In this final deep dive of the Victorian Spiritualism series, Ashleigh closes the séance room door—then opens something much bigger: power. Victorian Spiritualism wasn’t only about ghosts, raps, and ectoplasm. It was also a rare cultural doorway where women could claim spiritual and intellectual authority in a society that restricted their public voice.

This episode is structured around five archetypes—five women, five expressions of spiritual authority, five ways of stepping through the veil:

The 5 Archetypes & Featured Women

• The Trance Speaker: Cora L. V. Scott (Cora Hatch) (1840–1923) — trance lecturing as a “loophole” for women to teach philosophy publicly
• The Movement Builder: Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–1899) — turning Spiritualism into infrastructure through writing, history, and organizing
• The Esoteric Architect: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891) — building cosmology and founding the Theosophical Society
• The Embodied Medium: Florence Cook (c.1856–1904) — materialization séances, “Katie King,” and the gendered scrutiny of embodied power
• The Symbolic Visionary: Pamela Coleman Smith (“Pixie”) (1878–1951) — the creative force behind the most influential modern tarot template (and the long erasure of her credit)

Episode highlights

• Why Victorian Spiritualism created a socially “acceptable” way for women to speak publicly
• How trance lecturing became power-through-plausible-deniability
• The moment Spiritualism shifts from parlor spectacle into worldview and philosophy
• A beginner-friendly explanation of what the Theosophical Society was (and why it mattered)
• The high-stakes tension of physical mediumship—and why women’s bodies became the battleground for belief
• Why Pamela Coleman Smith’s illustrated minors changed tarot forever (and why that matters for modern intuitive reading)

Series wrap + what’s next

This episode ties a bow on the Victorian Spiritualism series—and then gently opens the next doorway. April’s theme: exploring the fairy realm—folklore, threshold spaces, the wild edges of the unseen, and the places where reality feels thin in a different way.

Mentioned / referenced

• Ashleigh’s interview with Steele Alexandra Douris (Spirits, Seers, & Séances) — the Fox Sisters + Victorian Spiritualism overview
• Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888) — Helena Blavatsky
• Rider–Waite–Smith / Waite–Smith Tarot — Pamela Coleman Smith’s legacy

Connect + support the show

If you loved this series finale, please follow/subscribe and leave a review—it helps Big Crystal Energy reach more magical souls.
And come say hi on social—Ashleigh will be sharing visuals and extra context from this episode (including the Florence Cook/Katie King lore).

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

We are closing out the crystal portion of our Victorian Spiritualism series with a stone that quite literally contains a ghost.

Phantom Quartz is a crystal that remembers who it used to be. Formed when growth pauses for thousands of years and then resumes, it preserves an earlier version of itself inside its present structure — a visible “phantom” suspended within the stone.

In this episode, we explore:

• What Phantom Quartz is and how it forms
• Why it’s often called nature’s version of Victorian spirit photography
• The metaphor of interrupted growth and layered evolution
• How this stone supports shadow work and inner child healing
• Questions to ask when your growth has felt paused
• Reincarnation and soul groups — explained simply and accessibly
• The connection between Phantom Quartz, Akashic Records, and soul memory
• Psychic and magical uses including meditation, clairaudience, astral travel, and dream work

We also discuss how Victorian Spiritualism sought proof that something survives beyond death — and how Phantom Quartz invites us to remember the parts of ourselves that never truly died.

Rather than summoning spirits outwardly, this stone encourages inward remembrance.

✨ Simple Practice: The Growth Pause Ritual

• Sit with your Phantom Quartz and light a candle.
• Hold the stone to your heart.
• Ask:
  • Where did my growth pause?
  • What version of me is preserved inside?
• Visualize the inner phantom glowing.
• Journal:
  • What lesson have I survived?
  • What part of me needs integration?
  • Where am I still becoming?

Optional: Write a Victorian-style letter to your “phantom self” — honoring the version of you that carried you here.

Phantom Quartz reminds us:

Growth is not linear.
Pauses do not equal failure.
You did not break — you became layered.

Thank you for walking through the veil with me during this Victorian Spiritualism series. The final full episode on Victorian Spiritualism drops this Friday.

As always… everything you need is already inside you.

Akashic Records with Alexa Darrin Episode

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

We think we know what Victorian mysticism looked like.

A crystal ball glowing in candlelight.
A veiled medium seated at a round table.
Ectoplasm drifting through a darkened parlor.

But what was Victorian Spiritualism really?

In this episode of Big Crystal Energy, I’m joined by historian, author, and cultural scholar Steele Alexandra Douris, who holds a PhD in English from Stanford University. Her research explores 19th-century literature, gender, folklore, and the cultural history of the supernatural.

Drawing from her book Spirits, Seers and Séances, Steele walks us through:

• The origins of Victorian Spiritualism and the rise of the Fox Sisters
• Trance lectures vs. private spirit circles
• Rappings, table-tilting, and the rise of material séance phenomena
• Spirit photography and the mystery of ectoplasm
• Automatic writing, planchettes, and the evolution of the Ouija board
• Cartomancy, crystal gazing, palmistry, and astrology in the 19th century
• The transformation of fairy lore and the Cottingley fairies
• Gothic literature’s resurgence — from Dracula to Frankenstein
• The Pre-Raphaelites and the complicated image of the mystical woman

We explore how Victorian Spiritualism wasn’t originally meant to be frightening. For many, it was grassroots, communal, and deeply tied to grief, creativity, and cultural change.

And perhaps most fascinating of all — so many of the tools we still use today carry Victorian fingerprints.

If you’ve ever felt drawn to the liminal space of a crystal ball, the mystery of automatic writing, or the romance of a Gothic heroine, this episode offers the deeper historical context behind the aesthetic.

Connect with Steele:

Instagram: @steelearcana; Instagram
Website: Steele Alexandra Douris

Book: https://a.co/d/08opPfll

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review Big Crystal Energy — it helps more curious, liminal souls find the show.

Stay curious. Stay liminal. 🕯️

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

In this first deep dive of March, we explore selenite through the lens of Victorian Spiritualism — a 19th-century movement rooted in spirit communication, subtle bodies, and the belief that the soul could be refined through light and intention.

Soft, luminous, and fragile (Mohs hardness 2), selenite is a crystalline form of gypsum formed through evaporation. It dissolves in water and must be handled gently — a fragility that mirrors its energetic refinement.

In this episode, we discuss:

• A brief overview of Victorian Spiritualism
• Selenite’s connection to Selene and the full moon
• Why it’s most potent in the three days before a full moon
• Aura clearing, psychic development, and sacred space preparation
• Crown chakra activation and alignment of the spine
• Working with ancestors, spirit guides, angels, and the Akashic field
• Home protection grids and its association with Cancer
• Forms of selenite (fishtail, desert rose, blue, green) and crystal pairings

Selenite clears without absorbing. It protects by elevating. It refines rather than shields.

As we step into this month’s exploration of Victorian séances and liminal spaces, selenite becomes the perfect doorway — reminding us that light doesn’t need to shout to be powerful.

✨ Stay tuned for this week’s interview on Victorian Spiritualism as we continue the journey.

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

Spring is springing — and in this Wheel of the Year episode, Ashleigh turns the wheel toward Ostara, the Spring Equinox (March 20)—releasing this episode a week early so you have time to gather herbs, choose crystals, build an altar, and plan a ritual (or bake something cozy).

Recorded in a brand-new gothic loft setup (with chaotic Spirit Halloween Ouija press-on nails making a surprise cameo), this episode blends historical honesty, mythic storytelling, and practical seasonal magic: Ostara’s modern roots, Eostre, the lunar timing of Easter, deity offerings, altar ideas, crystal correspondences (with a deep dive on Green Aventurine), egg + flower divination, and a Spring Cleaning oracle spread from Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle.

In this episode, we cover:

• A cozy check-in + Ashleigh’s new “Victorian nightmare” recording space (and why the audio might sound different)
• Wheel of the Year recap: starting back at Samhain (Oct 31) and arriving at Ostara
• What the Spring Equinox actually is (day/night balance + official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere)
• A shout-out to Southern Hemisphere listeners celebrating Mabon
• Historical roots + modern reconstruction: Gerald Gardner, Wicca, and why Ostara isn’t as “ancient” as people assume
• The goddess Eostre/Eostra and why there’s limited historical information
• Easter’s “moon math” and why it feels secretly witchy (yes, we’re talking full moon timing)
• Spring deities + seasonal myth:
  • Persephone (and the return from the underworld)
  • Demeter
  • Dionysus (vines, vitality, pleasure returning)
  • Aphrodite + Venus (beauty, gardens, glamour magic)
• How to build an Ostara altar + simple offerings for each deity
• Crystals of Ostara: Moss Agate (or Tree Agate in a pinch), Rose Quartz, Citrine, Aquamarine, Clear Quartz
• Green Aventurine deep dive: heart chakra growth, steady expansion, and “it’s safe to begin again” energy
• A favorite quote from Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials: Ostara:
• “We till our own internal fields and plant our own emotional, mental, spiritual, or even physical crops…”
• Divination for the season:
  • Oomancy (egg divination in water—how to read shapes/strands/clusters)
  • Floromancy (flower divination—symbolism, petals, noticing what blooms first)
• Spring Cleaning Spread from Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle (can also be used with tarot)
• A live card pull: “Moon Milk” + reflection on self-ritual, pride, and celebrating your own growth
• Closing invocation: till your internal soil, plant wisely, tend gently… Happy Ostara

The Spring Cleaning Spread (5 cards)

1. What part of your life is stagnant or blocked?
2. What action can clear away the dust?
3. What can renew or breathe fresh air into this area?
4. What action encourages growth and expansion?
5. How can you maintain lighter, more vibrant energy moving forward?

Mentioned in this episode:

• Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials: Ostara
• Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle — Lorraine Anderson & Juliet Diaz

Quick listener invitation

Build a tiny altar. Light a candle. Open a window. Choose one crystal ally. Pull one card. Ask:
“What am I ready to grow?”

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

This week we’re diving into a deeply personal stone for me: classic white moonstone.

As we continue exploring March’s theme of the Veil Between Worlds — alongside Victorian Spiritualism, liminal spaces, and upcoming Ostara energy — it felt like the perfect time to share the stone that quietly opened the doorway for me.

In 2001, while newly independent and discovering who I was, I bought a moonstone pendant at a small shop on Catalina Island. I wore it constantly — and I’m wearing it again while recording this episode. Looking back, it feels like a conversation with my younger self… the one who sensed there was more beyond the surface of this world.

Moonstone has always felt like:

• A soft doorway rather than a dramatic portal
• A glimpse beyond the veil
• A quiet, intimate cousin to labradorite

✨ In This Episode:

• The science behind moonstone’s glow (adularescence) and its feldspar structure
• Ancient lore: solidified moonlight, sacred feminine energy, protection at night
• Moonstone as a stone of new beginnings and transitions
• Emotional balance, intuition, and dream work
• Its connection to hormonal cycles, fertility, and nurturing energy
• Why moonstone enhances psychic sensitivity — especially during the full moon

Moonstone doesn’t rip the veil open. It gently thins it.

It reminds us that not all awakenings are sudden. Some gifts unfold slowly — through cycles, through time, through lived experience.

If you feel drawn to this stone, maybe it’s not by accident.

Sit with it under the full moon. Wear it close to your heart. Notice what begins to surface.

Trust what glimmers just beyond the veil. 🌙✨

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

Big Crystal Energy Book Club is in session 🕯️📚
In this episode, Ashleigh sits down with dark obsessive romance author Stephanie Kemler to talk about The Year of Sin and Smoke — a lush, unsettling dark academia story rooted in grief, desire, power, and the dangerous ways we’re shaped by repression.

We talk about:

• The premise of The Year of Sin and Smoke (spoiler-light)
• Writing “for the damned” + why dark stories can feel strangely safe
• Stephanie’s creative origin story (from education → full-time author)
• Co-writing with Jillian Dowell: journal entries vs. narrative + the “cosmic” synchronicities
• Catholic mysticism, forbidden tension, and how faith can shape erotic storytelling
• Why true dark academia needs depth (privilege, gatekeeping, obsession—not just “fog”)
• Garnet, hematite, carnelian vibes + floral lattes + baby-doll perfume duality
• A sneak peek: Stephanie’s upcoming republished vampire series The Mina Coffin Duet

Book Club homework: grab The Year of Sin and Smoke and start reading now — then meet us back here for the discussion.

Website: - Stephanie Kemler

Instagram: Instagram

Book: The Year of Sin and Smoke: An Erotic Dark Academia Thriller - Kindle edition by Kemler, Stephanie, Dowell, Gillian. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

This episode drops on March 3, the day of a total lunar eclipse, often called a Blood Moon. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon passes fully into Earth’s shadow, sometimes appearing deep red. These eclipses are powerful turning points—moments of revelation, release, and emotional reckoning.

And today’s crystal, black kyanite, is the perfect ally.

Black kyanite doesn’t soften energy.
It clears it. It sweeps it. It realigns it.

🩸 In This Episode:

• The energetic meaning of a lunar eclipse
• Why eclipse season feels intense and disruptive
• The Earth Star Chakra (located 6–12 inches below the feet) and its connection to grounding, ancestral memory, and the living Earth
• Why black kyanite is known as “The Witch’s Broom”
• Its ability to clear energy instantly without absorbing or storing it
• Astrological ties to Aries (decisive cutting), Taurus (grounding), and Libra (balance)
• Its association with the faerie realm and land spirits
• Protective lore linking it to Archangel Michael, the warrior of truth
• The science behind its formation under intense geological pressure

🌑 Ways to Work with Black Kyanite During the Blood Moon:

• Sweep it downward along your body to clear your aura
• Place it near or beneath your feet
• Use it to clear tarot or ritual tools
• Journal with prompts like:
  • What is ready to be cleared?
  • What ancestral pattern am I releasing?
  • What truth can no longer stay buried?

Lunar eclipses are moments of reckoning.
Black kyanite does not flinch in the face of truth.

As this episode airs, I’m in Manila beginning a family adventure—follow along at @MysticalMamaTravels.

Stay grounded. Stay curious.
And trust the magic beneath your feet. 🖤🌑

Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Please message me with any questions or comments.
bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com