WHO I AM

I grew up in England, daughter of a novelist father who loved the White Goddess, She from whom all inspiration comes. In the Cotswold Hills where we lived, walking the ancient pathways, scrambling over Neolithic earthworks, and wandering through centuries-old beech woods, I awoke to a profound connection with the living earth and Her mysteries, alive and vibrant since time out of mind. Deeply intuitive and empathetic, I began having precognitive dreams, and an awareness of thousands of years of life, people and their stories.

As a young woman, I immersed myself in the study of Celtic spirituality and mythology, and became the apprentice to a wisewoman who took me wildcrafting and taught me herbalism. 

I then went back to graduate school, where I got a Master's degree in psychology and counseling. Concurrently, I created a "mythodology" inspired by the Celtic tree alphabet, what I called "a sacred alphabet of the soul" dedicated to helping women excavate and reclaim their authentic voices.  Called "the Crane Bag," I taught this mythodology at educational centers all over the east coast. The deeper my work, the more I developed an intuitive recovery of ancient knowledge, and a soul-remembrance of archetypal truths. This seamlessly led me to embrace another "sacred alphabet": the Tarot.

In my 30's I met and married my soulmate, Robert D'Ancona (Bob), a Sanskrit scholar, yogi, and Ayurvedic practitioner. Together, in Newport, RI, we founded a non-profit organization dedicated to creating community through the sacred arts. From this, the Women's Sacred Arts Festival and Exhibition was born. I mothered eleven annual festivals which drew women from all over the country. Simultaneously, I maintained a private psychotherapy practice which I called "Therapeia".

For a number of years I kept my Tarot reading and psychotherapy work separate, immersing myself in two professions that were slowly growing more and more intertwined. The Tarot deck I was most drawn to was called Motherpeace, a multicultural and mythopoetic deck, loving, beautiful and wise. It's the deck I use today.

In 2004, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, where Bob was on the faculty of the School of Ayurveda, invited us both to create a spiritual studies curriculum for their volunteer programs. In 2005, I initiated Tarot reading services through the Kripalu Shop, and have been there ever since.

For the first five years in the Berkshires, Bob and I split our time between Stockbridge, MA and Newport. I was thus able to continue my psychotherapy practice in RI. In 2006, I received a citation from the State of RI for my "outstanding and dedicated work as a therapist".

We moved to the Berkshires full time in 2010. Then, reading four days a week at Kripalu and maintaining a private Tarot practice, it became clear that Tarot reading was my true "Therapeia": an archetypal soul-alphabet of cards that attends to understanding and making sense of peoples' choices, challenges, experiences and personal unfolding.

I was widowed in 2011, and my work at Kripalu grew deeper and richer, even as I grieved. Bob had become my spirit guide. Today, at the age of 64, I'm an elderwoman, honored to be offering Tarot Therapeia both at Kripalu, and in phone, Skype, and private readings. I welcome your interest and inquiries.