The Rebirth of Gaia's Blessing with Jeni Archer
““I’m not some guru or magical being. I’ve just learned to trust myself, something I’ve worked on for decades, and I want to help others do the same because it’s absolutely essential to any spiritual practice.””
It is not uncommon to receive a text from Jeni Archer to say that she’s received an intuitive message for me. She lives down the street and I like to imagine that my energy body just takes a walk from my house to hers and taps on her shoulder, whispering in her ear. I’m always grateful that she listens.
Sometimes what she hears resonates in a way that I can identify – “Oh, yes, you got that message because this is happening right now.”
Other times, I can’t quite identify what the message might mean… yet. It usually makes sense within a few days or weeks.
Often, it is a wake up call. But what Jeni reflects is always spot on.
Jeni Archer, owner of Gaia’s Blessing
My theory is that this connection began when Jeni worked with my energy and conversed with the spiritual co-residents of my home (a transformative experience for me and an incredible story for another time). This kind of connection is not uncommon for her, though.
“Often when I work with people, their energies will connect to mine in a way that lasts for several months, and I will be peppered with information here and there to pass on to them,” Jeni says. “Some of these energetic relationships have gone on for years. It’s truly fascinating.”
While this might sound strange to some, this has been Jeni’s reality since she was a young girl.
Her earliest memory is of a creature that stood over her bed with a black hood, wispy body, no discernable face and red eyes.
“Every single night he would just...be there, quiet, semi-malevolent,” Jeni says. “He never spoke, and never tried to touch me. I knew somehow that this was my own problem and I needed to protect my parents from it, so I just asked my guides to come and stay with me until I fell asleep.”
Jeni describes laying with her hands out, palms up, and then feeling them turn cool and tingly when her guides would take them. This happened nightly until she was nine years old, when the dark hooded creature showed up outside her bedroom for the first time, in a random building in her hometown late at night.
She got angry (instead of frightened, for once) that it had infiltrated another part of her life and she told this being that it didn’t scare her anymore. She never saw it after that.
Jeni has accepted and rejected her gifts for many decades as she shifted from Fear to Love, and back again. She finally gave in to the calling about 15 years ago, after years and years of reading, studying, researching and soul-searching.
Raised Southern Baptist in the American South in the 70’s and 80’s, Jeni came to realize that much of what she was taught as a child was simply another mythology meant to impart morals, and that her paradigm of origin did not have to be her paradigm of choice.
With that realization, Jeni was able to let go of the Fear, and to begin facilitating healing for others from a true place of Love.
Helping others heal can take many forms. It may be a quick phone call or text to someone when the Universe passes on a message, or creating a banishing mix for a friend to use, or even crafting a delicious meal for someone and infusing it with healing energies. Private sessions with Jeni are an intensified version of this connection.
Jeni works with intuition, accessing the energies inherent in all of us, as well as those that surround each situation. Tangibly, this means: reading tarot, accessing individual energies to provide tailored, intuitive counseling sessions; and cleansing and clearing spaces of negative energies or entities.
Most of Jeni’s abilities manifest for her as clairsentience, which is essentially just a ‘knowing’. She doesn't hear actual spirit voices, nor does she see actual visuals.
The information presents itself in her head, and she simply sifts between what are her own thoughts and what has been given to her by the Universe to give to someone else.
She describes it as the difference between thinking the word ‘elephant’ yourself, and hearing someone else say it out loud. Both words pop up in your brain as ‘elephant,’ but you can tell that one came from you and one came from outside of you.
“That’s kind of how it works with the spirit world,” Jeni says.
But information does not often come through crystal clear and easily interpretable. It is not always easy to hear different vibrations and can sound like she’s listening underwater.
Luckily, she’s had some practice over the years. Jeni was trained by ASUP (Association for the Study of Unexplained Phenomenon) in Texas, which was founded by Rick Moran long ago. ASUP and its intuitive teams utilized IR cameras, MEL meters, KII meters, digital recorders and still shots to explain the unexplainable to businesses or residences that were experiencing unsettling things. All of this information was collected, written up to very exacting specifications, thoroughly reviewed by separate teams for quality control, and then compiled and returned to the client.
“It was so much more work than the made-for-TV shows actually show!” Jeni says. “But being able to help people and give them answers was wonderful, and it’s the desire I have taken with me into my practice now.”
In October of 2018, Jeni and her wife Natalie brought their two teenagers on a road trip to see where Natalie grew up in Merrimack. The kids fell in love with New Hampshire, and Jeni felt undeniably at home the moment her feet hit the ground.
By December of 2018—just two months later—Jeni, Natalie, the kids, their seven cats and incredibly spoiled pit bull were Peterborough residents.
“No place is perfect or without challenges,” Jeni reflects on that decision. “But I am amazed almost every day here by something else I thought was just in books or movies: Neighbors that know each other and say hello! People who are willing to bring you a carrot in the snow when yours withered and you just wanted to make soup! An entire community working from the principle of, ‘We’re better together’ through collaboration and support, not competition. It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen, and I’m so proud to be part of it.”
One of the first things Jeni checked before they moved was whether there was a metaphysical shop nearby. Luckily, Gaia’s Blessing on Summer Street in downtown Peterborough was within walking distance of her new home.
Now, less than two years later, Jeni is the new owner of Gaia’s, taking over from previous owner Michelle Lewis.
“What Michelle built in that amazing little shop is incredible,” Jeni wrote in her blog post, Why I purchased Gaia’s Blessing. “She has poured her heart and soul into that store for years, and it absolutely shows. I know her customers are going to miss her terribly. I certainly will.”
This is true. However, there is no one better suited to carry forward the legacy of Gaia’s than Jeni. She has already completed a quick and beautiful renovation of the shop that more than doubled its floor space. This will accommodate not only the inventory of gemstones, herbs, jewelry, glassware and treasures that Gaia’s is known for, but also personal sessions with Jeni and the many programs she has planned to engage the community in spiritual growth.
The unknown can be intimidating, but Jeni believes that anyone has the ability to do what she does with study and practice, and she wants to make spirituality accessible for everyone. Her goal is to show her clients and potential clients that she’s just a human being who goes to the grocery store and has emotional meltdowns and forgets her keys, too.
“I’m not some guru or magical being. I’ve just learned to trust myself, something I’ve worked on for decades, and I want to help others do the same because it’s absolutely essential to any spiritual practice,” Jeni says.
She continues, “I look for people further down the path to help me on my own journey, and I seek out people whom I can help on theirs. We all need guidance, and we should never stop learning. Never be ashamed to ask for help.”
In many cultures or histories, Jeni would be referred to as a ‘witch’ or a ‘wise woman.’ She’s learning to reclaim this as something to be proud of, which is why the new sign on Gaia’s door will let you know if “the Witch is in” or not.
“The Witch” will officially be “in” for the first time this Saturday, August 1 at 11 AM and the new shop hours are: Tuesday-Friday: 10-5 and Saturday: 11-5.
We’re so proud to call Peterborough’s village witch our friend and a member of the Sága Circle, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for both Jeni Archer and Gaia’s Blessing.