Do You Woo-Woo?

Like cutting your hair according to the lunar phases, beauty and esotericism have always gone hand in hand. Here, we guide you through the latest well-being practices to invoke the hippie in you.

- VITORIA MOURA GUIMARAES

Not long ago, if you were to tell a friend that you were being guided by a clairvoyant or seeing a healer to cleanse your energy field, they might have looked at you awkwardly. Nowadays, chances are that energetic change in tarot therapy or family constellations have become commonplace in conversations amongst your closest peers.

Astrology has become mainstream. Everyone seems to know the date of the next supermoon; numerologists are an attraction at birthday parties; and crystals are now part of our home decor. Like SoulCycle classes, some mystic and esoteric practices have become part of our wellness routine.

“We’re living in an anxiogenic period: We recently faced a global pandemic, and we’re constantly being bombarded with catastrophe and tragic news, even if we don’t search for it. We’re craving comfort, to feel better,” beauty brand strategist Audrey Roulin points out, underlining that the prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25 per cent worldwide in the first year of the Covid‑19 pandemic, according to a recent study by the World Health Organization. Providing a potential explanation for why people are increasingly turning to esoteric or mystic practices to guide them, Portugal‑based energy healer and psychic medium Francine Stela Takara notes that “the isolation of the lockdowns gave us a great impulse to awaken our conscience”.