I provide all sorts of services, from your basic tarot reading to specific spells to suit your needs. For example, you might need a spell to banish the critical voice of your mean first grade teacher who appears every time you sit down to write; or you might need to cut the energetic cords between you and your ex who is now married but to whom you still argue with in your head while you’re stuck in traffic; you might want to attract a gallery or a new job; you might want to get more in touch with your spirit guides. There’re all sorts of reasons for us to work together. In addition to spells, I also do trance work, where we go into an non-ordinary state of consciousness and work with the spirits we find there to bring you further into a state of wholeness. I also do shamanic work to retrieve parts of your soul that may have been fragmented through trauma, and various other forms of energetic work. If you’re curious, feel free to shoot me an email and tell me what you’re working on and we can come up with something to suit your needs.

It depends on the work we’re doing. If we’re doing trance work, you should refrain from eating two hours before our work together, and avoid heavy foods for a full 24 hours before we begin our session. That means don’t eat burgers, greasy fried things, sugary chocolate Sundays, etc. You get the picture.

If we’re doing ceremonial work, I will usually tell you what you need to bring for the ceremony or spell. Some spells require that you do some prep work or gather some ingredients before you arrive. I will let you know what those things are, so don’t worry.

Generally, it’s good to bring things for the altar. Flowers, crystals you want charged, incense, offerings for the spirit. You’ll see. It feels good to bring these sorts of offerings. If it’s something precious to you, you certainly don’t need to leave it with me in the studio. You can bring it back to your home and set it up on your own altar.

Also, before any of our work together it’s always helpful to try and get in the habit of meditating for at the very least 5 minutes per day for at least a week. 5 minutes is not a lot, but it’s a great start. The point of our work together is that you start to connect to spirit deeply on your own. Basically, you have to meditate at least a little if you’re serious about this work.

It isn’t essential to have a clear question to focus your reading, but it certainly helps. As a general rule, the clearer your question, the clearer your answer will be. Questions can be about anything, but should be focused on you, rather than on somebody else. For example, “How can I attract love into my life,” works better than a question like “Does ‘X’ love me,” which would not be favored by the tarot. The purpose of the tarot is to help you increase your autonomy and inner strength; it wants action from you, not waiting around by the phone for someone else to call (be that an agent, lover, doctor, or whoever). Also, it is better to ask questions about the present, divination about the future is problematic since we have freewill and can always change course. Think in terms of finding the right path, rather than knowing the outcome. Try questions like:

• Who should I see to…?
• Where should I go to…?
• Why is “x” …?
• How should I deal with…?
• What should I do to…?

You can ask about anything as long as it matters to you. In any case, the practice of considering what is most important to you right now is already going to be of benefit. Once we connect, I can help you further refine your question so that you get maximum results.

The work that I do with my clients is effective for all sorts of reasons. Spiritual work of this nature is complex, layered, fascinating. If you want to find out more about how it all works, stay tuned to my blog posts as the how’s and why’s are more than I can get into here. But to answer your question, yes, my spells are generally effective. I have many, many happy clients who manifested what they came to me to manifest swiftly after doing our work together. Falling in love, publishing their work, relieving their anxiety. But is this process always guaranteed to work? In a word, no. Nothing is always guaranteed to work. There are no guarantees in life. If you find someone who works in the spiritual, or any other realm really, that says that what they do is 100% effective guaranteed, I’d be suspicious if I were you. In general, magic usually moves you further down the path of your true will. When I do my work, I always do it for the greatest good of all concerned, so it’s not going to hurt you. However, I can’t guarantee that you will get exactly what you have on your Christmas list. The true point of magic and other forms of spiritual work, is to connect you with the Mystery, the beauty of the life force, to help create a sense of purpose and clarity. To feel confident and empowered, open to possibilities beyond your current imagining. In that case the work I do is extremely effective. But also, sometimes there are obstacles you have to work through before you achieve your heart’s desire; in that case, we’ll have to work on those things first. Secondly, sometimes there are obstacles our entire CULTURE has to work through before we can achieve our heart’s desire. For example, I can’t make your student loans disappear. I have definitely had instances where I did work for someone re: debt and they received unexpected financial help out of the blue, which is always very satisfying. But still, we need to tackle those larger social grievances with collective action, which might involve letter writing, phone calling, and other activist forms of magic. Feel me?

In an ideal world, I’d do my work for free. I’d know that if I needed something that required some skill or talent you have, you’d have my back. We’d work together in collaboration. There’d be no land ownership. Grand social projects would get done through big fiesta style work parties. I’m an idealist like that. I’m a peace loving anarchist like that. But, alas, that is not the world we live in. The work I do takes time and skill. In addition to the time I spend with you, which is my most valuable possession, I also do a lot of prep work for my sessions. I buy supplies. I have spent years studying and thinking about the processes we will use in our work together, and I have overheads just like anyone else. I have to maintain the space that I work in, I have to pay rent, answer client emails, etc., just like anyone else. You wouldn’t expect a masseuse or a therapist or a hair dresser to work for free (let alone an investment banker or a lawyer, etc.), so why should fair exchange be different for a witch? As I see it, we are exchanging various forms of energy, and I think that’s fair. However, I know that many people can’t afford my services. I am currently developing ways to offer certain services as workshops, etc., which might be more affordable for some. But yes, this work is expensive because it’s valuable, it takes time, thought, imagination, preparation and skill. Artists and witches should be paid for their work. Until capitalism collapses, CEOs, politicians and engineers are not the only people who should be able to make a living.

I’m so glad you asked! I have a bi-monthly show on KCHUNG radio called The Oracle Hour, every other Sunday at 4pm. One session of the month is usually just me and a special guest. I have other witches, artists, spirit workers, crystal gazers, academics, and a variety of interesting folks on and we discuss all things supernatural. I also do seasonal mixed tapes that you should definitely check out. If you like my readings, you’ll probably like my taste in music (and vice versa), so the seasonal mixed tapes are a good way to get into my groove.

The second session of the month is called the Oracle Hour – Astral Clinic. That’s the one where I, Amanda Yates Garcia, art witch extraordinaire, and Brooke Balliett, self-described art-bitch (and professional psychotherapist) get into the nitty gritty discussing all sorts of psychical problems and issues from how to know when to break up with your boyfriend, to what to do if you’re possessed by spirits, to how to launch your mystical rebirth. Obviously, you need to tune in for this stuff! Looking forward to seeing you there, at least on the astral plane.

Find out more on the Oracle Hour and Astral Clinic on the Facebook page!

Another great question, dear reader! Are spirits metaphors? Are they imaginary? Are they fragments of the departed? Are they life force essences? Are they supernatural energy fields? Can I say yes to all of the above? The metaphysics of spirit is complicated. I mean, there are thousands of years of philosophical discourse on this issue. In the work we do together, chances are we’ll work with spirits, most of the work I do involves them in some way. I feel them come, like I literally feel them when they enter the room. Sometimes I see them. Sometimes they speak to me. Sometimes they appear as a flash of insight or a flood of emotion. I don’t believe it really matters what they are, whether or not they’re quantifiable or if they have an electromagnetic field. I think a lot of people, even scientists, pure rationalists, work with spirits but don’t know it, because they don’t call them spirits. They might call it inspiration. I believe our culture, Western consumer culture, is obsessed with quantifying, naming and organizing things into what we think are reasonable classification systems. Charts and substratum and hierarchies. But that is not the only valid way of being in or seeing the world. In fact, being so attached to this way of thinking can make us completely ignore all sorts of important things because they don’t fit into our categories. If we can’t measure it and put a price on it, it’s like it may as well not exist. And we think that’s rational. But our rationality has led us to a world where a parking lot is more valuable than a forest. As I see it, everything has a spirit. Parking lot has a spirit, and forest has a spirit. Personally, I prefer spending time and working with forest spirit (though in L.A. I end up hanging with parking lot more often, sadly). The imaginal realm and the spirit realm are the same, and they are real, and they are meaningful. At least to me they are. And I don’t feel like I have to be able to name and classify and multiply and divide by the power of 10 every aspect of the spirit world, because I don’t feel like it needs to be proven. It’s not about proving, it’s about experiencing! To work with the spirits is to enter the dimension of poetry and beauty. Poetry and beauty are powerful, and they are real. Just look around you. Spirits are everywhere. To me, what’s crazy is that we ignore them.

When I work with the tarot, I am interpreting the information that I am receiving from the cards. I also get intuitive flashes of insight and other messages from spirit, but most importantly I am working with the cards as they fall, and YOU and your guides, to figure out what is going to set you on a path of personal empowerment. The future isn’t written. We can see what might happen if things continue in the same direction, but nothing is written in stone, you always have free will. Furthermore, the tarot is a very complex system of divination, in order to make your reading more effective, I interpret the cards based on the question you ask. Usually the cards will provide information on whatever is most important in your life. It’s also very common that the cards will bring up something that you don’t think is relevant but later you will find out just how true and important it was. I normally caution my clients to keep an open mind and try to avoid rejecting any of the information presented. It’s easy, of course, to accept information that tells you exactly what you want to hear, it’s more difficult when the cards ask you to take a hard look at something you’d rather pretend wasn’t there. However, the cards always work in the service of health and wholeness, they’re never going to tell you something bad is going to happen to you and there is nothing you can do about it. They’re always working towards your full realization of self.

In the other kinds of spirit work I do, spells, rites, ceremonies, trance work, etc., my focus is on personal empowerment and helping you gain clarity in the present moment. I often do get messages for people that certain spirits want delivered, but that isn’t my main focus. Most people who work in the spirit realms see things in flashes, symbols, and visions that are kind of like dreams. As you know, dreams are open to interpretation. We all filter the information we receive through our own specific lens. That’s why my focus is on trying to get you to connect to your OWN intuitive insight, because that’s what is going to be most meaningful for you.

But if you’re still looking for a straightforward answer to the questions above:

Am I psychic… I consider myself an intuitive. A psychic is someone who predicts the future. My interest is getting you to focus on finding your power in the present moment. I work with my spirit helpers to connect you with your power source, which does not exist in the future, but in the here and now.

Am I a spirit medium… While I do work with spirits of various forms, my main focus is not on contacting spirits of the departed. Some people specialize in that. I am not one of those people.

Am I clairvoyant… I see and sense energies and spirits and work with them for a variety of reasons, mostly in effort to promote health, healing, and balance in my clients. Some people use their connection with spirit to find lost objects, or predict what will happen, but that isn’t really my bag. I focus on building connections with the spirit realm in order to manifest your true will. To each their own.

Will I predict your future… Like I said above, with my divination techniques we can usually see what is likely to happen given the directional flow of energy in the present moment, but the future itself is not written. You can always change it. My work is to find active ways to bring about the future you want, not spinning it so that you can sit back and wait for my prediction to “happen to you.” Usually the cards tell you about the choices you are going to have to make and the actions you are going to need to take in order to bring about the best possible outcome.

I work hard to ensure a satisfying, meaningful experience for my clients. The fact that you have read this far indicates that there is something about this work that is attractive to you, probably for good reason. If you still have questions, feel free to contact me via the contact form above, or better yet, just try it out. The risk is pretty low, but my clients tell me the rewards are high. Hope to see you soon!