My story

I never called myself a psychic.

For a long time I didn't even like the word. Here, in my own words, is how I came to do this work — and why I do it the way I do.

Portrait of Annia

My grandmother read coffee grounds for the women in the neighbourhood. She never took money for it — she said it wasn't something you sold.

She'd sit me down beside her and ask me what I could see. I'd answer any old thing. She'd nod, and now and then she'd say: "that one, you saw."

Annia in her kitchen in the late morning light
The kitchen, late morning. That's where I write, most of the time.

She had a phrase for my eyes. In Greek you'd say they don't look at the same thing. One green, one brown. As a child I hated it — someone pointed it out to me every single day. She told me once there was no sense trying to make them match, that I'd be better off learning to use both. It took me thirty years to understand what she meant.

I spent a good part of my life doing something else. I worked with people, a lot of them, and I'd notice things nobody had told me. A woman talking about her house move, and I'd know that wasn't what she wanted to talk about at all. It took me years to admit that wasn't observation.

At thirty-three I went through a time when I lost sight of everything. Not a spectacular disaster — just the point where you no longer know which way to turn, and nobody around you can tell you. My hair went white there, on one side, over a few months. It never came back. I stopped dyeing it a long time ago.

I'd have given anything, back then, for someone to tell me the truth. Not what I wanted to hear. The truth.

That's why I do this work the way I do.

I don't promise miracles. I won't tell you everything will be fine if I don't see it. I'll tell you what I see, honestly, even when it isn't pleasant — and I'll tell you what you can do with it.

You don't have to tell anyone about this. What's said here stays here.

— Annia x

Annia's desk, a notebook and cards

How I work

In the evening, with a notebook and a tea going cold

I don't do readings on a production line. I sit down with your question, usually at the end of the day when the house is quiet. I draw, I write by hand first, then I write it out properly.

There's no crystal ball, no incense, no performance. There's a table, a lamp, your words in front of me, and however long it takes for what I see to take a shape you can actually use.

A reading that's no use to you isn't a reading. It's decoration.

My rules

The four things I'll never bend on

I tell the truth, even when it stings

There's always at least one hard thing in what I write. If I only gave you what you were hoping for, I'd be wasting your time and your money. But I never leave you alone with the hard part.

Your reading belongs to you alone

No two people will ever receive the same text. Compare it with your sister's, your mother's or a friend's if you like — it's the best check there is, and I stand behind it without reservation.

I write back. Really.

Every message gets a reply from me. And next time, I remember your story: you won't have to explain it all from the beginning again.

Never fear, never over-promising

No curse to lift, no protection to buy, no "he'll come back". And I won't leave you hanging to sell you the next part either: your reading is complete the day it reaches you.

People often ask

The more personal questions

It was my grandmother's. A crescent moon and a small star engraved into the gold, almost worn away from being worn. I wear it on my index finger because that's how she wore it. I never take it off when I'm writing.

One green, one brown. I was born with it, it's called heterochromia, and it has never brought me anything in particular — except comments at school. My grandmother used to say they didn't look at the same thing. I think what she really wanted was for me to stop being ashamed of them.

It came at thirty-three, over a few months, during a hard time. It never went away. I dyed it for years, and then I stopped. I'd rather people saw it than have to explain why I was hiding it.

No, and be wary of anyone who tells you otherwise. I see directions, tensions, things forming. I don't see exact dates, or numbers, or diagnoses. When I can't see anything clearly, I say so — that's more honest than making something up.

Never. I've read just about everything a life can hold in the way of complications. What you write to me won't leave that inbox, and you don't have to tell anyone about it.

Now tell me about you.

Tell me what's going on and I'll write your reading. It's the best way to see whether the way I work suits you.

Get my reading

Just a question first? Write to me.

— Annia x