Co Antrim woman injecting some ‘magic’ into everyday life with witchcraft workshops and crystal creations

Tracy Wallace said that her “life changed for the better” when she discovered the benefits of crystals after struggling with severe depression and anxiety for a number of years.

She said that medication and counselling wasn’t working for her and she wanted to look for a more “holistic approach” to help her overcome how she was feeling.

“I ended up in a very dark place where I could see no way out, I was desperate, and I needed to find something to focus on,” she said.

“I’d always had an interest in spirituality so I started learning more about crystals and what they could do, how they could help, and this is when I discovered crystal healing.

“I instantly I felt at home; I wanted to be around them, work with them, use them to help others,” she added.

“I found that concentrating on making things, and the way the crystals made me feel, stopped the intrusive thoughts and I started feeling things I hadn’t felt in years; happy, positive things.

“It was addictive and I wanted to share the positive feelings with others who were struggling in the way I had been.”

Tracy (37) explained that she had always been “crafty” and into making things with her hands, so she started looking for ways to combine her love of that with her new-found fascination with crystals.

“I started making myself a few little pairs of earrings and it took my mind off everything; I could sit for hours making these things and not once did a negative thought cross my mind. It was bliss,” she said.

“I had too many once I got into it, so started giving them as gifts and people loved them and then I started selling some pieces and other types of accessories to friends and family and it just took off from there.”

She now hosts regular workshops helping people to create their own spell jars and witch bells to add a little magic into their everyday lives, as well as selling crystal tea strainers, charm bags and hairpins.

One of her classes also helps to teach people the benefits of adding different flowers and herbs to your bath salts to improve your mood.

“Nowadays you can just buy everything premade but it’s really so much more special to have it made by your own hands, with your own intentions added,” she explained.

Tracy launched Molly’s Magickal Makes — named after her late grandmother who she says was an inspiration to her — just two years ago.

“I found out that my grandmother — who passed away when I was 18 — used to read tea leaves for the local old folk and have “magic hands” with folks coming from far and wide to get healed by her,” she said.

“She never called herself a witch and the family probably wouldn’t either, but I’ve always felt a special connection to her, and this was my little nod of respect.”

The maker, who is from Randalstown, said that she considers herself to be a practising witch.

“I’d always been fascinated by witchcraft, growing up with shows like Charmed and Hocus Pocus so as a kid I would brew “potions” in the bathtub, or pretend that I could talk to animals,” she said.

“The subject of witchcraft was still extremely taboo at the time, it still is, but thankfully we now live in a world where people are a little more accepting of “different” beliefs, and even though I’m not part of any coven or anything like that, I like to listen to my intuition and go with the flow of the earth and the moon.

“When I first started researching more about witchcraft I was fascinated by how much of it revolved around respecting the earth and what she does for us; I think a lot of people still believe that being a witch means something's bad or inherently evil, but that couldn’t be further from reality,” she added.

“It’s all about honouring the life cycles of the year, being thankful for what it brings us and learning how to use what the earth can provide for us to make our lives better — at least that’s what I do.”

While she understands some people are going to be sceptical about the idea of crystal healing, Tracy believes that when you look for the magic in things, you can see magical things can start to happen.

“By no means am I trying to imply that anyone has supernatural powers like being able to fly or waving a magic wand to make something appear but if you look for the magic in the small things and take yourself back in time to when people used herbal remedies, you can see that “magical” things really can happen,” she told this newspaper.

“Crystals are usually associated with magic in one way or another but we have used Quartz in the manufacture of watches for years because it resonates at a dependable frequency allowing them to work effectively — so why would we doubt that other crystals could resonate at certain frequencies which are beneficial for other things?”

When learning the various benefits of different crystals, Tracy explained that it’s sometimes more interesting to “let the crystals choose you”.

“I remember buying a Tigers Eye and an Amethyst off my friend who ran a crystal shop and not really knowing what they were but when I researched them it blew my mind,” she said.

“I had been drawn to their frequency to help heal my anxiety and depression and since then, that’s how I shop for crystals — I let them choose me.

“My body knows what it needs, and I will be drawn to that energy, it really is amazing.”

From there, she then began adding flowers and herbs alongside the crystals to make “charm bags”. “For example, lavender and Amethyst are a great combination for a restful sleep, or Chamomile and clear Quartz work together to help ease anxiety,” she said.

“I make these into little charm bags for people to put under their pillow — I also make anti-anxiety and trauma healing ones — and from these charm bags I started to create “spell jars” with the same intentions.

“These can help bring anything from luck, protection and self-love to courage and confidence,” she said.

“Maybe someone is going for a job interview or is worried about something — the interest is there.

“People are always looking for different ways to feel in control of their lives and with the manifestation movement happening people are starting to be open to holistic healing and spirituality, especially with these charm bags and spell jars,” she added.

“I personally believe that there are benefits to crystals or I wouldn’t be doing what I do — I firmly believe that working with them has literally saved my life.”

Always seek medical advice. To find out more about Tracy’s workshops and magical creations you can follow the @mollys_magickal_makes handle on Instagram