Have you ever felt like you don’t fit in the box that people try and put you in? Finding true belonging means stepping into your authenticity so deeply that you completely embrace who you are. When our guest today felt unwelcome in her local crystal shop, she shook up the industry and created a space at the table for those interested in crystals so they too could find true belonging.
In this episode, I am talking to Rachael James, founder of Wild Alabaster, a Fair Trade crystal shop with a mission to bring crystals into our modern lifestyle and make them accessible to all. Rachael is sharing her insight on why crystals are for everyone, the importance of authenticity and creating space, and how to break down those barriers so you can start your own journey with crystals.
What we covered:
- The story behind the creation of Wild Alabaster
- Why you sometimes need to build your own table to sit at
- Understanding that crystals are for everyone
- The energetics of crystals
- How Rachael ethically sources her crystals
Connect with Rachael James:
Website: https://www.wildalabaster.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildalabaster/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172484500758949
Links Mentioned:
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If you’re curious about crystals, but don’t feel ”woowoo” enough to buy your own, Rachael James from Wild Alabaster is here to help you break down those barriers so you can start your own journey with crystals. Rachael is passionate about opening up the crystal world to everyone so that we can all have a seat at the crystal table and find true belonging again.
Meg: Rachael, welcome to the Whimsy & Wellness podcast.
Rachael: Thank you for having me. I’m really and truly just so honored.
Meg: Oh my gosh, we are so excited to have you. Our whole team was like, you have to get Rachael James to talk about crystals. It was a no brainer. So we were all squealing when you said that you would come and chat with us about crystals and just all the things. So thank you so much for doing this.
Okay, so I’ve heard you speak before on oils. One of my upline had you come talk in a group and I’m just following you on Instagram. I just love that you don’t sugarcoat things, no BS. And I think my personal favorite thing about you even though this is the first time we’ve met is you are so you, that it makes me feel like I can be me.
So I’m just excited for people to hear from you specifically about crystals. We’re going to talk about the crystal world and even the essential oil world can kind of feel like, well, if I don’t know anything, I don’t belong, or if I’m not this way, I don’t belong. And so I just love that you’re like, ya know, whoever you are, you belong.
Rachael: First, I’m just sitting here nodding my head because yes to all of those things. I’m half crying. Thank you. I spent a lot of time trying to be somebody who I wasn’t and it just did not work out. And then I saw a bunch of women living in their authentic light. And I was like, wait, oh my gosh, that’s, I want. To live my life like that, too. So I’ve tried really hard to create space for myself to just show up exactly who I am. So I’m glad that you feel like it resonates because I had women come before me that model that.
Meg: Yeah, just watching someone be themselves is not just healing for you to be yourself but other people watching you Be yourself. I can be me and it’s just the best. Okay, so we’re going to be talking about crystals. The building of Wild Alabaster, your semi-new – how old is Wild Alabaster now?
Rachael: That’s an interesting question. I was at the Department of Revenue today. So the Department of Revenue has a different kind of timeline, but it was really an evolution. It’s solidified as an LLC in July of 2020. And so we’re less than six months old, according to them. However, in May of 2020, I started putting the balls in motion to turn this into something a little bit bigger than a side hustle and not on my kitchen table. So we’re between six and eight months old.
Meg: Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know you’re that young. Congrats on everything. So we’re going to dive into all of that. So I won’t get too far ahead of myself. But we’ll be talking about Wild Alabaster. So that’s a little preview, and then also just beginner questions and answers on crystals, which I’m also a noob. So for listeners who are like, I don’t know anything, it’s okay! I just got my first crystal the other day. And I realized as I was saying this I forgot the name of it.
Rachael: It’s okay, tell me what it looks like.
Meg: Okay, so it’s teal, and it has like purples in it. I want to say it’s like Ruby in something or Ruby.
Rachael: Yes, yes. Ruby Fuchsite.
Meg: Okay, cool. That’s my first one Haley actually gifted it to me.
Rachael: That is an incredible gift. And that is a really magical super special crystal for your first one.
Meg: Oh, I’m so excited. When I unwrapped, I could tell that it was a crystal and I’m like, my first crystal and then I was like, This is so pretty. It looks fake. I know it’s not. And the earth did that. Without any help from anybody. It just nailed it.
So cool. Okay, well, thank you for clearing that up. You gotta Google it. It’s so pretty. Okay, so let’s start with your crystal journey. Can you kind of take me back to how you got started with crystals?
Rachael’s Journey With Crystals
Rachael: It’s an interesting and kind of convoluted story. But I’ll give a Reader’s Digest version of it. So I was born at home in the Caribbean, so homebirth, to a midwife, like Renegade at style hippie mom. We started using Young Living essential oils when I was a child, literally a child because of my mom. She’s a home birth midwife, and she wanted oils that were safe to put on women’s bottoms after childbirth, so Young Living was the only option. And I personally still think that it is.
However, we had crystals our whole life. They were just in our house, my mom incorporated some Fung Shui aspects of using crystals. She had this kind of philosophy of like, bring as much of the outside inside as possible. Even though growing up in the Caribbean we were outside. Everything is. There’s no air conditioning. So everything is kind of like this inside outside vibe.
When you’re a kid, kids love rocks. Children have not been deprogrammed, they’re still wild, they’re still at their essence, a part of the earth. And that’s why children, especially babies will crawl to them. Babies put everything in their mouth, but rocks, they look at it, and they shove them straight in. They’re like, yes, this is mine.
I remember we would put rocks in our pants, and my mom’s like, there’s always rocks in the dryer, and I have rocks in the dryer all the time because of my children. So I knew, based on my mom’s example, I knew that I wanted to incorporate natural lifestyle into our family. And so oils came, crystals came. My husband is a chiropractor and a functional medicine physician. So it’s just a part of our life.
And I started collecting crystals. As an adult, I would go to different rock shops. And they all kind of left me with this feeling of I don’t belong here. This isn’t for you. You’re not this way. And so I stopped going. And then I learned that pretty close to us, there was a wholesaler, one of the biggest wholesalers in the country was 12 miles from my doorstep. However, you needed a retail license, and a big buy-in, like a big buy-in. And so my husband has a retail license, and I walked in under his clinic name. And I forked out that amount of money. For our family, it was a lot a couple $1,000. And you can only do that like one time, right?
We have a lot of crystals. I had to spend all this money for a 200 pound Rose Quartz boulders. Like they have their own chair for either side of our fireplace. Like that’s kind of what I bought. And so then within like a month, I was like jonesing again. And I was like, Okay, how am I gonna do this again?
So I rounded up like a handful of girlfriends and I was like, I’m going to do this thing. I’m going to go to the whole seller. I’m gonna buy this but like, I need you to chip in $500. Your girlfriends can only do that, like once. And so then I was like, Hey, I’m gonna do this thing. We’ll do a co op style who’s in and I got like, 40 people together and we did it that way. And then Wild Alabaster kind of happened.
Meg: That’s amazing. I love that so much. So what was your first crystal?
Rachael: Oh my gosh, my first crystal. I think my mom had. I took it from her. She had this Big sitri Drew’s amazing. Like it was huge. It was, I mean, probably the size of like a medium watermelon. And I was like, hey, I want that. And then. And then she bought me for Christmas, some agate bookends. And she bought me a pair of Rose Quartz pair. And well, maybe it wasn’t Rose Quartz, maybe it was like dyed pink agate. I think that’s probably what it was. My color growing up was pink, and my sister was purple. And so my sister got this pale purple pair. And she showed me a picture of them recently. She’s like, Look, I still have them. But the dye has faded out of them. And it’s this really beautiful natural light cream I get. So yeah, those two were, that’s what I remember.
Meg: But it was so cool. And when you were saying like babies and kids eat rocks. Just today, my eight month old son was like sucking on my crystal because it’s a tower. And at first, I was like, Oh, don’t eat that. And then I’m like, maybe it’s good for him. Maybe. So I just let him teeth on it. Maybe there are crystal people that are cringing at me right now. But I felt like it couldn’t be the worst thing.
Rachael: It’s definitely not the worst thing and if he’s feeling intuitive with that, and it probably did feel really good in his mouth.
Meg: Okay. So, let’s go back to where you didn’t feel like you belonged and the crystal world. I was making me think of that, like Brene Brown quote – Holy like fangirl. Love me some Brene Brown.
Rachael: It’s actually interesting that you talk about Brene because Brene and I are best friends. Like in the whole entire world. She just doesn’t know about me. While working, I slide into her dm set. Never get seen. But do you want a crystal? Like, literally like all the crystals, please?
Meg: Yes. Okay, so what she said about belonging, I pulled it up for us because it makes me cry.
“True Belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness, and both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are, it requires you to be who you are.”
That makes me want to cry. Like, why is that not like the anthem that we are told from when we started walking?
Finding Belonging In The Crystal World Again
Rachael: I know, seriously, I actually read that quote my children like, so often. It’s beautiful. It is beautiful. It’s powerful. And it’s true. So I’m interesting, like I’m in my authenticity, our most authentic. Oh, my goodness, my most authentic self,
Just this kind of like, I don’t fit in the box. And I especially don’t fit in the box that people want to try and put me in. I feel like I straddle a lot of interest and style. And so I’ve walked into these crystal shops and – I was born at home, my mother delivered my children on my bedroom floor, and literally put a raw chunk of my placenta in a smoothie after they were born to help with postpartum, with mil,k with uterine contractions.
I would walk into a crystal store and not feel woowoo or witchy or cool or whatever enough. And it’s like the crystal world has been dominated by something where I felt like I didn’t belong. And I remember thinking, if I feel like I don’t belong here, what is like the woman on my right – How does she feel?
I have always thought, I want to provide this to the world. I just don’t know how to because I don’t belong. And then Wild Alabaster started.
Why Wild Alabaster Was Created
It’s conception was born at my friends. Brittany Ballard and Annie Hauser did a Young Living event at the end of January of 2020. And I was going anyways to cheer on my girlfriends who were speaking. And Brittany called me and was like, Hey, I know that you’re coming. Why don’t you sell crystals? And I was like, Oh, I don’t sell crystals. And she was like, Listen, the crystal shops in our area are ridiculously overpriced and have a bad vibe. We don’t want them at our event. But you can hold this space for people. I had been sending them crystals. And they’re like, you can do this, just come.
So I loaded up my car with crystals. And I drove to Philly, from Charleston to Philly, and sold crystals for eight hours. And the conversation that I kept having over and over and over again with people was, oh my gosh, I felt like I didn’t belong in the crystal world. I felt like I wasn’t allowed to have crystals. And they would say things like, I didn’t think that I was witchy enough, or I’m not enough or I believe in Jesus, or I, whatever, like fill in the blank.
Over and over again, for eight hours. It was oh my gosh, me too. I want these tools. I feel super connected. But I didn’t know that I was allowed to. And I just couldn’t like I couldn’t shake that. It really spoke to the core of who I am and creating and holding space.
So the entire drive back from Philly to Charleston I was like, how am I gonna do this? I have a diamond Young Living team. I have four children that I homeschool. What does this even look like? But I just knew that it had to happen. I talked to my husband about it.
I’m such a guess person. And I’m married I guess person. So that’s like, super beneficial. But he was like babe, you’ve been called to this. You have to run with it if this is what you feel like is being spoken and you have to like grab hold and make it happen.
So the vision for me was like, Okay, well, I can do just like a Facebook thing. A live sale one time a month. I can make space for that. I spend some time curating crystals, not getting overwhelmed, because there are so many crystals in the world. So I can curate a collection of crystals, and then just sell whatever I sell. And that’s it for the month. And then I’ll start again next month. And that happened.
February, March, April, and then May was a really big month. I was like, I don’t have the capacity for this. But I had already started moving. And the story that kept coming up was I didn’t think that I belonged in this world. And so Wild Alabaster is kind of a story of belonging in a lot of ways.
Meg: Yeah, you really took this pain point and just built something instead of letting it be like, okay, I don’t belong. I feel like that’s such a testament to whether it’s crystals or something else, if you get that feeling of like, Oh, you don’t belong here – you don’t have to take that. You can build your own thing.
Building Your Own Table To Sit At
Rachael: I actually listened to an incredible podcast with Brene Brown and Abby Wambach who is basically like the number one goal scoring female soccer player in the world. And they were talking about it on Brene’s Dare To Lead podcast on Spotify. Because her friends are so diverse. And they were talking about how women are vying for a seat at this table. Instead of being like, actually, I’ll just go over here and build my own table that’s big enough for Abby calls it the wolf pack. I’m going to build my own table. And it’s going to be big enough for my Wolf Pack, which is all of the women around her.
And we do. We go, Okay, I can’t sit at this table, and then we feel like we don’t belong, which creates shame. And it brings up all of our emotions and our pain points and we’re left with hurt instead of going, Okay, you’re right, I don’t belong. So I’m just going to sit at this other table, I’m going to build my own table where I belong, and I can bring belonging for other women. And it’s so true. It’s really important. It’s an important thing to be brave enough to do that.
Yeah. And I really think you not belonging somewhere is a “them” problem. Even though it feels like, I don’t belong here. I’m not welcome here. It’s like, No, no, no. Look at your community. Crystals, wherever that is, for people where you feel like, I want this thing, but I don’t belong.
Even last year, I was in Burlington, and there was a crystal shop there. I went in and I was so excited because I was super into essential oils, but just saw pictures of crystals. And I’m like, I am going to embody this hippie life and buy a crystal. And just the same thing that you explained. I’m sure a lot of listeners can relate to feeling like you don’t belong here.
The only thing the shop owner said to me the entire time happened when I went to take a photo of this beautiful crystal that I wanted to buy. She just said, you can’t take pictures in here. And so I just left, and I felt so almost embarrassed like I had accidentally come into your house and it’s like I’m going into your business. But at the time I felt I didn’t belong there. But it’s really anywhere where you feel like you don’t belong, that is their problem. They build a really crappy table. Right? Oh, go build your own awesome big one.
You know, and to that the times where I felt like I don’t belong. And I’ve walked away. I walk away, I lick my wounds, I feel sad, I feel hurt. I feel my spectrum. I talked myself out of my shame spiral. I asked myself questions like, Is this true?
I’m so glad that I didn’t pull up a chair. You know? Because I mean, not belonging, it was a good thing. Almost. It saved me from a lot of pain and self compromise of my authentic self and my value systems. And then I am able to either sit somewhere where I do belong, and it gives me so much life, or I build my own table.
Meg: Yeah. And just think of how many people have crystals in their home for the first time this year. Because you for the first time made them feel like, Oh, I could actually belong here. Or, that just makes me teary that you’re doing incredible things with this.
Rachael: Thank you. I get messages, like every single day. And it literally breaks my heart in the best way. I just I’m like oh my gosh, yes. Like you do belong here. And these tools do belong in your house and are good for you. And I’m grateful because they are tools and not for one kind of person or only three kinds of people get them. They are here for all of us.
Meg: Yeah, I love that. Okay, so we’re gonna talk about crystals more in a minute, which I’m so excited to keep learning about. But with Wild Alabaster, what strategies did you use to build this business? So you felt like I don’t belong here. I’m building my own table. What are the strategies you use to do that?
Strategies Used To Build A Business
Rachael: It was a product of a lot of work on myself, of getting to a place where I felt worthy of building my own table and opening my mouth about it. Taking the rest of say, I’m building this and not being afraid of like, what if nobody comes to sit here? So I think a lot of it was bravery.
I mean, I know I like people, especially after growing a network marketing business. People want the 1234 Steps to Success. However, I think that step one is getting brave and being authentic. And so that was really the biggest thing. And I started sharing my story. And then I had people say, me too, and want to follow along. Yeah.
Meg: I love that. It’s hard work. But simple work. People always say, yeah, it isn’t this secret formula as much as we want it to be, whether it’s the essential oil business or starting our own. Everyone wants this secret potion, but there is none.
That’s what Brene talks about. And she’s like, I’ve tried to find all of the shortcuts around vulnerability, but there are none. That’s the thing with business. There’s no shortcuts. There’s no cheats. It’s just showing up, getting brave, taking the risk, and running with it.
Rachael: Yeah. Can we just like get Brene up in here for this interview?
Meg: I wish I could say like, Guys, she’s here. Rachael’s on the floor. Rachael passed out. We lost Rachael. But we have Brene Brown. Come take my seat. Okay, maybe in the coming years, we’ll do a crystal chat with Brene.
So we kind of talked about this, but I really want to hit home for people. Do you have to be super earthy or spiritual or crystal person or a stereotype to use crystals? Like, I really think that’s a struggle of people who weren’t born at home. I have an upline member who I love. She always says I was raised on mac and cheese and antibiotics. I love that because she says, I use essential oils. And so like, Can you just kind of talk to that? Smash any thoughts around it? I can’t use crystals because I fill in the blank.
Why Crystals Are For Everyone / Busting The Stereotypes Around Crystals
Rachael: There is none. Everybody can use crystals. We are from the earth. And so are the rocks. The rocks have been here since the beginning of time before there was any subculture of parceled out entitlement to the crystal world. There wasn’t one. They were here before that.
So it doesn’t matter. Yeah, sure. I was born at home. My mom delivered my babies. However, my Wild Alabaster manager, Ali, I literally stole from Free People. She has a degree in design and retail buying. And then my warehouse manager, Abby, she would probably say the same thing. Like she doesn’t know very much about them. But she’s like, I feel connected. And I don’t know why she came from a very, very conservative background. And she was homeschooled based on religious philosophy. And her mom sometimes helps us pack orders because she loves them so much too.
So there’s no one person that they belong to. They belong to all of us and it doesn’t matter. I have people who have never bought crystals in their entire life and they’re like, I don’t know where to start. I’m like shoot girl. Pick which one you think is pretty and start there.
I have people who buy from me, lots of them who are like, Yeah, I don’t believe in anything other than they are pretty. And I want them in my house because they’re pretty great. Like, they are serving their purpose for you. Because you find value in that in their beauty and their majesty. And if that’s all you want to use crystals for, that’s totally fine.
I am so far removed from the dogma of the crystal world. If you want to wash your crystals and cleanse them with dove, go for it. I have created that space for everybody in the Wild Alabaster fam of like you do you. I can direct you in ways that feel authentic to me, however, this is your journey, and it gets to look exactly how you want it to.
You will evolve and it gets to change and you get to change your mind along the way and say, You know what? I actually think that this can clear my solar plexus chakra. You can go from this is just pretty and I want this on my dresser to I’m using this to heal a wound in my knee. That space has been created for everybody.
Meg: Yeah, I love that and a blog post of ours, I think it’s called Can you be a Christian and use crystals? That’s Whimsy and Wellness most viewed blogs. Or one of them at least. And that’s a DM that Haley gets a lot or an email that comes in a lot. I think in spaces where there are rules, or in a crystal world or essential oil world where things might feel like, Ooh, this is woowoo and has rules. You may be feeling like, Oh, I don’t belong here. So you just said, literally anyone can use crystals, you can be a Christian, you can be anybody. If you if you’re feeling drawn, you know?
You Have A Good Enough Reason To Own Crystals
Rachael: Yes, absolutely. And if you’re feeling drawn, because you like pretty sparkly things. That is that is a good enough reason. If you’re feeling drawn, because your life feels out of control, and you need something to grab hold of that is a good enough reason. If you’re feeling drawn, because you are in pain, and you have tried so many different things. And you’re like, let me just try this. You can absolutely.
There is space for all of those things. It’s an entire spectrum. And it’s turned because Wild Alabaster was born out of this pain point of feeling like I didn’t belong, and then hearing the stories of other people feeling like they didn’t belong. I feel like part of my mission is just to throw a freaking crystal at that glass ceiling and explode it like there is no there. There are no rules.
I might be hung out to dry in the crystal world for saying these kinds of things out loud. But like I will. I don’t care because I really don’t believe that there are rules out there. And you know, when I first started Wild Alabaster, I got a lot of shade. I got a lot of people saying you’re not qualified to do this. You’re a fraud.
It was pretty much like in its first couple of days of me opening my mouth and saying this is what I’m doing. I had Facebook and Instagram threads written about me saying that I was just another like yuppie woman trying to commercialize this sacred thing, and it didn’t belong to me. Like that literally happened. And I was like, Okay, if I needed any more confirmation, here it is. Yay. Like, Instagram post. This is what I’m doing it for.
Meg: Uh huh. And the irony of someone saying that you don’t own it, so you can’t do it. It’s like Well, do you own it? Like I’m sorry. Oh, oh, it came from the earth. Oh okay. You must be a mother. Okay. Yeah, well, even, I feel like it’s, yeah, we could go off on that. But we’ll leave that to Brene,
So we said that crystals can just be used as pretty decoration. So for listeners who just want to use them for pretty decoration, you can, but can you kind of talk about the energy and the benefits that are there if people are curious about that piece?
Rachael: Yeah. And there really is. If you start to look for it, there’s so much. I mean we’re doing this podcast on a computer that literally has clear quartz crystals, tiny granite clear quartz crystals to transmit energy. What? Okay, like, need I say more?
Crystals As Energy
Our phones are run off of clear quartz energy transmission. But let’s do a deeper dive into it. So anything that comes from the earth has a vibrational frequency, we have vibrational frequencies, we use essential oils, because they have vibrational frequencies.
Crystals are the same, they have vibrational frequency, in their most bottom atom structure. That’s what they’re there for. They produce things like negative ions. So when we are grounding in the earth, we literally stand on the earth to collect that energetic frequency to regulate our vibrations and our central nervous system. Crystals do the same thing. You grab hold of a crystal, you put it in your hand, and it starts to regulate your nervous system.
It gets just pretty basic. However, there is a lot of science involved. Having them in your home can also shift energy. Crystal crystals will absorb negative energy or negative electromagnetic energy and be transmitted into negative ions. It’s just wild. When you look at EMF protection in homes, the vast majority of it is made from crystals.
So yeah, that’s just kind of the basic intro to it. It comes from the Earth but anything from the earth has a vibrational frequency. We as human beings have a lot of interference in our lives that throw off our frequency.
The different colors of crystals translate. When you see things like orange, and yellow, that’s joyous and uplifting and bright. And greens are prosperous. We know this. You can go to Sherwin Williams and pull out a color thing. And they talk about painting your house to invoke different emotions. And so the crystals bring in that aspect of the color spectrum and the brain.
I mean, it’s just really vast. But in its simplest form, we are from the earth and they’re from the earth. And we’re like little Earth beings. One of my favorite stones is a stone called Rhodonite. And Rhodonite was discovered by indigenous mountain people in Russia centuries ago. And it’s also called Eagle Stone because they watched the Eagles chipping away at the rock face and breaking off pieces of Rhodonite and carrying it into their nests. And so they were like, oh, if the Eagles are doing it, we need to do it. And they started bringing rhodonite into their homes and creating jewelry that went around the breast for soldiers and warriors or people in hard times to invoke the spirit of the eagle. Like against their chest and to have that forward facing brave Eagle like energy. Read stories like that and you’re like okay, maybe this isn’t like woowoo. This is me. This is why I’m drawn to it because it’s just basic nature.
It’s so cool. I spend so much time reading about crystal energy. And because even me, who owns a crystal shop and my house is decked out in crystals. I’m like, did that really just work? Did that literally just happen? Like we talked about in our warehouse. In October, we had like 900 pounds of raw Black Tourmaline in the warehouse. And we have our ship station. And it’s two different computers and two different printers that are plugged into each other. So we’ve got printer A and computer A and printer B and computer B. Well, printer A was printing out of printer B, and printer B was printing out of printer A. And so we couldn’t figure it out. We called our shipping company that we use for our shipping software company. And we got on live chat. And basically what he said was, I’m not saying that you’re lying. But what I’m saying is that isn’t possible. There is no way because this is not operated off of Bluetooth. They can’t be crossing. And so we literally got on his personal cell phone and FaceTime to him to show him this thing was happening. As soon as we shipped out that Tourmaline, printer A printed from Computer A and printer B printed from computer B.
Isn’t that just so wild? And there were like five of us in there. They were like we’re all witnessing them. This is wild. This is wow. Yeah. Just electromagnetic energy. Doing what it’s supposed to do. All on its own.
Meg: Yeah, that is so freaky. So let me ask you this. Can you crave a crystal? Like I told you, I just got my first one. But I feel like for months, I’ve craved this one crystal that I saw. I might have even seen it like on your website, because you have all the amazing descriptions. Thank you for doing that. Because I just read them all the time. And I need this.
But I swear I’ve been craving sunstone and like can you crave a crystal? I feel like it’s chocolate. I need to get sunstone? Is that like a thing?
Rachael: Yeah, I mean, it is a thing. Energy is real. And your energetic frequency is aligned with the energetic frequency of sunstone. And yeah, your body is like, I need this to regulate, for sure.
How To Start Your Own Journey With Crystals
Meg: So cool. I think a lot of people get caught up with just oils. A lot of our listeners use essential oils too. And I think people get caught up in like, Well, what do I use first? And so with crystals. Could they just look and say, what am I like feeling drawn to?
Rachael: Yes, 100%. And that is the advice that I give people who walk into my retail store. And the advice that I give of people sending me emails and messages on Instagram.
People will say here’s what I have going on. And I’m like, okay, that’s fine. And they want me to point and tell them what crystal to use? And I’m like, Oh, no. They’re like, I don’t know anything about crystals. I’m like, but the crystals know about you! I’m like, why don’t you walk around or browse on the website and see what’s calling to you. And people are like, they don’t have crystals.
They’re like, this woman is weird. Seriously, just try and see, without knowing anything. What is the one that’s calling to you? And like that happens with shoes where I’m like, oh, dog, those shoes are fine to me. So why browse and buy? Yeah. And so I’m like, let’s just go to that level, just like what is calling to you. And then we’ll talk about it. And so I will have somebody grab a lepidolite and they’re like, but this is the one that’s calling to me. And then I read to them about lepidolite and they’re like, that was weird. That is like how did you know or they start crying right away or whatever.
It’s because the crystals know about them. Their energy is aligned. We just have to get out of our heads. We have to move from the front part of our brain to the back part of our brain that is guided by our intuition. Intuition knows things like you’re a mom of a baby, your intuition is so heightened right now. Because you are listening, you are smelling – like moms do weird stuff.
But Everything in our culture is like, Don’t listen to your intuition. We are trained as a culture to shut down our intuition. To get in line to follow the rules to stay on the track. When we let our intuition guide us, so much magic can happen. And it’s the same with crystals. Crystals know about you. So trust your intuition.
Meg: I love that. It’s like what you were saying earlier with babies and kids being so much more connected to the earth. I feel like it’s similar. And we just turn it off. Right? And they can feel it.
Being a new mom, it’s not this magic thing that we can feel. I can feel when my baby’s dad is about to roll over in bed, like in my sleep, I put my arm out. And like, stop him. And that’s not just magical powers. It’s like our intuition. So yeah, just intuition to keep your baby safe. Hmm.
Rachael: Yes. Which is like being drawn to a crystal. It’s your body wanting. And people want to turn it into something bigger than that. And that really is just, it’s stripped down truth is that we are connected on an energetic level. And we got to go with our gut. Listen to your gut.
Meg: Mm hmm. Okay, so let’s talk about charging, cleansing. Like what is that? Do you get asked about that a lot?
Charging & Cleansing Crystals
Rachael: Okay, great. So here’s another one of those things where I am going to say, do whatever makes you happy. If cleansing, clearing and charging your crystals is going to stress you out, don’t do it. Just don’t do it. However, there is a pretty powerful ritual in it.
The science behind crystal clarity and charging, the easiest thing to do is stick it out in the new moon or the full moon. That’s really and truly just the easiest thing to do. You can also use smoke, which people have been doing since the beginning of time with crystals. So sage, Palo Santo, incense, things like that. You can use other crystals to charge crystals. Selenite is an incredible charging source. Cellebrite does not retain energy, it just produces energy. So it will take negative energy, whether it’s emotional or electromagnetic, and transform it into negative ions and it releases negative ions. About the same as a planet size. So really cool.
You can use ocean water and river water for water safe crystals to charge. And you can use your own energy if you are called to energy work. Reiki sound is another one. So in our shop, all of our crystals also get cleansed by sound. Ally is certified. I don’t know what it’s technically called. But she uses crystal singing bowls. And she will make them sing to the other crystals. And it’s incredible. Like what happens after the sound baths like we host cell bass in our shop. I mean, the crystals just feel like electricity for five days after a sound. They’re just like so energized.
So you can create a practice out of it. Absolutely. I often try and rewild myself. Moon rituals are something that people have been doing since the beginning of time. It is not weird and it’s not woowoo if you think like a lot of times Christianity is what’s pulled forward. You know, they use stars and the moon to find baby Jesus, like after his birth, that is what guided them there. So we have always been connected with moon energy with planet energy.
I mean the moon, literally, it controls the tide. The tide comes in and out on the moon schedule. So crystals work in that way, New Moon Full Moon, it’s great. Just stick it out in the moonlight. That’s all you really need to do. It doesn’t have to be like this long arduous process. Ask me how many times my rose quartz weighs 200 pounds – it has never seen the moon. And that’s okay, I’m not worried about them. I know that they have infinite wisdom to charge themselves if they need it. The energy is floating in their atom structure without my help. So sticking out in the moon.
You can also temporarily put them out in the morning sun when the sun is red, and it’s producing red light. So that’s early morning, late afternoon is really good for cleansing crystals. You can use water, something simple that I really love to do is give the crystals a bath in a little bit of thieves cleaner and a couple of drops of sage essential oil. They feel so good after that. You can use sound math, if that’s something that you’re interested in. Like I said, smoke is really good. But it doesn’t have to be dogmatic. There’s no wrong way to do it.
Ethically Sourced Crystals
Meg: I love that. So good. Okay, ethically sourcing crystals, I didn’t even know this was a thing until I read your Wild Alabaster bio on Instagram. So can you tell us what that even is and why it’s important to ethically source crystals?.
Rachael: There’s a few reasons. One, the world is a shady place, we will do shady things. So we’ll just start with the most low key version of it. A lot of the crystals that you’re buying off of Amazon or Wayfair, or whatever is promoting pretty inexpensive crystals are probably just like a crystal glass hybrid. Maybe some plastic involved. Two if it’s from China, it’s manufactured. More often than not it’s glass. It’s just dyed glass, which is a real bummer.
The deeper kind of more dark thing is child slavery, adult slavery, impoverished people doing arduous work, most of that is in relation to commercial mining. So commercial mining would be granite, marble, things that we’re buying from Target that have like a granite top to it. What we’re using in our house. Crystals are like an off product. They’re like the discarded product of that commercial or construction mining. And they don’t pay people, they enslave people and make them work for free for 14 hours a day. They may have young children carry crystals.
And, to me the idea of bringing crystals into my privileged American Home to heal, to create beautiful energy that was at the expense of another human being. It just feels so wrong. So, buy directly from mines. And then the whole sellers that I use have been heavily vetted and put through an arduous conversation with Rachael James on who they’re buying crystals from.
Because it really matters. Wild Alabaster has grown exponentially and very quickly. The pressure to buy something cheap has been applied. People are like you can take the shortcut and you can get those profit margins are really in a sweet spot and I refuse to do it. I will not do it.
I recently had an Instagram story, where you ask a question, and it was, what kind of what crystals are you craving? What are your crystal craves right now? Because I was going off to curate. And it was interesting. Some of the things that people were asking for, they were asking for something called or chords or quartz is not real. It’s literally just like a titanium aluminum. Like paint that’s put on, like a lacquer that’s put on the crystals. And they don’t know, you can get for Rose Quartz, like I have a rose quartz right here. But like, or Rose Quartz, and they would just take this rose quartz and lacquer it with this thing that makes it look very shimmery and vibey. And people don’t know. And yeah, I was like, hmm, I’m not gonna buy that. I’m not going to buy crystals that are dyed, or altered.
But you don’t know this as the average crystal consumer. I didn’t know until I was on the inside, I would have totally been like, Oh my gosh, that is gorgeous. I want that and not known that it was just like some cheap crystal, that probably came from somewhere shady being sold as something that it’s not.
So that’s a part of the ethical process. I want to be known as being transparent on what things are and where they’re coming from. Breaking through the myths of this is not a real crystal. There’s a luminary and crystal that is being sold as Marion succeed. And it’s literally just clearpores. And people are paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars for something that is essentially clear Quartz with some natural etching in it, it’s not any different. And so that’s a part of being super transparent in the entire process of buying crystals that have not come off of the suffering and pain in enslavement of other human beings. Yeah, being transparent to my customer base about what they’re buying. And pricing things in an ethical manner is really important to me.
Meg: Yeah. And like talk about bad energy.
Rachael: And for me, there’s the business entrepreneurial side of my brain with like, give the people what they want, if that’s what they want, then give that to them. But then there’s the side of my brain that’s more integral that says, they don’t know what they want, because what they think they want is a lie.
I have had to let go of a couple of wholesalers who are like, but you can actually get this so much cheaper. And I’m like, Why can you get this so much cheaper? Like, why can I get this stone so much cheaper? And they’re like, Oh, well the mine has better pricing. And I’m like, oh, probably because the mine isn’t paying the people to mine the crystals.
One of the mines that I use in Pakistan sends video footage to me on a regular basis, because that’s one of the things that I require from my direct mines is video footage of their family they know people’s names, these people are choosing to do it because it matters to them, they want to be doing it, they find they do it for the same reasons that I do it. Like this is beautiful. This is a gift. This is a tool from the earth and it needs to go out into the world. And so those are the wholesalers and the minds that I choose to partner with. It costs a little bit more. Doesn’t matter to me because it’s so worth it.
You can vote with your dollars. If you’re listening to this and like what enslavement? Vote with your dollars. That’s how we change that kind of thing. If no one’s buying from them, they’re not going to do that much longer. Right? Not gonna make money doing it that way. So that is huge.
What It Means To Be A Crystal Dealer
Meg: So how can people ensure that they’re receiving ethically sourced crystals? Are there crystal dealers? Maybe that’s not the right word for what you do.
Rachael: I myself am a crystal dealer. Last month I had these beautiful stickers made that say I hurt my crystal dealer. Oh, yeah, no. I have adopted that term of crystal dealer and I love it.
That’s the thing. I learned it in the essential oil industry. I’m a certified clinical aromatherapist, and I learned that very early on is all face value. You can say that I can pay money to a company that says that I am certified, ethically sourced, whatever, I just pay them money. They give me that certificate. Yeah, that’s it. People like if you’re buying something that says that it’s ethically certified, ethically sourced. How do you know that? You don’t. You don’t know.
That’s why I think for me, when I was buying crystals from dealers before I became one myself, one of the reasons why I was pushed away was because I asked hard questions. And so I vetted my crystal dealers enough where they want my business that they’re going to be transparent.
One of one of my crystal dealers is one of my very best friends. And he has walked me through the process of showing me, okay, this mine has these reports. It’s a Madagascar mine, and it has these reports, and you can watch live footage and things like that only dealers can access. So as a consumer, it was really daunting to me, because I didn’t know.
I read a lot of clickbait blogs. There’s those in the essential oil industry, too, that are just full of kind of like this twisted and misinformation to sell a storyline. There’s that in the crystal industry, too. So it’s really hard. And it’s really daunting. And people ask me that a lot. They’re like, if I’m not buying crystals from you, how do I find crystals that are ethically sourced? And my genuine answer is, I don’t know. I couldn’t figure out how to do it. So I did it myself.
I know that Whimsy and Wellness is running an ethically sourced company as well. Haley’s really mindful about who she does business with across the board because it’s a part of her integrity to behind you know, when you look at when you look at when I look at businesses that I have watched, grow, and really admire the fact that there is no shortcuts and there was no cheats, and it is integrity based. Haylee is like one of the number one women that I love to say she did it the long, hard way. And it was worth it. Because like her integrity, just like shines through her product.
Meg: Yeah, I agree with that completely. I can picture her receiving your words. And I know that that will mean so much to her. So, I mean, she just does it right. She does it with the heart and in crystals. It’s costly. It’s exhausting work to store something ethical in a very unethical, money driven world. And Haylee has never compromised and it’s something I admire so much about her.
And it’s hard when people want something to come back in stock. For example, the summer when I was the content creator for Whimsy and Wellness and working just on Instagram, we would release crystals. And I’m sure you get the same thing. And people are like, when will this be back? And Haylee’s like Well, I have to talk to my source in Pakistan. This isn’t just like, I gotta get a shipment from the state over. And right.
Yes, it is actually gonna prime this. It’ll be here tomorrow, right? Yeah, no. And then we have COVID on top of it. So it’s like bottlenecked customs. So who knows?I’m like, Oh, well that came from Brazil, but somehow it’s in Belgium. Like what is going on? Yeah.It’s hard but it’s worth it and it feels like the right fight because exactly what you said we vote with our dollars.
Why You Shouldn’t Pay The Cheapest Price For Crystals
Rachael: As a crystal dealer, I would say, if you can’t buy an ethically sourced crystal, don’t buy any crystals at all. If you’re not sure, and you don’t trust the person you’re buying crystals from just don’t buy it. Buy some organic, Fairtrade chocolate instead. Seriously. Because if we buy things that we know and it comes in – take clothing, I have lots of friends who are in the sustainable clothing industry, or they’re making sustainable accessories or whatever it is. It’s a hard fight. But it’s one worth fighting, but it takes consumers voting with their dollars. I will save longer to buy this thing that I’ll have forever, then the instant gratification of I’m going to go to this place, I don’t know where it comes from. And I’m just going to turn a blind eye to it.
Meg: Right. And I think like price is also super telling sometimes. I think people will quickly say, Well, why is it $200? Or why is it you know, whatever price? Let’s go with chicken nuggets just to not offend anybody listening. Burger King. It’s like $2 for 100 chicken nuggets. And it’s like, what? Why is it? Why aren’t you more offended that they can give you like a million pieces of chicken for $2 than when a price tag is so much? You know what I’m saying? Like you should question these things. Why can you buy a crystal on Amazon For $10 if the Earth grew it? Those are the questions we should be asking not, Why are they so expensive?
Rachael: Right? Well, so here’s a really good example. And I have it like right in front of me. I have this beautiful agate votive that comes from Brazil. And I don’t know how much this agate votive was. But it’s more than what you can buy it for at TJ Maxx. But also like, why is this crystal that I’m selling for $40? Why is something that looks pretty similar for sale for $4.99 at TJ Maxx? Probably because many people along the way of getting into your home weren’t paid for their work. Yeah. That’s why there’s nothing there. That is literally it’s as cut and dry as that. And that’s sad. And that’s what those of us who are fighting for equality and opportunity globally – that’s what we’re fighting for.
It feels worth it to me. It feels worth it to me that I know, for my own sake, that I sleep at night, that I know that nothing that has come from my shop has come as a result of somebody else’s suffering.
Meg: Seriously. It’s so worth it. And if you’re listening and like, oh, like feeling bad that you’ve asked those questions of like, Well, why does it cost so much? You can’t know until you know. Like I said, I didn’t know that ethically sourced crystals was a thing until I read Rachael’s bio, so don’t feel bad. We can’t know until we know and when we know better, we can do better. And vote with your dollars.
Rachael: Tight. And for those people listening, who have maybe bought crystals from TJ Maxx or bought crystals from Amazon or cheaply on Etsy or whatever, and you’re not sure. Like I do not want anybody to feel guilty or feel ashamed. You didn’t know. I think something super honoring – because I had crystals like that- what I did that makes me feel a lot like it felt like a healing process was I put them out in the moonlight. And I held them in my hands under the moon.
I just thanked the people and I just sent them so much love and healing bright energy and thanked them for their work and commitment to doing something better. I’m not going to throw it in the trash. I’m not going to waste it. I’m not going to feel guilty for it to carry around this thing that I didn’t know. Like it wasn’t conscious. I just didn’t know. Yeah. And so I just tried to do something honoring. Maybe standing in the moonlight isn’t your thing, maybe light a candle? Or maybe you say a prayer, and whatever feels authentic to you. Just send love into the universe for the people along the way.
Meg: Yeah, I love that. And we were talking about energy, and if we all have energy, and you can send that out to those people, then that is beautiful.
Okay, so before we go to do rapid-fire. I could talk to you all day about this, because this is so interesting. But do you have any like closing encouragement for people who feel ready, or maybe they’re still a little intimidated, or just what is some closing wisdom for people to kind of leave with no pressure?
Rachael: If I could look you in the eyes and say, you belong, that’s what I do. I would grab you by your shoulders and look you in the eyes and say you belong. There’s no right way to do this. There’s no wrong way to do this. It is your journey. And your journey is so beautiful. And the world means your brand of magic. And it doesn’t have to be anything other than what it is to start somewhere, pick a stone, it doesn’t matter, whichever one is talking to you. Whichever one you feel drawn and connected to is definitely the right starting point.
And if you’re not ready yet, that’s okay. If crystals don’t feel in alignment with you, that’s okay. You don’t ever have to have them in your house. That’s also okay. Don’t feel pressured by me. Or by your favorite influencer or whoever to live in a way that doesn’t feel authentic to you. Do you. That is so important. It’s so life giving. And it transforms so many lives when we can just show up exactly like that. Being authentic is so infectious. It spreads like a wildfire. So just do the thing that feels authentic to you.
There’s no right way. There’s no wrong way.
Meg: Ah, Mic drop. I love that. There’s people who are like, Oh my gosh, my favorite influencer has like these crystals. And, I don’t know that I want them or I don’t have them.
Rachael: Yeah, that’s okay. Maybe circle back round and 82 years if you want to, don’t ever circle back around by all the crystals. Decorate your house. Have one that you put in your bra. Like if that’s what you want to do. Do that. You are so allowed to exist in the crystal world, whether it’s in or out it exactly how you are.
Meg: And we all have our own timing. When someone first suggested oils to me, I was like, deeply offended. I was chronically ill, and someone said, Have you tried essential oils? And I’m like, Did you just say like a plant would help me? I was so offended because I wasn’t in the place for oils to come into my life yet. And then like two and a half years later, I was just like, Hmm, I wonder if oils work. And that girl was probably like, Are you kidding me?
Like I said this? Didn’t I say that? Like we could have avoided a lot of problems. But like it’s just our own timing.
Rachael: It’s literally our own timing and you are allowed to have as much time as you need. Yeah, and like I tell people I meet that the crystals have been here way before you and they will be here way after you.
Meg: Yeah. Oh, I love that so much. Okay, are you ready for rapid fire? Fill in the blank. I wish I could tell my younger self…
Rachael: To do the work. Do the work to find that you are okay. And enough exactly as you are. You do not have to conform You do not have to live in a space of unblocking belonging.
Meg: I love this so much that like I mean, maybe this will be too woowoo for people but we’re talking about crystals. But how much has belonging come up in this conversation? Like I just feel like someone is really needing to hear all the belonging messages and it’s making me feel all kinds of things. Yeah. Okay, I’m inspired by blank.
Rachael: I’m inspired by people who are standing in their power and doing their own work and holding space for themselves.
Meg: Yeah, that is so inspiring. I feel like originally we had that question of, who inspires you? And then we’re like, no, it needs to be way deeper than that. Yeah, yes. So I love that answer. What is your go to essential oil roller blend, since you’re chatting with Whimsy and Wellness?
Rachael: Ooh. I’ll tell you. It is equal drops. Lavender, orange, sage and harmony.
Meg: What? But it’s amazing. So good. I’m gonna defuse that right when we get off even though it’s roller blend, but I’m gonna do that. That is what Wild Alabaster smells like. Really?
Rachael: Just gonna secret you didn’t get a suit. Well, it’s not a secret. I tell people. And literally, if any of your packages come that’s what it smells like. That’s what Wild Alabaster smells like.
Meg: Oh my gosh, I love that so much. Do you know on New Year’s Day, I for some reason, diffused sage and lavender and which I’ve never even diffused that I just grabbed it on New Year’s Day. And I was feeling some sort of way that day. Like it was so weird, but so good.
Rachael: Sage is so powerful. And then you put it with lavender and it’s just done. Yep. I mean, it’s done. Like, yeah, seriously serious vibes.
Meg: So last question, what’s your like, go to crystal right now, if there’s even one.
Rachael: I am very, very drawn to any kind of Jasper. And it’s interesting because Jasper in general is really really anchoring. It’s a deeply anchoring grounding stone. But it allows for movement. So instead of becoming grounded into this place of stuckness It allows for you to feel calm, and to move forward in the universe. And so it’s just lately it’s just give me Jasper all the time. Yeah.
Meg: Yeah, seriously, we need some grounding. That’s Whoo. Okay, where can listeners find you and your products? Where can they shop with you? If you’re new to crystals? And you want to look around like where can they go?
Rachael: So they can go to Wild Alabaster.com, which is our website and there’s some shopping on there. We’re on Instagram as Wild Alabaster. We have a Facebook group. If you’re not an Instagrammer, just search Wild Alabaster in your groups. And we’ll pop up and I’ll add you and then they can find me and mine talk about vulnerability at the Wild Alabaster.
Meg: Yay. Okay, well, this has been like seriously the best. Thank you.
I feel so honored. It was amazing. I feel like I went to like crystal counseling or something. Thank you for being so raw and real and, and welcoming like I was. The thing about the podcast I was most nervous about was crystals because I’m like, I know nothing. At the time. I didn’t have any crystals. So I felt like I had major imposter syndrome. So thank you for being so welcoming. I’m excited for people to start their crystal journeys with you.
Rachael: Well, I’m super grateful that you cleared the space and allow for these kinds of conversations to happen and for Haylee and her geniusness at Whimsy and Wellness. Just pressing the easy button but also just providing such an encouraging story and I feel like Haley and her powerhouse team of women like you are just really leading the way of breaking the glass ceiling and stepping into your power and like doing hard things and like making a beautiful along the way. Oh,
Meg: Well thank you. Seriously, I could just go back and forth. I feel like so I love your energy. This has been amazing. I hope everyone I know is going to love it. So thank you.
Rachael: Thank you. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
