Walk through Vancouver’s vibrant neighborhoods—from the upscale boutiques of Kitsilano to the cozy cafés of Commercial Drive—and you’ll notice a spiritual undercurrent pulsing beneath the city’s secular surface. Crystal shops beam with iridescent light, yoga studios offer chakra-balancing flows, and community boards advertise “intuitive development circles.” There is a booming marketplace where wellness meets mysticism—and where spiritual enlightenment can be optimized for a price.
Among the most telling trends is the rise of manifestation coaching. For a few hundred dollars—online gurus promise to help you “unlock abundance” through cosmic alignment. There are also “energy activations,” often marketed through Instagram reels with soothing tones and ambient soundtracks. These services are often dressed in the language of empowerment, but behind the affirmations and aesthetics is something more unsettling: a spirituality that looks remarkably like a business.
This isn’t new. In Acts 8, we meet a man named Simon—a magician in Samaria who had built a following and personal wealth by wooing people with his tricks. When he sees the apostles laying hands on believers to share the Holy Spirit, Simon comes with his purse ready to pay whatever price necessary for this same power. Peter’s response is sharp: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!” (Acts 8:20).
Simon wanted divine power without divine surrender. He treated the Holy Spirit like a tool to enhance his brand. Sound familiar?
Vancouver’s alternative spirituality scene is full of modern-day Simons, some well-meaning, others calculating, who market the supernatural as a self-help upgrade. But the Spirit isn’t for sale. Though it might cost your pride — to receive it by grace with a humble and open heart.
Vancouver’s spirituality invites you to buy in—to workshops, sessions, and subscriptions. But the gospel invites you to bow down. One offers power for a price; the other offers peace for free. One feeds your ego; the other transforms your soul. Christianity is not a fee-for-service enterprise. You don’t need to pay to speak with a pastor or receive prayer for healing.
To those navigating this city’s spiritual bazaar: be discerning to what’s being sold and who is profiting. Because in the end, the Spirit is not a product. He’s a Person. And He’s not looking for clients—He’s calling children home.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” —Isaiah 55:1