{ THREE YEARS! }

Holy smokes Y'all. 

This week marks our third year of being open for business - it's super hard for me to believe, three years sounds like a long time to me, but it has flown by. And I'm learning more and more each day - which maybe seems like DURR, OF COURSE - but truly, each day brings a new lesson and educational opportunity. You think you know what's up, and then Alessandra and Christina are in the back with a pile of python bones, or a wallaby, or a freaking cavy (a member of the rodent family and animal which previously I had never heard of before in my life) skeleton like it's no big deal.

A word on Alessandra, AKA The Bone Wizard, since I mentioned her. We thought she was incredible when we first laid eyes on her in 2013 and boy oh boy are we lucky she liked us back! Alessandra Dzuba, you may know, is not only the brains and dexterous hands behind many of our beautiful natural science specimens, but she is also a phenomenal fine artist (who somehow manages to exhibit her work regularly, probably because she is a wizard and can manipulate the Space Time Continuum). Check out her works here, and prepare to have your mind blown! 

This is also a fine time to mention Carrie, who continues to grow and evolve at a suspiciously inhuman rate (my money is on Aliens). When we began this adventure, Carrie was juggling a full-time gig as a therapist and raising two young children while also keeping natural science specimens in stock and the lights on at Oracle. Somehow during all this she has also managed to learn and integrate numerology and astrology into her counseling practice - a shining example of developing and following her intuition in a holistic way. If you know Carrie, you already know that she is a badass, but you may not know that she does THIS. 

We have been so fortunate to have so many incredible people intern and apprentice with us at Oracle. We appreciate your intellect, your creativity, your talent and your unflinching ability to get your hands dirty with animal remains. We are so grateful and happy that you found us!

A bunch of weirdos like us could only have thrived in this kind of environment, so we are pretty dang lucky. Cheers for three years!! 

Thank you to our interns/apprentice - We have been so fortunate to have so many incredible people 

{ Meet Christina Maki - and Helga! }

Christina Maki, a professional photographer, began her apprenticeship with Alessandra Dzuba (aka Bone Wizard) in October 2015. Her apprenticeship began with a daunting project - to assist Alessandra as she sorted and articulated the bones of a 16ft long python. 

This guy was NO JOKE. But lookie how beautiful it is!

Luckily for us, the project known as Operation Basilisk did not deter Christina, who has since moved on to working on several projects for Oracle, including - but not limited to - her very own articulated Badger!

We don't list a fondness for Harry Potter or a tolerance for salty language among our prerequisites here at Oracle, but we are delighted when lovely people such as Christina come our way and we are lucky to have her in our little coven!

Check out Christina's awsome Tumblr at augustbones.com

{ Online Store Updated! }

Just in time for the gift-giving season, we have updated our online shop with all of the (shippable) treasures we have in our store!

This is super good news for our excellent out-of-towner customers. If you have visited our shop or follow us on Instagram and have wondered, "How to I acquire these magnificent natural science specimens?" Or, '"How do I convince my loved ones to buy gifts for me from Oracle when they are not able to visit the shop in person or are not into walking into a natural science/curiosity/taxidermy/skull/animal remains store to buy gifts for me?"  Well, we have got you covered!

So, if you are unable to visit our store on West 18th Street in the Crossroads District of KCMO, then please avail yourself of our  updated online shop! <<<<<---- (LOOK! LOOK AT IT WITH YOUR EYEBALLS, WITNESS THE SPLENDOR!)

All photos by Christina Maki

{ Workshops And Fun Times }

Oracle is offering some really fantastic workshops over the next couple of months and we want to give y'all a heads up about it first because they fill up fast! Signing up for them is super easy now too - all of our classes are found at our online shop and you can register for them here. If you are curious about what we offer month to month, check out our events page here and see what we have in store for you! 

We love education here at Oracle and we aim to promote an appreciation for natural science and visual art. Our classes provide professional instruction and high quality materials so that our customers achieve new skills - and get to leave the shop with a custom piece of their very own! 

We also like FUN TIMES and will be hosting scheduled numerology happy hours and tarot readings each month, so we encourage you to come join our excellent community of weirdos!

{ Numerology Happy Hour! }

We are having our first ever Numerology Happy Hour on Tuesday, September 8 from 4:00-6:00 pm! Our resident Potions Master, Carrie Parker will be offering numerology readings during the Hour of Happy! Bring your friends, It's going to be fun, y'all - come say hi, have a refreshment and get your *numerology on!

*But what IS numerology, you may be asking (it's okay, I had to ask too)?

Well, Numerology is the study of numbers and the occult manner in which they reflect certain aptitudes and character tendencies as part of the greater, cosmic plan. The sum of the numbers in your birth date and the sum value derived from the letters in your birth name provide particular vibrations. Similarly, each phonetic letter has a numeric value that provides a related cosmic vibration. All of these numbers combine to reveal a great deal about a person's character, purpose in life, what motivates them and where their talents may lie. 

In short, it's another way to gain some self-introspection - which I find always washes down a little easier with cocktails and friends! 

{ Curio Of The Month Club }

We have revised our Curio Of The Month Club and have some exciting news to share with Y'all tomorrow! Membership tiers will start at $10 - details to come, stay posted!

(Pssst - also available for you lovelies who live out of town - we ship to your door!)