Katy Swallow, Ancestral Alchemist and Psychic Reader

12/22/2025

Today, in the Claremont woods 🌿

12/20/2025

Always love these kinds of follow ups from clients! I really am good at pinpointing ancestral stories that may not already be on your radar!

12/13/2025

Interesting idea, especially in relation to ancestral spirit work….

A common assumption is that throughout history, people have experienced the same basic range of emotions. A radical field of history now challenges this assumption, Gal Beckerman reports. https://theatln.tc/93LEvySV

People tend to imagine that other people “have the exact same set of emotions that we have,” Beckerman writes. “We perform this projection on any number of human experiences: losing a child, falling ill, being bored at work. We assume that emotions in the past are accessible because we assume that at their core, people in the past were just like us, with slight tweaks for their choice of hats and of personal hygiene.”

Rob Boddice, a leader in the field of the history of emotions and senses, mistrusts this universalism, a philosophy that emerged during the Enlightenment, when European intellectuals began to assume that all people share a common nature. Many critics now understand that they were attempting to exert power and order over a world that had recently become bigger and stranger. “By the time we get to our current globalized culture, in which a Korean thriller can win Best Picture at the Oscars and Latin pop stars dominate the U.S. charts, the notion that our emotional registers are all essentially alike feels self-evident,” Beckerman continues.

“Boddice starts with the opposite premise, that we are not the same,” Beckerman writes. “Rather than being a constant—extending across space and time—human nature for Boddice is a variable and unstable category, one with infinite possible shades.”

Although his approach might seem “squishy and postmodern,” Beckerman writes, Boddice’s research layers his own thinking on top of the most recent advances in neuroscience.

At the link, read more about the field of study that is pushing historians to reconsider their assumptions about the people of the past.

🎨: Nicolás Ortega

12/12/2025

Hosting an online, group tarot party tonight, and I’m accidentally ready an hour early. Whoops 🤣

12/12/2025

I ran across this collection of emotional growth resources. If you feel emotional/mental health support is inaccessible, or that you’re not sure where to start with learning how to do new things, there’s some interesting free resources here, AND on their YouTube channel. Their YouTube videos are short, easy to digest. (It’s funny that stoicism is the most prominent word here, but they offer a lot of different digestible topics.)

https://www.theschooloflife.com rd

The School of Life is a global organisation helping people to lead more fulfilled lives through useful resources and tools.

12/02/2025

Pics from last night’s event at the Windsor Public Library!

12/02/2025

I had so much fun tonight, teaching tarot reading at the Windsor Vermont Public Library! Great turnout, and so many *nice* people. Thank you to the librarians and to those who turned out for the event!

11/25/2025

There’s a lot of made up stuff out there on the internet, about a lot of traditions. Here’s an update on some details relating to Christmas trees. This creator is also a great resource, in general (they do real research, not the “I saw some poorly sourced videos online,” kind.)

11/25/2025

So this gorgeous artichoke…plants are amazing 🌿

Bees swarm to the purple bloom an artichoke becomes when its tight bud is left to open, revealing a striking thistle that most people never see.

A simple vegetable turns into a vivid garden display once given the chance.

11/24/2025

I feel this way about so many things in my magical life. Developing my own intuition has shown me so many possibilities and astonishing things.

11/23/2025

Perfection isn’t always possible 😏

11/23/2025

Rocks found, on the ground.