A woman seeking therapy on her love life was shocked when she fell in love with her hypnotist during their first session. Angela McGillivray, 56, who works as a foot whisperer, went to visit medium, Derek McGillivray, also 56, in February 2018 for help with her romantic life.
Derek, who specialises in past life regression, hypnotised Angela and she travelled back to many different previous lifetimes across the centuries during a one-hour consultation. During the session, Angela, from Elgin, Scotland, had an epiphany that her future husband would look ''just like Derek''.
Afterwards, the pair became firm friends and within a couple of months they were an item. The spiritual couple got engaged in June 2020 and even had a time travel-themed wedding ceremony based on their favourite show, Outlander. Angela, a mum-of-two, who specialises on reflexology for feet, said: "I'd tried different therapies before they didn't work.
"I was just feeling very run down, and to do the job I do now you need to give 100% of yourself which I couldn't do. I had a feeling that I wanted to have a completeness in life, and I've always been interested in past life regression since I was a little girl. I couldn't wait to try the past life regression. Some people come and to try it and it doesn't work but I was at a point where I knew I needed to do this.
"I hit 50 and all these questions appeared about my life. I wanted to sort things out with the emotional side of my life. Sometimes you make decisions in life and the universe has things mapped out for you. To think I met the man of my dreams during a hypnosis session, it's just unbelievable, he was everything I needed.''
Derek, a physic and life coach, specialises in past life regressions which is a method that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations. During their first session at Derek's studio, in Aberdeen, he hypnotised his now wife and she travelled back to a past life in the 15th century.
He said: "In that life, she was called Mharie McCloud and was being forced to marry someone by her father. I asked Angela in the hypnosis who she wanted to marry instead. Her voice changed slightly and she said, 'Charlie Anderson'. The people in past lives might look slightly different, but their eyes are always the same."
After Derek asked if 'Charlie Anderson' resembled anyone, Angela sat upright in her chair and pointed at Derek.
"I burst out laughing," Derek said. "I didn't really think it would be something romantic at first. I was interested in the wellbeing work she had done previously, and we were so like-minded I was blown away. It's very rare you find someone so similar."
After that the couple, who have both been married before, began to text each day and soon became firm friends. They found they had lots in common and ''had the same kind of energy''.
"Derek encouraged me to get back into my wellbeing work," Angela said. "It just built from there really. I went to work in the same office as Derek in May 2018 so I was just down the corridor from him."
Growing closer, the pair began dating soon after, moving in together in Elgin, Scotland in July 2018. "We'd read each other's minds," Derek said. "We complemented each other so well, and each other's skills."
In June 2020, Derek planned a surprise proposal, hiding Angela's engagement ring under her pillow as she slept, with a letter asking her to marry him. He said: "I proposed in lockdown and ordered a blue diamond engagement ring online. I feel like the meaning behind the stone really fit Angela well. The stone represents strength, and that was something Angela needed in life, and the spiritual aspect to it too."
After planning their Outlander-themed ceremony for months, the pair finally married on 30th April 2022 Elgin City Football Club in front of 85 family and friends. Derek, who has children, Jason, 25, Victoria, 23, and Layla, eight, said: "We had a twilight ceremony. Using local whiskey we made our own wedding favours in little bottles too."
Angela said: "Our wedding invitations were made with Scottish thistle, and I had a rustic bouquet with fresh flowers from local suppliers." Angela's dress was even made by the costume designer of the couple's favourite show, Outlander who designer her a custom gown.
"We binged Outlander in lockdown and got so addicted to it, it's so much," Angela said. "The wedding was wonderful."
The pair honeymooned in Penzance, Cornwall, driving there in a car Angela had found in a ''dream''. "She woke up in the middle of the night telling me we needed to go to this garage in Buckie for this burgundy car with heated seats," Derek said. Sure enough, after the couple drove 20 miles to the dealership, the exact car Angela had envisioned was there waiting for them.
"You can't make this stuff up," Derek added. The spiritual duo now work together hosting tea leaf reading parties, where people are encouraged to share their stories.
"It really brings people together, with everyone sharing and it was a big part of Angela's idea to get people talking about their mental health," Derek said.
Their tea leaf reading event was a finalist in Eventbrite’s Most Curious and Colourful Events competition which was created to celebrate the wide diversity of events that can be found on the platform.
