, has to go to Pre-Cana which is a marriage course. And out of the 150 people probably that were in this class, my husband and I were the only ones that had a kid. So it was like very, like we were- 

Kim: Is it like premarital counseling or is it something to do with religion specifically? I actually don't have a problem with that, but also, I'm not trying to get permission from anybody to do what I'm going to do. But I do think it's a good idea to get counseling. 

Alli: Yes, it was like an overview based on spirituality of the Catholic theology, and what you can do. The last of it, they did talk about family planning, but if you wanted to know more, you could sign up for that course. But I don't know, that was just our experience. And I was like, yeah, like, okay, this is me. Like, I've always been the black sheep. So I'm like, this is not anything out of the ordinary for me. So, I don't know. 

Kim: We're gonna swerve. Back to the questions. Would you say that you ever have to deal with self-doubt or imposter syndrome with your practice? 

Alli: Yes, I think more so recently trying to expand my practice. I'm focusing more on doing like digital courses, so that question of well, who's, who am I to, who's gonna buy my stuff? Who's gonna want to listen to me? Who's going to trust me based on my social media account that I'm, you know, the person for them. So things like that. 

Kim: Oh, oh yeah. Jumping back to the previous conversation for a second, remind people what your podcast is because I imagine you talk about this. 

Alli: Oh yes, very openly. My podcast is Embrace the Face and it's on all streaming platforms. 

Kim: How do you beat imposter syndrome? 

Alli: Reminding yourself, staying grounded and reminding yourself of how far you've come, and meditation really to go within and to really hone in on what those gifts are. And also, you know, that external validation, getting, asking clients to write reviews for you, or when that client comes back for another appointment, it's like, okay, I guess I was on point. And recently, I had a friend that I did a reading on, and she's been texting me and, you know, telling me that what I said to her, like everything's channeled when I'm doing a reading, so what I said to her, she's already noticing subtle energy shifts within her and making changes. So it's those kind of things. But I think we always have that moment of questioning ourselves. I guess unless if we have a PhD. I don't know, I haven't gone that far. 

Kim: Who gets a PhD in witchcraft?

Alli:  I know, I don't know. 

Kim: I mean, if you have a PhD in witchcraft, email me.

Alli:  Yeah, yeah, I mean, ooh, maybe I should start that. Maybe I should.

Kim:  Yes!

Alli:  But no, it's like, you know, I feel like people need to, like, the general population likes to see, like, you know, accreditations. 

Kim: Alphabet.

Alli:  Yeah, like, I had all these names when I was working in the hospital. I had all these letters next to my name from certifications, but ultimately it's like I know what I'm talking about. I know my shit. Like, so if you resonate with me, I would love to help you. And if you trust me, I am so grateful for that. Like, and, and we were meant to cross paths. So let's do this kind of thing, you know?

Kim: What brings you the most joy in your practice? 

Alli: That validation, I think. Being told by other people that I am helping. It reminds me that I need to keep going, for sure, and that there's something to what I'm doing, no matter how confused or not sure where it's going, you know?

Kim:  What is something you did early on in your practice that you don't do anymore and why don't you do it? 

Alli: Oh, early on in my practice. Pushing myself to follow this strict routine that was not working for me and it was physically putting my body into like a flare, a flare up of my, I have, I've been healing, been on a self-healing journey for a neurodegenerative disease process. So when I have these unreal expectations for myself, I flare up and it's, I don't do, I try not to do that anymore. I really do listen to my body and it's made a huge difference. And flowing with my menstrual cycle as well, like not knowing my menstrual cycle I think was a huge block and what each season of my cycle meant and I've learned to like be in flow of that. 

Kim: So your body flares up when you're not being true to yourself? Is that what I heard? 

Alli: Yeah, yeah. 

Kim: That's fascinating. 

Alli: That's a good way to put it actually. When I'm not eating the way I should, when I'm not, you know, I'm a daily meditator, but if I like skip a day or two, or I don't stretch, I really start to, or if I just do too much, and I'm focusing more out of ego and not out of heart, I do tend to have more flare-up of symptoms. Joint pain-

Kim: Man, imagine if my body… when I was out of alignment, my body's just like fuck you! I'm never be able to eat at Whataburger again!

Alli:  No, I can't I can't eat any of that crap anymore. It's just like, it's like my body is like, it knows. Like my body knows and I am very much in tune with that and I have to pay really close attention. 

Kim: That's interesting.

Alli:  Yeah, that's my whole, you could read about all that on my blog and podcast and hear about it on my podcast too. 

Kim: What is your favorite tool in your practice? And it does not necessarily have to be a physical thing. 

Alli: My favorite tool? I think I'd have to go with, again, my intuition. Because when I do readings, I don't really – I feel like I more so use cards for – yes, they help, but I've never really needed them. And my intuition when I'm doing Reiki as well, just knowing what to work on. So yeah, not a physical tool.

Kim: That's cool. 

Alli: Yeah, I think that's my final answer. Yeah, my intuition. 

Kim: Can you pick out one decision that you made that changed the direction of your life?

Alli:  Yes, I stopped drinking. I stopped drinking alcohol three years ago, January 1st. I tried to quit for years. I was really shitty at moderating. I loved wine just a little too much, that, you know, mommy juice, wine, wine time, you know, but it totally and completely changed my life. I think I drowned out a lot of my clairvoyant gifts with alcohol, and I ignored a lot of my inner wisdoms when drinking alcohol. So it totally changed my life for the better. Yeah. And I can't really unlearn what I learned about the damage that alcohol does, but I don't judge people who drink. Like my husband still drinks and lots of my family members still drink. I've just accepted it's always going to be in my life and I have to just be okay with that.

Kim:  How do you pull yourself out of a magical slump?

Alli:  That's a good one because I feel like I recently had one. Meditation. I have to go within. I have to, I do actually a lot of herbs. I'll cook with a lot of herbs. I'll do a lot of teas to kind of just get my body recirculating again and kind of purging, detoxing a little bit, I guess. I don't go crazy with detoxes and juices or anything. I just kind of intuitively, intuitive eating and drinking. 

Kim: How does it help? 

Alli: Relaxation. You know, some of my favorite go-to teas, my friend and I developed this tea called EnlightenMint. So it's like a mint based with rose petal and lavender and chamomile. So I really feel like that helps to calm me. I'll take ashwagandha, I'll do that. It's kind of like a reset. What else? Foods I'll do, I follow a lot of like those foods. But really going back to like what does Mother Earth give us? Like what what does she provide for us that I need in this moment to help with this particular issue? Am I, are my chakras blocked? Do I have a specific chakra that I need to work on? Like lately my root and my sacral chakra, you know, have been very muddled, very blocked. So I've been eating red foods and orange foods and listening to hertz music and again, meditating specifically on on those chakras. 

Kim: Do you think that'll calm down once the construction is done? 

Alli: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I don't know if that was in the podcast earlier, but I was saying my whole house is under construction. We don't even have a proper working kitchen. So that's been really hard because I really don't eat. Like I'm very good about my nutrition and like whole foods, plant-based. So to not have a proper working kitchen is like definitely a challenge. 

Kim: That sounds frustrating. 

Alli: Yeah, yeah. So hopefully by the end of the month we'll be good. 

Kim: Yay! 

Alli: Yes. And I'm excited, I'm excited because I'm going to have a space for all my tinctures to sit and ferment, and I'm going to have a space for all my jars and all my herbs. So I'm really, like my own little witchy closet in the kitchen. I made sure my husband put in this little- Witch pantry. Yeah, I'm so excited. 

Kim: That sounds nice. 

Alli: Yeah, I'm super stoked. 

Kim: This space here, when we first moved into this place, this place was my witchy closet. 

Alli: Your apothecary, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You have to have a good space. You have to, it has to be inspiring and it has to be, you know, an easy access, I think. 

Kim: Yeah. Is there anything you wish was discussed more in the witch community? 

Alli: That we're not of dark or malicious intent, I think. I think a lot of people, especially in the church world, think that it's like the work of the devil, and it's not. It's just really being in tune with, I think, Mother Earth and the gods and goddesses and the people, the energies that we can work with and the elements of the earth. And I, to my core, do not feel that there is anything. Now people have malicious intent, some do, but I would say, you know, the majority of us are heart-centered, grounded, and just trying to do the highest good for ourselves, to build community, and for humanity. So I think that, I think I wish that was discussed more, or accepted more, maybe. 

Kim: Imagine the three biggest influences on your practice, whether it's people or a book or like a philosophy or a theory. What are they and thank them. 

Alli: Okay. Thank you, Albert Einstein for channeling through me and allowing me to understand from my core quantum physics and that everything is energy and that's all there is to it. So thank you to him. Thank you to… what would the second one be? Thank you. Can it be like it can be a person you said? Thank you to Jen at Sober Sis. You can find her at Sober Sis. Sober Sis, Jen at Sober Sis, she offers a 21 day reset for going alcohol free. And it's full of education and down to the nitty gritty of neuroscience and the physiology of everything that it does. And again, like I said, going alcohol free. I ended up like, I didn't have a plan. I had a plan to do her 21 day reset, and then I was going to go back to it like I usually do and then you know fall back into that pit again and but then I ended up taking her 10 week alcohol-free lifestyle course after that and it went deeper and like I said that was just the catalyst to my gifts and my my spiritual gifts and the blueprint to my life just came to me after I stopped drinking. And then the third thing, and thank you, Jen. And then the third thing that I'm so grateful for that over the last like six years, six years now, five, six years of all these daily practices and I made a kind of a witchy, I guess you could say. It's a witchy, astrological, spiritual, all-in-one daily planner, calendar, and journal. And I have that available on Amazon for anybody who's interested. So it has all the phases of the moon and what sign that they're in, like all the—from new moon to quarter to full to eclipses, everything. And it's just kind of like an all in one book, all the things that I wish I had. And yeah, so that's available. And I hope that if anybody does use it, that it helps them tremendously. 

Kim: How has it influenced you?

Alli:  It has influenced me by just embracing like what I'm capable of doing and really understanding that it's all about energy. Like Albert Einstein, my first thank you, that it really is just about being connected and channeling your higher self in what you are here to do, your soul's purpose, your dharma. So, and utilizing all of the tools that are available to us via Gaia, Mother Earth, and Father Sky, and just all the historical gods and goddesses and everybody that's available to us. They're always available to us. So, I think that that is a huge inspiration to me. 

Kim: Do you have advice for new witches?

Alli: I would say start small, like don't overwhelm yourself. I think it's easy to, like in the beginning when I started practicing with herbs and candle magic and crystal grids and I collected an absurd amount of stones and, you know, they're all over my house. And I love that. That's just who I am. But I would say go with what calls to you. Go with what speaks to your soul. One little thing at a time. You know, start in the kitchen. Just cooking your meal. Use herbs. That's it. It's simple as that. And just giving thanks as you're doing it and setting an intention with that, that you're going to make a healing, loving food, you know, to nourish your soul, body, mind, spirit, something like that. Setting an intention. And so it is. That's it. 

Kim: So having seen and answered these questions, who do you think would be interesting to have on the show to answer these questions? 

Alli: Ooh, my friend Lori, she is the owner of Charmed Eclectic Healing Shop in Belmore, and she is a wonderful psychic medium and has knowledge of all witchy things. 

Kim: Is there anything else that I didn't ask you that you wanted to talk about or did you have any questions for me?

Alli:  Um no I don't think so. What kind of practices do you do as a, as a witch? 

Kim: I'm just a dirty, go out and pick up stuff in the yard when I need to do magic. 

Alli: I love it. I like it. Very cool. 

Kim: Pick up dead animals, turn them into some art. That's what I did. 

Alli: Okay, very cool. Oh, I love it. But, yeah, I think I'm good. I hope I did okay, answered all your questions appropriately. 

Kim: So two things at the end of the show. Thing number one is, please recommend something to the listeners. It does not have to be witch-related. It can be anything at all, just whatever you're into this week. 

Alli: One recommendation? 

Kim: Yep. 

Alli: If you're, okay, if you are stuck at a point in your life where you're frustrated with your health and whether it be physical, mental, emotional, you know, spiritual, that there are tools. There are tools that I wish I had 15 years ago to help me to heal and understand, you know, being a witch or being a spiritual person or being a healer and in my own self-healing journey. So if you are not happy with where you are, I think that it's time to start looking within and, and learning more tools that, that Western medicine can't provide, if that makes sense. And I say that as a nurse, I say that as a nurse who has been through my old, my own wild, crazy journey. And, and that's, that's all there is. 

Kim: The last thing is, please tell me a story.

Alli:  Tell you a story? Oh God, a story. Anything in the world? Okay, so in 2019, again, I was a nurse. I started meditating in late 2018, like daily. I learned from David G. how to meditate. He's on Inside Timer and on all social media. I love him. And I had to have a stomach surgery called a pyloroplasty for gastroparesis in January of 2019. And I did it with a surgeon that I knew through the hospital that I worked with and, you know, went in, had my surgery, was sent home, and then within two days my husband was scooping me up off the bathroom floor because I was bleeding out and I was brought back to the hospital into the trauma room that I had worked in as a nurse for five years and I had a total out-of-body experience. I was looking at myself from outside myself and my dad's friend who had just passed was there telling me that I was just here to witness and that that I was going to be okay and I had to go back into surgery. I was re-intubated, they had to stop the bleed within and when I woke up in the ICU it was my nurse and my husband and I remember seeing my husband's aura and my nurse's aura. And I had never, never had that power, that gift before. And I remember just having this unconditional love, this love, and I met my husband when I was 16. And this happened to me four years ago. And I just remember, like, I just knew that life was going to be different. I didn't quite remember what had happened esoterically, you know, in that time until later, like I remembered. But I just knew, and since then it's been a journey, and I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Kim: Well, thank you so much for being on the show.

Alli:  Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you, your time. 

Kim: Oh, yay! 

Alli: Thank you. 

Kim: Thanks. And so everybody go follow her, go check out her podcast, and I will see you over on Instagram. Bye. 

Alli: Bye!

Kim: So Allie, welcome to Hive House. 

Alli: Oh, okay. Hello. Oh, Hive House, like bees? 

Kim: Yes. 

Alli: Oh, I have tattoos of bees. I have jewelry. I love bees. 

Kim: Me too! 

Alli: Yeah, very cool. 

Kim: Please tell me your favorite quote. (fades out)  (fades in). Thinking to your rabble-rousing days, what is the funniest thing you ever got caught doing? 

Alli: Oh my god, so... there's a lot. 

Kim: I was just going to ask you what you didn't get caught doing. 

Alli: Okay. Oh, what to say… (fades out)

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