Whenever she flew down the track in her modified 2009 Subaru WRX, Medusa, Jamie Moreno was protected — not only by the interior roll cage that would shield her in a crash, but also by the Ziploc bag of crystals stashed in the center console. “It was kind of always hidden, the witchy side,” Moreno said. “I feel like in racing, it’s so masculine that if you talk about, ‘I have crystals in my car’ or ‘I perform blessings on my car,’ people will be like, ‘What (is) wrong with you?’” Now that she lives in Heber City, Moreno said she definitely “stick(s) out like a sore thumb.” Beyond massage therapist Body Soul Studios, there’s not much engagement in the metaphysical. It’s certainly no Salem, Massachusetts, but Moreno hopes she can bring a bit of that energy to Heber City through her new business, Shiny Bruja, named for the Spanish word for witch. Moreno is half-Ecuadorian, half-Columbian. “Me starting the conversation might attract those people that are curious,” Moreno said. “I mean, people could be hiding just like how I hid for many years.” As the titular Shiny Bruja, Moreno’s specialty is concocting bottles of rose water from her kitchen.  A smoke-free alternative to sage, the idea came to Moreno because she has asthma. Heber City’s better air quality compared to Salt Lake City’s was one reason she chose to relocate here earlier this year. Plus, sage stinks.  “It smells like you just hot-boxed your entire house,” she joked.  Spraying a bit of rose water into the air creates a lovely yet subtle smell to cleanse a space. Rose is a symbol of love, compassion and empathy, Moreno explained, and it combats anger, sadness, and anxiety. Moreno typically puts damask roses into her distiller, using a paint filter to remove any organic material from the liquid. Each bottle is infused with light language. Light language is the metaphysical equivalent of speaking in tongues. For each batch, Moreno places the bottles in a circle around her in her meditation room and tunes into a “collective need,” whether it be self-compassion or divine love. Jamie Moreno races her 2009 Subaru WRX, Medusa. Credit: Photo courtesy of Jamie Moreno Moreno wasn’t always so forthright about her interest in the metaphysical. Medusa’s engine dying in 2023 prompted her to take a break from racing, which she was putting far too much money into — over $80,000 on improvements alone — at the cost of her self-care. The metaphysical has now eclipsed racing, the original way Moreno practiced wellness. She named her race car Medusa for its snakelike hoses under the hood. She was equally inspired by the tale of the wronged woman who turned her enemies to stone. Besides, at such high speeds, any spectators on the sidelines look like static statues. But before it became a mythical, modified beast, Medusa accompanied Moreno on her daily commutes, on road trips and through whiteout snowstorms. It was also her companion on late-night drives up Cottonwood Canyon as she grappled with depression, anxiety and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Moreno’s connection with cars reaches back to childhood, growing up in Salt Lake City. “The one place (my dad and I) could get away from my mom was working on cars,” she explained. “My mom hated that. I was like, cool. This is the one place I don’t get yelled at.” Moreno said she experienced verbal and emotional abuse as a child. She felt constantly “scanned” by her parents: for showing too much skin, for fluctuating in weight, for developing acne. Moreno had no sanctuary from the berating. She wasn’t allowed to decorate her room and had to keep the door open at all times, while her parents regularly rummaged through her belongings. Around the time Moreno felt a need to create her own identity in high school, she felt “suffocated.” She’s not sure what outlet she would have found if she hadn’t discovered amateur racing at 25. She was on the track continuously between 2010 and 2023, specializing in the time-attack category. Around that time, Moreno was introduced to the metaphysical by a therapist. Her desire to improve her race times was what initially brought her to therapy — her mind was so clouded by anxiety that she couldn’t focus. With the guidance of her therapist and other specialists, Moreno dove headfirst into aromatherapy, crystals, herbs, astrology and energy work. But she found that most of the work was mental, making her mind clearer on the track and resulting in improved times. Medusa began to feel like an extension of her body. “That car made me feel safe in my body for the first time in my life,” Moreno said. “When I imagine myself driving in that car, I imagine golden tentacles coming out of me, and I’m attaching myself to the tires, to the brakes, to the engine, to the steering. I am fully integrated energetically into that car.” Husband and wife Nathan Rushton and Jamie Moreno stand in front of their trailer with their dog, Boom. Credit: Photo courtesy of Jamie Moreno Moreno sold her home and many of her belongings in 2017 to pursue a nomadic lifestyle with her husband, Nathan Rushton. They purchased a 45-foot Jayco Seismic Wave 416W fifth-wheel, complete with a garage large enough to fit Medusa. They traveled cross-country from race to race for five years, setting up camp across Utah, Arizona, California and Colorado in RV parks and friends’ and family members’ backyards. In the meantime, the couple took whatever odd jobs they could find in their field — IT for Moreno, now a network security engineer at Adobe, and home maintenance and repair for Rushton, who started his own company, Mr. Weefix, in April. There were downsides to the lifestyle, such as the lack of a permanent mailing address and the horrors of sewer maintenance. But it was a valuable experience for the couple. “We have met so many different people, different cultures, heard so many different stories,” Moreno said. “(My car’s) not political; it’s not religious. It’s a way to open up to people, to start a conversation and to connect with other people. I feel like right now in America, we’re missing a lot of that personal connection.” Rushton was perhaps even more on board than his wife for what became a six-year road trip. “We’ve always been each other’s support system,” Moreno said. “We’ve known each other since high school. Whenever any opportunity comes up for either of us, we are supportive of each other.” Moreno returned the favor when a maintenance and repair company Rushton worked for relocated to Massachusetts. Growing a little tired of trailer life, the couple landed in Salem, ground zero for all things witchy. Jamie Moreno, the self-styled “Shiny Bruja.” Credit: Photo courtesy of Jamie Moreno She felt “like a kid in a candy store” in Salem, surrounded by psychics, mediums and energy workers. Besides, the stigma around the metaphysical didn’t seem to exist; it was a water-cooler conversation for Salem residents. Moreno said she’s been highly sensitive to the metaphysical world since childhood, but learned not to talk about it as she observed how family members treated her grandmother. “My grandma said she used to see dead people, or she would see things, or she would feel things. And she always had some concoction that she would make up for whatever ailment,” Moreno said. “I remember my dad would be like, ‘She’s just crazy.’” There are many reasons for the stigma around the metaphysical, but Moreno said it primarily comes from misconceptions about what that world entails. For example, some snake oil salespeople often present essential oils, herbs and energy work as cure-alls for everything from mental health issues to COVID-19, but Moreno said that couldn’t be further from the truth. She believes modern medicine and the herbal field should work together to promote even greater physical wellness. She also clarified that it’s still up to the individual to “do the hard work” when it comes to mental health issues. “You still have to look at the ugly pieces of yourself that you don’t want to look at and meet those pieces with love and compassion and empathy,” she said. Jamie Moreno’s bottles of rose water, called Angel Mist. Credit: Photo courtesy of Jamie Moreno Moreno also addressed the longstanding fear of evil witches. She acknowledged that “there are the bad witches that hex and curse,” but also witches who practice on a foundation of love, compassion, empathy and joy. She said witches who practice magic sourced from positive energy see more effective results.  “The universe is a mirror,” Moreno said. “When you look in the mirror, the mirror doesn’t smile first. You do.” Moreno’s website is shinybruja.com. Her rose water is also available to purchase at Body Soul Studios in Heber City and Hair by Morgan Dixon in Holladay. The post Heber City race car driver embraces her witchy ways appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less