Lindsey Mcneill is a filmmaker turned professional tarot card reader and has been working primarily with tarot readings for the past three years as her career. While interviewing Mcneill she explained in depth what her spiritual practice means to her.
Q: So do you like to be called a witch or is there another title you prefer?
A: I just like mystic, or tarot reader. Like I said I call myself the Good Witch of the True North, that’s my tagline on Instagram but I don’t really subscribe to any traditional anything, I’m too rebellious to sign up to anything.
Q: Did you see any signs as a kid that you would be into this type of spirituality?
A: Totally. I always loved the spookier side of life, I was reading Anne Rice was in grade six. I wanted to be a vampire or be taken away by them, I loved witches, I loved monsters. I felt an affinity for that darker side of life. As I got older and had contact with the real darker side of life that’s what brought me more into spiritual practice and going more towards the light and transformation and all that kind of stuff.
Q:How many witches, or tarot readers or spiritual people do you personally know?
A: I would say most of the people I hang out with are doing some sort of spiritual practice, divination, connecting back to nature. When you distill what people think is witchcraft or whatever to it’s essential parts of connecting to the spirit world, connecting to ourselves, our inner guidance. I don’t really hang out with anyone who doesn’t do that. I just don’t feel connected to people who aren’t curious about that. The most interesting people I know are very into this stuff and just don’t look like it. They are people that remember their past lives and believe in aliens and they have very ordinary jobs. I’m more interested in people that are really living that life to the truest sense and really seeking and diving in.
Q:What does your spiritual approach mean to you?
A: I relate more to the shamanic practice of seeking, so divination is a part of that, it’s a way that I kinda communicate with the other side or my higher self, but I’m more of a fan of really seeking anything that brings us into deeper consciousness and deeper presence. So some of that stuff looks like Christian mysticism, some of it looks like Buddhism, some of it looks like Wicca. I really feel like it is something that everybody really needs to kinda develop their own sense of where they need to go. We need to throw out these ideas if we need to subscribe to one stream of thought. There’s so much, when you get down to the mysticism of everything out there we’re all kind of connecting to the same principles. I’m a big fan of watching out for gatekeepers, people that are like, “this is what a real witch is” I don’t believe in that at all. I think it is such a personal practice and those people that are really wanting to identify as a witch I think are just people that don’t feel comfortable in the status quo or see things of our society right now that are really messed up and dont wanna subscribe and contribute to that. It’s getting back to nature back to what actually makes us happy, back to not putting substances or chemicals in our body, however anybody gets there they get to identify on that path.
Q: I’m sure you’ve seen the rise of witchcraft on social media platforms like Tik Tok, some people even call it Witch Tok. Have you seen a rise in people following this spiritual path because of social media?
A: It’s interacting because when I transitioned myself from a filmmaker to doing tarot I think a lot of people who stayed with me were like, “what is this all about?” and I think they found it quite interesting because I pull cards on there, on my Instagram stories you can see, you pick left you pick right and I reveal the card. They were getting the chance to practice something they might not have normally been into, and recognizing that divination works. I think because people are getting more curious about spiritual practice, it’s a way for them to kind of see that this is actually unfolding. You can connect to energy online. I do a lot of my clients even pick-a-card readings online and people are still always surprised that they are drawn to the message that means something to them. Social media is also a way for them to connect to misfits like themselves that live in other places and dont feel you know like they don’t wanna be an Instagram influencer. You know that’s the most boring thing in the world. If we’re not thinking about you know past life regression or you know space, or alter-dimension beings then why are we here.
Q: What is the biggest part of your everyday spiritual routine?
A: Meditation actually, which is so funny because a lot of people wouldn’t think that’s related to the practice but meditation has become, and still is, the most important aspect. When I started doing that regularly and really committing to connecting and breathing and healing and all of that stuff, that’s when I started having interdimensional contact or crazy experiences or memories of past lives, or the realization that I can connect with peoples guides. I do get information and clairvoyance and all of that kind of stuff really came from sitting still breathing and being in my body and paying attention to the sensation.
Q:What would you tell people wanting to get into this type of spirituality?
A: If anyone has questions about getting into this stuff then I would say just read everything, read the mystics more so than the people trying to tell you what a real witch is. I think that’s the most important thing because we can keep stuff so surface level and it’s getting to the deeper element of what does it actually mean to be counter cultural? I think a lot of people are drawn into it for the wrong reasons and have to be really careful and be able to connect with their heart and soul of what’s true and what resonates because there’s a lot of people out there that are gonna tell you what’s the right way to do stuff and some of those people have really dark energy around them and are looking for control or manipulation. I’m a big fan of just checking our gut on anything that doesn’t feel right. We have the power to decide for ourselves and that would be my gentle warning for people on this path to just really pay attention to themselves and know that they have the answers or those answers will be released if they ask them and not to give their power away to anybody.
