I have always been curious about the unknown. I believe this has been deep-rooted into my DNA. After all, my mum’s aunt is a proclaimed white witch. 

 However, I have never been more intrigued than when a procrastinating Facebook scroll led me to Ashlyn. 

Ashlyn Begg is a woman from my neighbourhood who offers psychic readings and spiritual guidance from her house in Leopold. 

What drew me to Ashlyn was a Facebook post about the spirit of a little girl who had come to her, hoping to be reconnected with her mother Rochelle. A lady by this name eventually commented saying the details further provided were accurate and that she believed this was, in fact, her daughter. 

To my surprise, this was just one of many cases of Ashlyn reconnecting families with passed loved ones, through Facebook.

Ashlyn, who has so many clients she was booked out until November, made time for me before starting her workday. It was August 14, and I had arrived at 8am. 

I was greeted at the door where she instantly read my energy. She picked up that I was nervous; however, for the most part, read me as someone who was open-minded and willing to try new things. That was sort of a given considering where I was. 

Usually, when dealing with psychics, people are more interested in hearing about their own lives, but my queries extended beyond myself. This woman was building a sustainable life and business off reading peoples’ future. But how? 

“I can connect with people who have passed over, and I am a psychic which means I can see and predict things past, present and future,” Ashlyn said. 

Ashlyn comes from a long line of gifted women. “My aunt can do it, my mum can do it, my sister can do it. I have great aunts who used to read tea leaves,” she said. 

But this did not just happen overnight. The now 30-year-old says it has been eight years since she accepted who she was and stopped trying to hide it. “To start with I was talking to friends and in my head, I was actually answering questions for them … so I decided to start it as a business,” she said.

Ashlyn’s clients are often those seeking to connect with past ones or people who need guidance. “Some people career-wise, if they are on the wrong track, or going through a bit of a bumpy patch, just want to know if they will make it out the other side,” she said.

She also sees regular clients who have to know everything that is going to happen month by month, and not so regular clients, like myself, who are just intrigued by it all. 

“There are a lot of young people who come forward, I think they are more open-minded and are more ready to accept things that are said. The older generation come forward if they want to connect with someone but future wise, they do not really care,” Ashlyn said. 

Emma Freud, the great-granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, explored the topic of psychics in an article published by the British Telegraph in 2016. In the article, Freud referred to them as “cheaper than therapy” before stating “they offer … the notion that there may be a universal plan, to allow yourself to be guided, to let someone hold your hand”.

Tim Mendham, from the Australian Skeptics says that psychics appeal to those experiencing uncertainty and seeking hope for the future. With today’s political environment, climate struggles and the rising cost of living, young people are riddled with uncertainties. 

Ashlyn is beginning to see in her own work that people, especially young adults, are seeking out psychics as opposed to mental health workers. “If I have young people come in here that are really not going well, I actually say call the helpline or sometimes I will report it to the police,” she said.

While being able to predict what the future holds is a desirable ability, Ashlyn says there are many downfalls to having the gift. “I still have friends who do not get it. I think with this kind of thing you have to prove yourself,” she said.  

It can be particularly hard for her when friends try to exploit her abilities. “When hanging out they will be like ‘while you’re here I’ve just got a quick question’ and it’s like, just be my friend,” she said. 

Ashlyn often wishes people didn’t know of her abilities so that she could just switch off and be normal. Not surprisingly she says switching off can be particularly challenging when dealing with the spirit world. “You are connecting with people who have passed over and if it was quite traumatic, I can see it and sometimes I can feel the emotion and the pain at the time, so I am exhausted at the end of the day,” Ashlyn said. 

Rooms can often feel overcrowded as they are filled with spirits that she can feel, hear or see standing by their people. 

Spirits often seek out Ashlyn and persistently urge her to send messages to their loved ones. It is because of this that Ashlyn’s Facebook presence is becoming more and more known as she uses the platform to connect the living to the spirit world.  “First time I did it, I think I put it on ‘Girlcode’. I was not scared to put it up, I trust what I get, so I knew I was right and that it was the right way to connect,” she said.

Ashlyn tells me that she is yet to receive a bad outcome, or at least no one has let her know anyway. 

Ashlyn is a big believer in that everyone has lived past lives. “Everyone you have connected with in this lifetime you have actually been with in a past life, and you will be again moving forward,” she said.

“It could potentially be mum and daughter, but in a past life, you could have been brother and sister. Your family and close friends have always been with you.”

“In every life, it evolves and changes in a different way and if people have not learnt their lessons, they will learn it before moving forward,” she said.

With great comfort, I was told that when someone passes over, they lose whatever illness they may have, and they are at their best and happiest place. “I believe there is another element once you have passed over. I do classify it as heaven, but I don’t see it like that. It is like a room that people step into and are definitely at their most positive self,” she said. 

“I do not necessarily believe in hell, but I believe if someone is not supposed to get to heaven first, they go into limbo.”

With all the bad, comes the good. Ashlyn sees her line of work as rewarding as she chooses to look at it as helping someone know their loved one on the other side is okay or giving someone hope for the future by ensuring that they are on the right track. 

To get to where Ashlyn is today has been a long journey. “At the start, people thought it was a phase or me trying to be something that I wasn’t, but actually I am trying to be something that I am,” she said. 

“Now I do not bother trying to prove myself, I know what I’ve got, and I know how many people I have helped.”

Whenever Ashlyn feels overwhelmed and ready to quit, she asks the universe for a sign to keep going. “I am so blessed and forever grateful. If I ever have a week where I am like ‘why am I doing this’, something really amazing comes out of it,” she said.

 “My journey has just begun, and I am excited for what is to come. I do not think I will ever be complete with my ability; I think it is always evolving.”

Read a review of one of Ashlyn Begg’s readings here.