Owned by California native Lynna Nguyen, Creatures of Whim offers fair trade clothing and accessories and an extensive selection of crystals, gems, Tarot cards, herbal teas and spices, candles, amulets and more. Photo by Emily Giancarlo.
To step inside Creatures of Whim is to be transported from the heart of downtown Lexington into an ethereal, otherworldly space where you might just start to believe that magic can really happen. A collection of handmade, fair trade goods and spiritual and metaphysical supplies, lovingly curated by proprietor Lynna Nguyen, awaits visitors who cross the threshold.
Nguyen, who grew up in California, started off in the fashion industry doing design and product development. She gained experience dealing with vendors and bringing products to life, but the work didn’t incite a passion in her – in fact, many aspects of the industry clashed with her personal ethics.
Nguyen planned to open her shop in California but found the rent prohibitively expensive. In the end, fate had other plans.
“I met my partner, who lives here, while we were both solo travelers in Belize. We had a long distance relationship for a while, but then I decided to move to Kentucky and figure out what was next for me,” Nguyen explained.
Opening in November 2018, Creature of Whim started out with primarily fair trade gift items, but Nguyen wanted to add something of herself to the inventory. Spiritual and metaphysical products and services were a natural fit.
“I am from a lineage of shamans from Vietnam,” said Nguyen. “My sister and I have always been interested in what our grandfather and great-grandfather did, but they both passed on before we were ever able to meet them, so we didn’t get to have any of that knowledge passed to us first-hand. We have both been learning in order to carry that legacy, and we both do shamanic healing now.”
In addition to offering services such as Reiki and massage, sound healing, Tarot readings and other types of energy and healing work, Creatures of Whim has found a niche with its expansive collection of herbs and herbal teas.
“We started with only about six herbs,” Nguyen explained. “The herbs sold really well, so we decided to add 10 more. As they kept selling, we kept adding to the inventory, and now we have more than 150 herbs in stock – many that you can’t find locally or can only purchase in bulk.”
1 of 2
Creatures of Whim offers Reiki, massage, sound healing and other spiritual and metaphysical services in addition to operating as a specialty retail shop. Photo by Emily Giancarlo.
2 of 2
Creatures of Whim offers Reiki, massage, sound healing and other spiritual and metaphysical services in addition to operating as a specialty retail shop. Photo by Emily Giancarlo.
Though the shop was forced to close for three months during the early days of the pandemic, business has recovered well.
“People really have a need for spirituality right now. Especially in the last year...there wasn’t anything else we could do, but we could go inward,” Nguyen said. “We were forced to isolate and be alone, and that forces a really deep reflection.”
When asked what’s on the horizon, Nguyen revealed she is expanding into the space next door to add a coffee shop with “a very magical theme.”
“We’ll have elixir drinks with fun ingredients,” she said.
Though the shop has been in its downtown location – on North Broadway between Main and Short streets – for three years, don’t be surprised if you haven’t noticed it. That’s a part of the magic of Creatures of Whim.
“It happens a lot,” Nguyen said. “People are thinking about spirituality and are considering a crystal or an herb. Then they are just walking down the street and find us. They may have walked by many times and never noticed us here before.”
“People tend to find us when they need us,” she concluded.