Witchcraft as a Path to Personal Growth and Enlightenment with Amber of Dark Star Curiosities

Have you ever found yourself at a spiritual crossroads, seeking both guidance and growth? Amber from Dark Star Curiosities joins us to share her transformative journey through witchcraft and personal development, offering insights that promise to enlighten your own path. As we unravel her experiences, Amber throws light on finding balance in practice, the importance of continuous learning, and how her diverse religious background fuels her mystical pursuits.

During our heart-to-heart, Amber and I dive into the essence of witchcraft as a tool for self-discovery and healing. From navigating through life's challenges to becoming a Reiki master, her story is a beacon for anyone looking to harness their inner magic to overcome adversity and spark personal evolution. We also shed light on the power of community, revealing how the fervor of a master plumber named Ben mirrors the dedication we witches have for our crafts, emphasizing the catalytic role of motivation and support in our journeys.

To cap off, we peer into the future of Dark Star Curiosities and their enchanting offerings. With a nod to the growing accessibility of witchcraft and an invitation to connect through various platforms, this episode is a treasure chest of quirky anecdotes, tips for budding witches, and an affirmation of the enriching power of sharing knowledge within the witch community. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or just dabbling in the craft, this conversation is an opportunity to stoke the flames of your mystical passions.

darkstarcuriosities.com



This week's sponsor is The House of Ravens, middle Tennessee's new  favorite metaphysical shop! This modern magical shop caters to all of your magical needs, offering a wide range of high-quality products such as crystals, herbs, incense, altar decor, and so much more! Explore the realm of metaphysics at The House of Ravens. Their extensive range of services and products are designed to empower, enlighten, and bring harmony to your life. Step into a world of mystical wonders and uncover your true potential. The House of Ravens is located at 27 West Jackson St unit B in Cookeville TN, and available online at www.the-house-of-ravens.com.

From February 22 to March 21 of 2024, listeners of Your Average Witch Podcast get a 15% discount off orders of at least $25 using code YOURAVERAGEWITCH,  with no spaces, at checkout. 

Transcript

Kim: 0:04

Welcome back to your Average Witch, where every Tuesday, we talk about witch life, witch stories and sometimes a little witchcraft. This episode of your Average Witch is brought to you by the House of Ravens. In this episode I'm talking to Amber of Dark Star Curiosities. We talked about crystals, community over competition and how it feels to find yourself again.

Kim: 0:28

Before we get started, let me tell you about our sponsor, the House of Ravens, middle Tennessee's new favorite metaphysical shop. This modern magical shop caters to all of your magical needs, offering a wide range of high quality products such as crystals, herbs, incense, altar decor and so much more. Explore the realm of metaphysics at the House of Ravens. Their extensive range of services and products are designed to empower, enlighten and bring harmony to your life, live into a world of mystical wonders and uncover your true potential. The House of Ravens is located at 27 West Jackson Street, unit B in Cookville, tennessee, and available online at the-house-of-ravenscom. From February 22nd to March 21st of 2024, listeners of your Average Witch podcast get a 15% discount off orders of at least $25 using code YOURAVERAGEWITCH, with no spaces at checkout. Now let's get to the stories. Hi Amber, welcome to the show.

Amber: 1:31

Hello, thank you so much for having me.

Kim: 1:33

Thanks for being on the show, thanks for coming. Thanks for being here. Words. Can you please introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you?

Amber: 1:46

Yeah so I'm Amber. I'm sometimes also called Delphi. I respond to either. Technically, I pretty much respond to anything, so call me what you like. I am the owner of Dark Star Curiosities.

Amber: 2:00

I have been a practicing witch for probably a lot longer than I should say out loud, but it's over 25 years. I love divination, I love teaching. I am a big educational person. I have a VIP group on Facebook currently and I also have a Discord. My website is still under construction, so right now if you go to darkstarcuriositiescom it will take you to my Etsy, but that's launching in January-ish. The Discord is great. We actually just opened that not too long ago. You're welcome to come join, come chat with us.

Amber: 2:40

We have educational content in there. We have the library. A lot of us are some smut readers, so that's there too. Just a FYI for younger eyes we do have 18 rated channels, so you're safe. The Facebook group is fantastic too. I post in there pretty much every single day. We have new items in there constantly and we're growing a lot. I started doing markets in February-ish of last year, maybe March, and then it kind of took over my whole life last year and I did markets constantly. If you're local to the Wilmington North Carolina area and soon to be a little bit more out there. I'm at tons of markets. You can find my schedule on any of my socials. Yeah, I'm in Wilmington.

Kim: 3:33

What does it mean to you when you call yourself a witch?

Amber: 3:38

For me, one of the biggest things is I practice balance. Like a lot of folks, I started my witchery journey in Wicca and I found that to be terribly unbalanced for me. For some people it works wonderfully and that's awesome, but I found that it just wasn't balanced for me. I wanted this wonderful balance between the light and the dark. I wanted the balance between nature and man-made. I wanted masculine and feminine and no direct focus on one or the other. For me, being a witch, my balance is my biggest key. I think a lot of it, too, is being able to connect with that nature, connect with everything that's around me, and to be able to feed my energy to it and let that energy come back in a nice circle.

Amber: 4:36

Personally, I really think a big giant chunk of being a witch is constantly learning. I think the folks that are pretty happy in their path and they just go on about it, I think they're missing out. There's so many new witches now. There's so many older witches that feel comfortable coming out of the broom closet, so to speak. There's all these resources now that are available that were never available when I was a kid. I had to go, sneak into the library and borrow books to be able to learn. Now there's people talking on the internet every single day and sharing practices from their Nona in Italy. Learning every single day huge thing, huge. (Kim: That's cool.)

Kim: 5:25

Me too. (Amber: Nice.) Do you have any family history with witchcraft or any stories from childhood that, even if you think back and such and so aunt, whoever absolutely would never claim the title of witch, but she totally read tarot cards or she was a wart charmer or whatever.

Amber: 5:46

Yeah, my family is a very interesting one. We have an extreme Catholic side, we have an extreme Jewish side. When we have the folks in the middle that are just like, it's always been really fun to me to see the Catholic side, because I know I'm going to ruffle some feathers and I'm sorry, but religion in general is witchcraft. All of the religions are witchcraft. Everything practices the core tenants of witchcraft, just with a different label and a different God that you're working with. Every time that I would see my family go to Catholic church and I would watch the rituals that they did. I would watch their communions, their confirmations. I've been to so many confirmations. That's all ritual. It's the same thing as what we do, just in a very different light. I've always seen that. Then same thing with the Jewish side of my family. That is just absolutely wonderful. I got a chance to learn a lot about Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah and how there's so much mystical nature to Judaism. That floored me. That was an incredible experience growing up.

Amber: 7:13

Then, of course, my grandmothers straight up, they were witches. They would never, they would never and they would roll over for me, calling them that. My one grandmother on my mom's side. She is from Germany. Her favorite thing to do is, once she was done with her coffee, would be to swirl it around in the bottom and see what the Grimes were telling her. Hello, that's witchcraft. Then my other grandmother she very much so came from Virginia and Appalachian Mountains. She grew up with a lot of folk magic just embedded in her. She just never realized it. When I started my path super young, a lot of the things that I was learning about came from folk magic. It all came from that. I got a chance to secretly smile at my Nana and be like I know what you're doing.

Amber: 8:19

(Kim: I see you!) Trying to be able to. I see that! Trying to be able to tell how bad winter is going to be or trying to guess the Lotto numbers my grandmother how she didn't end up a billionaire? I have no idea, because that woman could pick the Lotto like nobody's business. It was incredible.

Amber: 8:42

You should introduce us, my mom, my mom Unfortunately I would have to tap into the spirit speaker side of me. That's fine. My grandmother's past, both my grandmother's have. She likes to chat. It's fine, she'll enjoy it.

Amber: 9:05

My mom was the one that kind of confirmed my path for me because even though my mom grew up Catholic, she always was speaking to spirits. She could see them, she could talk to them. My dad used to joke that my mom completely lost it after they came back from Germany, but in reality my mom just got really comfortable and just was talking to the people around her. I could see them and I didn't realize that they weren't like when you're a kid, you see your mom just walking around their house, puttering and talking and you think all right, your mom's kind of lost it a little bit. But then you see the people that she's talking to and you're like, oh, have I lost it too? Did I join the crazy train?

Amber: 9:50

Getting that introduction at a really young age was awesome. I got to ask tons of questions and as my mom saw me get more and more curious and interested in it, she would talk to me a lot. My dad has just been the one that looks at us and is like, oh God. So yeah, I grew up with a lot of magic around me. I'm very blessed in that. I mean, it was never called magic, it was never called witchcraft, but my mom could always talk to the spirits and see them, and my nanas were just mystical in their own ways.

Kim: 10:27

Can you introduce us to your practice? Do you have any consistent, maybe daily things that you do?

Amber: 10:36

Ritual, like a lot of witches. I want to be consistent in things and the most consistent thing that is with me is chaos. I don't know what it is, but every time I try to be able to make a ritual for me or a daily practice, something just happens and explodes it into pieces. So I've come to the understanding that the way that I practice is as needed, when I'm comfortable or when things are around me, and a lot of my daily life I just kind of like interject magic into it. I interject my practice into little things that I do. I'm huge into manifestation. That is a big thing that I work with is manifesting. I work a lot with spirits, so my backyard is a very fun place to hang out. There is always things coming and going. So the rule in our house is, once it gets dark, the back blinds get closed, otherwise you're going to see things just staring at you from the backyard. So I kind of Unexpected that's exactly what Ben said. That's exactly what Ben said. Ben is like, oh, I don't like this. No, thank you, no. So, yeah, I mean spirit practice is probably the most consistent thing If I'm being totally honest, the fact that I work with spirits, I talk with them, I try to connect with them. We have a house elf. That is the most chaotic thing. We'll hear things tink in my office. My office is literally like two rooms behind us. We've got a bathroom in my office. We'll hear things tink in my office all the time. We'll hear drawers open and close. It does what it wants and that's fine, as long as it leaves my stuff alone or gives it back when I ask we're good.

Amber: 12:48

So yeah, I work with spirits, practice with the spirit a lot and I use divination a lot. I am a huge pendulum nerd. I am refreshing myself on tarot because I used to do that a lot when I was a kid and then kind of fell out of it. So I'm getting back into that now. I work with the runes and I throw bones. So divination is a big thing for me and that's another.

Amber: 13:14

It wasn't a daily practice but it's slowly becoming a daily practice again, so I'm super excited that I'm able to bring that back. I had a terrible marriage before my relationship with Ben and a lot of my practice kind of had to get hidden again or left on the back burner or not really pushed back in the broom closet but kind of tamp down a lot. So since that ended it's been three years, four years since that ended. Since that ended, everything has kind of come back out again and I'm trying to find my daily life again without that, especially now since I have amazing support. My group is incredibly supportive. Now that I have that, I'm finding my way to be able to have magic back in my life every single day in a more consistent and less chaotic sort of manner.

Kim: 14:15

That's good, I like when I were able to come back to who we are. I had two marriages that were garbage-y, so yay us for getting out of them.

Amber: 14:26

I'm super proud of you for that, because it's hard. People are always just like, well, why didn't you leave? Well what had happened was... it was a nightmare.

Kim: 14:40

Why aren't you rich? Why, why? Why? Because, asshole. Shut the fuck up and you mind your business and don't worry about what the fuck I did.

Amber: 14:50

Exactly. And what's crazy is I look back at it now and I'm like, damn, I am a dumbass. I should have left so much sooner. But you know what? I've actually changed my mindset on that because if I did, I don't think I'd be on the same path that I'm on now. I don't think I would have found Ben the way that I found him. I don't think I would have everything dark-star the way that it is and the growth that I've had with this. I don't think my life would be what it is right now and crazy bullshit aside from that marriage, I'm happy, you know. Yeah, if I had to live through that, I'm good, I have a great life now. I can't, yeah.

Kim: 15:41

Okay, I gotta say my second marriage was not garbage-y. We just weren't well-suited. We just weren't well-suited In any way. How has witchcraft changed your life?

Amber: 15:53

It's.

Amber: 15:53

Let me be me. You know I'm. I am a weird mix of Darkness because I didn't even realize I'm, literally with my background. I swear to God, you know, but I'm this. I'm this mix of darkness and Sparkle like I. I'm always that person and for me, witchcraft has let me lead, leave, live that, lead that life. It's also let me Really embrace the things that have happened through my.

Amber: 16:28

I've always had weird things happen, from when I was a kid all the way up until now. I mean, talking with spirits is already enough to be able to put you in a loony bin sometimes. But you know, I've always been able to manifest things. I've always been able to read cards or make Divination in whatever I'm using. So it's explained a lot of my experiences through life and it's explained a lot about my upbringing and For me it's really just, it's made everything in my life makes sense. You know, like, have you ever had that where just everything finally falls into place so well and you're like that's what that is? That's how it feels for me, you know. It feels like, especially during my marriage, when I wasn't really able to do much at all.

Amber: 17:19

Um, I Was not me. I lost myself completely. I Am a huge reader, veracious reader, and especially with witchcraft stuff. So I couldn't do that. I couldn't sit down and read a witch book in my living room because it was well, you don't want to talk to me or Whatever. And now I'm able to do that. I'm able to just sit down and read, I'm able to enjoy the books that I'm I'm Going through, whether it's for my group or whether it's just for learning and education.

Amber: 17:56

It's letting me be me, you know, it's explaining everything about me. It's explain, explaining all the weird shit in my life, and it's making me feel like I'm serving a purpose and it's making me feel like I'm here for a reason. You know, I feel bad because a lot of people don't ever get that. A lot of people don't get that I have a reason to exist and, as weird as it sounds, witchcraft helps me to have a reason to exist. I'm helping people find their path. I am helping people heal from Emotional wounds or, you know, mental wounds. I'm I just got my master's certification in Reiki, so now I'm helping with their energy healing. I'm able to help people in ways that I Couldn't help myself and it's giving me such a different, bigger purpose. It feels so good, so good.

Kim: 19:01

That makes my heart glad, thanks. What would you say is the biggest motivator in your practice, people hands down people.

Amber: 19:11

I've Spent my life educating, right. I've spent my life teaching people, whether it's witchcraft I've been teaching that for years at this point or teaching them how to be able to work with themselves. But I can't do that. I can't do that if I'm not on the next level. You know, people push me to be better. People push me to be a better witch, to Keep educating myself, to learn, like we were talking about earlier, to learn from All these amazing people that are now sharing their practices and sharing their stories and sharing, you know, their families practices. It's pushing me to learn more and more and more every single day and that makes me a better person, but it also makes me a better witch. It makes me a person that people feel comfortable in asking questions, because I Not to sound like a dick, but I probably know, or Give me a day and I will find the answer for you. You know, I want to be that wellspring of knowledge. I I love that. Part of the reason why I got the nickname delphi is because I'm the oracle or I'm an oracle. I either know what's going on or I will find out what's going on. You know, I can see those things. So people push me to just be so much more than what I was yesterday or what I was five years ago. It it feels like Everybody in my life is my motivator. You know, I I talk about Ben a lot because he's freaking amazing, but he is my-

Amber: 21:03

He's a huge motivator. He is a master plumber. He is so incredible at his craft and I see how much he learns every single day about his craft and it makes me want to keep learning about mine. I see that he can answer any question that somebody has about plumbing and if he doesn't know it, he goes and finds out immediately. And having somebody have that same mindset we got you, don't worry, we got you. Ben is so ready to answer those questions. Let me tell you, if he heard you say that you would have seen a little red head pop in through this door right here and been like what plumbing?

Kim: 21:50

How would you say your motivation-

Kim: 21:52

How would you say it's changed since you first started out?

Amber: 21:58

It's like, it's like a fire, right. So when I first started out like it was a little, a little crackly Embers and I was sitting there like trying to fan it and make it grow, but as I've grown over the years it has just turned into an absolute, like raging forest fire. At this point and there's times were I love the celebration in the background there's times that you know it does dull, it does it. I'm not gonna be like I am on all the time because, let me tell you, there are some days that I wake up and like one eyeball Opens and just sits there and is like no, I'm done, I'm going back to bed, I'm out. But I try every day and, like I said, I'm human, so it's not actually every day, but I try what I try every day to be able. I know that's it, I'm out, I'm terrible witch. by.

Amber: 23:06

I try to leave something every day to be able to fan.

Amber: 23:13

I know I'm so sorry, the imposter syndrome one, oh god, um, but yeah, like I try to do something every day to be able to keep that fire either going.

Amber: 23:26

We're to keep it in check because it's the same thing with anything else in our life, right where you can be so passionate about something that it literally consumes you and then you lose sight of everything else. So, again, like we talked about earlier, that balance, like it helps me to Keep myself in check, learn something new every day, or refresh myself on something that I was getting a little foggy on, like tarot not too, uh, I'm still trying to get caught up on that but I try to be able to fan those flames every day because I felt what it felt like for those flames to go out and I don't ever want to feel that again and I don't want anybody to ever feel that again. So if you're out there watching and you feel like your flame has gone out, reach out to one of us Please, because your flame does not need to go out, and We'll help find a way to bring it back.

Kim: 24:27

e Bvideo will be up soon on youtube so you can watch.

Amber: 24:35

Yeah.

Kim: 24:38

ABut I can tell you who else you can ask. That does no stuff. So ask away, ask me whatever you want.

Amber: 24:45

But see, you're like a library keeper, then I love a library like you like I my god words A library keeper.

Amber: 24:58

Apparently I just like lived in the middle ages for a second. Just don't worry, there's dragons in the background too. It's fine. I'm sorry for everybody out there. I just killed Kim. I'm so sorry, but yes, I love librarians. Thank you, um, you guys are. I find people like you fabulous, though, because, like You're, you're the person that's like nope, no, I don't know, and that takes so much courage right there just to be like I don't know. That takes a huge amount of courage. But then for you to step out of your own ego and be like ah, but wait, I know who it is that can't help you on your path, that's amazing, that is absolutely amazing. The fact that you're living that community over competition, that is huge for me too. Like that is like one of my biggest things. I should probably just get that tattooed somewhere Because, like, community over competition is everything you know. Share, share the wealth.

Kim: 25:58

I approve of having people come on the podcast and tell me how great I am. It's awesome we're on. It's fun for me to say something and watch it. Hit because of the lag.

Amber: 26:11

I'm not gonna lie, there's definitely some awkward moments where I finish saying something and like I just stare at you and you're just like. I'm like oh, the anxiety sets in. Oh god, oh god, god. od yeah you're gonna watch?

Kim: 26:25

s it gonna hit? Is it gonna hit? Oh, okay, they laughed.

Amber: 26:31

Right right.

Kim: 26:33

Do you feel like you, You finished your thought.

Amber: 26:37

Um, for the most part, I think it's a nicely chaotic, we everything else

Kim: 26:42

ecause, I interrupt and then I forget what we were talking about and then I just go to the next question. So I like to ask did you finish? Because I know I jumped in with some ridiculous bullshit. (Uh, to be totally fair, I also don't remember what we were talking about, so Every interview I have to ask like did you finish your thought like nine times, because I'll be like Whoa. That reminds me of McDonald's.

Amber: 27:12

But see sharing experiences. I'm about that. I like it.

Kim: 27:16

What would you say is your biggest struggle when it comes to your practice?

Amber: 27:21

Or regularity. Regularity, um, life gets in the way I I'm gonna be super honest Um, I work at full-time day job. I run my company, I post in my group constantly, I post in discord constantly. I have to do social media. Which Social media for business owners? Oh Ow, it's hard. Um, it's horrifying, right.

Amber: 27:52

So I do all those things and then, on top of it, I'm a partner to ben, I am a fur mama to two crazy ferrets and I have to still have relationships with people, like I have friends. There are some days where I'm just like I literally need five minutes to just exist, you know. So that's. The biggest struggle for me is the regularity and also to the guilt of giving myself time to be able to just be alone and practice. That is a big thing for me, because Mine and ben schedule isn't always so good, like a lot of times we're ships passing in the night. So being able to have Time for myself while still making sure that he gets the time that he deserves, and then my fur babies and my friends and everything else, I feel guilty sometimes having to be like, okay, well, I'm gonna take Wednesday and I want to do a ritual or I want to do a new spell that I'm working on or whatever. It's hard for me To be able to grant myself that time when I feel like that time could be given to somebody else. You know that time could be used on the business or with ben or or something else. So, hands down, the biggest struggle for sure is time, guilt and regularity.

Amber: 29:24

I would love to be that witch that knows what moon phase it is, because, let's be honest, if it wasn't on my phone I would not know. I'm that witch, you know. I would love to be able to know what moon phase it is and I would love to be able to know what moon phase it is. Astrology is behind that moon which, by the way, I am atrocious at astrology. I'm learning it, but it is just not vibing with me. Astrologer's out there, oh my goodness. So I wish I could be that witch, but for me I'm just not, you know.

Kim: 30:10

have your community to lean on, because I know people bring it up. That's how I remember. I don't remember because my community is like oh my God, what are you doing for the moon? I'm like huh.

Amber: 30:24

I lean on them a pretty fair bit, like we have some astrologers in the group. Facebook right now is being really funky. I don't know if you've seen it. I know you've got groups that you manage or that you admin, but the post reach is abysmal on Facebook right now and so a lot of people just aren't seeing posts. It's another world right now.

Amber: 30:50

So I've been really trying to work on building up the discord so that we do have that community where people can be like oh my God, look, it's, you know, the new moon or the full moon in cancer tonight, and this is what it means, rather than just me having to like choke down the astrology and try to figure out what the hell it means. I'm like, okay, why is new? Why is the full moon in Cancer such a big deal? And then it's like I hate astrology. so , hated I can't. It's like I'm telling you, like I poke some people in the group and I'm like I don't understand why people are freaking out about this right now. Help me.

Kim: 31:44

Yuntil Tuesday.

Amber: 31:47

Right, like I feel like I am a sack of cats that just got like poked with a stick. What's happening? Please help me? And then it's like, oh yeah, the moon is in Scorpio. And it's like, oh yeah, that At least I know I'm not crazy. Right, right, exactly, yep.

Kim: 32:09

How do you deal with imposter syndrome?

Amber: 32:11

Like I think that is both the greatest and most asshole-ish question you could ask me. Like greatest asshole-ish question ever. Being totally blunt and honest, I fake it until I make it because I I've been told that I come off like I have confidence I don't know where that comes from Like I'm confident in the idea that I'm smart. But other than that, like when you asked me to be on this podcast, I was like what? I was like? Oh, look at the list of people that have been on here. I was just like like I love Madam Pamita. I love her. I love Marshall the Southern Witch. I love Patt Black. I like Aaron Oberon. Are you? What am I doing here?

Kim: 33:12

I think it feels to say hey, will you be on my podcast? And they're like yeah, I've heard good things about you and I'm like who's, one who's talking about me? Two, what are they saying? And three, how can I hear these things?

Amber: 33:28

Let me tell you so, my best friend, Amanda, she loves you, like loves you. I had no idea about the witch bitch amateur hour. I didn't know anything about the group, and then her and I started to be really close friends and she told me about it. And when I told her I was like what she's like, we're going to fix that right fast, because you cannot be a functioning witch without knowing what this podcast is. And so I got sucked in, of course, because it's amazing, fell down a rabbit hole of listening to all sorts of different episodes and I'm not a huge podcast person, like I really like seeing things so it was different for me, but I loved it. And then, like, I found a bunch of posts from you in which bitch amateur hour, and again just fell down a rabbit hole and then started listening to your podcast and it was like, oh okay, she's right, she's right, I love this whole group.

Amber: 34:34

This is like this is real witchery. Like you know, you see some of the witches that are just like so aesthetically pleasing that you're just like is this real life Actually? Or you just right, like, are you actually? Are you just so pretty? Because the the witch aesthetic is amazing. I mean like come on now, but you guys are all so wonderful and so real and you're not afraid to look silly or messy or incredibly smart. You mix all these up and I was like this is my crew, I like it, I like it. But people say ridiculously good things about you. That's why, like when I said that you asked me to be on this podcast, people went bananas and I was like this is not helping my imposter syndrome, guys, like it's not helping. I understand everybody's super excited, but I'm also like what am I going to talk about?

Kim: 35:38

Yeah, but it's easy on here because I have these, these handy dandy questions that I send you before we do it.

Amber: 35:48

I know I love it. That was the biggest thing. I was like what am I going to talk about? I don't like talking about myself. And then y were like oh, here's a list of questions. But yeah, imposter syndrome is the worst hands down and I fully love and appreciate and I tip my hat to anybody that actually does not have imposter syndrome, because I don't know any other way to get around it. Like it's literally a fake it till you make it Just if you don't feel confident, pretend or like. It sounds so weird. But I learned from, let's just say, the adult industry. I learned from that to have an alternate personality. Exactly, I am really amazing with accounting, even though I super duper hate math. You have to have an alternate personality, be somebody else for a second and then you just kind of like absorb it and you become that person for a second and when it's your regular life, you can actually kind of just like absorb that into yourself. You know so fake it, create somebody else that is confident and then just eat them.

Kim: 37:15

Wow, that's not what I expected to come next.

Amber: 37:20

Please, nobody, please, nobody. Clip this. Somebody is going to clip that and that's going to be an audio attached to my name now, forever, jesus Christ.

Kim: 37:30

Dark ster curiosities is a cannibal. What brings you the most joy in your practice?

Amber: 37:44

What brings me the most joy in my practice? Seeing things come to fruition. That's one of my favorite things.

Amber: 37:51

So like I work very heavily with manifestation and to be able to kind of like mold things to what I would like them to be, so to be able to see something that I've been working on slowly work its way through and like actually exist, that is a huge motivator. When you can sit back and be like I did that, I made that happen, or I do, like I said, with balance. You know, jinxes and hexes are a thing, curses are a thing, and so if somebody deserves those actions, I'm not afraid to take those actions. And so you know, when you put somebody in a mirror box that really deserves it, or you kind of like you know, send that energy that they've been sending back to you, send it back to them and you see how that lands and the fact that that was intended for you. That keeps me going, seeing things happen for sure.

Amber: 38:58

And then, of course, on the other side, same thing, like I've talked about before, people. People are my motivator. You know if I can learn something really cool and share it with my group and that changes somebody's practice or that makes somebody feel really good that day. That means everything to me. Like if I can make somebody happy, I am just over the moon for the rest of the day, like don't care what happens, I'm happy. So sharing my knowledge and sharing what I learn as I learn it, that means everything, huge motivation.

Kim: 39:36

That's cool. What is something that you did early on in your practice that you don't do anymore, and why don't i

Amber: 39:45

Tbe fair, not a lot. Oh well, you know, apparently I'm on the controversial train today Jar spells I don't do them. People love jar spells. People love like the little spell jars. People love them.

Amber: 40:03

I really have moved away from them.

Amber: 40:06

I've gotten a ton of requests from people to have them in my shop and I'm just like, if I do that, I am going to give you instructions on how to be able to pour it out of the jar, you know, to put it in a bowl somewhere or to be able to spread it around your property or whatever the intent and purpose is. I kind of went away from the container magic and I went into the more physical magic where it's like I want the herbs and oils that I'm working with to be able to have contact with something, to be able to really foster that motion. You know, I feel like jar spells. It's a container, you're literally containing it, so it limits, in my opinion not saying this is be all and all, but in my opinion I feel like that severely limits the potential of what's in that jar, you know. So I moved away from those and not to say that I don't do them at all. Some of my wards are in jars, but most of the spell jars are just kind of moved away from.

Kim: 41:09

I never put words into why I don't really do them, but that makes sense, unless I'm trying to hide something or contain something or like trap something. Yeah, I don't know what that would do for me, because my magic doesn't work that way.

Amber: 41:24

Exactly. I mean, for the vast majority of magic in general, a container contains, like that's not even just magic, that's literally like science. You know it's just science. But if you are trying to trap a spirit, cool, use a container. If you're trying to, you know, take something out of yourself, like if you're trying to remove a habit from yourself, I find it easier to be able to take it out of yourself and put it in a container so that you can make peace with that habit leaving and you can do with it what you will, like you can do sympathetic magic with that to be able to remove that habit and take it away from you. Same thing with bad relationships Put it in a jar, make that jar go away, whatever you need to do with it or, however, you need to destroy said jar. But it for me, it just doesn't work that way. You know, if I want my magic to do what it's supposed to do, it needs to be in the universe.

Kim: 42:37

I agree, even though I didn't know, I did it. I agreed when you started out. Yes, I agree.

Amber: 42:42

Sometimes I can words.

Kim: 42:46

What is your favorite tool in your practice? Not necessarily a physical thing. It can be like an idea or a I don't know another word for idea and how do you use it?

Amber: 43:02

So I think the idea so this is like a multi part, so the idea for sure is balanced Like that is a key component to my practice. I feel like if I lean one way for too long, I don't feel right in everything I'm doing in my daily life. So that component is just super important to me and that helps me to be able to find my centerline, to be able to find my balance and that that median that I need to walk Um. Physically I am, I am a keeper of things. I like, things I have. I own a crystal company, like I own a metaphysical company. Literally the table to my left is filled with things. You know I love crystals. I am a nerd but surprisingly I don't use that many crystals in my practice. I'll use like some basic stuff just to be able to amplify or ground what I'm doing. I do use a lot of stuff for protection, but the things that I really love books, obviously, that's just number one. But I am a massive pendulum nerd.

Amber: 44:19

I love black mirrors. Those are the two things that I work with the most often in my practice pendulum and black mirrors. Obsidian mirrors are a huge part of my practice. It allows me to be able to do a ton of divining and scrying. It allows me to be able to, in a weird way, use it like a phone and communicate with things on the other side of the veil. You know, spirit phone hello.

Amber: 44:54

It helps me to be. It helps me to be able to connect, you know. So I love black mirrors and I think a lot of the newer folks in the craft don't utilize it because they don't know what the hell it is. They think it's literally just a black piece of glass and they don't understand. But it's such a gorgeous tool to use and I hope that more information gets published about it over the next few years because I think that's an awesome thing that people should use for their practice. For sure, other than that, try to think of like anything else that I might use, but really it's pendulum books and my black mirrors, my obsidian mirrors.

Kim: 45:36

We bought some Obsidian Slab last year and I really want to polish the face and it's pretty thin because we were going to buy it to make cabs and I just want to polish it. It's like that big and it's rainbow obsidian. I just want to polish it. I want to do that, but I don't know if I can polish that large. I don't have a flat lap so I don't know how I would do it. But I want to Thank you. I just have to buy it.

Amber: 46:08

I think you would need a flat lap for that, because if you use a regular polisher it's going to leave the whirls.

Kim: 46:15

Yeah, and that'll just interrupt that blue rainbow pattern. The wheel's only that big and the piece is that big and it's just not going to work.

Amber: 46:26

No, you'll need a flat lap for sure.

Kim: 46:28

OK, this question is not on your list. I don't think. Can you pick out one decision? Can you pick out one decision that you've made that changed the entire direction of your life, and what was it?

Amber: 46:45

Yes, my divorce. That changed the entire trajectory of my life. Being completely honest, if I didn't get out of that marriage when I did, I wouldn't be alive. Either he was going to do something to be able to make that happen or I was. It was an incredibly emotionally, mentally abusive relationship and then, in the end, he started to add on some physical sprinkles. So that relationship it really taught me who I am and who I need to be, not just for myself but for the people around me. I have a responsibility that people look to me for answers and people look to me for things, and I was gone, mentally gone, for eight years of my life.

Amber: 47:50

And by me making that decision now. Granted, it wasn't an easy one and it came from an explosive situation that happened in public, but making that decision set me on a completely different path. It literally led me to Ben. It led me to having a life again. It led me to my love of books again. It led me to being able to finally live my dream in Open Dark Star. I've wanted to own a witch shop since I was in early high school years and here I am I have one, and sometime in the near future we're going to start looking at physical space, but it changed the entire course of my life by making that decision for myself to get out of that relationship and to be able to do it for myself and to be able to give myself what I was owed and that was freedom. That changed my whole life. Yay, I know I'm so happy.

Kim: 49:03

How do you pull yourself out of a magical slump?

Amber: 49:08

We broke the words. I kind of slap myself around a little bit. Being totally honest, I talk to my best friend, Amanda, every single day and I really push her in her business. I really push her in her craft. I really push her to be that next level person that I can see, is literally right there. Shout out to her. Her business is Pomegranate and Spice. She's amazing. If you guys have not checked out Pomegranate and Spice, you have to. She does divine-based items. She does candles. She does this gorgeous perfume. Kim is over there dying right now. That's Pomegranate and Spice. She is an admin in Dark Star, so you can find her that way too.

Amber: 50:06

But yeah, I push her crazy in her craft and I pushed her in her business and I think being able to have that relationship with someone it makes me realize again that I just I don't have that luxury of just not doing stuff. I really need to be there. I need to be present for my group, I need to be present for Ben, I need to be present for Amanda and I need to be present for everything. So if I'm in a magical slump, I take a minute, honestly, I go make myself some tea and I ask myself what is it that's making this slump happen?

Amber: 50:52

Am I tired? Am I spiritually tired? Is there something that's going on that I just feel like I'm not? I don't know. I don't feel like I'm not at the level that I should be. Am I feeling imposter syndrome? So I just kind of do an internal check and ask myself a bunch of questions and then I'll literally sit there and look at myself and be like you can't do this, get up, go read a book, go touch some rocks, go do something that you love to be able to reconnect. Sometimes I'll even just go to a metaphysical store my friend in town in Wilmington, his name is Horace, he owns Madame Earcats and I will just go to his shop and go hang out, even if I don't buy anything. I'll just go hang out, just go reconnect with the things that remind me of my spirituality and remind me of what I do, and just make that connection again and that helps get me out of those slumps and pulls me back together again.

Kim: 51:58

What's something you wish was discussed more in the witch community?

Amber: 52:11

A lot. `I feel like there's so much information out there, but I feel like if you help people to understand that, you really need to start at the ground floor. When you're starting witchcraft, you have to learn the basics, learn the correspondences, learn why witchcraft, what is witchcraft? What is witchcraft to you, to me, the history of it? You have to learn the basics of it. I had somebody on TikTok go off on me and tell me that I was a gatekeeper because I wouldn't give information about really high level spells on TikTok. And they were like, oh, you're gatekeeping. And I was like that's not what gatekeeping is. First off, I don't know you anything. Secondly, you have to start from the ground up and as a mentor, as somebody that teaches people witchcraft, I don't know what your level is. I don't know what you already know. I don't know what you don't know. I'm not going to give you a crazy dark magic recipe when you don't even know the basics. So I think that's my biggest pet peeve with witchery nowadays is it's so easy to get involved, which I love, don't get me wrong.

Amber: 53:35

But I really wish that people understood to start with the basics. If you have a really wonderful foundation for a house, a hurricane can come through and that house is going to stand. But if you have a shitty foundation, the house is going to be gone. It's going to be gone. So start with the very basics when you're learning and then slowly add things in, test things out. It's OK to fail. It's OK to fuck up. What is that? Can I? If I told you how many times I have fucked up a spell, that would be a whole other podcast. But it's OK.

Amber: 54:18

But you have to start with the basics because then your spells are going to be more successful. You're going to feel better about yourself as a witch. You're going to understand the components that go into spellcraft. You're not just going to find some spell on TikTok or in a book somewhere and just do the spell. You're going to understand why that spell was created, the way that it was and how it's working. Those basics that's my number one. And the other thing I really wish that was talked about a lot more in witchcraft is protection magic. I am a huge proponent for protection magic. If you're going to start doing even light magic or if you're going to start working with baneful magic, know what your protections are. Understand how to make wards. Understand how to protect yourself. Understand how to enchant jewelry, understand how to do these little things, because it's going to save you a ton of headache in the long run. But again, people just want to jump balls deep into it and they wonder why they've got an attachment.

Kim: 55:28

I'm not going to go into that mental picture.

Amber: 55:35

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

Kim: 55:39

Think of the three biggest influences on your practice, whether it's a theory that you heard somewhere or a book you read when you were 17, or your own mentor. Thank them for what? Let me rephrase that what would you thank them for?

Amber: 56:01

I've had quite a few mentors over the years. Like I said, I've been practicing for more than 25 years and I've had a ton of mentors when I was actually there's a couple. So one of the first things that happened on my path, I was a little bitty, 14-year-old. I was little bitty and I was in Fort Collins, colorado, and my parents knew at that point that I was spiritual and I was definitely not of any of the normal faiths. There was a psychic fair in Fort Collins and this was back in the day where kids just went and did shit by themselves, like I was 14, and my mom dropped me off at the psychic fair and was just like call, collect when you're ready. So I just got dropped off and I went into the psychic fair and I wandered around and as I was walking by, it was my first real confrontation with the spiritual. It was my first real interaction with other people like me, like I had been to stores and the library and whatever. But this was my first real time being in a big convention center and it was filled with people like me and I walked in there and it was just this sense of like, oh oh, this is real, like I'm not crazy, this is real. There's people like me out there. Ok, this is awesome. And I felt this sense of belonging that I hadn't really ever had. Like, yeah, I had friends and I had a sense of belonging with sports and whatever, but there was just this like I don't know something deep in my chest that just felt like, yeah, this is it All right. And as I was walking along, I didn't I'm one of those people that I normally do a lap and then I'll come back and experience everything.

Amber: 58:11

But as I was walking, there was this guy that was doing like card readings and stuff and he was standing at the end of his booth space and as I walked by, I walked past him and he was like, hey, wait you. And I turn around. And I was like, yeah, and he's like I'm supposed to do a reading for you today and I was like I didn't book anything. What are you talking about? And he's like no, he's like I just I don't know, like I'm not trying to be weird or anything. He's like I just I just feel like you have a message waiting for you and you need to hear this. And I was like, ok, weirdo.

Amber: 58:48

So I walk into his booth and I sit down and his deck of cards was the weirdest tarot deck I'd ever seen, because it wasn't like a normal tarot deck, like you know how. Like now there's crystal struck tarot which, by the way, I just got their silver deck, oh gorgeous. But you know how, there's like crystal tarot decks. Now His deck was like a deck of crystals. It wasn't even really a tarot deck, but it was like you walked in and you had to pick three of your favorite colors. So I picked my favorite colors and then you have to pick your three least favorite colors. I picked my colors and then he does the reading with the crystal cards.

Amber: 59:33

Based off of that and it was the most on point reading I have ever had in my entire life, like even to this day. It was the most like deep, as if this guy knew me and I am 40 years old and this memory persists to this day. Like every time I pick up a tarot deck, I think about this guy, I think about that reading and every time I work with somebody, I just hope that I can give them that same feeling that he gave to me. So I'm sure he's already passed. It literally was forever ago. I mean, this guy had to have been in his 40s, so I don't know. Maybe he's still around. If he is Hi, he's definitely listening. If he's on the other side, right, he's definitely here. I don't see you. I remember your reading, but God, but he, his experience lives with me to this day. It sits with me and it's part of my practice now. It's part of why I decided to do divination and it's part of why I decided to really learn about different types of divination. So, Mr Guy that gave me that reading in Fort Collins, thank you. You really helped to shape me into a divination person.

Amber: 1:01:08

Another person that really affected my practice. I was very wicken at one time, lived my life by the three by three rule and very much so, prescribed to the whole Don't do harm. It's going to come and screw you and that's the only reason why you don't do harm is because you're the person that gets affected, not the other person. I met this lady again in Fort Collins. I met this lady at the library and she was in the witchcraft section and we got to talking about witchery and I she was reading a book on I don't know something dark. It was definitely like on the bane full side of things, but it was back in the day where it was called Black Magic, so it was definitely a darker magic book.

Amber: 1:02:01

And, of course, I was reading a wick book and we got into a conversation about dark versus light. And she looked at me and she was like can a woman exist without a man? And I was like, of course. And she's like, can a man exist without a woman? And I was like, well, and she's like do you see how that's not balanced in any way, shape or form? She's like one person cannot exist without the other. Nature can't exist without man and man can't exist without nature. And I was like, well, I feel like that's a little. I feel like nature would exist just fine without us. And she's like but would it, though? Because we've also created so much more in nature that didn't exist. We've helped nature to evolve, even though we've also done our own damage, she's like, but we have helped it evolve. And I was like, oh, okay, I understand.

Amber: 1:02:55

So we had this whole conversation about dark versus light and masculine versus feminine and just all these like competing things and all these competing feelings and thought processes, and in the end she was like you can continue to be a Wiccan, she's like but your magic is not going to be what I see it could be, she's like. I really feel like you just need to be a witch. Just be a witch, be yourself, practice yourself however you feel that your practice needs to be. And she's like just be balanced. And we had this conversation in the stacks of the Fort Collins Public Library and it was just this like crashing moment where my brain was like, oh shit, I have been missing a huge chunk of my magic.

Amber: 1:03:50

You know, and granted, I was still really young in my practice I think I was only like a year into my practice at that point. It was that aha moment where I was like, oh, my goodness, I am missing a giant portion of what I'm capable of. And so that lady I'm sure is on the other side of the veil, because she was easily into her 60s, maybe early 70s or late 60s, something that around she is much older. So that person, very much so reinstilled, or instilled the thought that in order for my magic specifically to work the way that it's intended and to be on the level that I can be, I've got to be balanced. I have to accept the light, I have to accept the dark, I have to let myself be both halves in order to be a whole.

Kim: 1:04:44

What's the third one?

Amber: 1:04:47

The third one. The third one was the lady that I met after a rave. My life is interesting. I met this late. So in my life I've been a lot of things. I was a music promoter and a booking agent for bands, musicians, all sorts of stuff in Florida. Well, I was working in Hollywood one day and we had this giant rave. I actually know it wasn't Hollywood, I was in Orlando at that time. We had a very big rave the morning after.

Amber: 1:05:25

I had met the lady the night before and she texted me, or she messaged me, and was like hey, come to my house, I have something for you. And of course this was before Stranger Danger, and in the rave scene you don't really have Stranger Danger. Everybody is your friend, everybody is there to be positive a player. That's life. So she sends me her address, I go to her house and she gives me this book. I don't have the book to this day. I don't know what book it was, but she was just like hey, you seem kind of funky today, are you okay? And I was like I haven't been to bed yet. So there's that.

Amber: 1:06:05

But she sat me and she's like hey, come on inside, let me get you a drink. She's like non-alcoholic because you don't need anymore. And she's like have you ever had Reiki done? And I was like what is that? No, I've never even heard of that. And she explained about how it's working with the energy of a person's body. It is a way of healing more than just the physical and I was like, no, but it sounds awesome. How do we do this? So she sat me down in a camping chair in the middle of her living room and she was just this hippie lady and she was so fabulous. Like there was tapestries everywhere. There was, like you know, like the old, like braided T-shirt rugs that's what my camping chair was sitting on.

Amber: 1:06:59

So like I sat down and she did this Reiki session on me and like the feelings that I got out of this were otherworldly, like she touched energetic parts of me that I feel like never got attention and that never got touched and it was just this absolutely earth-changing feeling for me. Like I didn't know what the hell it was, I didn't understand how it worked and I left that place feeling the calmest I have ever felt and also the most connected. Like it was such a changing experience for me. Like I felt like the birds were louder, I felt like the sun was brighter, I felt like all of my senses were just so much more heightened and I was just so, like, acutely aware of things, and it was just such a beautiful experience, and that one.

Amber: 1:08:04

It made me understand that healing is not just a physical experience, and that it is very much so an emotional and an energetic one, and because of her, I actually decided to go ahead and take the leap. Now, I know that was years and years and years ago. I think I was in like my 20s when that happened. So, because of her, though, I decided to go ahead and get my Reiki certification, and, instead of just sticking with level one to whatever, I went ahead and I got fully certified. So, in the future, I'll be able to offer classes and be able to get people fully certified to be able to be a master themselves, and it helped me really to understand that I am not just an educator, but that there is a very big part of me that's a healer too. So I thank her a lot.

Kim: 1:08:59

That's cool. I've never had Reiki in person, only over the internet, and people were like I'll send you Reiki and then I don't know. So I don't know how I feel about it over the internet.

Amber: 1:09:10

I'm like okay, definitely go get an in person. It is a totally different experience. Like there is a woman in town here that did Ben's first Reiki experience and I love the way that she did it. Everybody has their own styles and there are so many different types of Reiki now. But I think over the internet or just like sending it through the universe it's good, but I think an in person session is just. It's such an awesome connection because your energies are touching, your energies are brushing each other and after the session is over, you can look at that person face to face and connect on a not touchy-feely physical level, but like on a face to face physical connection. You can be in that person's space and they're in your space. So I feel like it's just another level. When you get it done in person, totally worth it. You should do it.

Kim: 1:10:17

Okay, it doesn't take a lot to get me to agree to stuff.

Amber: 1:10:22

Talk to you in a minute.

Kim: 1:10:27

What advice do you have for a brand new witch?

Amber: 1:10:32

Oh, I love this question. I love this one. I know that the world of Witchcraft can seem wildly overwhelming. I know it can, but slow down, take a breath, work with yourself first before you start working with other things. But the best thing that I could ever tell any new witch is to read. Read some more. When you think you've read enough, keep reading. Subscribe to Kindle Unlimited if you feel the need to, or go to your local library. Borrow books from friends. Go buy books if you're financially able to, but become a voracious reader, because there are so many books out there now that you can build your practice so incredibly personalized that it's a completely different world now than when I was growing up.

Amber: 1:11:36

Talk to people, connect with people and ask about their practice. Ask how they got started and really ask them how they progressed through their practice. I think those are really key, important things, because talking to another witch, you can find out what mistakes they've made. You're still going to make your own, that's just going to happen but you can find out what mistakes they made too, so that you can prepare yourself either how to fix that mistake or don't make that mistake. Become as educated as you possibly can.

Amber: 1:12:17

Don't go into things willy, nilly, blindly and just do it because it's popular on TikTok. Take the time to learn. Take the time to really be able to feel it, understand it, learn the basics of it and don't be scared to try things. Once you have created a nice foundation for yourself, don't be scared to try. If you find something that you connect with, try it. Worst thing that could happen is it backfires or doesn't work properly. Or if you're going to try something really crazy and dark, you might have an attachment and then you just reach out to an older witch or somebody more practiced and we can help you get rid of it.

Amber: 1:13:03

Not saying it's fun, not saying to go for it. But shit happens. You're going to mess up and it's okay. Keep messing up. That's how you learn. And don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of your own power, don't be afraid of somebody else's power. That just gives them more power over you. But become yourself. I know that that sounds hokey and you're like okay, I'll just become myself. But stop trying to mimic somebody else's practice or stop trying to pile the dogma from somebody else's religion on top of yours. Find your own path, make it your own and make that practice so personalized and custom to you that you feel like it has been your second nature for your entire life. It's life changing and you'll feel like such a renewed, powerful person. You'll be on a different level.

Kim: 1:14:08

It probably was your nature, you just didn't know how to see it.

Amber: 1:14:12

Yeah, yeah. I think asking other people too, like what do you see in me, what do you see in my practice? I think that's something that a lot of witches could do a little bit more of. Step outside of your own ego.

Amber: 1:14:29

And I'm not saying ego like Gaston, I'm saying like your psychological ego. I'm saying step outside of that ego and go to somebody that practices and say, hey, what do you see for me in my practice? Or what do you see in me as a human being? Because understanding how you're perceived by other people can help you to be able to shape yourself in either the same way if your perception by other people is exactly what you want it to be, stay on your path, get on you. Or if you're coming off the completely opposite way of what you wanted people to perceive you, as it's a good way for you to change things up, especially in your practice, if you're coming off as a know-it-all, or if you're coming off as a complete, inexperienced neophyte, when you've been practicing forever, you know things to be able to change so that your personal presence matches where you are on the plane of existence, if that makes sense.

Kim: 1:15:31

Who do you think I should have on the show? Who, after answering these questions, who Do you want to answer them?

Amber: 1:15:39

Oh, you know there's actually. I know I mentioned tick tock a lot, but it's literally the social media where we can all connect. There's a guy on tick tock. Oh my god, what is his name? Um, hold on, you guys are gonna hear my tick tock in the background. Hold on, there's a guy that I have.

Amber: 1:16:02

I Love his content and I think it is so easily accessible and so easily digestible. It is Wonderful. He is personable. Sorry if I'm miss pronouning Believe. He goes by, he, him, but he's Phenomenal and I cannot remember his damn name right now. Hold on, one second, I'm seeing if I can find him, cuz I literally just saw a new video of him today, I'm sure. So he does this like crazy, weird old lady Brooklyn voice. So I know that some people out there that are listening already know who I'm talking about. God, I can't find him now. Oh, it's driving me crazy, dang, that makes me so sad. But this person, I Would love to hear how he answers questions. I would love to hear what he does in his own personal practice, because he is so funny and so much like Knowledge just drips out of this person and he is so young. But he makes Witchcraft so accessible. Dang it. I cannot find his name. I'll have to send it to you later but I Adore this guy. He currently has like ice blonde hair. Yeah, I can't find him right now. Oh, wait, hold on, I just found him, riot Adams. That's who riot Adams found you.

Amber: 1:17:46

I, I adore this practitioner. I think he is so funny and he makes witchcraft feel like second nature, and that, to me, is how witchcraft should feel. It should feel like I Do it. Okay, you know it's not. It's not something that you're forcing, it's not something that you're having to remind yourself to do. It's literally just who you are. And Riot Adams is the person for me that every time I see his stuff, I follow him on all social medias, but every time I see his stuff, I stop and I watch the video, even if it's a sponsored post, which normally I just scroll past those. I Just love his energy and I think you I think you would be laughing so much during the entire interview that, like your interview Would be like four or five hours long. He just seems like such a fun person. I'm gonna go with riot, because you've already had Marshall and Marshall is Amazing and he has done so much to be able to bring witchcraft up and out there.

Amber: 1:19:04

Another person I think you would love is Anastasia moon. She is fabulous. She owns a shop and her practices very much more I Don't want to say who do based, because I don't think it is, but it's very much so Like more ancestral style practice. But I love her crafting, like she does a ton of oils and and Product, you know, like salts, potions, things like that. I I'm a big physical witch person. I make tons of oils, I make salts, solid perfumes for ritual use and all these other things. So people like that that do a lot of like physical Witchcraft, I connect with those a lot. So those people I think you would highly enjoy For sure.

Kim: 1:19:59

Cool yeah, is there anything else that you wanted to bring up? Anything I didn't ask you. Did you have any questions for me? Anything at all? What made you do this?

Amber: 1:20:12

What made you really knows he create this podcast? I don't know if you've mentioned that. I Love that. I love it All right. I mean, it's the simplest answer that you could possibly give, but it is the most accurate. I just I think what you do is awesome and I wanted to know why?

Kim: 1:20:34

Okay, realistically, I Wanted a way to advertise my business and I was, like I know I can say, brought to you by blah, blah, blah, and I do. But now it's just for sheer entertainment on my part and Because I can get people to tell me stuff about their lives, and I'm really nosy and like to hear it, you know.

Amber: 1:20:59

Easy access. I love it, and the well will never run dry, so that's a bonus.

Kim: 1:21:06

Exactly. As long as there's witches, I got content.

Amber: 1:21:12

Right, and I think I think you're doing this at such an awesome time because Witchcraft is so easily accessible now and it is not nearly as frowned upon as when we were growing up, and there are so many different and interesting people now. I envy you because, like I said, the well will never run dry, but there's always so many different and interesting and weird people. Yeah, having a podcast is a smart idea for sure I actually have. I know that by time you see this it's already gonna be here and gone, but tonight in my shop On the VIP group on Facebook at 6 pm, I do have a year-end blowout that's happening. We run lives in my group. We try to do at least two a month and 2024 we're gonna stick to that at least two a month. But we do the live sales and that is a great way for you to be able to get access to my inventory that you can't see on Etsy and that you may not be able to see when you come to a physical market. I Will make sure to get a code together so the folks that will be watching this or listening to this I'll make sure to get Kim a code for my Etsy, just specifically for you guys. And then if you do join the VIP group on Facebook, just make sure where it says who referred you, just either say Kim or the podcast or whatever works best, and that way there I'll be able to kind of like send you a little, a little something with your first order, just for saying thank you for having me here and for giving me such a cool opportunity.

Amber: 1:23:00

Our main website is going to be launching by the end of January. It's gonna be at darkstarcuriositiescom. That will have links to my discord and everything else. The growth in 2024 is gonna be bananas. We're gonna have new offerings. I'm hopefully going to Tucson to be able to bring home crazy amounts of things, but 2024 I'll have new services that I'll be offering. Like, I will be offering reiki, distance reiki clearings. I Can charge your objects, I can enchant objects, will have custom oils that you can request, custom salts and brews. The 2024 for darkstar is going to be wild. So make sure you join our discord, make sure that you join the Facebook group on VIP, the VIP group on Facebook words. Make sure you join those. Come join us, hang out, be part of a community, but also get some really cool education out of it get some really cool stuff too. Yeah, I'm excited to share the growth in 2024, for sure.

Kim: 1:24:12

Yay, new website.

Amber: 1:24:16

It's.

Amber: 1:24:20

I fully support, witches leaving Etsy and having their own platform, so we can't get kicked off um that, and Also being able to keep our money, because I hate that I have to increase my prices.

Amber: 1:24:38

To be stay on Etsy, like my prices have to be a Pretty good percentage higher on Etsy and, to be perfectly honest, there's so many wholesalers that are on Etsy from China and other places that are selling at wholesale rates that a lot of people like me I Can't compete with some of the prices that are on there. So you know I do my best to be able to make sure that I keep everything as affordable as possible, because I Don't believe in like overpricing things. I think that's just gross. But I am kind of excited to see how Other places like Faeholm I'm actually checking into that to see like kind of what that place is like I'm excited to see that grow. And then I'm definitely excited to really get going with the website. So I think if my blog moving to so you guys can have access to information on my blog.

Kim: 1:25:45

Okay so. At the end I ask two things of my guests. Thing number one is: recommend something, anything, doesn't have to be witch-related, recommend something to the listeners.

Amber: 1:25:51

I'm gonna recommend the first thing learn something new every day, even if it is the tiniest little thing, even if it's a recipe, a Stupid factoid that you learn from a book while you're like a website, while you're on the toilet, I don't care. Learn something new every day. It doesn't have to be giant, it doesn't have to be earth changing, but Learn at least one thing every day. That's the first thing. And then, secondly, if I could recommend a Book to somebody right now, especially a new witch, my number one book recommendation is psychic witch by Matt Orrn. Fabulous book. It is wonderful. I think it's a great way to be able to make that connection with yourself and it's an awesome way to be able to start really honing in on your, your psychic side, which will help you to hone in on your spiritual side.

Amber: 1:27:02

And then the last thing I want to suggest to everybody is Please, don't forget to give yourself grace. I know that that sounds hokey, but Today we live in such a wild universe where we have to go a thousand miles an hour a day, every single day. We have all these crazy expectations of ourselves, people have expectations of us and it can be really hard to see the forest for the trees. So, even if it's a hard day, even if it is an Absolutely God-awful mercury is in the microwave day, give yourself a little bit of grace. You're not gonna be a hundred percent every single day. You're not gonna be a top performer every day, and it is okay to take a moment for yourself. It is okay to be able to have that grace. Those are the things I'd like to recommend. Thank you.

Kim: 1:27:59

You're welcome. Thing number two is please tell me a story.

Amber: 1:28:03

Tell you a story, oh, oh my goodness, oh my goodness, a story. Hmm, you know it's wild. I don't actually know any good stories. Um, I grew up with, like the Grimm brothers, so that's interesting. Um.

Kim: 1:28:23

Tell me the funniest thing you've ever experienced.

Amber: 1:28:27

Oh god. So, um, my life went from being very serious and droll and like no entertainment value at all, to I laugh every single day. Now Ben is the master of the father joke the dad joke and I I live for when he comes home and tells me the stupidest jokes that he ever could find like I think it's easily my favorite is things. But he also is Incredibly supportive whe hat Ben pulls it out on me daily.

Amber: 1:29:35

Okay, so one day we were getting out of the car and Ben had his hands full right, I think we got food or something. And Ben had his hands full. And he turns around and he looks. I mean he's like, hey, babe, can you lock the doors, meaning lock the doors to our car? And I was standing at the passenger side of the door and I looked at him and I was like, how do you want me to do that? And he just stopped dead in his tracks and turned around and looked at me and was like what? And I said to him I was like how do you want me to lock the doors? And he's just like are you fucking with me right now? Like, and you could see the look of just like His brain is trying to process if I'm just trying to be a funny jerk or If I'm being serious. And me I'm actually getting frustrated. Right, I'm starting to get frustrated. And I was like babe, how do you expect me to lock the doors? And he's like Amber, you just you just locked the doors. And I was like how do you lock the doors? You know the whole scene with David and his mom in Schitt's Creek, where she's like fold in the cheese.

Amber: 1:30:48

I had this moment with Ben, so I am getting Frustrated. At this point I'm talking like my, my cheeks are starting to turn red and you can tell that I'm like contemplating murder. And I'm just like Babe, I don't have the key fob, how would you expect me To lock the door? And by this time he realizes that I'm fucking serious, he realizes that I'm not joking. So he looks at me and he is like babe, you open the passenger door and you click the lock button inside of the door and Then you close the door. I Was mortified, so Now he will. If I'm like, if I have these absolutely ridiculous moments where my brain just no longer functions, he will look at me and be like, babe, can you lock the door? And I'm just like. You know what? I hate you.

Amber: 1:31:58

I've done things like that, so yeah, Once I was, you know, I was like, oh, once I was, you know, sometimes our brains just shut off.

Kim: 1:32:07

Yes, I was trying to pay for something once before a movie. So I was really distracted because then I was gonna like smuggle food into the movie, which gives me so much anxiety, because what if I get caught? I'm gonna go to jail. I know that's not realistic, but don't worry about what my brain does. So it was, I don't know, like 23 cents, like $1.75, and I know to 25 to 25 pieces. Two quarters equal a 50 cent piece. But then my brain was like these two quarters are 50 cents and so I handed them one quarter because I was like it's 50. The cashier was like okay, it's 673, man. And I'm like here's all my money. I don't know what you want. It was. I was very embarrassed, I don't know what you want. My brain stopped working. Just help me, here's all my money. Just give you back what you need to. Oh, my god, I Don't know why that happens to me, but it very it happens a lot. It just stops the just it doesn't oh no like it just stops working.

Kim: 1:33:22

It freezes.

Amber: 1:33:23

I feel like sometimes executive dysfunction meets with like the overwhelming Stuff that we have in our brain all the time, and then you just sit there and you're like it buzzes like when you're pressing the button on a remote control car, and it just goes.

Kim: 1:33:41

It doesn't go anywhere. That's what my brain did. Well, thank you for being on the show.

Amber: 1:33:48

Oh my god thank you so much for having me. I loved it.

Kim: 1:33:53

You're so much fun to chat with oh good, okay, so everybody go follow Dark Star Curiosities, visit her Etsy shop and I will see you on the internet. Okay bye! Bye. Amber, hello, welcome to Hive House! (Amber: hello, hello.) So I have cards, and they are icebreaker cards, so I'm gonna ask you one what would be a good tradition to have?

Amber: 1:34:31

Again it's the chaos. Speaking of the lag, you said what would be a good tradition... (fades out) (fades in) seasonings in it and something else and it was rolled up and and like baked in this weird gravy. The gravy was not right in any way, shape or form and it was so bad that my dad... (fades out)

Kim: 1:35:01

To hear more of the members only episode, head over to crepuscularconjuration. com. The monthly magic tier will give you access to the monthly magic Marco Polo group, the private Facebook group, and access to the written monthly spells. There's also Crepuscular Conjurations, giving you bonus podcast episodes, coloring pages, guided meditations, spell crafting videos, printable downloads and more. The free Witchy Wonderment level will give you a little sample of everything I just mentioned. You can also visit my shop, Clever Kim's Curios, to get spell boxes, one at a time or by monthly subscription, intentional handcrafted jewelry that I make especially for witches, and handmade altar tools. You can even listen to the full Your Average Witch Podcast library, including show notes. Check it out at crepuscular conjuration. com.

Kim: 1:35:50

Thanks for listening to this episode of Your Average Witch. You can find us all around the internet on instagram @your average witch podcast, facebook at Facebook. com/g roups/ hive house, at youraverage witch. com, and at your favorite podcast service. If you'd like to recommend someone for the podcast, like to be on it yourself, or if you'd like to advertise on the podcast, send an email to your average witch podcast at gmailcom. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next Tuesday.