On this blog, I share information about historical and spiritual practices that I connect to and I think would be beneficial for others.
Crystals
I do not believe there is sufficient scientific evidence that crystal healing has any benefits to physical health. The reason I use crystals in my own spiritual practice is because I believe objects are beneficial to us when we put our belief and intention into them. Whether you call this magic or the placebo effect, I think it has power for personal development.
I don’t believe that there is anything inherently more mystical about crystals than there is in a beautiful seashell or interesting rock we might find in our backyards. Because of that (and many other reasons) I feel so strongly that there is no reason to risk shopping unethically for crystals. I cannot understand why some people in the spiritual community think their spiritual practice will be stronger with a stone that was mined with child labor while funding genocide than with a rock that they found on a beautiful hiking trip near their home. Seriously, the stakes are just too high to mess around with this.
I also fully support lab-grown crystals for spiritual work.
Herbalism
There is scientific evidence for the benefits of a lot of herbal and traditional medicine practices. However, there are also many practices that have not been proven to be beneficial. I do my best to distinguish between these when I write about them on this blog, but please do your own research before assuming anything here is scientifically accurate.
I do not believe herbalism should ever be a substitute for modern medicine. I encourage everyone to bring up the topics of herbalism with their doctors to see how it might be a beneficial addition to any treatment that is prescribed.
Please always be careful of contraindications (ie when you take two drugs or herbal remedies that don’t play well together). Because herbalism is under-researched through scientific studies, we don’t know every drug that may interact badly with herbal practices. Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding should take this very seriously as some herbs are known to be dangerous in those cases and even more have not been studied enough to know the risks.
Also, in no circumstances should you use herbs as a method to try to alter someone else’s health without their knowledge, even with the best of intentions. I feel like that shouldn’t need to be said, but somehow it does.
Astrology
I do not believe there is sufficient proof that astrology has any real power to predict the future or tell us meaningful information about individuals. I believe the power of astrology is that it gets us to look at ourselves more closely and examine the ways in which we are living up to our potential and the ways we aren’t. When it comes to predictive astrology, I believe it is beneficial because it gives us a chance to look into the future and prepare for potential outcomes and work towards goals. I do not believe we should make any big decisions based solely on astrology, but rather we should use it to tap into our intuition to see what we really think is the right move.
Tarot and Divination
I believe tarot reading and other forms of divination are tools of self-reflection. I have no special knowledge of what spiritual forces may be speaking through the cards or if there is any force at all. Instead, I use the cards to see what my own intuition is telling me and to give myself a chance to sit with that information. I do not believe any method of divination should be the determiner of any of the big decisions we make in life.
This doesn’t touch on every single practice that I will discuss on this blog, but I think you get the idea. When it comes to these practices, use them in the ways that they serve you but trust the judgement of medical, financial, and legal professionals, as well as your own judgement, above all else.
You are your own greatest source of magic.