Andrew Garfield's girlfriend is a 'professional witch'. Here's what that means...

When Andrew Garfield was seen holding hands with Dr Kate Tomas in the streets of Los Angeles this March (on a double date with Phoebe Bridgers and Bo Burnham, no less), many drew an understandable blank on Tomas’ name.

Not everyone — though. Especially not the devoted members of #WitchTok, the witchcraft side of TikTok, who would argue that Dr Kate Tomas, 43, is perhaps an even bigger celebrity than Andrew Garfield himself.

Tomas is a “professional witch” to the stars, with endorsements from actors, activists, and millionaire CEOs. Emmy winning actress Megan Mulally called her “the most powerful, insightful, intuitive, spot-on person to ever grace a desk of tarot cards.”

Meanwhile, on TikTok, she’s building a fan base from the ground up, offering her thoughts on the use of “magic for personal gain under a capitalist patriarchy”, as well as magical seduction techniques, including her guide to a “magickal seduction recipe.”

But some online trolls have accused Tomas of bewitching Garfield to get him to fall in love with her, an accusation she has refuted. “F***ing hell, nothing could prepare me for having literally thousands of women telling me I'm ugly, I'm unattractive, I'm less than in every conceivable way,” she told The Sunday Times recently.

Here’s everything you need to know about Dr Kate Tomas and her thriving witchcraft career.

How did Dr Kate Tomas become a professional witch?

Raised in Llanwrthwl, Wales, Tomas says that she developed “powerful intuitive abilities” from an “early age”. She started out by offering tarot readings in a small shop in Glastonbury, and attended the University of Kent for her undergraduate degree in classics and classical languages, literatures and liguistics, as well as her master’s degree in cosmology and divination.

While studying, she wrote a best-selling book on Chakra Crystals in 2007. Tomas went on to write another book on Chakra Crystals in 2019, which promises “powerful visualizations to enable you to connect with crystal resonance and create the right conditions for self-healing.”

Tomas also obtained her Dphil (Doctor of Philosophy) from the University of Oxford, where she studied Theology. Now, Tomas describes herself as a “philosopher and spiritual mentor” with “over 23 years of experience and a world-class education.” However, her Oxford degree was gruelling, and on her website she writes, “This process nearly killed me. I see it as a significant initiatory experience.”

What does a professional witch really do?

According to her website, Tomas teaches a combination of “ancient and modern spiritual practices and rituals” which encourage her students to “explore the world of energy, astrology and spiritual practice” with what she calls a “multiplicity of lenses”, including intellectual, “felt-sensorial” and emotional.

She has practices in London, Los Angeles, and New York, where she consults for individuals as well as businesses, including TV networks and hedge funds.

Meanwhile, her profile has been building on TikTok, where her most popular videos are either witchy (magical seduction techniques) or activism-based (why the concept of debating is misogynistic).

And while it may all sound very woo-woo, she’s got a history of more practical altruism too, having worked with a charity at the University of Oxford that paired Oxford graduates with children from underprivileged backgrounds to offer after school tutoring. She also routinely spotlights fundraisers and donates part of the proceeds from her talisman sales to charity.

Her relationship with Andrew Garfield

Before Garfield, Tomas was in a long term relationship with Ames Petrossi, a non-binary freelance producer. They bought a Grade II listed cottage together in Wales, where Tomas has continued to live.

Garfield and Tomas were first linked when they were pictured on a double date with Phoebe Bridgers and Bo Burham in March.

The pair seemed pretty established already, holding hands on the street and hugging each other while they talked to their friends. A month later, the couple were spotted in London, walking hand-in-hand around Primrose Hill.

In May, it was reported that Tomas had put her Grade II listed cottage in Wales up for sale, with tabloids claiming that she was moving London to be closer to Garfield.

According to a local farmer, the 40-year-old actor could often be spotted visiting the rural Welsh village. “They have been seen in the village church on Sundays and they seem to have made a lot of friends,” farmer David Evans told the Daily Mail. “You always know when he's here because his posh LandRover is parked outside. But there's been a rumour in the village for a while that she is leaving.”

Another villager said: “This must be one of the quietest places in Wales so to see a Hollywood film star here is quite something. They seem to be very happy and they're always holding hands when you see them together.”

Backlash against her love life

However, not everyone’s happy about the pairing. In an interview with The Sunday Times recently, Tomas opened up about the online hate she’s received since the relationship became public knowledge. “F***ing hell,” she said, “nothing could prepare me for having literally thousands of women telling me I'm ugly, I'm unattractive, I'm less than in every conceivable way.”

She admits that dating Garfield is difficult at times, saying: “They [the paparazzi] will take maybe 150 pictures, then they choose the four where you look worst.

“What’s most depressing [is the] misogynistic nature of that interest - criticism of how a woman looks, of what [she] does for work.”

She also told The Sunday Times how she’s dealt with this negative energy. “Moving out of that victim space and reclaiming the power that has been taken from you,” she said. “That might be screaming into a pillow, or doing a cord-cutting spell, or putting a dome of energy, like a bell jar, over somebody that’s actively harmful.”

Tomas added: “The most powerful form of psychic protection is knowing who you are and being OK with that.”