ABOUT ALEX.
Growing up in the gritty streets of Salford, Manchester, has shaped me in ways I never imagined...
​​My parents split when I was six, and it was just my mum, a single mum of three, grafting hard on a carer’s wage, doing all sorts of hours just to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. We relied on food banks, and my mum’s mates would send us food hampers and secondhand clothes to get by.​
I then suffered abuse from a stepdad who later drank himself to death. Looking back, I reckon that’s what set me off down the path of being the "naughty kid". I was always the class clown, had to switch primary schools ‘cause in the three years I was there, I’d made a name for myself I couldn’t shift. School wasn’t for me—I had undiagnosed ADHD, full of energy, and they couldn’t keep me in check. Got suspended a fair bit, even got caught smoking weed when I was nine.
High school wasn’t much better—I ended up getting kicked out and moving schools a few times for bad behaviour. Eventually, I landed in a rough school that was on special measures, and my behaviour just got worse. I became part of the “bad crowd,” always in bother with the police. Things came to a head when I ended up on trial and had to do a stint on the youth offenders programme for minor crimes.
Life spiralled from there—I got hooked on alcohol and hard drugs, a functioning alcoholic, mind. Somehow, I built a career as a Landscape Gardener while numbing all the pain from my childhood. Then in 2019, the migraines kicked in. I’d had chronic pain for as long as I could remember, but these were something else. To this day, I believe those migraines were a shamanic sickness, a wake-up call from spirit.​​​​
I sobered up in 2020, and that’s when everything changed...
​Gave up everything I owned, left my house and job, and hit the road in my campervan on what turned into a three-year pilgrimage. During that time, I was attending a three-year shamanic apprenticeship with SecondSight down in Sussex. We went through brutal initiations and life-changing ceremonies, helping me find my medicine and connect with spirit.
Grandad Лєхтер Volodymyr Lekhter & Nanny Dot
​​While travelling, I even ended up in Ukraine during the war. I’d dreamt about a place I needed to visit to give offerings to my ancestors, so I went. Had to escape the place like I was reliving my granddad’s journey when he had to flee during the war.
I used to carry a lot of anger about how tough things were growing up, but now I see it’s made me who I am, and I’ve got a deeper love and respect for my family than ever before.
​
Surviving my youth to discover Shamanism has been a real blessing. I’m thankful for the challenges because they’ve shown me the toughest sides of life.
That real life experience keeps me comfortable in holding space for the darkest stories and deepest emotions. With the support of spirit, we can work to heal deep-rooted ancestral patterns.
​
I’ve put in the work to build a strong connection with my ancestral lineage from Ukraine and Ireland, weaving them into a unique medicine that flows through my healing sessions.
​
Alongside that, I completed a 3-year formal shamanic apprenticeship with Second-Sight, mastering ancient practices like Spirit Extraction, Psychopomp/Ancestral Healing and Soul Retrieval.​​
​​
You can learn more about 1-2-1 Shamanic Healings with me below.
​
​