Welcome to The Gathering

Join me to explore life, the Universe and everything.

Hi, my name’s Allegra.

I’m an author, a columnist and a creative wellbeing practitioner - I write about those things over at Creative Fix.

I’m also a somewhat closeted witch and spiritual seeker.

As someone who is deeply cynical, sarcastic and scientifically minded, I never felt at home in the mainstream spiritual community, who were gleefully wafting sage amongst piles of crystals and channelling spirit guides right, left and centre.

And yet, I was always drawn to the spiritual world.

I’ve been obsessed with life’s big questions - life and death, the soul, god/ess(e/s), the nature of reality - for as long as I can remember. I bought my first pack of Tarot cards aged 12, and my first book of spells not much later. I packed all of that away when I was in my 20s, telling myself it wasn’t rational enough, but I’ve never quite been able to stay away. I’m re-embracing it now, and my bookshelf is filled with Tarot cards, Oracle cards and books on green witchcraft!

I’ve always said I don’t believe in ghosts, yet I’m captivated by mediums, and I seem to constantly attract friends who can tune into spirit messages.

I was raised Catholic, thanks to my half Italian, half English mother, but organised religion has never sat right with me. I don’t believe in a deity as such, but I can’t help but feel that there’s something more than what we can see.

I grew up in the 80s, so I was taught to consume and to produce, but the result of that mindset - the destruction of the health of both human beings and the planet - has now been made clear, and I’m feeling such a strong pull to reconnect with nature and unplug from the matrix.

So what does it all mean?

Can you be a cynical spiritual person? Are you allowed to be sarcastic and still burn the odd bit of sage?

I hope so, because I’m going to regardless.

I want to find a spiritual practice that makes space for different possibilities and interpretations, that allows for freedom and flexibility, that removes gatekeepers and dogma and enables connection.

If you feel like there’s more beyond the simple reality that we see, and that rigid Western scientific approaches don’t quite cover everything, but that religion doesn’t either, and if you’re yearning for a greater sense of connection to something bigger but you don’t want to be trapped in a restrictive spiritual box, then you might just feel at home here!