I don’t remember the first time I happened upon Alchemise, a beautiful healing offering from Nicola Rutledge, but I will never forget the connection I felt to her super-insightful energy reports. Each report resonates so deeply it feels as though every word has been written personally for me, check out the 2019 energy report here.
Nicola also offers shamanic healing that serves to illuminate and retrieve our soul connection; reiki and sound healing for deep relaxation and rejuvenation; and one-on-one journeys through sound with her blissful crystal singing bowls.
I asked Nicola about her connection to ‘sacred space’ and how this plays a role in her work and her home…
Describe who you are and what you do.
I’m Nicola Rutledge, energy intuitive, healer and spiritual teacher.
I created Alchemise to support people on their soul’s journey – helping to empower others to rediscover and reconnect to their higher self, to remember and reclaim the source of inner peace, power, healing and to embrace the vastness of their own being.
Consciousness and contemplation are very important to me, as is helping people better understand their own energy and all aspects of themselves, so that they can become their own healer and empower themselves to live to their highest potential.
What led you on your path?
A combination of things led me on my path. Rooted in a stressful and traumatic childhood, alongside a highly sensitive, curious and empathetic nature and a love for all things magical, mystical and sacred.
When I was 17, I got to experience the profound nature of meditation and the subconscious power within us to heal. From here I began to study all things spiritual and mystical and started to tune in and strengthen my intuitive abilities.
Later into my adult life and a successful career in PR and marketing, I became a workaholic who was obsessive, with poor boundaries and self-sabotaging behaviour. I didn’t know how to manage my mind, thoughts, feelings and energy properly, so I allowed myself to suffer from stress and burnout.
It was from here that I took steps to develop my capacity to handle stressful situations, to fully heal deep emotional wounds, my relationship with myself and to learn ways to avoid self-sabotage. From regular meditation, training in Reiki and other modalities I began to open up onto my spiritual and healing path.
As I’ve explored and trained in more areas, including sound, crystals, spiritual ascension, past lives, ancient civilisations, sacred sites and shamanism, I have developed the relationship with the spiritual aspects of me and the sacred.
How would you describe your home?
A peaceful and cosy sanctuary.
What does homecoming mean to you?
It means a place you feel you belong and have deep affection for – somewhere that deeply resonates with your heart and acts as an external heart space for you.
My own home really is this external embodiment of my heart, energy and soul. It’s an extension of myself.
When people come round I want them to feel a piece of my soul and my highest self, so it’s important that it feels warm, cosy, peaceful, pure, loving and supportive.
What is the first thing you do when you return home?
My usual routine when I walk through the door is to smudge myself with sage and Palo Santo to remove the energies of the day and the city (I live in London). I then turn on my selenite and Himalayan salt lamps and play one or two of my alchemy crystal bowls for a short while.
This short practice, helps me discharge any energies that aren’t my own that I’ve picked up during my day and helps me come back to my centre and core vibrational frequency.
Just as I take my coat and shoes off from my physical body after heading out into the world, so I remove what isn’t needed from my energy field.
How do you unwind in your home?
A number of different ways including:
– Playing the crystal singing bowls
– Looking out at my favourite view – a canopy of trees in the garden, which is a conservation area, filled with loads of birds and wildlife, including parakeets!
– Writing – I love writing and the alchemy of words, they hold a resonance and energy within them.
I believe that they act as keys, activators or codes to help us remember our uniqueness and the vastness of soul, it’s journey, purpose and potential. It’s also incredibly cathartic and helps to process, release emotions and energy within.
I write in all its forms – from journaling, to poetry to fictional short stories. I love myth, metaphors, fairy tales and archetypes, I believe that they act as gateways within, helping our conscious and subconscious to communicate, to share their hidden wisdom, secrets and truth.
I also channel through my writing – especially for my energy reports that I share on my blog and with my Instagram community. I’m able to perceive the collective energy as downloads of information or ‘codes’ that I then translate into the most appropriate words for that particular energy or vibration. Words and writing are one of my connections to Source energy.
– Listening to music – I’ve always loved music in all its forms and although I never realised it, I was always using it to help manage my own energy – matching music to my mood or the mood I wanted to experience, allowing for greater expansion or contraction.
Sometimes it can just be the bridge in a song, or the way someone sings a specific line, or a specific chord – it can unlock something in me.
I have lots of different playlists with a variety of songs, mantras or frequencies but all help create an inner stillness, an opening, connection to my soul and Source.
Some of my favourites include:
* Shanti (Peace Out) – MC Yogi
Do you have a sacred space in your home?
I try to make as much of my flat as possible a sacred space or at least have smaller sacred spaces in each room. I have two favourite spots in my living room,
– On my sofa next to my selenite lamp and crystals and with views of my altar and favourite tree view
– On my reading chair in the bay window that overlooks the trees and gardens and the ‘Castle’ in Stoke Newington, which makes me feel like I’m living in Avalon!
The last one is my bath! My bathroom has huge high ceilings and is full of candles so is a delicious spot for some sacred bathing
How does the ethos of your sacred space play a part in your work?
It’s hugely important, as its key to the work I do – not only my healing sessions but my writing too.
I want to create a feeling of a sacred sanctuary in all aspects of my work with Alchemise, so I always ensure that the vibrational frequency and energy within myself and the space I’m inhabiting is high, clear and full of light.
As well as maintaining frequency and intention, through my Shamanic healing work I’ve learnt prayers to open and close sacred healing space. Through my ascension/spiritual development teacher training, I’ve also adopted ways to cleanse, attune and protect the space I’m in, for higher vibrational work and sessions with clients.
What practices or rituals do you carry out in your home or ‘sacred space’?
Music and crystals play a big part in helping me maintain and amplify the sacredness of the space – I have many playlists of different types of music and mantras to help me do that.
I’m also a huge lover of flowers and plants to aid in amplifying and holding the light of sacred space. And of course, candles and tranquil lighting – I absolutely adore candles.
I love all flowers and will go through phases of having a particular favourite or buying a particular type. This will be because of the energy I’m working with or through at that given point on my journey. They feature within some of my Shamanic healing work and I will often spend time in meditation with a particular plant or flower.
Irises and roses have been a regular feature in my home recently. Irises link to the Greek Goddess, Iris, who personified the rainbow and the bridge between heaven and earth. Roses are the ancient symbol for love and beauty, and are also representative of the Sisterhood of the Rose, a lineage of Atlantean priestesses and mystics who worked with the Goddess energy and the highest aspects of the Divine Feminine.
Both hold space for me as I develop and expand my training as an Ascension teacher and guide.
What are your home aspirations?
I love my flat and am grateful to have found and created a sanctuary within the city. Next I would like a space in the countryside, to be more immersed in nature. I feel a big pull to trees and forests. I did come close to buying a barn in the countryside a couple of years ago but it wasn’t to be and I was redirected back to London.
I would like to be able to have a larger home in the countryside in the next few years, with more space to offer my services and a bigger sanctuary for more people to use. All in divine timing!
2 Comments
Lovely. I follow Alchemise and receive her energy and moon reports. They are so insightful, inspiring and resonate with me on s deep level. Thanks for this lovely interview.
I am so pleased that you enjoyed reading the Insider interview with Alchemise.
I completely agree with you re: her brilliant reports, they are something I always make time to read and process fully!