You may have heard the phrase woo-woo. Certain people use it to dismiss or even belittle spiritual practices that don’t reflect traditional beliefs. Others, like spiritual teachers, might use it when presenting aspects of their work that even their students might find unusual, like past life regressions, energy healings, or sensing the spirits of the forests. I propose that woo-woo is simply a way to describe the diverse ways we can connect to the divine and receive guidance, each practice possessing validity and meaning to those who follow it.

Consider some traditional practices. Believers are encouraged to pray for help and support from those in heaven, whether to God, saints, and so on. Beneath that is a desire to feel watched over and seen. Others might meditate, attend religious services, and go on retreats in hopes of hearing words that enable them to understand who they are and how to live amidst life’s challenges. Still, others bless themselves with water to cleanse themselves or anoint their bodies with sacred oils to connect them with the divine. Some people might consider that woo-woo.

That’s all that woo-woo is. Why is it necessary to narrow the ways people experience the divine? Why is it crazy to believe that all that exists, both seen and unseen, are made of the same stuff and, therefore, feel a profound connection to it? But it’s not rational, some might insist. Does everything really have to make complete sense to our minds, though? Is love rational? Is faith rational? I’m not just talking about faith in a divine being but in another person.

I must admit that some of the woo-woo stuff doesn’t resonate with me. For example, I like crystals and have a few. But I’m still unsure that crystals emit specific types of energies that we can then use to help our lives. That’s OK. Every practice or belief doesn’t have to. We each get to decide what makes sense to us and aligns with how we look at “life, the universe, and everything,” to use a phrase from the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Our spiritual journey is ours to shape and define.

So, celebrate the woo-woo.

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