This review has been a long time in coming…read more
Over twenty-five years ago, I was friendly for several years with Rose, one of the owners, and her daughter Robin, who is still the resident "intuitive reader".
I was introduced to them because I was going through a terrible time. Over a period of years, as my life fell apart, I was repeatedly told by the people who congregated there that everything that was happening to me was due to one or more of the following:
- it was something I'd agreed to before I came into this life;
- we're here to "learn lessons" and I was failing to learn them;
- I was "manifesting" everything that was happening to me, telling the universe it was what I wanted even if I wasn't consciously aware of it;
- that God/Spirit/the universe (take your pick) was offering me what I needed, but I wasn't seeing it because I was focused only on what I wanted.
In other words, my suffering was my own fault. It was standard New Age fare - puerile rationalizations and failed psychological counseling without training, qualifications or a license. Moreover, it was relentless, repetitive, went on for years, and I now regard it as a form of abuse. I should have walked away long before I did.
When I knew them, the store was a gathering place for numerous psychics, channelers, Wiccans, card readers, energy healers, "shamanic practitioners" & other assorted people who believed they were inherently gifted or just went to a few weekend workshops and considered themselves qualified to do whatever it was they were doing. I tried various New Age healing and interventional modalities; nothing worked, not one piece of information I was given was accurate & not one prediction (from those who made them as part of their practice) came to pass. I was fed a great deal of nonsense while my life continued to spiral downward, despite everything I tried to do to help myself - & while it was spiraling, it always came back to the same thing: I was consistently told that it was all somehow my fault (although they bristled at my use of the word). The people who gathered around that store epitomized the New Age ethos of blaming the victim.
I complained about this on a number of occasions, & was at one point told, "It isn't an exact science; it's really like guessing." This was actually said. On another, I was accused of shaking my fist at God. They practice theology the same way they practice therapy - with neither training nor qualifications, & with a belief in their ability to understand complex subjects that doesn't hold up in reality.
Several times, I said to both Rose and Robin, "If we're here to learn lessons, and the same things keep happening to me repeatedly because I'm somehow not 'getting' those lessons, there has to be a problem with the presentation - because I'm simply not that stupid." This was invariably met with silence.
I should also mention that at no point was there ever an apology. If something along the lines of, "We don't understand what's going on in your life and we're sorry we can't help you" had been said, I would be much more forgiving. Instead, there was always either silence or a rationalization involving my culpability - again, it was always my fault. It was never that their foundational beliefs were wrong; that was unthinkable.
I have to assume the people who post positive reviews here and on Facebook either go there solely for New Age paraphernalia and leave it at that, or if they go for some sort of "spiritual counseling", they're told what they want to hear.
The only further contact occurred years after I'd ended the relationships, when I emailed one of them to express my frustration and resentment. Again, there was no apology. The reply was acrimonious, defensive, and of course, blamed me both for their failures and for my own discomfiture. As is typical within that subculture, she took no responsibility for misleading me while emphasizing *my* responsibility.
I'm posting this because it's festered within me for over two decades. I was given a lot of false hope at a time when I needed genuine answers, and I came out of it with a profound contempt for both the New Age belief system and the subculture that embraces it. If there is anyone else who walked away from that world disgruntled, perhaps they'll read this and realize they aren't alone.
On their Facebook page, they describe their business as "a haven of nurturing and healing to those needing physical and spiritual restoration". It was anything but that for me.
If you're looking for crystals, jewelry, New Age books (which I think are a waste of time, but if that's what you want), Tarot cards, Native American flutes and carvings, etc. - they have a very good selection. If you're thinking of going there for any sort of counseling or supernatural intervention (for lack of a better term) - my advice is to steer clear.
Everything these people believe is harmful and misleading nonsense - and everything they told me was untrue.
