Grandad Witch Hiker meets Jacqueline Munro and Heidi Grillo of Buddha Who? for a chat, a coffee and a foot reading. Well, what else would you do while sitting down enjoying a caffeine hit? I mean, it’s not as if you particularly use your feet for sitting, right?
Jacqueline Munro and Heidi Grillo enjoy reading but, above all else, they like reading feet! Both are trained in Reflexology, amongst other therapies, and it is from Reflexology that Foot Reading has emerged in recent years. Jacqueline and Heidi have both trained with its originator, Jane Shehan.
BuddhaWho? call themselves Freelance Therapists and are developing quite a line in giving readings in semipublic places - like some of the big coffee shops and bookstores, city SYHAs and so on. And so it was in an Edinburgh coffee shop that Grandad Witch Hiker took the test, bravely offering his pedal extremities for examination.

First, feet on the floor, the scrutiny is from above. This is to read how you present yourself outwardly to the world. As GWH’s reading was pretty flattering and not out of line with his own self-esteem, this sort of reading is clearly dependable! The right foot is taken to be what you started off with; the left, what you’ve developed into by the time of the reading (which can differ at any time). This gives each reading a dynamic
to consider and to be commented upon. Next, feet propped up on the nearest convenient seat (on a nice towel), the undersides of the feet and toes get the once over. From this aspect the reader has the opportunity to describe things like whether you are happy for people to know who you are, how open you are in relationships, the extent to which you think things through, and so on. I was not too disappointed or surprised by the findings, but did have to deny one flattering quality offered, and chose to deny another of a less flattering sort...
And this is where foot parties could be fun. For example, the foot readee being described as such-and-such, might protest, but friends looking on might very well say, “That’s exactly how you are!” Jacqueline and Heidi clearly enjoy doing foot parties, and people of all sorts have enjoyed them,
too. They were just about to do one for a group of teenagers – and thought it was going to be a lot of fun.

There is a serious side to their work as well, of course. Sometimes their readings trigger a strong emotional response in the readee. As, for example,
when something troubling a sitter is suggested by the foot but which has perhaps not been brought to the surface or shared with anyone else. So, in that way, I could see that foot reading had a role in helping people address their issues. That is, over and above helping us to see ourselves as others see us.

Foot Reading is not Palmistry! Foot Reading describes what it sees and does not aspire to divining the future or entering into matters spiritual.
The cost of foot parties? £15 each (that’s per pair of feet!) A reading takes about 20-30 minutes. So, a number of pairs would agreeably fill an evening. Alternatively do as I did and take your feet off to a coffee shop rendezvous in Edinburgh and have flattering (and some not so flattering) things about you while you sip your latte! Retirement is tough, I can tell you.