News

How to tell what you are actually buying: five tests you can do at home
A crystal ball is usually glass. Dyed howlite is sold as turquoise. And UK law says a 20g piece described as silver must be hallmarked. Five tests, no equipment. Read more...
Your first altar: there is no correct way, and that is documented
The four-element layout every guide teaches is about a hundred years old. Knowing that frees you to build something you will actually use. Read more...
Masala, dipped or resin: what you are actually burning
Most cheap incense sticks are unscented sawdust dipped in fragrance oil. That is not a scandal — but it explains the headache. Read more...
Tarot was a card game for three hundred years
Nobody used tarot for divination until the 1780s. The cards existed for three and a half centuries before that, and people played with them. Read more...
There is no ancient list of zodiac crystals
Every list contradicts every other list, because none of them descends from a source. The modern birthstone chart was written by a trade body in 1912. Read more...
What water, salt and sunlight actually do to your stones
Three of the six standard cleansing methods will damage a specific list of stones. Here is which, and the mineralogy behind it. Read more...
What a stone can and cannot do for anxiety
We sell crystals. We are not going to tell you they treat anxiety, because they do not — and the reason they still help some people is more interesting than the claim. Read more...
Palo santo is not endangered — you are thinking of a different tree
Two trees are called palo santo. One of them is in trouble. It is almost certainly not the one in your drawer. Read more...
Three cards, and why the positions do all the work
Past, present, future is one option out of hundreds. The spread is a grammar, not a formula — and you can write your own in about ten seconds. Read more...
Amethyst was a precious stone until someone found Brazil
For most of recorded history amethyst ranked with diamond, ruby, emerald and sapphire. Then a German immigrant walked into a Brazilian hillside in the 1830s and the price never recovered. Read more...