Love Thy Neighbor

Last weekend, my Red Cross Group and I went out to a local grocery store, and stood from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening asking for donations to give to Japan during this time of crisis. At the end of the day, just a few other kids -my age- and I, managed to raise over 1500 dollars to send to Japan; if a few kids from Texas can make a difference, you and anyone reading this certainly can.

Text "Red Cross" to 90999 to make a 10$ donation. Trust me when I say, every little bit helps.

I'll leave you all now with a quote... (his last name is wicked awesome.)

"Lend a hand to those who are frightened, lonely, or burdened. If we could look into each others hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us face, I think we could treat each other much much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance and care."

-Marvin J. Ashton

Love, light, and prayers,
Ashton

Super Moon!

S U P E R  M O O N  T O N I G H T !

If you're in America and reading this right now, then there's a good chance that night hasn't fallen yet. But when about 8pm rolls around - try to make a note to look up into the sky and look at the moon - it sure won't be hard to miss tonight. They say it's the first time in 18 years that the moon has been so close to the Earth - and boy oh boy does it look huge!

So not a night goes by in which I don't spend a few brief moments to check out the moon. I don't know what it is about that big, random, ball of light of a planet that lures me in - but there's just something almost hypnotising about it. I also spend a few moments to evaluate it's aura from night to night - some nights it's pink, other's it's green, blue or purple. Anyone else know what I'm talking about when I talk about the moon's aura? When I turn to Joe, my partner, and ask him if he can see it - he fixes me with a blank look and simply shrugs his shoulders.

I suppose this gives me the same kind of feeling as being able to see energy in the air, does. When I ask others if they notice these small almost glitter-like specs flowing around everything throughout the air, they think I'm crazy. Probably within good reason - I don't blame them. But especially in the light, the air is always shifting and vibrating. They say it's the key to being able to successfully read people's auras - their life forces - but I don't think it's true. With enough practise I believe anyone can see auras, it just so happens I'm lucky enough to have an easy way into perfecting this technique. I actually remember the first time I saw an aura - it was ironically enough when auras were the last thing on my mind, at a Maroon 5 concert. Bright halo-type shapes started materialising around people's heads if I looked close enough and unfocused my eyes; different colours and different shades each time. It was a surreal moment. Only recently have I seen an aura take on a full shape - a mass of green cloud cloaking someone from head to toe. Again, I wasn't trying. I was sitting in a university lecture probably counting the seconds away until I could go home and curl up in bed!

Anyway - back to the subject at hand! With this 'moon aura' thing... I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Probably a glare or reflection from looking at a source of light head-on, perhaps - and I could look it up to find out.

But do you know what?

As I look up tonight and see the yellow 'aura' surrounding the moon, and observe each and every crater covering it's face - I don't want to. Sometimes it's better to create our own fantasies in a world that doesn't make sense, because if it did, where would imagination come from?

Love and light,

Amy

12 FREE TAROT READINGS ON OFFER!

Hey there folks!

Happy days - Amy and Ashton are offering two readings of each spread which equates to 12 completely free readings! All we ask of in return is for you to complete a feedback form for us, and have patience considering it may take quite a while to get through all of the readings.

Simply send an email to: pixieandpea@email.com ASAP because once we're past 12 people, that's it! Plus the higher up on the list you are, the more likely you are to get the reading of your choice.

The list is as follows:
1). Miguel
2). Joe
3). Carla
4). Momo
5). Dili
6). Jean
7). Natalie
8). Yan
9). Yolanda
10). Barbara
11). Janey
12). Monica

Thanks in advance! :)

Bright blessings,

Amy & Ashton.

"The very things that hold you down, are going to lift you up."

'You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.'
- The Lion King

Well, the cat's out the bag. You've probably guessed by now that all the Disney quotes that litter our blog are the result of a combination of my ponderings, and obsession with the old Disney films. But in all seriousness - if there's anything I've learnt from this entire experience it's that sometimes you need to be willing to take a step back, in order to move forward. Before I begin on the mammoth of what I'm sure will turn out to be an essay of a few, brief, psychic 'happenings' up to this date - I just want to say that my story isn't as light-hearted as Ashton's. I haven't been slowly eased into everything as gradually as Ashton despite the fact that evidence of my abilities do run back to my childhood. In fact, the main focus of this post will be on my childhood and early teenage years - somehow makes all the Disney quotes a little more fitting, no?

Wow, it really is hard to know where to start when you actually sit down to get all these things down. I guess to start off simple - I have always been absolutely obsessed with anything supernatural. As a child I was too curious for my own good, sitting up until the early hours of the morning googling 'ghost photos', stories, alien encounters - I even dragged out all of my mother's ancient 'Unexplained Mysteries' books that would be falling apart at the seams due to their age and mis-use. It's difficult to say where things started getting weird or unusual, because you'll come to learn that most of my abilities have been there and active for as long as I can remember. But similar to Ashton - I would often bring up topics of conversation that weren't suited to a 13 year old girly sleepover; my favourites would be, 'What happens when we die? Is it just like, constant darkness - nothing. Or do we slip into an eternal dream so you're basically asleep forever?', and then another string of thought that would often end up freaking even myself out - 'What's beyond space, and our universe?'. I can tell you now that I wasn't always a hit with my friends because of this.

It was as if it was part of my DNA structure to question everything. I wanted to know the mechanisms behind everything - how is it possible for an airplane to fly, really, when you think about it? (if anyone can explain this to me in a way that I'll understand, I promise to give you a free reading of your choice!). How did we even get here - living organisms, on a rogue planet that came to be named Earth? Who discovered that if you throw certain ingredients together in a specific way - you can make something, like... bread? When was bread even invented!? I'll probably publish a post at some point with a whole list of these meaningless ponderings, simply because I could go on for hours. But the basic idea is that I longed to look past the initial 'mask' of something and get behind the real meaning for it. At times it completely dominated my thoughts. But although I longed to discover this 'thing' or 'world' that was missing in my life, I never had the slightest inclination that I was supposed to be a part of it.

Now what I'm going to do here is try to explain everything to you in a way that you'll understand. I'm not going to list things in chronological order, because I promise you that there's too much that even I can't make sense of yet - but starting with a thing that just happened and isn't related to the reading I got from Jenny - tarot. It was... about 6 months ago now actually, whilst I was staying in student accomodation up at my university. My course hadn't started yet, so I had plenty of time to explore the city (Cambridge) with my partner, get to grips with my surroundings and all. We stumbled upon a little market square, with just about every stall you can imagine - and almost instantly I spotted a 'Wiccan' stall I suppose you could say - gemstones, amulets, books, and pendulums, amongst many other cute little things that caught my eye. I was browsing and decided to buy a set of Ancient Eqyptian Amulets (love anything Ancient Egyptian), never having my own before. My gran had often thrusted various gemstones upon me before - 'rose quartz, promotes healing' - 'carnelian, will help with your confidence' - so I was vaguely aware of the stones and their properties. Now what happened next I, or anyone else I've told, have no explanation for. But as the woman was packaging up my Amulets, a tarot deck fell on top of her head. Of course you can see the amusement in the situation, but only with hindsight seeing as at the time we were all at a loss of what had happened. There were no decks, nor shelves, or anywhere for anything to have fallen from - so it appeared as if the cards had materialised from thin air. We all shrugged it off and went on our way - but as I look back at it now I wonder if it was one of my spirit guides pointing me in the right direction?

I went back a couple of days later and bought the Cosmic deck from the market stall. Turned out that the single deck to have caught my eye, just happened to be the deck that Ashton had been meaning to buy for a while.

I've been reading ever since, and even from the onset and my very early readings - I have a weird way of just 'knowing' something when shuffling the cards. People would often remark upon how I couldn't have possibly been so accurate with a couple of tarot cards - my reply used to be to joke that I'm psychic. Ha, ironic right? What's more is that I have only recently learnt that psychic abilities run in the family! My great, great grandmother - Mary Elizabeth Evans - was a famous psychic of her time. People used ot come to her for healing apparently - which tells me that it's not only her name that I inherited (the Elizabeth part, of course). Jenny said that not only do I have great potential to heal - but in a past life I was a great healer of whom people used to come to for help, seeing quite a few parallels between me and my dear great, great gran hey? Ashton also experienced a past life regression of which involved me being a healer which I'm sure she'll post at some point.

One of the first things Jenny brought out was that I was a clairvoyant. I had a subtle understanding of what this meant - though upon researching I realised that it wasn't quite what I thought. I thought that being a clairvoyant was the same thing as being a medium - when although similar - they aren't. Clairvoyant literally means 'clear seeing', and it's the ability to inwardly see events or symbols, people or sometimes even emotions - with your third eye otherwise known as the 6th chakra. It's probably my strongest ability I've come to learn - although I still have a little difficulty deciphering whether what I'm seeing is set in the past, present, or future. Although not exactly the same as mediumship - it does possess the ability to 'see' spirits depending upon your vibration. I have done this only a few times with real success; it's not something that's easy to control, you can't decide who does and doesn't come through.

Which is why I'm going to take a large jump into the past - starting at about age 6. I have always seen things clairvoyantly, for as long as I can remember, without realising it was anything different to what other people experience. As I grew up I shrugged it off to be an overreactive imagination - which is a pretty good explanation in all honesty, there's rarely a moment in which I'm not immersed by my own thoughts or I'm not creating a whole new plot for a story I try to remember to write. These visions varied in intensity - sometimes they would be gentle and slow, a bit blurry but not so different to your every day imagination. At other times they would be so sudden and sharp ('loud' I like to say) that I would literally be stopped in my tracks and forget what it was I had been doing beforehand. I never stopped to question how it could possibly be my imagination when these things that would pop into my head were simply so random - these faces I'd see were of people I've never seen yet have so much detail - why, in the middle of feeding the cats, would my brain decide to cook up the plot of a man named Fred who lived alone a few streets away - having a heart attack in a few weeks? I couldn't tell you whether many of these things came true or not because they happened on a day-to-day basis, and like I said, I never took the care to remember them or make note of it. But I treated them exactly like plot-lines. These people I would see would fuel my creativity for a new character I'd make up in my next story idea - I sometimes wonder if it's because of my clairvoyance that I have such a good imagination and creative spark.

An ability that comes hand in hand with my clairvoyance, is my clairaudience. Now when I heard of this my brain drew up blanks - never before had I heard of clairaudience or clairsentience. Clairaudience means 'clear hearing', and clairsentience is the ability to simply sense or know something. The clairsentience is a trial and error kind of experience for me at the moment - it's something that I know I can tap into, but not at the forefront of my mind like Ashton. It only ever really comes out to play when I do a tarot reading, when I simply 'know' that this specific event is going to happen in 5 weeks time, or that so and so is keeping a secret. The clairaudience however is another ability that has been with me for as long as I can remember.

Like my clairvoyant visions, I had passed certain things I would hear clairaudiently off as my imagination. Especially in bed, before I fell asleep, I would hear certain phrases or snippets of conversations inside of my head - always in someone else's voice. I know, it sounds crazy to admit on a blog that 'I hear voices inside my mind' - but in all truth I really did, and still do! I always figured that it was my brain shutting down to sleep, or just me going over certain things I'd heard that day (although the voices were never ones I recognised). Nothing the voices ever said would make sense to me anyway, and I would forget them by morning. But it was when the voices started directing me in particular, that the ball got rolling.

I must have been about age 8 when this first started happening - I know this because it was the beginning of what turned out to be about 10 years of complete torture for me.

I'd be lying in bed, on one side, when a voice would whisper into my ear - always calling my name. At times it would be gentle and more just demanding my attention - at others, it would be angry or urgent. I could never work out who the voice belonged to as it sounded as if was a young child, so the gender wasn't so easy to specify. But the moment I'd hear this voice a wave of chills would ripple up and down my body, and I'd be on 'high alert', fear completely striking me still. I suppose this was what begun my obsession with discovering as much about 'ghosts' as possible. I would go into primary school and tell all my friends how my house was haunted - I'd hear voices at night, and people walking around in my room. I'd constantly feel watched, and the feeling was never pleasant. The funny thing was that none of this happened to any other members of my family living in the house - they thought I'd been watching too much TV or spent too long on the internet, and dismissed me as going through a 'phase'. I would have friends around however, and the same things would happen in their company so I was absolutely certain it was not just me by the age of about 12 - something weird was going on, and I'd come to decide that it was me that was haunted, not the house.

The same things would follow me everywhere I went - school, holidays, other people's houses. It never left me alone and it only intensified over the years. By the age of about 13, things had reached a peak.

I must have seen automatic writing being done on a TV show somewhere and picked it up from there, but somehow it caught on. I remember trying it out for the first time with a few friends who lived on the same road as me - and immediately I got replies in the neatest calligraphy I'd ever seen. I didn't know how to write in calligraphy, so it freaked us out enough for me to put the pen down and throw away the paper. Maybe some things just weren't to be messed around with, after all. But of course my curiosity got in the way as it did with most things besides common sense - and I started practising by myself in the quiet of my room.

I'm not sure when a constant connection was established, but every time I got the paper out I would find myself talking to the same spirit - a Victorian girl called Lucy. I think I recall her saying she was 11 years old. Sometimes she would say that her mother, Mary, would hang around too. I learnt that they had both died in a fire. I had some wind chimes in my bedroom and would ask her to ring them when she was present, to which she replied that she's always there, she goes everywhere I do, and she's always watching. Even still, sometimes the wind chimes would ring without a breeze to move them and I would instantly feel at peace. Sometimes she would monitor as she allowed other spirits through to speak to me - I think I once, briefly, spoke to my grandad of whom had died before my birth - and a few others who never really said anything that made sense to me. For a while, the 'bad things' slowed to a stop when Lucy was around - I was being bullied at school because of the fact I didn't trust my gut and keep quiet about it all, but what can you do? I didn't mind all too much. My mum occasionally found these pieces of paper with our conversations on and would go crazy at me - throwing the papers away and ordering me to stop it all at once. I couldn't understand what her problem is - but I learnt to communicate with Lucy without the usual paper and pen - somehow I devised a technique in which I would internally ask a question and touch the forefinger of my right hand to my left palm; the moment my finger and palm made contact I would know the answer to my question, thus it was a sneaky way around keeping it on the low and being able to talk at all times without being discovered. And I would just like to point out that I had never heard, nor had any understanding, of what a spirit guide was at this point in my life.

Of course I understand now, when I look back, why my mother got so angry about it. And she had good reason to.

I think I was about aged 15 when the 'bad things' returned, with added effect. Lucy used to tell me to make sure I say 'Goodbye' at the end of every conversation to close to connection, and rip up the paper if it was a conversation with anyone else. She also said that if I got a sideways '8' as an answer (I've come to learn that it's the sign for eternity, so I have no idea what this means?), then I would instantly know that it isn't her talking but someone else impersonating her, or a 'demon' she used to say. Well I must have accidentally let one of these 'lower spirits' through one day, because I found myself talking to someone who called themselves Red, and sometimes Silver/Sliver. I got the sense that he was a man around his mid 50's, which was new to me considering I had only ever been able to picture Lucy as a yellow ball of light before. Anyway when he made an appearance, my life literally became hell. I got no sleep out of fear, my appetite vanished, my general mood overall. I was being stalked, I knew it.

One day I decided that it was enough, I couldn't live like this, and I shut off all communication altogether. No more Lucy, no more anything. I figured I was either completely crazy by this point, or something much more serious was happening. Either way I didn't want it anymore - I wanted nothing to do with ghosts or the supernatural anymore. I decided to return to reality and try to get on with life the best I could - and it actually worked. My life was normal, I was consumed by school work and deadlines, family, most of all my writing - and the freaky or scary things stopped altogether.

But of course life is never that easy for anyone, let alone if you're psychic, and I soon discovered this.

Although all of the supernatural stuff had been long forgotten by the age of 17, literally, I only remember half of this stuff through doing research recently, another one of my 'gifts' began acting up. Jenny pointed out how I was an empath in many areas - namely a Faerie empath. I still don't really know what a Faerie empath is supposed to be to this day - so if anyone has any information it's greatly appreciated - but she mentioned something about how I used to talk to them which struck a chord. I don't remember much because I was obviously quite young - but I do remember going through one of the many 'phases' my parents have weighed upon me, and that phase was fairies. I was convinced we had fairies living in the garden, outside in the road - on the school field! I remember a young school friend used to claim that a couple of fairies lived in a certain alcove in the trees on our school field - and she was horribly bullied for it of course. I now wonder if she had more of an understanding on this topic than I did or still do.

But empathy is the ability to sense the emotions of others, we feel on a completely different level and are incredibly sensitive. Now I match up to so many of the traits that I had suspected I was an empath before Jenny had confirmed so in my reading, and I won't go on about all the many experiences I've had regarding my empathy. But they say that empaths can go be one of two extremes - the first being the type to shy away from emotion because of the fact that it's too painful to bear. The result is that they're a little more withdrawn than they should be, and study people from afar. Ashton fits neatly into this category, and with my help she is learning to open up more. The second type are the opposite - they're too open, too vulnerable to emotional attacks and too aware or tuned in. I fit into this category, and Ashton is ccurrently helping me ground myself more. It seems that we only differ in our psychic abilities, I wonder why?

Anyway around age 17 I fell into a sudden, severe depression. It could be manic at times - the most intense emotions I pick up on are excitement and anger. I would find myself completely ecstatic one moment and something will click and I'd realise I have nothing to be excited over? At other times I was so consumed with a white hot rage that many relationships around me were gradually being broken down. I would just like to take this chance to send a big thank you on out to my partner for the role he played during this - he was amazing, the only constant in my life and there throughout thick and thin to support me. He urged me to go into therapy/counselling seeing as I refused to go onto medication beause I would constantly argue that 'I'm not depressed. These feelings don't feel like mine...' without really knowing what it was I was talking about (at this point I had no idea empathy existed). Although the therapy turned out to be a waste of time - I was left with one piece of advice that has stuck with me: 'It seems as if you've left something behind. You're in despair because you long for something that was lost in your childhood? I suggest you take a look back and try to remember what made you so happy in this time and what's missing now.' That was the last session I turned up to, but it's stuck ever since.

Anyway there are two theories that Ashton and I share about this depression. On one hand I would argue that it's my empathy - my link to the supernatural served as a kind of grounding mechanism when Lucy was around, so it wasn't overtly significant or prominant. On the other - when I let that 'Red' or 'Silver' or 'Sliver' spirit in, he was of a lower vibration. I underwent a near-death experience around the time before things got really bad, and it's said they latch onto vulnerable people through this and start influencing them negatively. But the third theory that I have devised and I would like to believe - is a mixture of the first and the idea that I was missing a vital part of myself. Anything psychic grounds me, I have learnt now, and by shutting away a whole part of who I was and what made me happy - it had drastic consequences. My depression only faded around the time I discovered tarot - just a coincidence?

If you take another look back at that Lion King quote, I think you'll now understand what it means to me.



"There's a great big hunk of world down there with no fences around it.  Where two dogs can find adventure and excitement.  And beyond those distant hills, who knows what wonderful experiences.  And it's all ours for the taking, Pidge. All ours."
 - Lady and the Tramp

In love and light,

Amy.

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

-Oscar Wilde

This quote -among many others, of which I'll probably sprinkle about in here- has always been close to my heart, and for good reason. From the time I was a child, being 'different' was apparent to me; I was never an outcast by any means, but I guess to put it simply, I merely saw myself in a different light than I saw others. Whereas most childhoods are fairly content, or complacent at the very least, mine was restless - and not because of the typical reasons. My mother was wonderful, and though my parents were split, they kept a close relationship. I had plenty of friends, and was accepted socially and intellectually in just about any circumstance. I excelled at everything.

Yet, I wasn't comfortable.

Truth be told, I'm not comfortable even to this day. There's a part of me that was, and is, looking for something... something that I've always felt was missing. This searching is ultimately what has lead me to where I am now, on this crazy, bumpy, amazing journey I'm embarking upon, alongside my lovely silly goose, Amy.

I guess I'll start from the very, very beginning, with a story my mom loves to tell other people; she finds it incredibly fascinating (she is a child psychology major, after all). When I was a few months shy of my second birthday, my mother, grandmother (who I believe is psychic) and baby me were watching The Lion King together. At the scene in which Mufasa, Simba's father lion dies, I apparently burst into fits of uncontrollable tears. My mother said she tried to comfort me, but it was to no avail - I was acting as if my own father had died! She thought this amazing, and always used to tell her friends and family as I was growing up, how staggering my level of 'empathy' was, for a child that age. Of course, the word empathy takes on a whole new meaning for me now. In hind sight, I guess it was the Emotional Empath in me, strong even as a tot.

I can remember at the age of eight laying in bed wondering what the 'purpose' was for everything. If I had never been born, would the world still exist? Why was I here? And for that matter, why were any of us here? My mother coached me through these thoughts gently, allowing my intellect and spirituality to grow and develop on it's own, without parental bias hindering me. I had the freedom to be. Discovery and individuality have never been strangers to me - I've learned how to organize my life the way I please, pick and choose values that I think have the most merit, etc. With this process, needless to say, comes a lot of soul searching.

A part of me was curious about outside religions, Christianity, the different branches of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. I tried them on for awhile, but as usual, nothing seemed to fit. Nothing ever fit for me. I was always lost. Which was baffling really, considering the fact that I had such a strong sense of self. My outside world didn't match my inside world - this girl so sure of herself, so strong, couldn't seem to find it within her to be happy with what she was given. I felt too big for Texas, despite the fact that it is the second largest state in the United States, and larger than an ample amount of countries. I felt (feel) stuck.

This feeling never went away, and I found as I got older that two of my greatest outlets were reading and writing. Funnily enough, each lead me to different directions, which in the end would come back full circle with one another. About two years ago now, I picked up a book series called Sweep -which is awesome, I suggest everyone read it- and fell in love with the world instantly. I've had this happen to me a lot, I must admit, the wishing I lived inside of a book rather than our mundane reality. But this, this was a little different. For the first time, I felt, erm... spiritual? I'll just come out and say it, the book is loosely based off of Wicca, only cooler, with actual magical powers, incredibly attractive witch men, etc.

"You know you've read a good book when once you've reached the end, you feel like you're losing a good friend."

When the series ended I was a bit heartbroken... and to be honest, though it may sound silly, I STILL lament over the fact that I will never live somewhere like that, nor will any of the characters or events come to life, no matter how much I complain. I didn't realize it at the time, but I am highly guided by my intuition and the feelings I get about certain things. The fact that I was so attached to this book series is what would lead me to Tarot. In the story, the protagonist would sometimes consult her tarot cards for guidance. Upon walking through a Barnes and Noble book store one afternoon, I saw out of the corner of my eye, the section for 'Metaphysical' books, and noticed that they actually sold tarot decks. Because I was determined to will fiction into reality, I purchased my own deck, and began to read and study on it as much as possible.

Amazingly enough, I got that same 'spiritual' feeling as when I was reading the story. For the times that I spent doing readings and studying tarot, I didn't feel so restless anymore.

This discovery would prove to not only give me some sense of peace, it would also bring me and Amy closer together, and be the starting point for a very hectic, strange next year or so. Since then, with Amy's help, I have taken note of 'weird' things that happen to me on a daily basis. For instance, I'll get an awfully bad feeling, and start drawing -though I'm no artist- and come up with a picture of a storm as well as a drawing of my coastline, despite the fact I had no previous knowledge of what my coast looked like on a map, only for a storm to hit in the next week or so. I am given this 'knowledge', including images, songs, impressions, etc, through my feelings. It's just this 'knowing' that I honestly can't describe to you. It's the way I know that England is where I belong, the way I know that I'm different than everyone else. It is tangible, and very strong. 

It wasn't until Jeannine Bakriges came along that I had a name to put to this sensation: Clairsentience.

Because of my age, originally Jeannine didn't feel guided to tell me anything about my 'psychic' abilities - however, soon after my Empath Reading -that described me to a TEE- I received another email from her, outlining my 'gifts.' Which include strong Clairsentience (my freaky intuition), strong Emotional Empath (can't stand watching the news because it literally depresses me), my potential for Clairvoyance and Clairaudience (which have made scarce appearances thus far), as well as the fact that I am a Healer and a Medium. 

Whoa. I know right. That is a LOT of information to digest, most of which I really haven't even gotten to digesting myself. What I do know is that everything is suddenly starting to make more sense. The fact that I have learned to close my emotions off to people, a common issue Empaths have, as they feel the pain of others so strongly it is physically weakening, or how sometimes I just know things, or predict what song will play on the radio, or get weird vibes, or the freaky accurate nature of my tarot readings. It's all starting to fall into place.

Since all of this, I have also discovered and met two of my Spirit Guides, one of which is Jynx, who's story is under the picture of the pretty kitty, and the other of whom goes by the name of Martin. Both Jynx and Martin are my protection Spirit Guides, and I've learned through meditation, how to sense when each is around. Martin likes to grab at my knee -which verges on slightly annoying-, while Jynx materializes with the tingling of my hands. Beyond my Guides, I have also been conducting tarot readings for others on Aeclectic, where I have received a lot of great feedback for my accuracy and detail. Gradually I am building confidence in this new world, and in these new parts of myself I have just barely discovered.

Experiencing all of this has made it easier for me to have perspective - and with the addition of Amy to my life, she's made it easier to not feel so 'different' or alone. I'm still on my path, and I'm still looking for whatever it is that likes to evade me... though that being said, maybe there's some truth in the old saying: "Your journey is often more important than your destination."

Thanks for reading this miniature novel.
I'll end this one with a picture, just because I can. (:

 B l e s s i n g s,
Ashton

"There's No Such Thing as Coincidence."

Do you believe in coincidences?

It's a simple enough concept to comprehend; when your favourite song pops up on the radio station you just happen to be tuned into on the way to work - and the rest of the day turns out to be a good day. You dream of someone you haven't spoken to in a while, and the following day you just happen to bump into them. You generally feel that you dislike someone without any means of justification, yet they just happen to turn out to be exactly what your vibes told you. Things like this 'just happen' every single day, in everyone's lives.
Why question it?

Amy had always used writing as an escape from reality, and Ashton had always used to it to create something perfect in an imperfect world. Both living on opposite ends of the world and completely oblivious to the other's existance. It was only when their worlds collided did they begin to get the sense that maybe there's something bigger at work in their lives...

Quizilla. It had all started on a writing site called Quizilla - originally supposed to be a place where you could create your own quizzes and publish them to anyone and anywhere over the web, but apparently as it's numbers had grown, so did it's capacity for what it could offer to members. When both Amy and Ashton stumbled across Quizilla (Amy about aged 14, Ashton 13), it was just by chance that they realised you could actually publish your own works of fiction for others to read, rate or comment on. This was like striking a goldmine for both girls - and it wasn't long until both of their works roused the attention of many fans and followers. This was how they both found each other - 5 years ago, and 5 years later have they only just discovered through writing this - that the nature of them stumbling across Quizilla was exactly the same!

Through some kind of lucky chance, Amy and Ashton kept in contact, which is unusual given the fact that they had many friends on Quizilla but haven't kept in touch with them. Around 2 years ago they added each other on Facebook seeing as they were both outgrowing Quizilla, which was how the intial friendship intensified and became something much more.

Facebook now gave them both new opportunities to get to know the other on a whole new level - never before had they spoken about personal details such as their friends, families, and just their general lives (let alone seen a photo of each other after three long years!!!). Truth be told it was a weird experience, opening up to someone you had known for a long, long time and spoken to at least every week (it makes you wonder what we possibly found to talk about over Quizilla). This was where the coincidences started rolling in. Already they had their writing - their styles and tastes being very similar - and sometimes even their manner of speaking. But they started finding that they acted like twins, constantly saying the same thing at the same time - dreaming of each other at the same time - there were even parallels of situations that were happening in each other's seperate lives! It was soon after their relationship was established that they realised it was too uncanny.

There's so many similarities between the girls that it deems it impossible to write them all down on here. But I can tell you that the most common thing stated in a conversation, on a daily basis, would be 'Oh my god, I swear you're just the American/English version of me!'. They have each other's partners on Facebook, too, and whilst Amy's says how freakishly similar they are - Ashton's even says that they look similar (though I'd like to take the chance to say that neither me nor Ashton agree!).

It was about this time last year that Amy and Ashton decided to start co-writing, taking their writing seriously for once with every intention of publishing a supernatural series they've named 'Morning After Dark'. Within the original plans there were going to be four books - Crimson, Azure, Indigo and Ebony. However, since the girls have started work on the first book - it's become apparent that the books may have to be split into two due to the length! The plot traces the various journeys of four main protagonists - a pair of twins named Briana and Emily Lexington, with the addition of two male characters within the dangerous world of the Lamiae. It's got a unique kind of spin to the ever-popular demand for 'vampire fiction' - and the girls are both confident in the fact that they portray vampires in the way that they should be. Their vampires don't sparkle in the sun anyway, that's for sure! Both Amy and Ashton hold responsibility for two of the four characters each - Amy creating Emily and Jamie, Ashton coming up with Briana and Avery. And is it by any coincidence that over time it's become apparent that Emily and Bree could very well just be representations of Amy and Ashton through fiction? Emily is the fiesty one, incredibly stubborn but equally as clumsy and constantly being the one to fall over her own feet (that sounds familiar). Bree is the more withdrawn one, cautious with everything and careful to not put her trust in the wrong things should she make a mistake. She's also the one with all the good comebacks (again, deju vu hitting the spot right now). And the funny thing is? Amy and Ashton hadn't even realised that they'd created a pair of twins with enough identical traits to draw parallels to themselves in reality until recently.

It was around this time that one of the most striking coincidences hit. Amy had applied to go to university to study english (where she resides now), without knowing that it was the EXACT same university that Ashton had been planning to apply to, holding onto the dream of studying english in Europe. Out of all the universities in England - it just had to be the same one?

This was when they first started thinking something was up. Never before had they really taken all of the coincidences seriously, but now it was like a red flashing light demanding attention. Is it possible that some greater force wanted them to meet in person and be in the same place at once?

After that little revelation, the psychic stuff started piling on top of them like brick after brick, after brick. Amy came online one day and (despite the fact that she was keeping it from everyone else, even family) felt the compulsion to tell Ashton that she'd randomly gone out on a whim and bought a deck of tarot cards without really knowing why. She had a few books and the beginner's Sharman-Caselli deck to practise around with, but it was the Cosmic deck that had caught her eye and the one that she had first purchased. You can probably guess what's coming next though - can't you? It was then that Ashton had come forward and revealed that she had been reading tarot cards for almost a year now, always feeling a gravitational pull towards the metaphysical shops nearby - whilst Amy had always felt drawn towards those market stalls that sell the gemstones and the runes - the stall in which she had found her first deck.

Tarot was the first thing that had opened up both girl's perspectives and thrown them a life line to wonder if another world really did exist out there, beyond the one we live in. Amy threw herself into the world of tarot and memorised every card meaning within a month - whilst Ashton now had someone at hand to discuss her readings with. It was then that Amy pointed Ashton in the direction of Aeclectic, a tarot forum with plenty more people nearby and ready to help out. It was through Aeclectic that Amy found Jenny, and thus the key to their psychic awakening.

Jeannine Bakriges is an amazing woman - can we just note - who is extremely talented at what she does and also a compassionate and helpful person. You can find a link to her blog to the left of page, under 'Various Links'. It was just by chance that Amy noticed Jenny post an advertisement on Aeclectic for five lucky takers to get a free Empath reading - and by a stroke of luck she managed to get the fifth spot. A month later, and Amy had her reading... and a little bit more than she had been expecting.

Everything Jenny pointed out was incredibly accurate. Amy's personality, her relationship with her parents, her hobbies and her interests. Her strengths, her weaknesses. It was all there - and truth be told, Amy couldn't believe how spot on it was. Except for one bit. One part of the reading pointed out how Amy had much psychic talent... she had always loved anything supernatural, that was for sure, but apparently she was also a clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient, healer, and an empath in many areas. Jenny also pointed out how she could possibly have a channeling ability, too.

Now most of the above was written in a foreign language to her. Only two words jumped out: clairvoyant, and empath. Most people know what a clairvoyant is... but only a few months prior to the reading had Amy been posting questions on Aeclectic about empathy - what are the symptoms, how do you know if you are one? She had suspected, after matching the traits, that there was a probability that she was an empath - and that Ashton was one, too. You'll be able to read more up on both Amy and Ashton's psychic journies in posts still to come - but after Amy had done a few weeks worth of research, she had all the answers she needed and was amazed at how much matched up. Experiences as a child, certain periods of her life - unexplained mysteries that she had just shrugged off to be normal. Things that she did in everyday life turned out to be the works of her natural psychic abilities. She realised she owed Jenny a lot.

The first person Amy went to with all of this information was Ashton - who else? Amy was aware of the fact that Ashton had identified herself as slightly different from others, set apart from the labels that seemed to define everyone else as 'normal'. It made sense to tell Ashton the news - and to point her in Jenny's direction.

I don't think I need to tell you what happened next - but just to make sure you've caught on with the general principle of this post - coincidence would have it that Ashton and I share the most unique traits of all. Jenny pointed out that Ashton, too, is a strong clairsentient and an emotional empath. Alongside that is the possibility that she is also clairvoyant and clairaudient - and only recently have we discovered that Ashton is a healer too.

Despite everything, this is where our story really starts.

But I just want to leave you with a thought to ponder. I asked you before I got into this post, and now I'm going to ask you it again within the hopes that your understanding may have been shifted a little.

Do you still believe in coincidences?

In love and light,

Amy & Ashton.

Contact us on: pixieandpea@email.com

Introductory Post - A BIG HELLO! :)

So first off I just want to put a big thank you on out there to the people who are reading this right now, really, the reason Ashton and I decided to start up a blog isn't just because organisation is a must when dealing with a psychic awakening (seriously - I don't know how people manage to keep a diary or journal, how do you find the time to do it!?), but because we both have the overwhelming compulsion to help others in the same situation as ourselves. And believe me - there are more than one might think!

I mean look at me. I'm really your average 19 year old english student, come from a fairly small town and certainly haven't done anything special with my life (...yet ;)). I've led a pretty mundane teenage life so far - the usual stresses; school, exams, applying to university/college, blah blah blah. Caused a whole lot of trouble for my parents in the past as well for doing the same things any other teenager would - 'how could you come back so late - where have you been all night!? Are you drunk? Don't you dare talk to me like that young woman!' - Sound familiar anyone? Of course it does. My point is that I really AM simply normal - being psychic doesn't mean you have to be highly religious (I'm agnostic), nor does it mean you need to have a high awareness in order for you to experience anything even remotely spiritual (I'm certainly still learning). So far it's been a kind of... constant trial and error, should I say? I'm lucky in the fact that I've got certain individuals around me to help me along the way (Ashton, namely), but beside that - it's a learning experience that I've got to go at alone.

Anyway I won't bore you with a run-down of my entire life up until this point because...well... that's just silly. Here are the only things you really need to know about me:

• Hi. My name is Amy-Elizabeth, I wish I was taller and had smaller hips.
• I have a dream to travel the world even though I know I may never find the energy or means.
• I absolutely LOVE anything cat-related, and my favourite animal would have to be something along the lines of a tiger or a leopard. It constantly changes.
• Oh - and one more thing. I'm apparently psychic?

Yep. You'd be right in guessing that I had absolutely no idea (really, none) I had any kind of 'psychic ability' up until about 2 months ago, nor that I was doing things or reading people using said abilities.. The way I stumbled upon this really was, well, random and by an act of coincidence and chance! It's just as random as how I got into reading tarot cards - another interesting story that I'll be sure to post.

Which, really, is one of the only ways in which Ashton and I differ (despite the whole, age and geographical gap, I suppose...). Where as I was completely oblivious to what half of the things I would later learn that I am, even were, Ashton always had a kind of subtle understanding of the fact that there was something different about her that set her apart from most individuals... yeah, kinda hard to explain. Which allows me to easily pass the baton over to her, I suppose.

Hello all, this is Ashton speaking now. Introductions really aren't my strong point, but I guess I'll just start with the basics. I'm 17 (Yep I know that makes me a baby; although I'm pretty positive I have an old soul), and live in Houston Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States, which I've pretty much decided is ruled by greed and gluttony. Living here has really taught me about my beliefs and values, and due to my rebel streak, has probably lead me to explore different ways of life more fervently than others.

Tarot was something I picked up after stumbling upon the 'Metaphysics' section in your local Barnes and Noble. At first, it was a bit silly to me, my natural tendency to be cynical in just about every area of life - however, quickly I found a spiritual release and connection that I hadn't experience with anything else. Needless to say, since then I have done endless research and ultimately told my mom (who has now also found a gravitation towards it) as well as a select few other family members and friends. To keep from boring you any further, I'll just lend you some basic facts you should know about me:

• No matter what anyone says, I WILL live in Europe for College (or as Amy calls it, 'University') and travel while I'm young.
• My favorite thing to do is go for walks, unsure of my ultimate destination.
• I have this strange hobby that consists of finding pictures with cool quotes (will probably post some on here.)
• I am addicted to Dr Pepper. Literally.
• And to steal Amy's lovely punch line - I'm psychic?

 The cynic in me has always denounced anything slightly 'supernatural' including psychics, aliens, etc. That being said, I always 'knew' I was different. I can't explain how, I just always had this natural sense about myself, this natural wall that divided me from others. Needless to say I'm a bit of a loner because of this - yet the natural gravitation I experienced was what allowed me to fairly easily accept information as it was offered to me. So I guess you could say that while Amy has suddenly had all of this crash into her in the past oh, year or so? I've been slowly easing myself into the very deep, very scary waters of the unknown, only to find that perhaps... it is exactly where I belong.



So that's really it folks! A big, warm welcome from Ashton and I from Hertfordshire, England - and Houston, Texas (could you get any more of a culture clash?), and we hope you're here to stay for as long as we are! :)

Amy & Ashton