There are many ways to spend a weekend. You could take a nap. You could clean your gutters. You could alphabetize your spice rack. Or, if you hate yourself and have an extra $500 burning a hole in your pocket, you could attend something like the Ascension Gathering, a weekend festival devoted to raising your … Read more
There’s a special kind of theatrical stupidity involved in crystal ball gazing, and humanity has embraced it for centuries like a drunk clinging to a lamppost — not for illumination, but for support. The basic idea is simple: take a highly polished ball of quartz, or glass, or whatever’s cheapest at the local renaissance festival, … Read more
There’s something particularly grating about watching a suburban yoga instructor in $200 leggings stand in a circle of tourists, waving a smoldering bundle of sage like they’re warding off invisible mosquitos, and announcing that they’re “clearing negative energy.” Welcome to the world of modern smudging — where ancient spiritual practices are Xeroxed, mispronounced, stripped of … Read more
There was a time when looking at the Great Pyramid of Giza could fill a person with proper awe — the kind of admiration you should feel when you realize that, five thousand years ago, without cranes, GPS, or a single MBA consultant, human beings dragged two-ton stones across a desert, stacked them with supernatural … Read more
Let’s be honest: ghost hunters are just cosplayers who got lost on their way to the paintball field. The “science” of ghost hunting boils down to this: turn off all the lights, wander around abandoned buildings in cargo pants, whisper “Did you hear that?” every six seconds, and record some static to call it a … Read more
Somewhere near Sparrow’s Hollow, Massachusetts, wedged between an abandoned corn maze and a souvenir stand that only sells dreamcatchers and beef jerky, you’ll find the Smooching Stone. According to legend — and a very enthusiastic handwritten sign — anyone who kisses the stone will be “blessed with eternal love, lifelong luck, and possibly spiritual enlightenment, … Read more
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones — but people who find themselves facing a cosmic dilemma might want to try it. Are you torn between two lovers? Trying to decide which job offer to take? Do you wish the ancient gods would whisper words of wisdom in your ear? The answer is … Read more
At some point in history, someone looked at a calendar, panicked, and decided numbers weren’t just useful for counting goats and debts — they were mystical. In that instant, numerology was born. Numerology: the belief that your destiny can be uncovered by assigning magical significance to basic arithmetic. The premise is laughably simple: take your … Read more
Remote viewing is what happens when you take the ancient art of guessing and slap a government grant on it. It’s the mystical claim that certain gifted individuals can see distant locations, hidden objects, or secret events simply by concentrating really, really hard. In other words: psychic tourism, without leaving the couch. At its peak, … Read more
Lucid dreaming — the art of realizing you’re dreaming and allegedly controlling the action — is one of those concepts that sounds profound until you realize it mainly involves a lot of yelling “Fly!” and waking up disappointed. Naturally, it’s been monetized. Welcome to lucid dreaming retreats — weekend getaways where you pay hundreds of … Read more