About Culture Confessional:

The chaos of contemporary culture jumps between deeply spiritual and comically ridiculous like a deranged tree frog. We are simultaneously anxiously attached to the digital and completely overwhelmed by the material.

Culture Confessional is born out of discussion, dissatisfaction, contemplation and sometimes, sheer fucking confusion. Read: midnight DM rants fests. We needed a space to process, and here we are.

Intro: 

Through Etsy witch spells and viral Tarot card-reading pics, spirituality has crept into popular culture and everyday life. Or was it always there? Since nothing is certain anymore, we have forgone the traditional methods of interpreting our mutating environment and turned to esoteric practices for answers. Because when all else fails, what else is there? Exactly. And as per usual, our old friend capitalism decided it’s time to cash in. But spirituality was never supposed to give clear answers or be a commodified, tangible thing to be sold. It has always been with us, felt throughout fashion, culture and casual interactions.

The more aware of it we become the more we realise it was always in the corner of our eye, waiting to take its rightful palace and release us from the burden of misuse and distrust. Join us in exploring modern day spirituality, the role of energetic practices in fashion and how past perceptions influenced contemporary esotericism. And – of course – our own spiritual awakenings.

Transcript:

Anastasia: Hi, everyone!

So we are back for yet another disruptive cultural commentary episode of the Culture Confessional, the podcast where we process cultural chaos through fashion, art, and an occasional spiritual awakening, which is very much in the case of this particular episode, because the theme is: Esoteric: Ick or Chic?

So I feel like it’s good to start and talk about just how much we’ve heard the word whimsy in the past half a year. Do you want to elaborate on that? Because I feel like it’s really, really worth talking about how the whole notion of being esoteric, whimsical, and chic at the same time has kind of flooded our feeds and minds.

Asya: Yeah, I mean, honestly, in the last year, I think we have Etsy Witches, we have the energy cleanses, spirituality, breath work and meditations, all of these things that are trying to connect us to our inner goddesses, our inner witches, our inner spirits.

And obviously, as someone who is a veteran, and I think you’re also a veteran of spirituality, this has been in our lives for a while. So it’s really, really interesting to see this shift happening in fashion and culture, and all around the world.

I think the Etsy Witch thing is what really got it for me, where I was like, oh, that’s a thing that people do. They hire Etsy Witches to clean the weather during their weddings, which is really unique. We can see it in anything, everything.

Why do you think there’s been such a shift in the last couple of years?

Anastasia: Honestly, I feel like with everything that’s going on in the world, which has been chaotic, to say the least, I strongly feel that 2020, with all of the COVID, was a huge collective spiritual awakening. And I feel like both me and you are kind of coming out of our spiritual closets in this episode, because I think back in 2020 everyone was confined and we were faced with ourselves. We had to just sit with who we are and our problems as well. And people were just looking for answers frantically.

And to this day, I feel like for me, that was definitely a catalyst for a whole restructuring of my mind and my relationship to the mystical, to faith, to God. And then, obviously, just like anything, because culture is such a reflection of the world, it trickled into Pinterest and fashion. Then it became fashionable to be spiritual.

Because before that, up until 2020, I’ve always been into astrology. I’m like the OG astrology girl. I walked into the room knowing everyone’s star signs. And before that, you would ask someone, what is your time of birth? And they’d be like, oh my God, are you one of those girls? But now, it’s more normal than ever. And it’s definitely made its way to our closets, too.

So the whole notion of being a witch, and I feel like I really want to ask you this, because you have this crazy experience with your energy lady, and I want you to talk about that for sure. And I feel like then we can definitely seep into the cultural aspect of it all, because I think we need to definitely begin by saying that feminine power, it’s not just an aesthetic, it’s so much bigger than that. It goes so much deeper. And yeah, definitely talk about that, please, because that story is crazy.

Asya: First of all, spirituality, I think in my life, it has been always so normalised. My mom is a very spiritual person. She has taught me how to meditate since I was really young. She has done the Reiki healing on me when other moms would be like, your head hurts, take some medicine or take some paracetamol. My mom would be like, let me just do this for you. So it’s definitely been in my life for a while.

And it’s been crazy normalised, I think, in my conversations in recent years as well. I think you’re right, during the pandemic, and since then, where if someone would come to me, maybe 10 years ago, and be like, oh my god, I feel like I can’t sleep, I’ll be like, oh, just, I don’t know, take some medicine, and I don’t know, take melatonin and go to sleep. Now, if someone’s like, I can’t sleep, I’ll be like, oh, so try this breath work and try this meditation and do a full spiritual cleanse and bathe yourself in salt, because there might be bad spirits in your house.

And if 10 years ago, I would say that to someone, they would be like, are you insane? What are you even on? Now they would be like, oh, yeah, that’s right. Yeah, I should have thought of that. I’m gonna light a candle. So that’s already like a crazy shift to me. But I’m like, guys, I’ve been here. I’ve been waiting for you here patiently. Thank you so much for joining me.

I’ve had some crazy, crazy experiences with spirituality in general. I’ve had sleep paralysis, I’ve had curses being placed on me. And I’ve had this ring, actually. In fact, I brought a prop today.

Because I started wearing this ring. And it’s gold, and gold usually doesn’t get black. But this ring was black, completely. And I just kind of wore it. And then my mom called me, and she was like, take it off immediately. It’s like, oh my god, okay, what just happened?

And apparently, she brought other jewellery that was in the same case to our energy lady, because everyone in Kazakhstan has an energy lady. We love them. They are our G’s. We hang out with them all the time. If something is up, we call them. I’ve called mine like three times in the last month. We’re like this, like, we’re like this.

So she called the energy lady, and she was like, oh, someone has cursed you. So the jewellery, someone saw you wear this jewellery, and they cursed you wearing it. So it rippled on the jewellery, and the whole jewellery bag turned black. So we need to do this whole cleanse, and then it whitened, like lightened.

So that’s already crazy. I’ve had sleep paralysis, I’ve had cleanses where something would get attached to me, and I would see the negative spirits that were cleansed from me. I would see them in a bowl of water, just flying there. I saw shadows and things during my sleep paralysis. I astral projected out of my body. I’ve done all of this, and this is no joke.

I think, something we need to stress as well with this episode, that it’s really cool to aestheticise witchiness, and you know, everyone’s like, I want a witchy girl. No, you want a girl who’s going to give you a crystal, and give you some meditation practises, and she’s going to let you use her Insight Timer subscription.

So like, yeah, okay, let’s aestheticise witchiness and spirituality however much we want, but we need to understand how actually serious this is, and how actually paying an Etsy witch to clear the weather for your wedding can get you sick for two years after that, because of the ripple effects of these energies.

And another thing that I really wanted to mention is, you and I, we’ve been living in countries where spirituality is not looked down upon. It’s very much like esotericism, spirituality and herbalism; it’s part of our daily life.

It has been part of our parents’ lives, which is, I think, really unique, even though our parents came from the Soviet Union, where any religious practises were kind of banned. They are still all very, very deeply spiritual people, and they all always connect to these things. Maybe it’s just our families, but it’s a lot of the families from post-Soviet Union countries that I know.

But when it was done in our countries, and when it’s still done in our countries, and not in the Western world, in all developing countries, I think, in general, it’s done very calmly, and it’s not done very commercially.

So if you have someone who you want to have energy cleansed, or if you want to go to an energy lady and talk to them, symbolically, you maybe give them a little money just for kind of the exchange spiritually to be there, and for it not to be like a free gift that then can also have its own ramifications. But it’s very calm, and it’s very not commercialised, and it’s very word of mouth, and it’s very quiet, which is how it should be.

Anastasia: Not a business.

Asya: Yeah, it’s not a business. Nobody ever advertises it. I mean, we have the whole battle of psychics TV show that has been happening on TV.

So there’s that, which is also another evidence that spirituality has been such a big part of our culture for so long. We literally have like a 20-season TV show where psychics compete.

Anastasia: Prime time TV!

Asya: Everyone and their grandma is watching this shit of these psychics trying to find a person hidden in a trunk of 10 cars, and they’re like, wow, this psychic is really strong. Of course, we have that because capitalism is still present in any country. But all of these spiritual practises in developing countries are very much like, they’re not businesses.

You come to someone’s house, they welcome you, they teach you some tools. Sometimes it’s passed down through families and family recipes. Sometimes it’s like you have a grandma who has been practising some sort of herbal magic and herbal practise her whole life, and she’s just going to give you this tea and you’re going to drink it. And that’s awesome.

But the second it reached Western culture in the last couple of years, it suddenly became commercialised. It suddenly became marketed.

And what weirds me out is that it started to be marketed as something tangible, because spirituality as a whole is very intangible. It’s just kind of there. It’s always present in our lives. We don’t need to buy into it or not buy into it. We don’t need to believe it or not believe it or subscribe to it or not subscribe to it. It’s just there.

It’s always going to be there, whether we want it or not, whether we believe it or not. But then Western culture came about, and they were like, no, that’s a bit too confusing for people. We see people getting into astrology. We see people getting into spirituality. That’s a bit too abstract for us to sell. How do you sell a spiritual peace? You can’t.

But you can sell a crystal that will bring you a spiritual peace. How do you sell, I don’t know, getting out of the Mercury retrograde that we’ve been doing for the last month? You can’t. But you can sell horoscope readings to tell you what is going to happen to you. And you can sell Tarot cards for someone to do this to you. And you can sell an aesthetic and an environment. So let’s just commercialise it and make it tangible.

That, by the way, did not touch the energy. Maybe it did a little bit. It didn’t change it in any way. It’s still very kind of metaphysical. But for some reason, they can’t grasp that. In general, Western culture can’t grasp something that is not, you can’t touch it, you can’t buy it. So they’ve just decided that let’s make crystals.

But I also wanted to ask you, as someone who had experiences with spirituality, back in your home country with your family, when do you think it changed for you? When did you notice this shift? Like when you came into the Western world, the Western cultures, how did you notice these shifts of spirituality?

Anastasia: Oh, yeah, definitely. And I agree with you that it’s so normalised for us. And, you know, even astrology, I feel like in post-Soviet countries, like, especially among women, which once again, is so weird, because back in the Soviet days, and that was not that long ago, guys, 1992, spirituality was banned, religion was banned, like churches, like, we’re talking, my parents got married on the day of Russian Orthodox Christmas. And the government was actually encouraging people to celebrate other things, so that they would not celebrate religious holidays whatsoever. Nuts.

But I definitely noticed this clash, because you can’t sell a spiritual practice. But I feel like it all comes down to human sovereignty, you have to discern what spiritual practises you engage with.

And I am honestly a little bit conflicted, because on one hand, I love all these things. And I honestly feel like what we’re seeing right now, with all the booms of like the astrology readers, and like people selling their services, essentially, that are connected to higher powers, energies. I think it’s just spirituality’s way to kind of exist in this capitalistic fucking meat grinder we live in.

So on one hand, I completely agree with you that, you know, how do you even do that? But on the other hand, I’m thinking, is there any other option how this would actually help other people wake up? Because actually, I was “spiritually awakened” by buying a Kundalini practice from a lovely girl, Amanda Norgaard (we need to reference). And I still practise the teachings she taught me to this day, and they do help me.

So I think it’s, at the end of the day, you have to be aware of how capitalism also amplified a lot of spiritual practitioners that are not as strong and are basically very surface-level spirituality. But then again, at the same time, I feel like humans always find teachers who are at their level, however conceited that sounds. I know, but it’s also true. You always find exactly what you need. And maybe to someone else, that basic level will actually be like, oh, my God, there is this whole world I didn’t know about.

So just like everything, we live in the world of polarities, everything like on one hand, capitalism, on the other hand, spirituality, all of this is just, you know, kind of clashing, because we live primarily in the atmosphere of American pop culture. It’s, let’s be real, it’s absolutely dominant. And, you know, America is the capital of capitalism.

And, you know, I feel like when spirituality enters America, America, money-making machine, it’s definitely a lot different in our part of the world. Because, as you said, it’s very word of mouth. It’s definitely not commercialised. A lot of the people practitioners actually have day jobs, and they just do it because they cannot not do it.

So this question of morality of being spiritual and taking money for it is up in the air, because I keep remembering Madonna saying in one of her interviews, you can be a spiritual person and love shopping at Prada. And I feel like that’s also true, because, you know, we are spiritual beings. But at the same time, we’re here in this material world, and we are here to experience bodily pleasures of clothes and fashion and arts and money, essentially. So that is definitely a bit of a double-edged sword. Don’t you agree?

Asya: Yeah, I also think that one of the actual perks of the popularisation of spirituality is the fact that we can now do both, because I think back when spirituality was a bit more of a closed-off practice in the Western world, it would be pretty much like a very small group of people subscribing to those specific beliefs.

And as with any specific group of people, they will be categorised outside the main desires and the main ideas of like, what a person should look like in this natural world. So it’s like, oh, do you still enjoy shopping? Do you still want to get an overpriced latte? Do you still want to be successful and make money? No, you can’t be spiritual. You’re not allowed to be spiritual. Because if you’re a spiritual, you have to let go of all possessions and only be connected to Mother Gaia and live in the woods.

No, I’m glad that it is now popularised enough that we can say that I am a spiritual person, and I practise meditation and I subscribe to different practises. But I’m also just a girl in this world who wants to experience it, who wants to do fun things. I don’t want to sit and think about energies and try to spot them everywhere I go. I also want to go and have dinner and grab a coffee and enjoy my life and do work and have relationships.

So I am glad that the popularisation has made it okay to be spiritual without everything else in your life being put into question. And then your spirituality also being put into question. So I love that.

And I also love that it made women be more open about their conversation with spirituality, because you mentioned something, the words themselves have just attached themselves in my brain. It’s the witch wound, which I’m obsessed with just that term in general. So do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Anastasia: Yes, definitely. Because as women, we are carrying the genetic codes of all of the women who are labelled witches just for being women, essentially. And it’s actually scientifically proven. I love how a lot of woo-woo stuff has actually been proven by science.

The two are actually inseparable. And there is such a term that’s called epigenetics, which actually means genetic codes from generations and generations before you, you still carry them. And it’s wild if you think about what women have endured up until very recently. We didn’t even get the right to vote till what, like the beginning of the 20th century.

But the witch hunts of it all that happened in the Middle Ages were crazy. We’re talking 10s of 1000s of women just burned at the stake. And once again, it’s just really interesting that the most popular witch hunt is like the witches of Salem, once again, because it happened in the US and we live in a very pop culture American climate. But the witches of Salem, it was horrible, but it was up to, I think, 3000 women. If we talk witch hunts in Europe, that was 10s and 10s and 10s of 1000s. And we still carry that wound. It’s proven by science.

So I feel like this whole boom that we’re experiencing right now is also very beautiful, because we are essentially reclaiming our power. And yes, it can be clumsy at times. Yes, it clashes with capitalism. Yes, some of the practises seem a little bit sketchy. Yes, we definitely went overboard with the whole Etsy witch situation.

But the other side of it is actually that I’m actually really, really happy to see that a lot of women who are obsessed with the book, Women Who Run with the Wolves, is essential reading for everyone, because I feel like it just speaks to so many of us.

We’re like, yes, finally, we understand what’s been happening and segue into how the witch got a rebrand. And the Pinterest of it all happened. Fashion, absolutely, definitely responded recently, because we see Michèle Lamy just being all this like mysterious woman, darkened fingers, coal. We see the resurfacing of the goth aesthetic, the mystical aesthetic. All of this is happening in real time. And it’s happening so fast.

But I feel like we have to really understand that it’s not just an aesthetic. It’s the blueprint. It’s not just something pretty that you wear. It’s a state of mind. It’s your energy. And honestly, if the clothes help women kind of get back to that power, wear them as armour, wear them as an extension of your soul, so it can go both ways.

So what do you think about that? How do you think the way we kind of aestheticise the witchy aesthetic? Can it actually help us connect back with our feminine powers?

Asya: Honestly, 100%, yes. Especially considering the way that the witch in general, the concept of the witch was treated in the culture. And now we finally, first of all, we can be the ones to dictate how it’s being treated. We have more power than ever to actually tell people how we want our witchiness, our spirituality can be viewed.

Because 10, maybe not 10, but like 50 years ago, it would be men who are deciding that, actually, which is bad or which is good. They were dictating all the media and all expressionist spaces. So they were like, you know what, which is a bit too powerful, let’s either burn them or mark them as not functional members of society.

And it’s really funny because men in power have known about spirituality for a while.

Anastasia: And the Epstein files prove it!

Asya: Yes, even if you think about it, these are scary, scary ass, horrible, demon, powerful men who know everything in the world and how to take advantage of it. Energies and witch and spiritual practises are such a big part of this world. Do you really think that they would draw the line at mysticism? That they would be like, no, actually that’s a bi.

No. They would do curses and they would do rituals and they would do all these things, they would do them carelessly. Because unlike a lot of women who are connected to this energy, they are not connected, nor do they understand how to properly channel it. And they’re just going to leave that energy out there after they’re done harming the rest of the world. And that is a bit crazy to me.

It’s not about not believing in this energy, and it’s not about not believing that it exists. It’s about denying access of women to it because of how natural it is to us.

And another fun fact that my energy lady told me is that most women that she knows, and most women in general, can astral project. Not a lot of men can.

Female energy is very connected to the spiritual. So we’ve always had access to it. We’ve always been a part of this. And I think now that we have this control of, okay, I can actually go and do my research, and I can connect to these spiritual things, even if it comes through a crystal or an Etsy witch. Even if it comes through watching a movie and watching a TikTok of a girl getting dressed and talking about her Tarot card of the day, doesn’t matter. If that gets you to think, oh, maybe I can connect with this within myself.

And if this episode teaches you something is that you can connect with your inner spirituality and it is better than you do. Because once you are aligned with this power that is running through this whole earth and through all of us and through generations of women that came before us that had this power, your life is going to be so much better because you’re just going to understand more.

You’re going to feel yourself more, feel your body more, feel the world more, feel nature more. You’re not going to be that disconnected because I think the big problem with denying us spirituality for so long is it’s like denying literal plants water to grow. All of these witch stereotypes and witch trials and the misrepresentation of women and the spiritual in the media in all these years was like a desert to us as plants, and now we are finally getting some rain.

So we have to soak this in, and if any sort of representation in social media right now helps, that’s great because not only is spirituality essential to us, it is also essential to our understanding of ourselves as women and our understanding of femininity and any kind of female presentation. Anyone who carries feminine energy within them needs to connect with the spiritual ASAP.

Because if you look at the way that witches were portrayed in the media and the witches portrayed as feminine, they are never portrayed as feminine. They’re either portrayed as this wise grandma who’s going to help the hero on his journey, and she’s going to give him some herbs and advice, or she is the evil woman who has cursed all men for all eternity, and now they’re all suffering, and they have to cut her head off.

Anastasia: Honestly, understanding the witch a little bit.

Asya: Yeah, understanding the witch. Not really understanding the grandma. You’re gonna help a man on his journey? No.

Anastasia: But burn the village? Sure.

Asya: But burn the village? Honestly, yeah. The more I see and the more I experience, the more I’m like burn that fucking village girl.

But both of these iterations of the witch are incredibly powerful. But somehow they’re trying to deny it its femininity, and they’re trying to view it as almost these amorphous creatures of witches. In all of the old tales and stories and fairy tales, they’re either these scary creatures or these creatures that are like she has practised witchcraft for so long, she has stopped looking human. So it’s always this rhetoric that if you connect with this energy, you will lose your humanity, or you will lose what makes you you, you will lose your femininity. No, you are going to get back to yourself.

And if all these things of the 21st century witch and all these rebrands are going to help us get back to what we were meant to be all of these esoteric practises that we were meant to embody, good. Then more power to Etsy witches and get me a crystal and sign me up because if we all realise our power, oh my god, utopia is to follow. Maybe I’m being a bit optimistic, but you know I have to have some faith.

Anastasia: You have to. And absolutely, because the reason why women have been labelled is precisely our power, and essentially, this is how you break down capitalism. This is what patriarchy is fucking terrified of, let me tell you. Patriarchy hates to see the witches coming. Period.

And of course, it is funny that you know witches have been burned for millennia, yet now capitalism is selling it back to us as an aesthetic. Sure, yeah, there is a bit of a sick and twisted irony in that, but at the same time, I feel like the more fashion and culture understand the power of women, understand what we are at our core, essentially and ask important questions. Asks us what we want, how it can better serve us, and how it can better amplify femininity, which by the way, is anything but poofy dresses.

It can be, but you know it has so many faces, and this is the biggest misconception that feminine energy is at its core very soft, trad wifey, cute. No, it’s devastatingly powerful, which is why women have been excluded from most of history.

Artists historically used women, I’m looking at you Pablo Picasso, as muses, discarded them as garbage, just sucked the life out of them, channelled it through their art, became celebrated great artists. Again, that was not that long ago, and it’s still happening to this day, so the more women get connected through whatever means, it’s going to serve us well.

But at the same time I feel like this is an important thing that both me and you wanted to touch on if this episode is going to teach you anything is there must be boundaries, there must be spiritual hygiene, absolutely. If you hire an Etsy witch to curse someone, just don’t do it, please, because that shit will go back to you. You just cannot. Your best spiritual practice here is to honestly forgive, surrender and work on yourself, because as Beyonce said best revenge is your paper.

And actually, I would love you to share what some of the basic things are on how to protect yourself, and how to engage with this. Because like it or not, we’re still energetic beings we engage with, even me and you right now, we do, and how do you practise this in everyday life? What are some dos and don’ts? So, anything you want to share? Anything you remember, please do.

Asya: First of all, I think yeah, the Etsy witch and all these practises, maybe use them as an intro to spirituality in general. Just seeing that this exists and that’s something that should be learned, but in no way engage with them.

The biggest, and I think the only time I ever saw my energy lady angry. Because she’s just this really lovely lady with just like a very calm and peaceful presence. The one time I ever saw her get really angry about something was when she started talking about people on the internet giving advice on spiritual practices, and she was like If I see these people in my life, I’m gonna give them a serious talking to. Because who does that?

This is the reason why there’s so much negative energy lingering in the world. Because you’re gonna Google “how to do a ritual” and then some idiots on the internet will be like go light a candle at a cemetery and then say these words and then good fortunes will follow. And people do that, people who have no understanding of what this is.

I’ve met girls who are like oh yeah, I like just going to the graveyard and lighting a candle there and communicating with the spirits. Baby, the spirits will kill! You don’t know what the spirits are. Some of them are not kind spirits. Crazy.

I think the main things that she taught me. First of all, if you go out, and I think that’s like the only kind of procedural thing that she has taught me. When you go out to large spaces, you can catch some negative energies. Not on purpose, people are not trying to curse you everywhere you go, but there are some negative energies lingering, and they’re just looking for something to attach themselves to. And if you’re feeling down, they’re gonna attach themselves to you, and if you’re kind of more exposed to it. Or if you’re really open, that’s gonna happen.

I am, for example, a person who’s very prone to connecting with different energies and negative energies really love me. They love being my friend, they love attaching themselves to me, they love being taken home by me after and then chilling with me while I sleep and giving me random sleep paralysis.

So, the main thing she taught me is to wear a necklace. A very specific round necklace with a little circle pendant on it. Wear it everywhere you go. When you come home, take it, take the circular pendant, do this to it. I can’t do it on my necklace now, but basically do this to it, so that all the negative energies that are caught on your necklace just fly away. Take it off, go to sleep. Done. That’s the only procedural advice that she has given me, and it’s very simple; it could be done with any random necklace that you buy at a store for five pounds, doesn’t matter.

But most of the things that she told me and taught me, which I think is also something I really want to touch up on. Because we’ve been discussing spirituality and energies, and obviously because it’s so natural to us, we talk about it so naturally, but I think for people who are still not that familiar, it can sound really intense and daunting.

And it can sound like you have to learn, experience, or do so much in order to connect with the spiritual. You have to go and meditate every day and learn how to connect fully with every single thing that surrounds you. I really want to stress that spirituality is not that intense. It’s not that complex.

There are some complex parts of it that you can look into if you’re really curious about specific practices. But in order to be spiritual and be connected, you really don’t have to do that much; it is already within all of us.

Most of the advice that she gave me is, if you want to meditate, go outside, sit on the grass, and listen to your favourite type of music. It doesn’t need to be meditation music if that’s not your vibe. It doesn’t need to be yoga chants if that’s not your vibe. Any music that makes you feel good.

If you listen to K-pop recreationally and that’s the music that brings you the most joy, go sit on the grass and listen to K-pop and close your eyes. Go just smell a flower and stand there, close your eyes, and try to focus on your breathing. It’s that simple.

Being spiritual is not this mystery that we need to crack. We don’t need to buy a 20-day course. Of course, if we want to go into specific practices, we do need some sort of knowledge, and if you want to follow those practices, that is great, and there are experts who can share that knowledge with you. But just to be spiritual, just to be someone who’s just easier to breathe when you’re connected with spirituality, you really don’t need to do much.

All she told me is that, just whatever religion you subscribe to, read the prayers of that religion. If you’re Muslim, read Surahs; if you’re a Christian, read a prayer, anything.

I think also when we talk about spirituality within the design and within fashion, within culture, a lot of the spirituality and a lot of femininity it’s not a skirt that is covered in zodiac signs, which it could be, but it’s not necessarily. It’s not just crystals, and it’s not just these overt expressions of mysticism in fashion and culture. It is just something you feel.

We all have our sixth sense, we all have our feelings. We all know when something is being done with true and loving intentions. So I think it’s quite simple to connect to it.

What I’m also curious about from you is, what are these kinds of simpler things that you’ve connected to spirituality with and that you’ve noticed in fashion, maybe that have really been coming out in the last couple of years?

Anastasia: Actually, first of all, loved everything you said there. It’s so beautiful. And everything you said, I was like, yeah. Because honestly, guys, five minutes a day of looking at a sunset can regulate your nervous system so much, and it is essentially what it’s all about. That is spirituality.

But going back to your question. Over the past two years, you noticed those things. Matthieu Blazy, his first Chanel collection, remember the clutch with the constellations. All of the astrology girlies, it went viral. Then, from recent moments, our boy Jonathan Anderson doing a Tarot reading. And it’s so interesting because both me and you discussed this. Especially his last Dior collection. Oh my god.

I am not gonna name names, because I don’t think I even remember them. But I saw a male fashion critic saying something like the designers right now shouldn’t even be asking what women want, as if there is a simple answer. I don’t remember who it was, but I was like, excuse me.

Asya: We don’t need to name their names. They don’t deserve to be mentioned by name after this quote.

Anastasia: And then the next week, the collection of Jonathan Anderson Fall 2026. The one with the lily pads. And it answered all of our questions. Every woman was like this, this is perfect, this is definitely what it’s all about. And before that, when we saw the Tarot reading, we were like, yeah, the guy seems to be connected, he knows something.

I cannot prove this, but I know he’s a spiritual guy, like a deeply spiritual guy, because it just trickles through everything that he does, and he understands women and isn’t that beautiful. I feel like a lot of designers should definitely learn. And actually, Matthieu Blazy, I think he understands women too, like it’s very obvious. I feel like, just even his first collection, the flowy curly hair. I felt finally validated after straightening my, you cannot tell right now, but my crazy curls my whole life, I was like, yes, finally, finally someone sees that.

And once again, when women design for women, the situation with the last collection of Chloe for the season of Autumn 2026 was also gorgeous.

And i feel like with this whole spiritual awakening, we definitely see it reflected in fashion right now and culture in general. I do think it’s beautiful, and I really, really hope that more designers take the lead and actually tap into female power.

But also, I want to circle back in history a little bit because one of the first designers who addressed female mystique was Paco Rabanne back in the 60s. I think he up until he died he just went a little bit too too far, but even before that, because he was so obsessed with astrology, with mysticism and it shows in his collection. He was labelled crazy. Who’s crazy now?

The more we understand female power, the more designers hop on the train, the more design will evolve, the more fashion will evolve. Because I feel like we’re past the time when fashion can be just artistic. It can be, it’s beautiful, but at the same time, we definitely need, desperately need, more designers who ask women questions what are they about, what do they want. What do we want? We want to be seen. You guys, it’s just, it’s not that hard. Please, just open your eyes and just see us.

So, yeah, what is your take on this? What are the design moments that connect the spiritual realms and the material realms that have caught your eye? Maybe share some of that, or like generally what is your take on, you know, this connection of the past years of the spiritual awakening and fashion and culture in general?

Asya: I think, first of all, Johnson Anderson is a great example of that. The second that I saw him with that Tarot reading, I was like, okay, I see you. It was first, these are just the two phases of his design mythology in the last year, which the first was him smoking that cigarette by the river and stressing the fuck out and then him with the Tarot cards, and I was like, you know what, I see that. That is also me before something really mad is about to happen, and then I’m like, Tarot card reading, everything is fine. Our boy has found his way home; it’s all good.

He’s just such a great example. When I saw his latest collection, it just brought me peace and joy. It was obviously incredibly beautiful garments, and we appreciate the craftsmanship and the design and the team’s work, but more than that, if you think about just how it makes you feel. Because that’s what spirituality and energies are, it’s just what it makes you feel deep in your core. It just made me feel loved and appreciated and at peace. And I was like, wow.

Even if I’m not maybe the target audience for it, because it’s really not in my everyday style, I would say I felt embraced by the clothes. I was like, wow, this feels like a warm appreciation towards femininity.

And that, I think, is a great example of how spirituality and reconnection with feminine spirituality can be done through fashion, through male designers. He did not need to do a blood ritual. He did not need to sacrifice a goat to the demons in order to get commercial success. He did not need to line 10 witches in a row and ask all of them what they think should go on this stitching and how the skirt should look. He did not need to do all that. He just loves women, and he wants to design for women. That love immediately connects him to these energies.

Because obviously, you don’t need to be a woman to connect with feminine energies. And you don’t need to be female-presenting to connect with feminine energies. Any man, any person that I know can connect with these feminine energies. So you really don’t need to be a woman, but you do need to love them. You do need to not actively root against femininity and women and female energies in order to connect to the spirituality of women. And in general, because spirituality is so deeply rooted in earthly feminine practises that yeah, you kind of need to love women.

That’s several designers right now, and you can just really tell with Chanel, with Dior, Zimmerman’s latest collection. I’m actually not sure who the creative director of Zimmerman is right now, but I was like wow that is something deeply spiritual touched upon just because of this love for the female energy. You want someone to feel comfortable in the clothes, you connect with it, and it’s telling. You can really, really tell.

And there are also obviously brands that are being overtly accused of being negatively spiritual or like demony, which is like Rick Owens and Matieres Fecales of it all, which they’re not.

Anastasia: They’re not.

Asya: They’re not. I think both me and you have seen actual negative energies, I don’t get that from Rick Owens or from Matieres Fecales.

Anastasia: It can be a tad too unhinged at times, yes, but the energetics of it all, I do not feel like. The past collection, I think, is what we really wanted to discuss.

Asya: Of Matieres Fecales.

Anastasia: It’s kind of wild because people just went like oh my god. Because right now we live in the resurgence of conspiracy theories, which is understandable because let’s face it, most of them came true. But I did see one of the conspiracy theorists that I follow do a whole reel of the fashion week and just be like, oh, like look at this, they are promoting the satanic ritual vibes of it all. But actually, if you think, if you really understand what the Matieres Fecales latest collection was about, it was actually about mocking, very cleverly mocking, the elite that are doing all of these satanic things. When Brian Johnson walked down the runway, I was like, this is genius. And if it did translate as satanic, it’s because it’s a reflection of the elite that they were mocking, not them.

And actually, I remember you said that you watched their interview, and they just seemed so wholesome. Do you want to talk about that?

Asya: I’m such a big fan of Matieres Fecales. I have been a big fan for the last, I think, two years. I’ve loved their collections always, but when I was in Paris, back in September, I went to one of the after parties that they have thrown after one of their collections. And it was very much, I think, once again, I’m not the target audience for the Matieres Fecales consumer. I’m not very much an overtly gothic romanticism alien energy, that’s a bit not me. But I felt so at home, and I felt so happy.

And I felt like these people are just really here to support each other, to uplift each other, to have a good time. And since then, just by association, that this is what the brand brings together, I have loved them even more. And I’ve watched their interviews, and yeah, they’re just like this really sweet couple who have got together after uni, who have been creating together, who have really found each other and found someone to match their freak, literally, and then started uplifting their community. And that’s what they have been doing for I think 10 years, they’ve been together and designing for 10 years now.

And I’m so glad that they have been brought into the mainstream more or less. Not because I want this to be repeated or rehearsed or anything, but because I’m so glad that they’re getting their flowers. I’m so glad they’re getting recognised. And I’m so glad that they have retained their freedom to create. Because every collection that they do is just so tea.

This latest collection, titled The One Percent with all the little stereotypes of the billionaires and the little hoodies that say cult on it, which was kind of like a nod towards the one percent being a literal cult, but it was also kind of like this backhanded way of saying, you call us a cult, that’s what a cult looks like.

And I think that’s when spirituality is often misused and misinterpreted, when they talk about brands like Rick Owens and Matieres Fecales, which, by the way, Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy are really big fans of Matieres Fecales. She walked their latest show. Rick Owens has been one of their high-fashion patrons since they came into the high-fashion sphere.

And obviously it’s because their designs are rooted in similar styles a little, but i think it’s also because Rick Owens has been this force of “I’m here for my community”, for the last like what 40-50 years or whatever, and he sees someone doing the same thing, and it’s once again just him feeling like these people are doing it for their own community, they’re retaining this sense of who they are. Let me help them out. Let me be their guiding force within this industry that often cuts community at its knees and just completely disregards anything that people want to create for them and for themselves and amongst themselves.

So I think every time there’s a new brand that does something very specific, whether it’s Prince of Darkness core or it’s Cottage core, or it’s whimsy. Anytime there’s a brand that specifically does that, and it’s being appreciated by their own community and builds this love and this support, that’s where spirituality truly comes in. Because it’s just a bunch of people sharing in the joy and having the same ideas of freedom and non-conformity, sharing the space together and happy, and the space is safe, that is when spirituality is at its highest.

Spirituality truly is just people positively vibing together. If you want to simplify it, it’s just good vibes create good spiritual energies that are then being sent into this world, and everyone is happy.

Every time there’s a brand like that, and they do that, the mainstream and the culture in general wants to label them as a cult and wants to be like, no, they are culty, they’re so freaky, we don’t like it, they pray to the demons. No, they are just there for their community.

Anastasia: You’re looking the wrong way!

Asya: Literally, you’re looking the wrong way. I don’t think we should be as literal with our interpretations. In the year 2026, are we really gonna look at the book and judge it by its cover? And look at the clothes like Matieres Fecales and Rick Owens and be like, they wear a lot of black, and they’re oddly shaped, so, devil. Instead of looking behind you and being like, oh, that guy in a nice Zegna suit, actually, he has been to five ritualistic meetings this week, but he’s wearing a nice suit, though, so.

Anastasia: It’s always the people whom you least expect, trust me.

Asya: Yeah. But what do you also think about the kind of spirituality in culture and spirituality in communities, in the last i think 10 years? And how did that change?

Anastasia: That definitely changed, and I feel like in my immediate community, for sure. Because as I had my spiritual awakening, it just deepened my connection with everyone. It also made me hotter, just a nice side effect. Because I look at pictures of myself prior to 2020, I’m like, oh my god, I do not see myself, because essentially it’s a way back to yourself. And it’s a way to connect with people.

And the way I engage with culture is completely different because once you learn that everything is energy, you look at art in a completely different way, you experience movies in a completely different way. Even the way the films and the stories are told. Your lens is just so wide, it’s like you are in a 360 vision, and it’s wild, and it’s beautiful, and I feel like the more people connect with that,t yeah, literally, utopia is on the way.

And I really truly hope that this is where we’re headed because right now it’s interesting to say the least, it’s wild.

So I think we have covered pretty much everything we wanted for this episode.

Asya: Yeah.

Anastasia: It’s been so wild. So do we want to end with our traditional confessionals?

Asya: Yes, let’s do it.

Bless me for I have sinned. My little confession is that I had my first Tarot reading last month. It was quite irresponsible of me to do so because I was just at a little get-together, we’ve done some breath work, and there was a Tarot reading.

I am not someone who can do casual spirituality; that is something I’ve figured out about myself over the years. Since I’ve unlocked my third eye, my third eye decides to attract everything and everything and everything and everything, and it has not gained enough sight yet to differentiate the bad from the good, so it’s just like I see something that is spiritual, come here.

So after my very first Tarot reading, obviously, I couldn’t sleep, I had a sleep paralysis, I had to call my energy lady, and she gave me so much shit. She was like, you don’t do this without protection, you don’t do this without at least aligning your energy towards the Tarot cards and sending them some sort of mental message. That was my bd. I’ve learned my lesson. What about you?

Anastasia: So my confession is that I once did Google how to hex. It was an ex-boyfriend situation. I never went through with it, thank god. But you know it was probably my Scorpio rising, just hungry for revenge. But yeah, girls don’t. You have that urge, maybe contemplate, but never act.

Asya: Yeah. If there’s one thing you take away from this episode, it’s that spiritual things have consequences. So don’t practise intense spirituality…

Anastasia: Unsupervised.

Asya: Don’t do it unsupervised. Find a good energy lady, find someone who’s connected, or actually, that’s not mandatory, just literally do any simple meditation and practice. Just connect with yourself and always just trust your sixth sense, trust your gut, that’s as spiritual as I think, as I would recommend anyone to be for their beginning.

Just learn how to trust your gut. If something is telling you that this is giving me good vibes, it’s good. If you come into a room and you see a person and you’re like, oh, something about this person is just rubbing me the wrong way, leave.

Anastasia: Do not negotiate your gut feelings. Gut feelings are guardian angels. Period.

Asya: And that is just how you start with spirituality.

Anastasia: Yes! Thank you, guys, for watching. This was really fun. This was mystical and just whimsical enough.

Asya: Yes, thank you so much for joining us on our energetic exploration, and we’re going to be coming back with more cultural commentaries, and confessions, and discussions. And we’ll see you later.

Anastasia: See you later.