The New Year is a time for relaxation and self care as we set ourselves up for successful routines and resolutions. Allowing yourself to indulge in some health related experiences is a great way to keep yourself happy and centered during the winter season. The Destination Salem team took a journey into wellness over the past few months. Check out our blog below to find out more.
An evening of rest and relaxation at Rogue Salem:
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
Local business Rogue here in Salem, MA has set a high standard for beauty and wellness practices with business owner Alejandra Kough putting her passion for skincare into her services. The colder season is a great time to visit Rogue here in Salem for a rejuvenating evening of health and pampering. The Rogue space sets an ambience of calm and relaxation with spa music swirling through the room and shelves of beauty, hair, and skin essentials lining the walls. The room where all of Rogue’s services take place is set with clean linens and a down comforter to make each guest that is coming in for one of Alejandra’s facials feel comfortable and at home. Laying on the table Alejandra opens up the conversation about your skin to best treat your unique needs and wants, and to customize your spa experience.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
The sweet smell of essential oils fills the air whenever any of Alejandra’s services are taking place. Lavender is used with a mix of tea tree oil to soothe and calm the skin while you ease into the bliss that can be felt while at Rogue. Lactic acid is used next as an exfoliant and is massaged into the skin in circular motions using a Loomispa tool to get a deep level of exfoliation. The circular motions encourage elasticity in the skin and help to create a firmer appearance. Alejandra then takes a warm towel to be pressed against your face which is always a needed reprise from the cool weather that is common to New England during the winter seasons. Moisture is added back into the skin to increase hydration and supplement the nutrients that are used throughout the facial process. After hydrating the skin a gua sha stone is used to press blue lotus flower essence into the face to promote anti-aging. This Japanese flower is a luxurious piece of the skin care process, and also acts as a stimulator for aromatherapy. To end the session light therapy is used to firm and brighten the areas where you received treatment, this is an essential step in the winter skincare routine, and it also acts to boost serotonin levels from the light which dramatically decrease in the winter season. Treat yourself to an array of services at Rogue this winter, and let Alejandra reset your skincare routine for a fresh start in 2023.
Learning from your past to heal your present:
A rainy afternoon is a wonderful time to schedule an appointment with Susan to discuss Past Life Regression over a cup of British tea. Susan greets all of her guests at the door, and her warmth instantly enveloped you from the moment you walk into the space. She tells her clients that she studied with Roger Woolger, who created Deep Memory Process© as a highly effective therapy that treats the body, mind, and soul simultaneously. This therapy combines active imagination (Jung), bodywork (Reich) and psychodrama (Moreno), and the wisdom of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Connecting with your past lives to heal your present is the powerful experience Susan will guide you through if you become a client with a Past Life Regression. 
Image by Susan / Past Life Regression Salem
Susan believes that we all have the capacity within us to connect with our past lives. She acts as a guide for us in our past life and helps us to connect to our soul family. She describes the feeling of past life regression as a homecoming rooted in a profound and unconditional love for the ones that are no longer with you or that you may have never met yet are connected to you somehow. The process of past life regression allows you to process your current life trauma or issues by connecting your past experiences and letting go of the things you cannot control. Susan believes that often the things we have trouble with in this life are lessons that we have yet to learn. A session with Susan empowers you to take your life’s journey into your hands and reflect on your soul’s holistic path. Susan acts as a guide between you and your past life, as a way to help you to navigate and understand on a deeper level where you have been and how it affects you in the present. Give yourself the gift of guidance this new year and allow yourself to expand your understanding of your soul’s journey with Past Life Regression with Susan.
Image by Susan / Past Life Regression Salem
Psychic Reading with Leanne Marrama at Pentagram Shoppee:
Looking for a unique and transcendental experience? Leanne Marrama at Pentagram can lead you through a reading, whether it’s your first or fiftieth psychic experience Leanne connects with an open heart and grounding energy. The Pentagram Shoppe off of Liberty Street here in Salem, MA sets the stage for the work that Leanne and her expert team provides to individuals on a daily basis. The Pentagram store was created by Leanne Marrama and Timothy Reagan who share a love for the Craft, the Old Gods, and esoteric knowledge.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
Floor to ceiling eclectic displays of herbs line the walls as you step into the shop, enticing you to come further into the space to explore the magic and awe that peaks your interest around every corner. Walking to the back of the shop, set in a row of their own sits the reading spaces with velvet curtains and marble tabletops. This intimate and elegant space puts you at ease as you settle in to receive a psychic reading. Leanne creates an open and safe environment, explaining that there is no need to be afraid of getting a reading done. A psychic reading is a way to help you understand on a deeper level things in your life that you may have overlooked or were not in tune to pick up on. Leanne, through her work with the Old Gods, has come to appreciate her psychic intuition, and explains to her clients that psychic intuition isn’t very different from growing up in an Italian household with folk magic. Leanne pulls a stack of brightly colored tarot cards out and shuffles through them with ease to start off any of her sessions. She then pulls a selection of unique cards and places them on the cool marble table top to explains their meaning, and how they relate to each guests life. The entire process is liberating and offers each individual a moment of reflection on these busy lives that we often lead. A psychic reading is a great way to gain clarity when entering a new chapter in your life, and to help to define the path that you are looking forward to walking down in life. A few tips from Leanne if it is your first psychic experience is to go in with questions that you are looking to learn more about in your life. You could ask about your professional career, love life, or even family dynamic, but it can be helpful to come in with an expectation of what you are looking to find out. Most importantly. Allow yourself to be open to the experience and enjoy the journey of trying something new and exciting.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
Potions and Positivity at HausWitch Home and Healing:
HausWitch Home and Healing is an epicenter of warmth, community, healing, and aesthetic ease on the eyes. The intricately decorated front windows pull you into the shop with walls and tables lined with brightly colored potions, crystals, books, and so much more. The staff over at HausWitch is ready to help as soon as you pass through the threshold of the store. One of the items that catches guests attention is their Gem Essence line, which are “made with the ENERGETIC imprint of gems and crystals. This imprint is transmuted through water, and then the water is preserved by mixing with glycerin”. The gem essences range in a variety of colors and functions with the sparkling rose quartz essences promoting self love and empathy, and their deep black tourmaline essence for grounding and setting boundaries. The coven at HausWitch will walk you through the functions of each essence and help you to choose the essence that is right for you in the current stage of your life.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
A really fun piece of the process when visiting the HausWitch store is the bundles of products that you are able to create to fit your wants and manifestation goals. Customers can purchase a Gem Essence to use in their daily routine along with one of the Counter Magick products from the HausWitch home line to bring some magic into even the most tedious of weekly tasks. There are a plethora of potions to pick from when perusing through the products that are stocked at the HausWitch store. Spell kits, candles, and incense can all be used to cast your manifestations in the new year. For any potions plebeian, you can start off with a simple daily ritual of adding two drops of the carnelian Gem Essence to you morning coffee every day. This little ritual grounds each individual in the moment and reminds us to open our eyes to the magic that surrounds all of us in the mundane tasks of each day.
Is amber really the color of your energy? We find out with Aura Photography at ASCEND:
ASCEND is awash of light and high vibrations with crystals dawning the display stands that line the shop walls. Nicole Adkins, one of the owners over at ASCEND greets guests with open arms, and is happy to dive into the intricacies of Aura Photography with anyone that inquiries. Nicole explains that Aura Photography is a way to see your life in color, and connect on a deeper level to yourself and inner intuition. In other words your aura is your vibe, the way that the word perceived you and the way that you present to the world.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
The backdrop is set and the high tech aura photography camera is placed delicately in the back studio room at ASCEND, where guests will sit to take their picture. Nicole explains that each person gives off an electromagnetic field that can be captured with the long exposure camera that they have set up at the shop. Aura photography can only be done using an Aura Camera® 6000. This special camera is hooked up to two charged metal plates containing biofeedback centers which read your hand as the camera opens for a long double exposure.
Image by Kathryn Horrigan / Destination Salem
The result is a beautiful portrait of yourself surrounded by a cloud-like network of colors – your aura! The colors, symmetry, and variation in your aura photo all connect back to different meanings and interpretations of your aura in that current moment. A symmetrical semi circle around your head could mean that your perceived image is in balance with what you feel internally, or a small orb-like shape over your heart could be a spirit guide protecting your heart chakra. The beautiful thing about the aura photos and reports over at ASCEND is that they can be done multiple times to capture the energy that you are giving off at specific times in your life. Take your friends or a loved one with you to see how your aura interact, or get an aura reading before and after a major life event to see how your energy has shifted. Aura photography as ASCEND truly is a unique and uplifting experience that is sure to leave you feeling connected to yourself and your overall vibe.
Image by Nicole Adkins / ASCEND
To learn more about creating your own experience in Salem, MA check out our Things To Do and Shopping pages!
Tags: Fresh Start, Healing, Health, New Year, Self Love, Wellness
