Starkville holds a space for healing with its duo of magical businesses.
Metaphysical or spiritual stores focus on the enlightenment of the soul by selling products or services that enhance conscious awareness.
300 Greensboro Street is home to Soulflower Healing Arts Studio, a spiritual sanctuary for peace and soul rejuvenation.
After working as a middle school teacher and counselor for over 20 years, owner Miki Bryant opened up her holistic studio and began to work as a licensed professional counselor with an energy medicine focus.
“I knew when I opened it that it wasn’t just going to be a solo practice. I’m a group person,” Bryant said.
Along with Bryant, Amanda Anderson works as a Reiki master and wellness coordinator, while Juan Corrigan works as a guide of massage therapy.
The team at Soulflower offers Reiki healing, guided meditations, hypnotherapy, massage therapy, card readings, energetic clearing and balancing and many other healing alternatives.
Through the entrance of the tiny, square building, a sitting area awaits to greet visitors with natural sounds and serene energy. The right-side walls are lined with CBD products, locally made pottery and books on spiritual and personal growth.
Jennilynn Hall sits at the front desk, waiting for members to check in for an appointment or to take a break in the meditation room.
Hall is a sophomore majoring in psychology at Mississippi State University. She began working at Soulflower in October 2022 after searching for an internship in town.
“I was honestly just looking, and I had no idea that Soulflower was even here. I didn’t even know there was a place in Starkville that could offer this kind of energy medicine,” Hall said.
To the right of the waiting room is a lending library full of spiritual books available for members and visitors. The shelves contain hundreds of books that can be borrowed from the library for free with the condition that they are brought back or lent to another person.
“It’s just another way to support people in their growth and development,” Bryant said.
Near the library, the meditation and mindfulness rooms are interconnected areas filled with colorful tapestries, comfortable seating and euphoric music. In the meditation room, a circle of dark blue cushions lay on a vibrant rug for members to enjoy at any time.
At Soulflower, members become a part of their community. They are invited to a variety of monthly events including Lunch with the Bunch, where regular participants and new faces can come together with their lunches and commune.
With the remedies and supportive community found at Soulflower, Bryant said she has the goal of spreading consciousness across the Starkville community.
“Our tagline is ‘reawaken your soul’s purpose,’” Bryant said. “It’s about bringing in that higher level, raising the vibration, raising the level of consciousness within this community by being the community that we want to perpetuate.”
A few streets over, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, sits a brick building embossed with blue butterflies on the roof.
Serendipity Hippie is a bohemian studio and boutique full of artistically-designed clothing and metaphysical products. On the shelves lie herbs, teas, oils, books and locally made beeswax candles; tables are filled with elaborate trays of natural stones and crystals.
Owner Paisley Hamilton always greets customers in with a welcoming smile and cheerful personality. She started Serendipity Hippie in 2011 while still in college.
“For seven years, I vended art festivals and pop-up shops. I worked out of a spare bedroom in my home,” Hamilton said.
Her journey began as a product of her creativity. In 2017, her dreams and art were manifested into a physical location.
“What started out as a space to share positivity and my creative visions quickly became a spirit depot and free-spirited hub within our community,” Hamilton said.
The inventory at Serendipity Hippie is dynamic and features Hamilton’s creations of clothing, textile and jewelry.
Along with her work, an array of heirloom goods, conscious oddities and an apothecary of full ritual essentials and natural elements are on display.
“Everything needed to live a free-spirited and magical lifestyle,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said she hoped to provide a loving and accepting space to unify the community’s differences.
“My hope is to provide tools that help facilitate healing within the individual and the whole — to open the connection to ourselves and one another on a deeper, soulful level,” Hamilton said.
She said she is forever grateful for the support she has received in Starkville from her inspiring customers.
“My customers are light seeking, nature loving, free spirited, big dreaming folk that keep me inspired and make every day new and exciting at the studio,” Hamilton said.