Does light have consciousness? As one of the most enigmatic and perplexing forces in the universe, the nature of light continues to baffle both scientists and spiritual seekers.
Scientists, theologians, philosophers, astronomers, and healers throughout the centuries have been fascinated by the power of light. In the quantum universe (that is, the subatomic level), scientists still don’t quite understand how light works — Is it a particle? A wave? Both?
On the quantum level, light changes its behavior depending on whether or not it is being observed. It’s a baffling discovery, one that has disturbed some of the greatest minds…
Three years ago I attended President Donald Trump’s inaugural ball — decked out in a black funeral veil — and the night still haunts me.
“Are you really going to wear a black veil to the ball?” my mother asked. “You’re going to a ball, but I’m going to a funeral,” I replied.
Here’s what it was like inside one of the most dystopian events of the decade.
Doors were to open at 5pm. As we stood waiting in the long entry line in our evening wear, I overheard an elderly woman in a wheelchair say, “Trump’s the first person…
Planet Soul
How to embrace self-love using herbs, rituals, and a touch of magic
The word “witch” sometimes gets a bad rap. At the very least, identifying as such can slap a vaguely confused, if not fearful, stare on a stranger’s face. I don’t blame them — our society has both vilified and deified the witch for centuries; they’re seen as either femme fatales or devil-worshipping hags out for blood. In reality, neither trope is true.
Witchcraft is about healing — healing the body, the spirit, the mind, and helping society to do the same. …
How modern-day urban witches and neopagans use magic, spellwork, and occult traditions as tools for self-empowerment.
Stacy Rapp has been the owner of Enchantments for 15 years, and has worked there for nearly thirty. The little witch shop on 9th Street, nestled between 1st and Avenue A, is a New York City staple. Until a few years ago, it stayed largely out of the mainstream. Unassuming, eclectic, and open for all, the store has become a haven for people looking for magical guidance.
Before magic paraphernalia became a commodity you could pick up at Urban Outfitters, or even talk about openly without feeling a bit different, the narrow, wood-clad shop carried a variety of witchy products…
A new high-rise in West Soho uses a self-cleaning, purifying facade. But some are concerned with the potential long-term toxic effects.
From vertical forests to fully-energy efficient cities, sustainable design dominates the architectural dialogue around the globe. While many designers feel its their role to actively address the pollution crisis in their work, the carbon footprint for new constructions and adverse effects of new technologies can, in many cases, considerably outweigh the immediate environmental benefits.
The latest addition to the eco-conscious urban dialogue comes from Builtd, a boutique architecture firm in New York City. …
A new 16-foot installation in New York City is a homage to the last three remaining northern white rhinos in existence.
Contemporary artists Gillie and Marc Schattner first traveled to Kenya in 2017 to visit the world’s last three surviving northern white rhinos. After spending time with Sudan, Najin, and Fatu at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the couple decided to mobilize awareness for the endangered trio through art.
The illegal practice of poaching white rhinos for their horns has become an international issue, and the rhinos have to be guarded 24-hours a day, with horn-embedded transmitters to ensure their protection.
The spiritual meanings behind the world’s most sacred geometrical patterns.
Sacred geometric patterns exist all around us — they are the perfect shapes and patterns that form the fundamental templates for life in the universe. From the Fibonacci sequence to the Golden Ratio, design patterns can be broken down as a language of numbers (mathematics) that govern our entire visible and invisible world. But what are the spiritual meanings behind these geometric patterns and symbols?
Galileo once said, “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe.” Artists, musicians, and philosophers have long evoked the power of sacred geometry in their work, from Da Vinci to Pythagoras. It’s…
Artist Kate Ballis reimagines the mid-century homes and desert landscape of Palm Springs in her photo series, Infra Realism.
During last year’s Modernism Week, photographer Kate Ballis realized she wanted to do something a bit different. The Aussie artist was used to photographing the wild desert terrain of California and light-filled modernist homes in Palm Springs, but it all started to feel a bit ordinary. She had been coming to the town for years and wanted to re-enchant the scenery a bit, to candy coat California with a sense of magical realism.
“The desert is so otherworldly,” she tells me. “I think it’s almost like how we perceive Mars to be.” She decided a change of perception was needed.
Sometimes the simplest, most obvious answers in life may surprise you. The same goes for design.
You know you need to make a change in your home, but maybe you’re not sure where to start. Or perhaps you just don’t have the budget (right now) to make any major overhauls to your living space. We’ve all been there. So what’s the one thing you can do to make the biggest impact in your home? And even more, what’s the one change that will bring the most happiness?
Sometimes the answer to such simple questions have very simple answers, as if…
Amber C. Snider
NYC journalist. Arts & culture, travel, magick, and healing | MA in Liberal Studies/Women’s Studies
