Have you noticed the boom in spiritual content online over the last few years?
The astro girlies asking for a prospective date’s birth time or swapping their “big 3” with a stranger are subtle cues that what was once considered fringe has reached the mainstream.
We can look at the boom as a trend, or we can look at it in the context of a wider search for meaning and reconnection with our bodies, our spirits and the land.
My own path in herbalism and as a Reiki master has aligned me with a wonderful community of healers and intuitives in the city. Whether by way of Homegrown — a monthly plant medicine and creative mindfulness gathering that I co-host with Indy Wellness Center owner Riley Burris — or simply bopping around Indianapolis, discovering new activities and places.
This isn’t a comprehensive list of every place and practitioner in Indy, but rather a roundup of offerings in the city that connect the spiritual with the communal.
Stores 🔝
The Local Radish
Like many a metaphysical shop, this SoBro shop has a giant assortment of crystals, herbs, tarot cards and books. But, unlike many a metaphysical shop, they’re meticulous about making sure each product is ethically sourced in terms of labor, harvesting and cultural appropriation.
“Creating spaces that you feel safe in — that everyone feels safe in — has always been a huge part of who I am,” said Britt Spencer, founder of The Local Radish.
For the Local Radish, “local” takes on a whole new meaning. A self-proclaimed activist, Spencer makes sure the space is just as much of a community resource as it is a business. They were among the first to organize a donation collection and drop-offs for those impacted by severe flooding in August, and they expanded their store to include an event space that is open for public use as well.
The space is free to folks and organizations who are hosting free community gatherings. A small rental fee is charged for events that are profit-based.
The Local Radish also hosts a monthly gathering on the fourth Sunday called “Liminal Space,” a curated selection of seven to 10 practitioners, ranging from tarot readers, psychics and mediums, to Reiki practitioners and massage therapists. They’ve also launched a First Friday night market with handmade goods from artisans.
The Playful Soul
📍 1001 E. 86th St.
The Playful Soul makes it their mandate to uplift practitioners with a space to host workshops and make their transition to holistic entrepreneurs.
“We love to help people start up,” said owner Kristin Okeley. “People will stay with us for as long as it’s a good model for them, and it’s just a beautiful way to move people along a path that feels a little scary.”
What began as women’s retreats designed to create what Okeley describes as a “radical rebirth in their own self-confidence and their own self-independence,” will now branch into men and co-ed retreats as well.
The monthly “Bazaars” the Playful Soul has hosted since 2019, engage with Indy’s community of makers as a whole: “anyone who’s making things with their hands, whether they’re cooking, throwing pottery, beekeeping and more,” Okeley said.
Pyramid of Enlightenment
📍 8117 E. Washington St.
You may have gone to one of Pyramid of Enlightenment’s psychic fairs (and if you haven’t, their 34th annual fair is coming up Nov. 7.) This shop offers readings and year-round classes ranging from learning about archangels to palmistry and reflexology.
Their fairs are a place for finding new and seasoned practitioners and vendors alike, often at discounted and affordable price points.
All My Relations
If there’s any store guaranteed to have whatever you’re looking for, it’s this one. Located inside what was once a Walgreens, this metaphysical mega store is 12,500 square feet of crystals, books, herbs, tarot decks and knick knacks of all kinds.
The westside wonderland has been offering services such as Reiki, psychic readings and sound healing sessions since 2002. You can also take seasonal classes on reading tarot, meditation and jewelry wrapping.
Independent practitioners 🔝
Megan Hanna is an Indy-based astrologer and yoga teacher who’s been practicing since 2019. She says astrology is an “invisible framework that you lay over reality and it shows you there’s a cosmic order to things. ”
Hanna offers private and group sessions through her website and hosts a monthly gathering at the Playful Soul called “Cosmic Communion.” The gathering is a place to explore the current cosmos in the context of personal birth charts. According to Hanna, the stars are aligned for exactly this: for us to gather, organize and uplift our communities.
Gabrielle Renée Dejoie Smith, aka The Healing Plug, is a registered social worker. She bridges her intuitive gifts with a community-minded approach.
“We do what I call alchemizing: mental health coaching to identify and shift limiting beliefs into healthy, helpful core beliefs that can make things happen for ourselves,” Dejoie Smith said. “I combine cognitive behavioral therapy — specifically trauma science — with the ‘woo’ and spiritual.”
Dejoie Smith offers every type of healing reading there is: psychic, tarot and Akashic record, as well as coaching, dream interpretation, cord cutting and medium sessions.
For those looking for an integrative approach to healing, physical therapist and energy worker Katye Tuyo of Wild Rose Medicine offers somatic womb healing. The therapy practice is said to help release tension and stress from the pelvic bowl.
“A lot of people are familiar with the phrase, ‘The body keeps the score’, whether it be our nervous system, our tissues, organs or the womb space,” said Tuyo, who has more than eight years of experience as a physical therapist.
“Sometimes it shows up as physical symptoms such as painful periods, difficulty conceiving, tension or tightness in the muscles … but oftentimes, there is a somatic or emotional element as well.”
Clients can book individual sessions with her or attend one of her public gatherings, often hosted at The Playful Soul.
Pop-ups 🔝
If you haven’t had the pleasure of attending The Testimony Service’s gatherings, consider this your official put-on. The founders, Ebony Chappel and Sarah Jené, describe it as a “secular but spiritual,” invitation for “the spiritually curious to connect outside of religious labels.”
Sol Sessions are their take on a mindful dance party. What begins as a meditative sound bath easefully ramps up into a sunrise dance party—all before the workday even starts. They’re currently on sabbatical, so be sure to pay attention to their Instagram page for future gatherings.
Tiffany Noel’s Frequencies on the Full Moon brings together a beloved artist (think Erykah Badu, Jhene Aiko, Larry June or Nipsey Hustle) and transforms it into a collective consciousness-raising experience. Noel works with DJs to highlight specific words from that month’s selected artist’s songs, whether by drawing the words out or slowing down the song, to create an experience that uses music as a vessel for mindfulness.
The result is an immersive sound bath followed by time to mingle and shop handcrafted tea blends, waistbeads, head massages or tarot readings.
“Everybody doesn’t relate to meditation music, but you can find meditation in the music that you already listen to,” said Noel.
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