As the full moon bathed our garden in a silvery glow last Monday, I sat cross-legged by our fire pit. But I wasn’t nursing a glass of chilled Sauvignon or enjoying the balmy evening with friends. Instead, as a devotee of the lunar cycle, I was perched al fresco waiting for May’s powerful Flower Moon to release me from all the negative feelings I no longer want in my life.

It may sound bonkers to the uninitiated, but I am one of many who believe full moons can bring peace by ending a cycle in our lives, while new moons are for setting new intentions.

Earlier, I had meticulously noted down (on rather a large piece of paper) all the frustrations I wanted to be free of. Angry thoughts about a frenemy, my addiction to protein bars, the fact that my sign-off time for work slides hopelessly past 6pm most nights.

My husband was sprawled on the sofa inside watching the latest Tom Cruise film, but I wasn’t alone. Rather I was with my crystals. I have 50 of them now in all colours, shapes and sizes – and they are believed to promote everything from harmony to protection.

As the moon hit its zenith at just before 7pm, I carefully ripped up my list of worries and burned the paper in the fire. I left the crystals overnight to be ‘cleared’ under the full moon energy.

This entire ritual had taken an hour and Pascal, my long-suffering husband, started moaning at me to come in because I kept setting off the exterior security lights.

He knew perfectly well what I was up to, though. Let’s just say that after 18 years he has begrudgingly learned to tolerate my commitment to woo-woo.

Besides, he knew who I was when we met. When I arrived in France, it was with meditation CDs to align my chakras whenever I was stressed out, and bottles of flower-based Rescue Remedy to deal with shock. (As a housewife and stepmother with new in-laws, initially I got through gallons of the stuff.)

As a devotee of the lunar cycle, Samantha Brick used May¿s powerful Flower Moon to release her from all the negative feelings she no longer wants in her life

 As a devotee of the lunar cycle, Samantha Brick used May’s powerful Flower Moon to release her from all the negative feelings she no longer wants in her life

Samantha's husband Pascal, 64 a retired carpenter, has no truck with organised religion

Samantha’s husband Pascal, 64 a retired carpenter, has no truck with organised religion

Pascal has no truck with organised religion, so he scoffed at my Buddha statue and would tut when I wore my mala prayer beads for meditation.

Yet a recent study shows I’m not alone. A third of British women describe themselves as spiritual, believing in everything from karma to chakras.

At the age of 54, I now focus on embracing my inner goddess, too.

So it will come as no surprise that I was a huge fan of the recent third season of hit TV show The White Lotus – in particular the mismatch between practical older curmudgeon Rick (Pascal is 64 and a retired carpenter) and his kooky girlfriend, Chelsea.

Like Chelsea, I believe in soulmates. I also believe in the power of three (it’s my lucky number) and I refer daily to my numerous oracle cards and spiritual books on everything from manifesting to goddess circles.

My poor husband! At first, he thought my woo-woo ways were crackers. He would look at me murderously when I told him he was only feeling out of sorts because we’re in eclipse season.

Bafflingly to him, I cherry pick from each of the Eastern philosophies. Behind me in my office is a Buddha. I frequently work with the shamanic medicine wheel and celebrate each pagan solstice, too.

More than once he has stared at me, apoplectic, when I’ve offered neighbours a drink only to jokingly hand them a pair of scissors and gloves and point them to the nettle patch – a cup of homemade nettle tea is a daily ritual for me.

We bought our French farmhouse a decade ago and whenever we show anyone around, Pascal finds himself justifying my Himalayan salt lamps (said to promote a balanced environment) or rose quartz crystals next to our bed to encourage a harmonious relationship.

It’s taken a year for him to let me play the sound of Tibetan singing bowls when he’s around; to his amazement, he enjoys listening to the healing frequencies. But he told anyone who would listen that he was ‘degoute’ (disgusted) when I began training at home to be a yoga teacher; the house stank of incense, I lost so much weight my boobs shrank, and I was rarely out of yoga leggings.

Much to his fury, I’d remind him that he was yang to my yin, and that opposites like us attract. I tell myself life would be boring if I was hitched to a male version of myself. And besides, as much as we are polar opposites, Pascal and I are similar in lots of ways.

Samantha would often remind Pascal that he was yang to her yin, and that opposites like them attract

Samantha would often remind Pascal that he was yang to her yin, and that opposites like them attract

As a hunter, he has much respect for nature. This month, our field is off limits because a deer is raising her two fawns in it.

So when did my relationship with woo-woo start? In my 20s, I travelled extensively around India. At the risk of sounding like a ‘gap yah’ cliche, I loved the simplicity of that life.

I’d return home with statues of Hindu gods such as Lakshmi, to promote luck, and Ganesh, remover of obstacles. Heaven knows what the cleaners at my cottage in Kew, west London thought as they polished them on my bookshelf. Living in LA in my early 30s cemented my love affair with all things woo – at every networking event, people would exchange cards for their psychics or energy healer.

So when I met Pascal in 2007, at 36, this was a non-negotiable part of my life. I was so used to defending it, not least because the majority of British chaps are unbelievably close-minded. Indeed, previous partners had referred to me as everything from ‘cuckoo’ to being ‘away with the fairies’.

All this does have a serious impact on our life as a couple, at times. For example, I won’t travel when Mercury is in retrograde. Mercury retrogrades are known to throw travel into chaos. Don’t believe me?

Cast your mind back to mid-March, at the start of the last cycle of Mercury retrograde, when Heathrow airport was thrown into chaos with hundreds of flights cancelled after a fire.

The last time we had no choice but to travel during Mercury retrograde was to Barcelona in 2021 for the Grand Prix. On the morning we were due to depart, I got a call from the hotel saying they had no water and were cancelling our booking. ‘You see,’ I trilled triumphantly. Pascal just rolled his eyes.

I like to think he reaps some benefits from my woo-woo ways though. Two years ago, when he was seriously ill in hospital with a 50 per cent chance of walking out alive, the consultants were speechless to be greeted by the smell of lavender oil I’d use daily to massage his head, hands and feet.

Then there were the crystals around his bed to promote health and well-being. I believe in the power of prayer and touch – that my loving hands focusing on only sending pure love to my husband helped save him.

So yes, he initially pooh-poohed my beliefs, but nowadays even news programmes talk about the benefits of meditation and breathwork. As with most baby boomer men, it’s only now it’s been on the TV that Pascal believes there might be some credibility in what I have been harping on about for decades.

I’d go as far as to say he now finds it soothing when I meditate. Sadly, I know that ‘namaste’ will never, ever enter his vocabulary.

But I’d like to think he now more than tolerates my philosophy… just.

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