Meet the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Midwest

October has arrived, and while it’s the month for spooky tricks and delectable treats, it’s also a moment to connect with your mystic side, live intentionally, and empower yourself. Dani Sage, a self-described modern mystic, opened up a shop to help you accomplish just that.

Sage, who owns the Good Vibes Hive located at 571 N. High St. Suite 2 in Worthington, Ohio, is dedicated to helping others find clarity in their lives and connect with their deeper selves. Sage’s shop is stocked with all things witchy, from crystals and incense to tarot cards and candles. She hand-selects her products from vendors who identify as LGBTQ+, people of color, or women. 

Good Vibes Hive came to fruition six years ago as a result of Sage encountering clients in her beauty industry career who needed someone to lend an ear. 

“All the stereotypes are true about how much people tell their nail techs and hairdressers. And I just noticed that people open up and there’d be conversations that we would have where I really wish that I could have reached over and grabbed my tarot cards for more guidance,” Sage explained. 

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

After performing tarot card readings at an event for a beauty client, Sage received inquiries from others asking her for readings, too. And so, the Good Vibes Hive was born. 

“Originally, it was just this kind of small, maybe 200 square foot room with a desk where I would do my readings, and then a single shelf from IKEA with crystals, and that kept growing and growing,” she said. “And now, I’m at my larger location in Old Worthington where I sell crystals, tarot, and oracle decks, ritual tools, and candles. Anything kind of supportive for a more intentional, ritualistic life.” 

Sage’s interest in the metaphysical long precedes the shop’s existence, however. Her fascination began as a young girl, decades before witchcraft became a popular practice in mainstream media. 

“I remember being a little girl and just picking random rocks off the ground or making pretend potions in the backyard with, like, sticks and mud,” Sage reminisced. “I bought my first tarot deck in the eighth grade and basically made every slumber party attendant get a reading, which then turned into kind of a college party trick. And then it just turned into a more serious practice as I got older.” 

When asked about her motivation to pursue a career in all things witchy, her desire to help others was her main drive. 

“I love when I can tell that somebody feels seen. One service that I offer is human design, which is like a combination of ancient modalities and more modern modalities. But basically, it’s a user guide on how to work with your own energetic blueprint. It’s based on things like astrology and the chakra system and teaches you how you’re uniquely designed to utilize your energy and interact with the world,” Sage described. “Being able to read people’s charts for them and see them feel recognized in a way that maybe no one else has done before, or maybe they’ve never had the words for some of the things that come up in their chart before, and just to see them almost get permission to be exactly who they are and not change anything – just to kind of utilize that energy better and leverage it in their favor – is so magical and it feels like such an honor that I get to do it every day. I have to pinch myself.” 

Recently, Sage has seen an uptick in the knowledge of human design practices amongst the general public, which she believes speaks to the general need for humans to be seen and heard in their lives. 

“I’ve been working with human design for years and I feel like within the last maybe two years, people come to me already having kind of heard about it, which was unusual before. No one that I had met had really worked with it before, but it seems like it’s more mainstream now and I think it just speaks to like, basically we kind of all [need to] have our human needs met,” Sage explained. “And it’s kind of like the next level, like, okay, I have this, this and this now. Can I understand myself deeper and make my life easier now that I have this solid foundation?”

For Sage, magic and spirituality are simply about empowering yourself. 

“A lot of it is just trusting yourself and finding clarity in your own life. Whether it’s through the permission that human design gives you, or the connection with your intuition that tarot gives you, or the little moments in your everyday life that some of the things you can buy at the Hive give you, like lighting a candle and sitting down and journaling or buying a crystal because you want to be more intentional about not having imposter syndrome at your new job,” she said. “I feel like just all those little things that can give you moments of your day where you feel more empowered and supported and you are more clear in what you want in life, those are my favorite things.” 

Sage emphasized that practices such as tarot cards cannot predict the future, but rather provide deeper insight and heightened truth to experiences or feelings in the past or present.

“I always just like to think of [tarot] as an external artistic representation of your internal intuition. So your connection with the cards coming out and giving you words for the energy that you’re feeling. A lot of my clients come to me just restless but stuck or looking for clarity. And I always say, “I can’t predict the future, but I can guide you to empower yourself and start taking your own steps towards your leap of faith or making your life more magical.”

If you are interested in finding out what astrology, tarot, or any other witchy practices have to offer you, but are unsure of where to start, Sage advised not to overwhelm yourself. Pick a single topic you’re interested in learning more about and begin to implement pieces of it into your life, whether it’s through books, podcasts, or experts on social media. 

“I think oftentimes what people get hung up on, and this was totally true for me as well, is you feel like you have to know everything about something before starting out. Like if you want to get really into astrology, you better know your entire chart, whereas if you just read your sun sign every day or get an app that tells you what the energy is going to be like that day, dipping your toe in that way just to see if that is one of the modalities or the tools in your toolbox that is gonna stick,” she explained. “You’re allowed to have fun with it and just play and explore.” 

According to Sage, everyone has the ability to benefit from these practices. Still skeptical? Even if you have your doubts, becoming intentional with what you desire in life has a powerful effect. “For skeptical people, I always say the placebo effect is real…,” Sage said.” [Say] you buy a crystal because you are trying to overcome imposter syndrome in your daily life. And you’re like, okay, this Bumblebee Jasper will help support me with that. It also happens to be pretty. Is it the crystal itself that is making me feel like less of an impostor in my daily life, or is the fact that I was so intentional about selecting a thing that will be a visual reminder to me that I’m trying to feel more empowered or believe in myself? Does it matter if it’s the crystal or the intention? I also think you can just get into a lot of things because you like how it looks and you don’t have to go that deep and know everything about every crystal ever grown by the earth. You can just surround yourself with beautiful things too. And I think that that is just as powerful.”

Want to read more? Check out our print publications, (614) Magazine and Stock & Barrel. Learn where you can find free copies of our newest issues here!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY