Peter Loy (The Pagan Psychic · Tarot & Pendulum)

Some readers make it feel like the cards are doing the work. Peter Loy does the opposite. He’s spent more than twenty years turning tarot and the pendulum into something you can actually pick up and use yourself, and that’s what he’ll be doing across both days at the Guildhall in September.

Peter reads under the name The Pagan Psychic, and his aim, in his own words, is to make modern pagan wisdom accessible rather than mysterious. He’s an author, artist and presenter as well as a reader, and after two decades at it he’s built a following well beyond the North West.

Not fortune-telling, clarity

It helps to know what Peter isn’t. He’s not in the business of dramatic predictions or telling you exactly what’s going to happen. The way he describes his work, a reading is there to give you insight and a clearer view of a decision you’re already sitting with, the everyday and the weighty both count. People tend to come to him when they’re stuck, want a second perspective, or simply want to understand a situation more honestly. If that sounds closer to a good conversation than a crystal ball, that’s the point.

One idea instead of seventy-eight cards

Most people who try tarot give up in the first fortnight. There are seventy-eight cards, each with a page of meanings, and the usual advice is to memorise the lot. Peter’s first book, The Tarot Key, takes a different route. Learn one organising idea, the ‘key’ of the title, and the whole deck starts to make sense on its own, with no flashcards and no reference book open on your knee. It’s the difference between memorising a phrasebook and understanding how the grammar works. Beginners get moving faster; experienced readers tend to find it tightens up what they already do.

Past yes-or-no: the pendulum as a real tool

His second book, The Pendulum Code, does the same job for the pendulum. Most people meet the pendulum as a party trick: hold it still, ask a question, watch it swing yes or no. Peter treats it as a proper instrument. His method is about asking cleaner questions and reading far more than a binary answer, so a session can actually get somewhere rather than confirming what you already hoped. He works from traditional structure rather than making it up as he goes, which is part of why people trust what comes back.

What you’ll find at his stand

Peter has a stand set up for the whole weekend. Alongside signed copies of both books, he brings pendulums, tarot decks and pendulum mats, so if a workshop sparks something you can take the tools home and keep going. He also does one-to-one readings between his talks, worth knowing if you’d rather sit down with someone than browse a hall. And there’s usually a special offer on the books for people who catch his sessions.

Something to try before you come

You don’t need a pendulum to practise the thinking behind one. Next time you’re stuck on a small decision, not a life-changing one, just where to eat or whether to send the email, write the two options down and notice which one your body eases at. That small flicker of relief, before your brain starts building its case, is the same signal a pendulum is designed to amplify. Peter’s whole approach starts there: noticing the answer you already have, then testing it properly. Try it a few times this week and you’ll start to feel the difference between a genuine pull and wishful thinking.

Peter is Manchester-based, so if you’re anywhere in the North West he’s close to home. He’s one of over 70 readers, healers and stallholders at the Mind Body Spirit & Wellness Weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026, at Stockport Masonic Guildhall. His workshops, like every talk and demonstration across the weekend, are included with entry.

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