welcome to demystify magic with Molly and Madison I'm Molly a former skeptic turned full-time energy healer and
teacher and I'm Madison a born and raised witch running my family's Crystal shop and we're here to explore all
things woo through the lens of both science and spirituality so that you can find the moments of magic in your
everyday life and create an intentional spiritual practice so if that's what you're into find a cozy spot take a deep
breath and let's demystify some magic howdy Duty friends howdy Duty do
do friends uh-huh mhm you said [Music]
Doo we are going fully off The Rocker today off the rails we're just doing a
little Q&A moment for you we are leaning into the spirit of the season and we're letting it be easy and by that we mean
letting you give us the content we'll talk about whatever you want us to talk about as long as you guys decide as long
as I don't have to make a choice you know I'm excited I love these q&as and
y'all apparently also love them because you tell us you do so hey it's great this feels like a
symbiotic relationship to me we love to make them you like to listen to them let's do it yep I do have one big
announcement before we dive in though let's do it because if you're listening to this the week that it comes out and
your butt is not on the weight list for raiki training you're going to want to scroll down go to the description of
this episode and get on the wait list because registration opens only to to the weit list on February 9th last year we sold out very very quickly so if you
want to learn raiki from me this season definitely get on there before February
9th woohoo highly recommend before we dive deep on these
questions Molly what was your magic moment this week my magic moment is we got our first like real snow and by real
snow I mean like we've had some snow but not really not not so much that you'd
walk out and like your shoes would be full of snow that's how I determine if it's real snow or not anyways we had our
first real snow overnight and so I got to see the boys jump like a little dolphin in and out of the snow this
morning and it just sparked so much joy and just reminded me of the little
things cute little doggy running through the snow tender what's yours mine is
thankfully not snow listening to you talk about the cold always reminds me like what a going
to snow in Florida it is going to snow in Florida in the Panhandle not where I live for those who are curious no
there's like I think the last time it snowed in the Tampa Bay Area was like in the 7s or 80s I saw a picture of it
earlier today like someone had shared but it is like Florida cold is interesting and I've seen a lot of
people talking about it in a way that makes me feel validated people moving from up North down to Florida saying
that the Florida cold just feels different different and it's because it's so humid here like it's imagine
just like being in the kind of chilly weather but you're wet like you're damp
all over it feels much worse than it is and so it is really cold here this
week and that is how cold is really cold Madison it's like the lows are in the low 40s which is abnormal for Florida
but the feels like is in the low 30s okay it's 23 right now I didn't say
that it's the coldest place in the world I said that it feels different and it's wet and it's gross and I don't like it
and you know what if I that's why we live in Florida I love that prio the other day it was 35 and I was wearing a
tank top and I got on a zoom call with someone in Tampa and he was like I'm surprised you're wearing a you're not
wearing sleeves and I was like it's like springtime here it's in the mid-30s nope
that is like and you know what when you're here in July and it's 104° and
you're suffering and I'm like waving my hands in the air living my best life you know it's a
given trade it's a given it is a given trade so what you're saying is I need to be in Florida this time of year you need
to be in Maine this summer yes love that love that plan hint hint hint all right
anyways now that we've talked about what's not my magic moment my magic moment is
right did you like that Preamble you guys where I just talked about the weather um and didn't answer the
question I thought it was fun so if you've listened to this podcast
for a while you'll know that every year my my mom and I go to the Tucson gem
show it's the largest gem show in the world it's where we like go and we buy all of our crystals that we're going to
sell like basically throughout the year we go to two gym shows one's in September in Denver that's the second
largest Tucson is the biggest and so I leave next week by the time that you
guys hear this I'll be like on my plane home but at the time of recording I'm in
like the preparation phase of like we're you know like running reports of what does well like what we need what are the new stones that we haven't been able to
find before that we want to have whatever blah blah blah and it's really
become like a very reflective time for me because it's like a a real Mark of progress of like what our planning looks
like what our like buying goals are how much like what volume we buy like cuz
literally at the end of the week that we're there we have to weigh everything to ship it and so it's like been a way
that we see this growth and now this year it's become like a way that I've seen the growth in our team where every
year last year coming home from the tucon JY show was the first time that I had someone whose sole job was to help
me process the crystals and like get them on the floor before then it was pretty much just
me I was that was like my responsibility was to manage that
situation and this year as we're preparing to go like there are so many
more people now trained on how we do that process and we've like gotten the
system down of how we organized things like what we got where and what did we
pay for it and whatever blah blah blah right that I'm like really excited to go
and it's I'm always excited to go on this trip right like it's always really fun but it is also really exhausting and
there's been like this resistance in me every year of whatever we buy I'm
thinking through the lens of the work that I'll have to do for it later yeah MH and the work that Mom and I will have
to do cuz so if you don't know when you go to a gem show and you like buy these rocks you pick out exactly what you want
to purchase and then it's it's like going to the mall like you have to take it with you yeah yeah yeah you got to pack it you got unpack it you got to
transport it you got to walk it to the label it you got to measure it yeah and
it's not like walking out to the parking lot of your local Target it's like the car is maybe a quarter mile away you
have your wagon and you're trying to carry as much as you possibly can without having to go all the way back to the car because it's such a [ __ ] to go
back to the car and so this year my partner Drew is able to come with us and
be a little bit of the muscle and also the one among stuffs that does not have
ADHD and so we've got a neurotypical mind bless him and a body that goes to the
gym bless him I've got a wagon Pusher St Drew saves I've got a driver like it's
really great and he so he came with us to Denver this most recent time and it
was so helpful and so now having him in this like much bigger situation as well I'm
like I feel very free going into this trip where I'm like okay I have help in
all areas you know yeah have fun mhm this does not just like fall on me when
we get home to make this work you know Y and so now I'm like excited in a way
that I haven't been before you know like it's always excitement laced with this like yeah okay like I got to Hype myself
up like we're going to do this it's going to be okay whereas things feel a lot lighter this year and I'm very
excited and it you know it's just a reminder of how far we've come and how much the store has grown that we somehow
every year still need so many rocks yeah uh and so if you follow us on Instagram
you might have seen I'll maybe I'll make like a little story highlight for Crystal shopping because you guys always love it when I share the kind of like
behind the scenes over there so maybe check us out on Instagram and maybe I'll have maybe I'll have been a little bit
more organized in my in my sharing this year maybe maybe could be fun could be
fun first question which I love this question what are you calling in right
now what am I calling in right now that's a great question I am this
year I'm very intentionally focused on my health last year I was so focused on
I don't even want to say like my business but like making like streamlining everything in my work life
MH that I let my health kind of like take the back burner like I really I
this is is this is embarrassing but I'm going to share it because it's so real I was looking at my health data on my
phone from last year and I average less than 3,000 steps a day mhm which is like
that is rough I was like wow no wonder I get winded walking upstairs so this year
I am very much like calling in those habits that I I know I have but I just
like haven't had my I've had my blinders on for the last year and like moving didn't help and like all the stuff with
her and last year was just like there was a lot going on so this year I'm really prioritizing like the foundation
like sleep well eat well move drink water you know do things that are good
for my mental health cut out the [ __ ] that type of thing find like a
work life balance again so I'm I'm calling in support with that what about you I love that first of all right now I
am really like I don't know how else describe it other than like I'm just calling in love you know I'm trying to
have a more like grounded practice of self-love and self-care kind of like in
the same note as what you're talking about where I feel like I have not
really been like the main character in my own mental story you know like I I've let the store be her own
character getting spell crafter off the ground has like been a big thing that has like not only taken up it's not just
about time I think that's something that is a common misconception with like entrepreneurship is that it's like so
much brain space yes yeah it's like I can't focus on making lunch because I'm
focused on I actually I had a um so I've had a personal trainer for the last couple of years and the reason I started
working out with the trainer is because of something the owner of the gym said to me and he said to me the reason that
you're struggling to prioritize your health is because all day long you are the one making decisions the Inge you
the one running the so when you get to the end of your work the last thing you want to do is a meal or a workout
totally and so that's why I've like really become like a fitness class girly
like that's not something I ever thought would be my vibe but I just really have loved like an hour in my day three times
a week when I turn my brain off and I just am doing what somebody else has to do yeah you're not in charge yeah that's
why I love my trainer is because I literally I go in and he's like what do you want he used to ask me what do you
want to do today and I'm like I don't want to be in charge of this hour yeah this is your hour yeah I was like you
tell me what to do I don't want to count I don't want to plan the next thing I don't even want to know what we're doing
next cuz I don't want to think about it just tell me what we're doing right now force me to be in this present moment
toally yeah so I'm just like really trying to pull in more brain space even and like fill that space with love and
intention for like myself and give that intention to my partner and my friends
and you know like fostering that kind of love as well yeah I guess I'm really just trying to PR in more brain space
yeah brain space is nice yeah I've been I feel like I've been really trying to do that too and i' I found like little
by little just like what a GameChanger feels like I feel like with brain space you don't realize how little you have
until you've gone without it for a while so like the other day like the other day yesterday when Tik Tok was
banned for like 14 hours I was like what do I do and I got to be like what do I
want to do and I was like I think I want to go for a walk honestly I was like wow okay where
did that thought come from that's not like me honestly the the 14 hours without Tik Tok made me have like a
serious moment of I Fe I might need to go to phone rehab do you have a do you
have a an app that sets limit for you no and I won't download
it I appreciate your suggestion all right but I'm just going to be so for real with you I will not download it I
need to go to a place where they take my phone from my hands and say I will not give it back to you you know like I
can't be in charge of my I can't be the warden of my phone rehab yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah well you can set it the one
that I use is called one sec and you can set it to have a passcode and you can have like Drew set up the passcode and not tell you what it is no I I fear that
would ruin my relationship ship we like Drew too much to make we like Drew too much we need Drew to be the muscle and
the neurotypical Brain yeah I can't lose that I will tell you I went on a yoga retreat in 2016 where I did not touch my
phone for 5 days and it brought so much awareness to and this was pre Tik Tok so
like you know this was pre me being on social media so I'm sure it'd be so much harder now but I remember very
distinctly standing up from the last meal on the last day and checking my hoodie pocket for my phone instinctively
and I was like it's not it's still in my room mhm so it's like one of those things that every time I feel like I'm
scrolling too much I'm like I just need to like pretend I'm on a yoga retreat I have a friend who literally shuts her
phone off like she deletes all her apps every Friday and doesn't reinstall them until Monday that's so time consuming I
know but after a while she's like I really it it helps you prioritize cuz she's like I really don't miss Twitter that much yeah I just do it I'll be so
for real you know that's okay as long as you as long as you make brain space elsewhere mhm I'm trying my best all
right all right next is what do you think of altars in bedrooms I've heard it's not the best idea which is
something I've never heard before so I'm anxious to hear if you have heard that I have heard the opposite um I have a
sleep altar in my bedroom really yeah like my nightstand is my sleep alter it's the only way I can stop myself from
collecting 72 cups of water uh-huh yeah that makes sense yeah yeah I have been in living situations before where like
my altar was like I had a set of shelves that was right next to where I slept my
my side of the bed yeah my altar right now is the top of my dresser because it's the only spot in my house until my
office is built that is like Untouched by other humans yeah I my thing with
alars is done is better than perfect mhm wherever you can make it fit I see
people have their altars on a TV yeah that comes up and down you know mhm
I've had altars when I lived in a tiny tiny apartment I had a little corner shelf and that was my altar it was in my
bedroom yeah I've never heard that it's not a good idea I would love to know why like what the reasoning is there if it
doesn't feel right to you to have your altar in your bedroom put it somewhere else by all means but I think that
especially if you live in a shared space like with roommates you know your
bedroom is a perfect place for your altar like what what space is more personal you know yeah I'm I'm thinking
I'm like I've always had my alter my bedroom the only time I moved it out is when I had an office mhm yeah when I
lived alone for the first time I and I had that like big ass alter yeah that
was the first time it's ever not been in my bedroom yeah but even when I had like
my altar in my office I had like a mini altar in my bedroom too yeah so do what
you want yeah very Pro alter wherever you want it to be mhm don't alter your
behavior because someone tells you it's bad yeah without reason get it alter
alter your behavior get it you didn't laugh so I wanted to make sure you got it I got it okay this one's a fun one
how has your spiritual practice changed in the last year or two in ways you didn't expect ooh okay thinking about
this one was really fun cuz I realized my spiritual practice has become so
Community Based ooh yeah it has with spell crafter opening this year or last
year is we're now in February couldn't tell you anymore we're almost on the
oneye anniversary of spell crafter which is Bonkers to think about we started doing group rituals at spell crafter
last year and I have never had that experience before I am so grateful to
Linda for leading those she she promised me one year of her leading our rituals
on the sabbaths and she said next year you know next when Sinn comes around next year we're passing it off to you
she's like been writing it down for me blesser but doing magic with other people is not something that I really
thought was in my path or in my journey and I didn't realize how much I love
spiritual hosting basically like we do it after clothes and it's something that
everybody on the team like really looks forward to and we put a lot of effort into and there's this really fun energy
of like everyone comes together and we we decorate the space together and
everyone comes to help and it's not even like it's just one of those things where I really realized the power of this
community because it's just not even a question MH of like oh of course like how can I be helpful where is this going
what do we need what can I bring what am I doing what element am I calling in when we cast our Circle you know like
everybody this effort that everybody puts in together really means a lot to me and it's become this really like a
sense of a source of joy for me that has like invigorated my practice it like
makes me want to have a greater spiritual connection because now I have this place that I'm showing up for
others too and I just really love it it's really been fun I think that's like what
I've been missing for a little while it's an element of Whimsy yeah yeah yeah what about you I love that I I I was
just thinking about like two years ago I don't think I would have called myself a witch definitely not yeah I think that
was like something that has definitely grown over the last two years and I've started owning but I it's so funny
because even two years ago I was teaching like you know build your build your magic into every day rather than
elaborate rituals but like compared to now what I was doing two years ago I would consider an elaborate ritual uhhuh
you know like I was like making the crystal grids infusing the candles and like making my own sigils and now so
much of my magical practice it's like okay I'm craving you know eggs on toast
what is the intention behind eggs like or okay I'm decorating the
back of my Kindle great I instead of making my own sigil this sticker is going to be imbued with the intention of
this right like it's become such I don't even want to call it like lazy but it's just truly been integrated into my dayto
day where it's like I'm I'm looking at my couch right now and I'm like oh if I
was feeling like you know a little overwhelmed or whatever I would grab that blue blanket over the green blanket
because you know color magic or you know like it's just become so a part of every
day like I don't have to think about it anymore I'm like this morning when I got dressed I was like okay I'm going to wear black for protection and I'm going
to put Blue on for calm and then I'm going to stir sigil into my tea and then
I'm going to listen to you know music that Hypes me up it I don't know it's just become so ingrained and it's been
become so much more you're going to be shocked but it's going to be it's become so much more mundane like I think
writing a book about mundane magic has really like shown me all the
possibilities and and almost like forced me outside of the box where it's like
now when I find myself avoiding like a task in my home I'm like
okay how would I advise like one of my students or what would I write in my book about this and most of them are in
my book now but it's like the other day I was like I found myself putting off washing the dog's water bowl mhm that's
like something I really struggle with and so I like made a spell around that and I was like okay this is a gratitude
ritual now and this is like you know a time where I I cleanse his energy and
cleanse his space and whatever and so I think for me my practice has become so
much more embedded into who I am rather than like taking time out of like I
don't really have a a time in my day that I sit down and quote unquote practice anymore and especially now that
we've moved and my office is still in construction I don't really have a dedicated space either so it's really
forced me to just like Infuse it and embed it into all areas of my life which
has been interesting because I thought that's what I was doing before but it's just become so much more so now yeah can
I just say it like watching you have that transformation over the last couple years has been so fun for me I feel like
a mommy bird watching my baby leave the nest as you call yourself a witch publicly
online because it's been so like a part of our friendship like behind the scenes like the way that you really have
integrated so much and you're not to say that you're not still like a skeptic at heart because we still talk about the
things that make us skeptical and I still have that too but I've really watched that part of you like step aside
and watch you like fully step into a lot of [ __ ] that's been so fun yeah I think
what's changed as you're saying that what I realized what's changed is two years ago I was really caught up in the
outcome if I did a ritual it was because I wanted a specific outcome you know I
do an abundance spell because I wanted my training to sell or I would do a
protection spell to like get rid of trolls online or whatever nowadays I do
magic for the joy of doing magic and I don't even think about the outcome like
I just I feel like I have an inherent trust because it's so built into my everyday that I don't feel like I can
fail at it you know and that's come from just I no longer think about the outcome
I'm like okay I made my cinnamon toast yesterday for abundance and I'm not sitting here being like hello cinnamon
where's my abundance yeah uh-huh huh I love that that's like a real that level
of trust is a thing and I think that's such an a powerful and like important thing to remember is that when we talk
about that trust it's not something that you decide to have and you wake up with tomorrow cuz we were talking about trust
two years ago yeah you know yeah and also just because we're talking about it doesn't mean that we are perfect at it
and fully integrated it and it's like we are we are talking to ourselves sometimes just as much as we're talking
to you guys totally totally yeah and I think like my trust
in being a witch has grown too like the other day I was really pissed off and I
can't share why because I signed a piece of paper saying I wouldn't talk [ __ ] but prior to getting that piece of paper I
was very pissed off and I really wanted something to go my way and so I did my
due diligence I did the logistical side of like you know getting my receipts together and sending an email and whatever but then I did a freezer spell
and I I was like you know what just for this freezer spell I'm going to be pissed the [ __ ] off I'm going to own my anger and I'm just going to [ __ ] be
mad and I put it in the freezer and I was like now I have to let it go and then you know what it the outcome went
my way so I was like H that was a very cathartic experience that also had a
great outcome and I I will be blaming the freezer spell on that outcome I will be giving full full due diligence to
myself uhhuh all right next what are tips that you have on connecting with
your spirit team oo I was just talking to my raiki 3 students about this I think 99% of the time when you're
struggling to connect with your spirit team it's because you're overthinking what that communication should look
like so a lot of times we think our spirit team has to come to us in like a
very clear form like my grandmother appeared to me in my dreams or whatever
or they come to me with a very clear answer like a very clear yes or a very clear no or very clear do this and while
sometimes I think yes that can happen I think more often than not the spirit team shows up in like little nudges like
I think of it as like I don't know why this analogy is coming through so if it's for you you're welcome but it's
coming through as sometimes we think our spirit team is going to slide into our DMS when in reality what they might do
is like a post mhm or like you know what I mean like they might nudge you in a dire
or you might just get a hint of something or like for me it took me a long time to connect with my spirit team
because I'm not like I don't see visual forms like I don't see faces when I
experience Clairvoyance I just like experience the feeling of like the nebulous feeling of support like that
like I can't draw a picture of it I can't describe it I just feel supported and that's how I know my team is there
and so if you're looking for like more then you're bypassing what's there and
so I think curiosity is is the ultimate path to connect yeah and I think it's
like funny that we were talking about brain space earlier because when I was thinking on this question I think like
it's interesting and this is a self callout MH that I spend so much time
asking my spirit team to send me information and then I fill every moment
of my day with other noise yeah I do not sit in silence and I think that's my
biggest piece of advice is to spend more time in the quiet because imagine you're having a conversation with someone like
imagine this podcast but I just didn't shut the [ __ ] up and every time Molly started to speak
I started a sentence over her or I started playing Tik toks you know and I
just didn't let her get a word in that is what I do to my spirit Team all damn
day we were talking about this with Tik Tok being down of like how did we ever go to the bathroom before yeah what did
we what did we do because I went to the bathroom in our 14 hours without Tik Tok
and I was like well this is misery yeah and that is the moment where I was like oh maybe we need to go to phone rehab
but getting more comfortable with quiet yeah allowing yourself to be bored
uhhuhh you have to give people you have to give Spirit the opportunity to say
something you know yeah or the opportunity to be listened to the opportunity to be heard because because
there are 100% hundreds of things that I have missed because I am too busy in my
own [ __ ] world on my own [ __ ] to even think to look outside myself MH I've
seen people on Tik Tok really bring to our attention how much time we spend thinking about ourselves you know I
don't know if before social media and before the internet and I could be very wrong but I don't know that we spent so much time thinking about ourselves and
how we're being perceived oh yeah definitely was not as much I feel like as as someone who grew up in
the generation that both like I was raised in technology and without
technology you know I was in that like middle I'm a millennial I remember growing up I I was very aware of being
perceived when I was in public when I wasn't at home and now with social media
I feel like we're always perceived all the time and that has defin been like a
shift uhhuh and so it's not even just like what you're consuming or like constantly having something playing cuz
I don't even really mean that like I mean constantly giving your attention to
something else or to yourself yeah constantly thinking about yourself in a
way that is maybe not healthy that is something that can Cloud that as well and that's something that
again that is a self call out more than anything else yeah I think in general
like creating space is like the most obnoxious answer
but it is the first step like creating space in your brain creating space in
your environment cuz I also I struggle to connect with my spirit team when my environment is really cluttered and I
used to think that was just my ADHD but now I think of it as like well when I have guests over I clean my house and so
when I invite people over I want my house to Bean clean otherwise I'm like making excuses why they can't come over
and so when I'm inviting my spirit team in I want to make sure the trash is taken out I'm like the cleaner my house
is or or not even cleaner but like the more presentable I feel like my house is the more my spirit team shows up that is
so interesting I love that comparison it is uh I did talk about it
a lot in my book so it is uh it is Forefront of my mind like how can I make taking the trash out witchy the same can
be said for like our mental health too of like if your if your brain is in a place that you want to be in you don't
want to invite people over to it mhm yes yeah exactly exactly and also like when
you feel grouchy when your needs aren't being met like when I'm a hangry monster I don't want people over it's like oh
okay weird weird and annoying that when I prioritize drinking enough water keeping my space organized sleeping
enough and eating three meals a day like my spiritual practice is deeper and more conect how true that is it is so heinous
that we have to take care of ourselves and then when we do it has really great positive consequences yeah also I think
honoring that your relationship with your spirit team is going to e and flow just like your relationship with like
certain friends you know there might be times when you're really really close and feeling really social and there might be times where you feel a little
bit more introverted and you don't want to or or you don't feel as connected and that's normal too like your spirit
team's not going anywhere I like to think of them as like you know if you
like a family member that you have a good positive relationship with but maybe lives further away it's like you
can you can connect with them really intentionally and build and develop that relationship or you know you could kind
of like let them go but every time you come back to them you're going to have that strength yeah oh I love that yeah
your spirit team's like your favorite auntie yeah yeah exactly next how do I
identify quote unquote real metaphysical stores as opposed to marketing scams so I don't know if I'm
interpreting this question correctly because I think like this has different
answers online versus in person yeah I think we should tackle it online and in
person I'm going to give a an inperson answer oh perfect and maybe you want to
give an online answer because I think that they're very different mhm and I'm
going to say something that might be I don't know if it's controversial I'm going to say something that is maybe
like unpopular online which is and this is a conversation that we've been having a lot in the store actually like Anthony
and I have been talking about this a lot which is that people are mostly good it
takes a lot of effort and money and work to open any retail
space yeah yeah I was going to say the majority of physical
spaces I don't worry about especially from the idea of it being a scam quality different conversation differentation
but but and I'll talk about that too but I think that this is something that comes up a lot in any kind of
marginalized Community which I do think that like witches are we are othered
yeah obviously in a very different way like I'm not equating that to any other kind of marginalization but it is right
if it's something that people get made fun of for or people think that we're crazy or stupid or whatever it is you
know that's a form of othering and so I think that that builds up this defensive
layer to us that we want to make sure we like protect our soft underbellies yeah and I think that when
you're going into a physical space it will serve you so well to try as hard as
you can to let that let that down because I think I made this joke when we talked to Anthony a couple weeks ago of
like if I was in it for the get-rich quick I don't know that I would have chosen
metaphysics there are a lot of things that I could have done if I wanted to scam people out of
money large amounts of money I don't know that metaph metaphysics are it and
so that applies I think to every store and so while like your level of resonance
with each store your level of like enjoyment in each store might change I don't think that you're going to walk
into to like any metaphysical store and it be like a full front scam that person
thinks that you're stupid that person doesn't believe in any of this you know like they're just in it for the money
yeah and so I think going into those pieces with a level of vulnerability really will serve you well and I think
you'll be able to see things a little bit clearer I think sometimes this comes up too like we got a question recently I
think someone dm'd us where like they had a me metaphysical store that was run by like white practitioners who were
selling white sage or like other culturally appropriated tools and
they're like should I still shop from there should I not and the way that I kind of look at that cuz I think that
could be kind of grouped in like you know sometimes I see that like grouped in as like oh you shouldn't shop there
because they sell white sage or whatever the way that I look at that is you're allowed to go shop at a store you know
participate in a store and not buy every single thing that they sell mhm like I've been to stores before I'm not going
to name and shame them but there is a chain of stores locally that they have
some good stuff but they also have some like very clear cultural appropriation and when I go in that
store and there's something that like I don't go in very often but like if I'm going in with a friend or whatever and I
see something that I might want I tend to ask to myself like okay could I get this somewhere else that maybe doesn't
do that or is this the only option that I have right and for some people like they
don't have a big metaphysical Community they don't have a big you know they don't have options and so I don't think
we should shame people for shopping at stores that maybe sell things that we wouldn't necessarily agree with yeah but
also like if that makes you uncomfortable then like you don't have to shop there I think that's like where that discernment piece can come in again
and I think like it's important to know that there is also like Nuance to some of those conversations
as well cuz like so we don't sell white sage like as a point we we don't do it
we won't do it we once bought kids from somewhere that we didn't realize had white sage in them and we took all of
the white sage out and donated the white sage like it is really important to us so I don't want you to like I don't want
anybody to misunderstand what I'm saying as I don't think it's important because I do but there have been times like
people indigenous Americans have come into the stores and said why don't you
have white sage like like I'm looking for white sage yeah and you know I explain why obviously but mhm there is
like I I see where there's you know difficulty on all sides yeah and so
that's not to like excuse people participating in cultural appropriation
but I do think it is also important to note that like there are situations in which one a lot of people really don't
know like I know it seems like the way that we talk online that everybody would know by now but that's because your
algorithm is tailored to you yes and especially people who have been in these spaces for like a really long time like
older people who have had these shops for 20 30 years and have always sold
white sage and have never seen it that way or never been told that it's a close practice or whatever like that's a lot
harder of a jump to make to like okay well now what do I do with on my white stage yeah or what do I do with like my
customers who are expecting it and like there is a layer of like you know
I people ask me like do you educate people do you whatever and like that's a question of like what energy level you
have when I'm shopping at a met metaphysical store there are days where I just want to go in and I just want to
be a I just want to be a shopper I don't want to be a teacher I don't want to be
responsible for educating people and I know that's like a privileged take but I also like I know I would burn
out if I had to educate every single person that I ran into that used white
yeah and there are also like a lot of times you don't know when you walk into a store like you don't know who owns
that store if a white person is helping you you don't know for certain that it's
like a white owned store there's like complications and so you don't want to walk in as a white person and be like hey do you know that this is culturally
appropriative and then somebody walks up from the back and is like yeah yes white lady I know and so there there's just
like it's all complicated and everybody has to make their own choices and have their own beliefs about it yeah and not
even maybe that's not the right way to say that I don't know I'm stressed yeah I would say like when it comes to
shopping in person I think the vibe and your discernment is the most important
part is it the whole store you don't Vibe with is it a part of the store is it that's how I need to that's how I
need to word what I want to say there we go I think it's important like going back to letting that soft underbelly out
like before you go into a space guns a blazing and assuming that they must be
horrible people because they have XYZ thing I think taking time to get to know
the people in the store that's how you know the intentions of those people and if it is worth having the conversation
because there are some people that you'll walk in and they'll say [ __ ] you I don't care about cultural appropriation like I've been doing it
this way for however long and I don't need you then you have your so there's your answer but then if you go in and
you spend time with people and you recognize that they do care and they are interested in learning mhm and you do
want to have that conversation that's a whole different story and so not to say that either are scams yeah but it's like
where do you want to give your energy yeah yeah yeah vote with your dollars so
what about online what are some ways to tell the real places from the scam places this feels like a more cut and
dry like scam situation like yeah so red flags that I look out for and this used
to come up a lot in like 2021 when mulite was first like really really
trending I I have to know the cycles of trend for moldiv Vite because I had a video that went super super viral in
2021 and every couple of months that video will get like 50,000 views and
I'll be like Madison moldiv light trending again but the number one thing that I look out for is when you're shopping
online does the shop sell metaphysical items or does it sell random [ __ ] plus
crystals that's interesting because I remember a lot of the scam stores like the the true like hard and fast scam
stores it was like they would sell mulite whatever Crystal was also popular so like Carnelian at the time and then
like a 3D tiger portrait and like a massage like shoulder massager and like
a you know whatever like random [ __ ] what I really like to do if I'm not sure
if an online store is a scam or not I like to find their social media mhm so I
would say say most most um you know legitimate
stores that are you know they have websites or whatever because a lot of these scams will have like Well Done
websites um but then you go to their Social Links at the bottom and it will it won't go to a profile or it will go
to a brand new profile that only has like stock images and doesn't have any tags or follows or whatever so I will
kind of sus that out I will also look up like reviews like I will often Google
the company name and personally to just avoid scams altogether what I do is I
shop from retail stores that also have online so like your shops I feel pretty
comfortable shopping from pretty comfortable I just purchased your
biggest order ever what could I do to make you feel more comfortable shopping at my small business Molly please let me
know pretty comfortable my ass I also like if I'm not sure about a shop
and they also have an Etsy I might make my first purchase from their Etsy that's a but that's a great Point yeah because
there's more protections in place through that platform and then I like to once I kind of like the shop I go
straight to their website because then they don't have to worry about the Etsy fees or whatever and that's one of the ways that like we can contribute to
small businesses more but that's typically what I do is just kind of like sus it out if I get any like m I don't
know about this one thing that I love to do is I love to DM them a question and
if they don't answer my question or if they answer my question in kind of like a vague way or they try to push me into
a sale or like for me this is specific to me but they'll they they won't answer
me but they'll be like hey we want to send you some stuff if you make a post then that's a red flag for me also I
think like if you specifically with crystals if you have a shop that you're not sure about and you are like
especially if you're purchasing from a place like Etsy where there are protections one of the most common fake crystals that I think is easiest to
identify is malachite oh yeah so buy buy a malachite tumble of some sort because
they are so frequently made of plastic and it's very obvious MH in my opinion
it's very easy to tell and if not there's like lots of tests like you can use like a lighter and if it you know if it melts obviously don't do that don't
do that that's very dangerous sorry don't do that don't do that don't do that yeah fake malachite will look like
if you Google fake malachite you'll see pictures of it but it always looks like clay to me like polymer clay or the
Rings just look too perfect the other thing that I do if I'm not sure about a shop is I will look up crystals that I
know are commonly like mislabeled so I will look up Moonstone and if they have opalite
labeled as Moonstone that's a red flag for me and if you Google Moonstone versus opalite you'll see like very
clear distinctions opalite is made of glass and a lot of times s the websites that are run by people who aren't like
real crystal curators and lovers will just like take their wholesaler at face
value and call it Moonstone and I think that's like something that's important too sorry I not to cut you off but in
that situation again like coming from the perspective of a shop owner because we have I've had earrings before that do
you remember this I do remember this oh my God we were sold fake malachite
earrings and I had the most embarrassing moment of my life because they were featured in a video on my Tik Tok and
everybody was like those are not malachite those are not Malachite and so while I say it's very obvious to tell it's very obvious to tell in a situation
like a tumble and I reached out to the brand and they sold the earrings to us
as malachite but then when I asked them questions they were like oh it's actually it wasn't clay it was like like
resin no it was like other Stones like they had like put together like some malachite with some other Stones yeah
like to make it look like malachite yeah they synthesized it uhhuh and so how
somebody responds when you point out that distinction yes like if you message
someone you say hey these are labeled Moonstone but they look like opalite can you tell me like what's going on yeah if
they're like cuz I've never felt embarrassment and shame like I did yeah and God bless
America I had only sold that one one pair of those earrings and I sold them to a friend who is not a crystal person
she's just like a cutie jewelry person and so I called her and I was like those aren't real Malik I'm so sorry I'm so embarrassed she's like I do not give a
[ __ ] like I just like these earrings and we sent them back whatever blah blah blah I don't shop with those people anymore I won't name in shame yeah I
think too like yeah Discerning how they talk about it I also look for like I
read I read the about me about shops I read their stories a lot of times you can tell when they're AI generated those
are usually scams mhm or the other thing I look at is pricing so I okay this is
like a fun behind the scenes because I have a large following I get emails every single day from random crystal
shops and this is this is what I do to see if there's scams is I go and I look
at their pricing and I've become really familiar with Crystal pricing at this point but I look at what I would think
is the cheapest thing in their shop and the price of that and if I go
oh then I know there's something wrong like remember the other day when I sent you a picture and I was like guess how
much this bracelet costs it's oh yeah it's amethyst and silver and you're were like I don't know like $25 and I was
like $763 I was like ABS [ __ ] lutely not
and they had no social media they all their reviews seemed like AI generated with like stock images it was just like
absurd I was just like no people are wilding out here I know I know all right
so yeah I think I think the more you look at them the more you get better at it but when in doubt just shop from a a
retail store that has an online presence or shop from Madison stores listen I
wouldn't be mad about it but I do think like I know that this is something that's not available to everyone but I
really do think that like going to your local metaphysical store and establishing a relationship there yeah
like that is not I don't want to say the best way to do it but that is like that's the tried and true right like
that's a way that fills your cup not only like spiritually but also on like a human level and I think that that's
really important yes yes next all right burned another simmer pot this morning
any alternatives to running the stove I chose this question purely because I was obsessed with the warning burn another
simmer pot been there done that pot the T-shirt okay I have been testing out different
methods of simmer potting that people have tagged me in so I have I do have
definitive answers for you great cuz I don't cuz I'm not really a simmer pot person I recently purchased a candle
warmer I did a review of this on Instagram because everyone kept tagging me in this like candle warmer simmer pot
and it works however it does not throw the scent as far and it does Char like
if you have any ingredients that are sticking out of the water like I had a cinnamon stick and some cranberries sticking out of the water and those got
charred so I can't tell you like it definitively like this is a safe alternative but the candle warmer I have
has a timer on it so you can do 2 hours 4 hours 8 hours and I think as long as you're in the same room as it it's less
like the water did not evaporate as fast as a simmer pot does so that's one option another option I have is and
these are all on my Amazon storefront if you go to my Instagram bio under shop
you'll see it I have a mini cauldron that hangs over a te light I was just about to say we sell those in the store
and the tealight makes it own little yeah buy them from the store but I like that one because I turn the tealight
into a spell candle and then it doubles up you and it's like its own like it's
it's a natural timer yes it's Nature's timer Nature's timer yeah so that's one
that I like because it's a very very small amount of liquid and small amount of herbs so that's when I'll keep like
on my desk and then the third one that people have told me about is the crock poot so you get a 2q crock pot or 3Q
whatever you have and you put the simmer pot in there I have not been able to make that work so if you but I get so I
get comments every single day from people who do this so I know it does work I just I haven't had the patience
really to like toy around with it from what I've heard people have said you keep the lid on until it gets hot and
then you open the lid up and that works I tried with the lid off the whole time and I could not get it to throw the
scent so those are my recommendations take them or leave them
great yeah all right did we do it I think we
did it proud of us look at us go love that for us all right love that
for us if you have any cues that we maybe haven't Aid yet we have a Google
form in the show notes if you want to ask ask us a question give a suggestion
for a future episode we love toar he from you let us know what you thought and go support your local metaphysical
store especially if you live in St Petersburg or Tarpon Springs Florida subtle very subtle love you guys
bye thanks for listening to demystify magic with Molly and Madison if you want to learn more about us you can find all
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let us know your magical moment of the week okay love you bye