Living the Mystery vs. Buying the Vibe

When Magic Becomes Merchandise

Some people find magic. Others survive by it.

I’m the second kind.

That’s why I can’t pretend it doesn’t sting a little watching people treat the sacred like it’s a sticker pack.

Recently, I found myself in a space full of self-proclaimed witches. There were candles, astrologer shout-outs, “angel number” sightings, and all the right buzzwords. And while it wasn’t performative in a malicious way, something felt hollow.

The stories shared were cute. Dinner party cute. No risk. No rupture. No wrestling with the Mystery.

Just...vibes.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Everyone has a right to explore the unseen in the way that makes sense to them. But I kept feeling like I was watching people try magic on like a hat. Like they could wear it in a safe space and take it off the moment the timer dinged.

And that’s when I realized: This wasn’t about devotion. This was about aesthetic.

✦ Magic as Aesthetic vs. Magic as Path

We’re in a cultural moment where mysticism is trending. You can buy “energy clearing” room spray at Target. You can post your tarot pull and watch the likes roll in. There are monthly boxes, influencer priestesses, “manifest it” hoodies, and crystal starter kits that promise to heal your life.

It’s adorable. It’s lucrative. And it’s safe.

But real magic is none of those things. Real magic has cost.

It costs your certainty. It costs your ego. Sometimes it costs your relationships, your credibility, your ability to move through the world like nothing’s changed.

Because something has. You have.

Magic, when lived—not worn—will rearrange you. It will ask you to trust things you can’t prove. It will pull you out of the center and leave you exiled at the edge.

And still, it will whisper: “Keep going. I never promised answers. Only transformation.”

✦ You Don’t Flirt with the Mystery. You Court It.

I don’t dabble in mysticism on Wednesday nights. I breathe it. I bleed it. It’s not something I do. It’s how I live.

It showed up in the silence after my mother died. It moved through me when no one else would hold my grief. It rebuilt me when the systems failed, when the voices gaslit, when nothing else could make sense of what I was sensing.

I don’t wear it as a look. I source it from the dark. And I wrestle with it every day.

Especially the doubt.

Because when you live by the Mystery, you don’t get proof. You get presence. You get initiation. You get trust you didn’t know you had until the moment you needed it.

And most days I’m still learning how to trust that trust. Because that’s the path. That’s the vow. That’s the real magic.

Our true power is our trust, which is why everyone is fighting for it. So when we can wield it for ourselves, we are truly in our power. You can hear a deep dive into Trust as Power in A Kind of Self Trust. I didn't realize the power of trust until this moment.

✦ This Isn’t Judgement. It’s Discernment.

I’m not here to gatekeep. But I am here to guard the sacred.

There’s a difference between being judgmental and being initiated.

Judgment says “You’re not doing it right.”

Discernment says “Not all that glitters is gold.”

So if you’re just here for the vibe, cool. But don’t confuse the vibe for the void. And don’t treat someone’s lived spirituality like it’s merch.

Because some of us didn’t find magic. We were forged by it.

✦ If This Resonates…

You're not alone. If you’ve ever felt too intense, too mystical, too honest to fit into surface-level spirituality—you’re not too much.

You’re just real.

Keep living it. Keep trusting it. Even when it’s inconvenient. Especially when it’s inconvenient.

Because we don’t need more witchy influencers. We need more edgewalkers. More threshold-dwellers. More priestesses of the void.

You don’t have to wear the costume. You are the altar.