Renee Henry has always had a passion for stones and crystals and has spent a lifetime on what she calls a “spiritual journey”. Seven years ago, she decided to combine her knowledge and her passion for helping people into a business, which she calls Earthwalker, in recognition that no matter who you are, what you believe or what you may be going through, we are all just walking the earth together.
“I love crystals, and I like helping people,” explains Henry.
“I help with healing. I do readings, so bringing clarity for people, supplying things they need for their spiritual path. And a sense of belonging. I find a lot of people in this town feel like they don’t belong to anything, so it’s bringing that belonging to people. That’s why Earthwalker was brought up as a name, so that everybody was included, so that people weren’t separated, or they didn’t feel separate from things.”
Throughout her years in business, Henry has dealt with a lot of misconceptions that she feels she has been able to put to rest in Merritt, simply by opening her doors to anybody and welcoming people in no matter what their beliefs or preconceptions may be.
“There’s a lot of fear-based stuff that goes along with that, they’ve been told this is bad or that’s bad, then they come in and they sit and they have a chat with me and they realize that’s not the scenario here,” said Henry.
“Everybody’s included here. It’s open to all faiths.”
And while Tarot readings and an appointment with psychic medium Linnea Pearson are available, Henry offers a variety of goods and services to customers, including a simple hug and a chat to those who need one.
“I find, especially in small towns, in can be pretty cliquey to get into certain groups, but this place people can come in and have a coffee or a tea and sit and we can talk about everything, and people do,” said Henry.
“We talk about everything, from social issues to how things are going in their lives that day, everything. And I know when I was closed people really had a hard time with that because other than counselors, I’m one of the few spots they can come into, just have a hug and talk about things and move on. There’s so much stuff in here that’s for all walks of life. I have wire wrapping classes and I have classes for crystals, how to use your crystals, and then we teach Reiki classes so that you can learn how to do Reiki, and the next one will be Access Bars which is removing self-limitation. We have those preconceived notions of what happens and what we’ve been taught and some of those don’t serve us very well.”
Henry has faced hardship herself: in 2014 when Earthwalker was on Quilchena Ave., a fire caused the complete destruction of the business. However, one of Henry’s prized possessions and a customer favourite was saved. A large Tibetan singing bowl filled with water while firefighters were battling the blaze, and was pulled from the wreckage of the building undamaged. The bowl now sits in Earthwalker’s new location on Granite Ave., where Henry opened up shop three years ago, after a hiatus of a year and a half following the fire.
“I found out after the fire that what seemed to be missing in town, was my shop,” said Henry, on her decision to reopen.
Since then, Henry has also faced the difficulties of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a flood in her store. There have been times when Henry thought it might be better to close her doors, but the community support and love for what she does has kept her from throwing in the towel.
“I was a single parent; you can’t just quit because something doesn’t work or something’s hard,” Henry said.
“You just pick it up and move forward. It’s a passion of mine so, if it wasn’t a passion of mine it would have been easy to walk away from, but it’s a passion of mine, of helping people. I realized after it burnt down when I came into town it didn’t feel like there was a space I could just come and sit down and hang out with someone.”
And so, Henry continues to serve Merrittonians as a place they can come and add a crystal or pocket stone to their collection, pick up incense and home décor, a new Bible or other holy book, or ceremonial candles; and most importantly, they can access Henry’s expertise and open minded attitude in one of Merritt’s most unique shops.
“I think that I’ve helped people find solutions, and there’s healing work that takes place here like Reiki, card reading and all sorts of stuff that bring that connection back,” said Henry.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is when I see someone for the first time and they’re struggling and then they come in a year later and they say, you know, I got my stuff together and now I’m doing this, and their life has gotten better. I know I’m retail, but that’s probably one of my happiest times is when I hear how far they’ve come in their journey.”
