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Original poster

Is woo on the rise or just where I live?

232 replies

HangingOver · 29/05/2022 18:24

I permanently relocated to the South West a few years ago after being a long term weekend visitor for about 5 years....and I've noticed the rise in the amount of woo practitioners in the area has totally exploded!

They range from harmless stuff like dancing naked around the forest with no clothes on (but always mysteriously with a photographer on hand for Instagram!) to more questionable stuff like "yoni steaming" and putting their periods on their faces, to the downright alarming stuff like Kambo (if you don't know what that is it's where a lunatic with no medical training burns you then applies this stuff to the burn that comes out of a poisonous frog in the Amazon, and you really violently vomit and have the shots and sometimes your face and skin swells up). There's also a woman nearby who seems to be a sort of doula (sp?) who specialises in helping you to give birth avoiding medical intervention of any kind at all costs....which seems a bit questionable!

I thought I was quite a fuzzy live and let live type but it's starting to annoy me. My lovely housemate who had a traumatic past is into it and it makes me sad that she goes to the legnths of poisoning herself to try to vomit up "bad energy" Sad She's not bad, she's lovely.

Is this just a local thing or are other seeing a rise in "magical" and "goddesses" near them?

OP posts:
ByeByeMissAmericanPie · 29/05/2022 23:38

It always used to make me laugh when I saw posters advertising some kind of ‘Psychic Fair’. I mean, if they were THAT good, we should know about the fair anyway…

STBX, captain of Industry, and the straightest and most conservative Englishman ever - is seeing some bird from Somerset who decided to drape his study with crystals to help him deal with his anger management issues.

Id like to tell her it’ll take more than a few rocks to calm him down.

SheldonesqueTheBstard · 29/05/2022 23:40

None of that up here.

Just the Wickerman.

OliveHenry · 29/05/2022 23:41

This thread couldn't have been timed better! We're currently on holiday in Glastonbury (not the festival), and despite knowing it would be woo central, the sheer amount of it has surprised me.

This local newsletter/guide was left in our accommodation and it's quite hilarious to read.

Then after all that, there are the normal ads for man with a van and window cleaning 😀

Mind you, the vibe is rubbing off on me - I bought a kaftan! 😂

Is woo on the rise or just where I live?
Is woo on the rise or just where I live?
Is woo on the rise or just where I live?
mackthepony · 29/05/2022 23:41

Getting very popular in London, crystals and sage being sold in markets near me. It seems to be a trend for young women at the moment, I think it gives the illusion of control over your life.

^
😂😂😂

LeniGray · 29/05/2022 23:42

My best friend had a massive dose of woo during the first lockdown. She can’t cope with isolation at all, so started a Wicca course (fully accredited by … someone or other), got into crystals, cleansing her aura and all sorts of other bollocks. At one point she wanted to sage my flat of negative energies, and I said ‘Respectfully - No. Get your shit together, we’re going hiking’. It was really quite bizarre, when I have chronic mental health problems, watching other people lose their shit during the Covid lockdowns. I’ve spent years feeling like the world’s a terrifying place, so it didn’t feel that much different to me 🤔 Yes, I think woo is generally on the rise, the last few years have left many people feeling adrift.

Tulips21 · 29/05/2022 23:43

SnotMikeUpPuffedHe · 29/05/2022 20:41

My guesses: Totnes, Glastonbury (or maybe, say, Street or Somerton, as Glastonbury overflows), Frome and environs, Wells, bits of Bristol.

Although I think YANBU generally. The town I live in (West Wales) has not one but two crystal shops, and they do seem to have appeared all of a sudden.

Im in West Wales- Where are these shops?🤣

mackthepony · 29/05/2022 23:44

A witch called Kate Goth (!!)

^

Again 😂

Kerrrmieee · 29/05/2022 23:46

White person with dreads (my hair matts itself) in stitches at Douglas as typo for Doula.

Here's me Douglas 🤣 well... Have a look then!

I was a prime candidate for woo in the 90s. I prefer meat and prescription drugs myself.

Nolongerteaching · 29/05/2022 23:49

Wow is Totnes really that bonkers? If so, a woman I lived with who I had huge issues with was from there and it makes sense. She thought she could heal my broken leg with her energy.

Isn't Sheldrake based down there?

lameasahorse · 29/05/2022 23:52

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

ivykaty44 · 29/05/2022 23:57

I think woo has increased because life is so difficult for so many people at the moment.

this ^^

Its escapism

AliBaliBears · 29/05/2022 23:57

I've honestly never heard the term woo in my life! Had no idea what this thread was going to be about 😂

accidentaleric · 29/05/2022 23:58

Woo isn't on the rise here but your thread did remind me of the time that I accidentally had Reiki and it seemed to release the illness from hell in me and I was knocked out for about a week. Wtf was that about?

Arnaquer · 29/05/2022 23:59

Despinetta · 29/05/2022 22:43

I permanently relocated to the South West

Here is your answer.

I was about to post the same!

WiddlinDiddlin · 30/05/2022 00:00

newrubylane · 29/05/2022 20:52

This was my first thought too.

Show quote history

Mine too!

FlissyPaps · 30/05/2022 00:01

I’m very much into crystals and tarot. I had my birthstone given to me as a gift as a child, and ever since I’ve been fascinated by crystals. They do make lovely ornaments.

I’ve also been really curious and interested in spirits and the afterlife since I was a kid too. (Some dark stuff).

I think some people are drawn to “woo”, magick and spiritualism more than others. Some believe. Some don’t. & some are in between and merely curious.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 30/05/2022 00:02

It's spread outside the confines of Totnes and Glastonbury.

Rather like the Measles and Head Lice in those areas.

HonorOakWifeOfGabriel · 30/05/2022 00:03

I rarely laugh at MN, but Douglas was very good.

My money is still on Frome.

Iamthewombat · 30/05/2022 00:05

I think some people are drawn to “woo”, magick and spiritualism more than others. Some believe. Some don’t. & some are in between and merely curious.

That really is a stunning level of insight. Did the crystals tell you that, or the tarot cards?

FlissyPaps · 30/05/2022 00:09

Iamthewombat · 30/05/2022 00:05

I think some people are drawn to “woo”, magick and spiritualism more than others. Some believe. Some don’t. & some are in between and merely curious.

That really is a stunning level of insight. Did the crystals tell you that, or the tarot cards?

Both, actually 😘

MerchSwyddEfrog · 30/05/2022 00:14

Just asked my ds if any of his friends are into woo and he looked at me as I was mad. He said “ No, I go to High not Hogwarts!” 😂 I’m in Wales.

MerchSwyddEfrog · 30/05/2022 00:17

That should say xxxxxxx High.

Thelnebriati · 30/05/2022 00:18

@accidentaleric How do you accidentally have Reiki, did you bump into someone?

Andouillette · 30/05/2022 00:21

Goawayangryman · 29/05/2022 23:11

WTF is cacao? As in, the bean that big standard chocolate products are made from??

That's the stuff, cocoa as old fogeys like me know it. Add some lumps and some dust, call it cacao and charge a tenner a mug. Job's a good un!

accidentaleric · 30/05/2022 00:24

Thelnebriati · 30/05/2022 00:18

@accidentaleric How do you accidentally have Reiki, did you bump into someone?

No, I had a job that involved facilitating people with disabilities to access hobbies and I took a client along to a Reiki night she really wanted to go to. When I got there the Reiki people assumed I was there to have some Reiki too (it was all done for several people at the same time in one big hall on multiple beds, like a hospital).

The lady I had taken was quite anxious and the Reiki people were really expecting me to have a go, too. I went along with it because I didn't want my client to back out.

I can't remember much about it other than I was subsequently very ill for nearly 2 weeks.