Material Girl, Mystical World: An Interview With Ruby Warrington
Meet Ruby Warrington, the lovely British fashion journalist and cosmic force behind the majestic online community The Numinous. In this interview with The Hoodwitch,Ruby shares her inspirations behind creating her comprehensive new guide book to The "Now Age".
Hi Ruby, first and foremost congratulations on your new book! Can you share with our readers what was your biggest motivation behind creating your new book?
Since I launched my site The Numinous in 2013, I've been on a mission—like you Bri!—to make the mystical arts seems more accessible and relevant, and this book has been a big part of that. But while writing it, I came to be aware of a much deeper thread running through this whole movement. Namely that engaging with esoteric practices and connecting to ourselves as spiritual beings is an essential (if not THE essential!) part of waking up to the role each and every of us has to play in the future thriving of humanity. So y'know, it gets pretty deep!
"Material Girl, Mystical World"is an interesting title some might ask why it isn't the other way around "mystical girl, material word"? How did you come up with this title for your book? What does "the NOW age" mean for you?
The title has been the tag-line for my site since it launched, and I came up with it floating in the sea in Croatia back in like 2011. "Material Girl" speaks to my background as a fashion journalist in London ... my adventures in the "Numiverse" my journey into the "Mystical World." It actually works both ways. I am as mystical as I am material, as is the world we live in. For me, being on the "spiritual path" is about acknowledging this and integrating the mystical and the material in everything we do.
As for the Now Age, I coined this term for two reasons: Firstly, it's an update of the 1960s "new age", which was a reference to the astrological Age of Aquarius (like the song, remember?) which the Earth and all of us began transitioning into during the last century. We're now fully living in the Age of Aquarius—and so the "new" age is ... "now"! The hallmarks of this astrological era are the rapid development of technology, the spreading of information among the masses, and the toppling of hierarchical structures—all of which we are also seeing come to pass, and which mean we live in an unprecedented age of instant gratification. Thanks to the Internet we can access anything and everything NOW—which can be as overwhelming as it is amazing!
What are the top 5 books you'd say changed your life? Who are some of your favorite authors?
In my conclusion I write how "this book changed my life"—since walking the walk and doing my research for Material Girl, Mystical world has transformed me, inside and out. My health, relationships, the way I view my work, my spirituality, my relationship to myself. Everything! I reference Brené Brown's Daring Greatly several times in my book, but I don't read a lot of self-help. I prefer the escapism and emotional stimulus of fiction. Some of my favorite writers overall would be: Donna Tartt, Elizabeth Gilbert, JT LeRoy, Lionel Shriver, and Bret Easton Ellis. And I recently devoured Cat Marnell's How To Murder Your Life (she's a total Numi girl in training!).
What are some of your daily rituals that you utilized to help stay inspired and creative during the long and often tedious process of writing your book? Did you work with any crystals or tools (I.e tarot, astrology) to keep you focused and/or to gain a clearer insight into specific blocks/challenges and how to overcome them?
On a practical level, I put a ban on email + social media before 11am and after 9pm. I write best in the morning when my head is still half in the spirit world, so I needed to keep this channel clear and to also make sure I was getting super deep, like almost orgasmic, sleep. I doubled down on my yoga + meditation practice for the same reasons. As for more esoteric practices, researching the book involved throwing myself headfirst into it ALL, and these experienced not only shaped the text, but me as I was writing it! It was a very holistic experience in this respect.
Finally, This book seems like an immense labor of love and I know there are many people who are tapping into their power and really just don't know where to begin in materializing their dreams into reality. What are some words of wisdom that you would like to share with our readers on how to mindfully manifest their goals ?
Bri, thank you for seeing this! It's a total cliche to describe this as my "book baby" but it contains so much of myself that it feels like my flesh and blood. As for awakening to and activating your own personal power, my chapter on Dharma is all about this. But first, KNOW YOURSELF. Meaning, identify what makes you feel the most alive, and what you need to be able to do it. Astrology is my preferred tool for this. Then you must cultivate CONVICTION and PERSISTENCE (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). Yoga + meditation will help, as will any healing practices that help develop spiritual resilience. Stepping into our personal power often means going against the conditioning of our upbringing and of society at large, and this can take some serious muscle. But not only is it worth it, the world and our Mother Earth needs us to step up now more than ever.
Do you have any new events or special projects that we should know about?
Moon Club is an online spiritual mentoring program that I run with my Numinous contributor Alexandra Roxo—a global community of people all committed to learning more about our place in the cosmos, using this to facilitate the above, and supporting each other through it. We're got retreats coming up in NY and Croatia that are also open to non-members, and I am so excited to have these opportunities to bring all the teachings of Material Girl, Mystical World to life!!