About Me

I’ve always been curious. And by curious, I mean hopelessly, joyfully, lifelong-ingly curious.

Learning isn’t something I do when I have time. It’s something I can’t stop doing. I’m constantly wandering down rabbit holes that range from language to opera, birds to herbs and flowers. If it’s unknown or obscure, spiritually symbolic, historical, or in any way slightly impractical for daily survival, chances are I’m interested.

These days I live a little outside the fringes of “polite” society, and I no longer do well with boxes, rigid roles, or “this is how it’s supposed to be done.” I like beauty, good conversation, and knowing just enough about many things to ask cool questions and spot patterns where others might not. I enjoy being unexpected. And the only rule book I’ve ever found that’s actually fun is the universal laws.

If I had to label myself (which I resist, but here we are), I’d say I’m a cross between a bohemian and a Renaissance person. Which is funny, because I spent 25 years in accounting, ten of them as a CPA. Rules and I go way back.

I’m a psychic medium, a medical intuitive, a teacher, a creative, and a student of urban shamanism.

“Psychic medium” alone never covered all of it, so I call myself a spiritual alchemist: someone who takes a lot of different ingredients and turns them into something useful. Effie Vance is the name I write under, and effieverse is the world I’m building around it.

The gifts were always there. I just needed the memo.

My way into all of this was feng shui, which is how I first learned that energy is real and that it moves through everything, including a living room.

I began to realize my intuitive and spiritual gifts have been lifelong, but up until recently I didn’t fully understand them. It wasn’t until the last decade that I began to see myself differently. Being my authentic self meant embracing my abilities and no longer trying to hide them.

Turns out, nothing was “new.” I was just finally listening.

That’s the idea behind everything here: you already know. You just forgot.

How this shows up in my work

I’m a psychic medium, a medical intuitive, a teacher, and a student of urban shamanism, which is why I call myself a spiritual alchemist. I don’t work from a rigid system. I let messages flow through me from any source without trying to understand what they mean (that’s not my job!).

Spirituality doesn’t have to be heavy to be meaningful. Sometimes insight arrives quietly. Sometimes it arrives sideways. Occasionally it shows up with a sense of humor.

A little more human than mystical

I’m not interested in fitting a spiritual stereotype, and I don’t expect anyone else to fit one either. Why would you want to be like someone else? If you like big ideas, and someone who takes the work seriously but not too seriously, I’m probably the right girl for you!

A few things about me

Favorite quote: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” (Dolly Parton)
Favorite saying: Jack of all trades and master of none is oftentimes better than being master of one.
Motto: Less can be more if it’s fun enough.
Top values: Freedom, experiences, independence, respect
I’d ban from the dictionary: “should”
Superpowers: art, writing, noticing things about people that others don’t, making people comfortable, being scrappy
I get a kick out of: people’s creativity with memes
Things I love: my family, my dog, traveling without other tourists, cold white wine in the afternoon, ice cream, a good charcuterie board, weird finds at the thrift store
Personal symbol: the ginkgo leaf
Not afraid of: death. Very afraid of: snakes.