DTPHX IN/FLUX: How Havana of Stardust & Sage Gives People Hope
by Elizabeth Montgomery
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When you walk down Roosevelt Row and smell the scent of Nag Champa Incense in the air, you know you’re in a good place.
Havana, the owner of Stardust & Sage in Downtown Phoenix, helps her guests find harmony one crystal at a time. Stepping into her boutique, you’re met with an energy that instantly melts the stress of the day away.
That calming feeling intensifies once you meet her.
“For the community here, downtown, and anyone who comes into our store, what we’re offering on a deeper level is alignment and assistance,” Havana said.
From healing gems, herbs, teas, candles, oils, and more, Stardust & Sage is a hub for wellness and holistic care. Havana also offers spiritual readings and cleansings, detox baths, ATR classes, book clubs, and sound healing.
“We’ve seen people come in with many different ailments from the shift we’ve taken globally. People are dealing with anxiety and depression more than ever before, infertility, and the effects from COVID. We’ve got different spiritual things that we can do to assist people,” Havana said.
“Crystals are natural stones that have frequency and vibrations, and depending on what a person is going through, there is possibly a specific crystal that can help you.”
Havana knows the healing effects of crystals because rose quartz helped her heal from a dysautonomia disorder that caused her to pass out multiple times a week. She underwent treatment at Mayo Clinic for two years before discovering the disorder was incurable.
The disorder affected her heart rate and blood pressure. Rose quartz is believed to help heal matters of the heart, so she carried a large crystal everywhere.
“I meditated with it, took naps with it. I would just carry it around everywhere, and over the course of about eight months, my passing-out episodes just went away. No meds; just meditation and crystals,” Havana said.
“I tell people all the time is that crystals are the one place untouched by a man that will always be in harmony because they were created in harmony. So you’re carrying a natural piece of peace.”
Havana started Stardust & Sage as a vendor at local nonprofit Archwood Exchange’s Buy Black Marketplace, a nonprofit she helped founded seven years ago.
Havana would set up shop at the market and sell crystals online. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, online orders came flying in quicker than she imagined. At one point, she remembers having to fill 250 orders a week.
Stardust & Sage offers a wide variety of healing crystals, candles and incense, in addition to readings, guided meditation, sound baths, herbal baths, natural remedies and more. (Photo: Stardust & Sage)
She outgrew her in-home shop but found a brick-and-mortar location on Roosevelt Row. A few stores down, her husband Henry who owns Straw & Wool set up shop.
In addition to healing crystals, Havana also went through the deeply moving processes to initiate into a Yoruba tradition that originated in West Africa.
Havana began this spiritual journey in 2016 and became a priest in 2020. Four months later, her son Khadji passed away in March of 2021 due to complications of epilepsy.
“I was willing to try anything to cure him,” she said. “I remember him telling me, ‘Mom, we have to do this. You have to do this. Don’t give up. You’re supposed to be doing every single thing you’re doing now, don’t stop.’”
She didn’t stop. Havana continued the intricate process of wearing all white to shaving her head, as a sign of sacrifice for herself and her son.
“I realized that that process, even my son’s passing and everything that I went through, was a part of this destiny,” Havana said. “I just know it’s all supposed to be the way it is.”
Today, she still thrives, creating a sense of community through her business and her nonprofit cultivating positive energy like a crystal in Downtown.
“I think my experiences have influenced me to be in this space. The good or the bad. These experiences allow me to give people hope,” Havana said.