The Stabethyst

Shortly after exiting the broom closet, I began setting up my altar. I purchased a special table and put it under the window in my office. I draped it in a scarf I'd found at a Renaissance Faire in St. Louis with my sister years before. I added some candles from other parts of the house, and a few crystals that I’d collected over the years, which honestly weren’t very many considering how much I’ve always liked them. I’d even considered majoring in Geology my sophomore year of my Bachelor’s degree, but found the math too challenging.

Have you ever noticed that when you buy a car, you suddenly seem to see them everywhere? Well, I do, and now that I was “out” I was suddenly seeing ads and suggestions from Facebook for all kinds of witchy events I could attend and groups I could join. It was probably just a matter of search engines spying on me, but there was an event called Season of the Witch in a nearby suburb at a shop called If The Broom Fits just a week before Halloween. There I purchased a tiny cast iron cauldron and a large amethyst crystal geode candle holder for my altar.

Days later, my co-worker happened to tell me about another local shop called The Mystery Gallery. It is reminiscent of a new age store I frequented in Bloomington, Indiana my freshman year of my Bachelor’s degree. There were crystals of all kinds and sizes everywhere along with herbs, candles, handmade brooms, incense, jewelry, tarot cards, books—I went a little crazy. I bought a half dozen bags of herbs, a backflow incense burner, two boxes of incense, a pair of earrings, a selenite wand…and a broom.

Soon after that, I learned about an event a couple weeks before Christmas called Witche Daye. I’d been making gothic jewelry and skull shaped candles for some time and thought they might sell well at a witch-themed event, so I applied to be a vendor. I asked a friend to join me since it was being held only a week after my latest post-mastectomy breast reconstruction surgery and I wanted to make sure someone would be with me who could call an ambulance if I needed it. I was was very glad I did. As it turns out, I enjoy vending more with a friend at my side. Besides having a marvelous day and selling out of candles, I found a couple things for my alter. I bought an orb of tourmalinated quartz—one of my favorite stones, and a carved stone triple goddess incense holder.

After the new year, I heard about an event in St. John’s. It was at a place called The Pisces Trading Company and once a year they had a half-price sale. From the pictures on their website, this was something I couldn’t miss. I mostly bought jewelry for my friends, but I did get a huge geode slice but it was too big for my altar. After that I figured I’d better start narrowing down what I bought because I was running out of space. I just wanted one more special item.

I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw it—a ten-inch perfect amethyst crystal shard. It cost less than the geode slice, but it was still spendy. When it arrived, it was worth every penny. I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I posted photos to my Facebook account, and that’s when my best friend gave her a name: The Stabethyst.