We were lucky to catch up with Arthur Graye recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arthur, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I have always been fascinated by nature. Animals, plants, simply being in a relatively untouched environment has always been my way to meditate and connect to god or the universe or whatever higher power you might believe in. So it only seemed natural to adopt the GreenMan as the patron deity for my metaphysical/occult business. He literally is the spirit of the forest, of nature. The GreenMan is not only a personification of nature but he is a reminder that we all are connected to- and come from- the wild.

Arthur, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Arthur Graye. I’m an artist born and raised outside of Dallas, Texas and I am the owner of the GreenMan Studios. I was raised in a super strict Christian family and went to Baptist school most of my life. I had my first premonition in a dream when I was six years old. No one in my life believed in the supernatural or had any experience with psychic phenomena so I had no one to turn to. This caused me to be a very introverted child. I voraciously read books on any supernatural topic I could find in the library and kept it all to myself until I was in my late teens. As soon as I was able to, I came away from all of the Christian beliefs (although I had always known that it wasn’t for me) and moved toward practicing Wicca. It didn’t take me long to realize that, for me, Wicca was just as limiting as Christianity. I was interested in finding a sort of spirituality where I could make direct contact with god, the universe, source, whatever you want to call it.

I found that when I happened across an intuitive tarot class. My husband and I went on a whim and we latched onto it and never let go. Tarot served as a doorway into spirituality, metaphysics, and everything that we do, still to this day.

In 2009 I opened The GreenMan Studios as a way to help people on their own individual spiritual paths. I know how difficult it can be and it has always been a priority for me to find ways to make it easier as people wake up to their own gifts and talents.

I ran the GreenMan Studios as a side business for quite a few years, building up the website and gaining a loyal local following by working fairs and festivals in the DFW area. I really made it a point to get out there in this community and make myself known by getting to know other practitioners, teachers and business owners.
Sometimes it wasn’t easy, but I stuck to it because I knew that this is what I was supposed to be doing.
I enjoyed- and still enjoy- providing intuitive readings and doing energy work such as Reiki on my clients, but at the core of my being, I am a creator. There is nothing that I enjoy more than creating something from nothing, so my art, my jewelry, my soaps and magical items have always been my true love.
In January of 2022, I had the opportunity to put together my own Holistic Faire. After 14 years of working and participating in other holistic fairs across the country, I took all of that knowledge and experience and put it to good use. It was a huge success and I absolutely loved doing it.
The GreenMan Holistic Faire actually just made its third appearance this past weekend (January 2023) at Sneaky Pete’s in Lewisville, Texas. I plan to continue to put it on 3 times a year, with no end in sight.
Bringing Holistic and metaphysical vendors, healers and readers together and connecting them with the public who needs these services is a very important thing and I have made it one of my life priorities. My Faire is the perfect way to do this., but I didn’t feel like it was enough.

In 2021, the universe led me through a series of events that ultimately resulted in me being able to open my first storefront. I had always wanted a brick and mortar but the time had never been right. I was guided in this direction by things that were out of my control. I embraced it and in May of 2022, I had the grand opening of my first Shoppe in Southlake, Texas.
I offer all of my jewelry, soaps, sprays, candles and crystals to the public in my storefront as well as readings, energy work and a multitude of classes. I have guest readers and teachers come in from all over the place to offer their knowledge and services to the people of north Texas.
I love having a storefront and I love my clients.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I have been offering intuitive readings- tarot, oracle, bones and charms- for more than 15 years now and energy healing- Holy Fire Karuna Reiki, Crystal Healing (and a few others) for about the same time. Unlike many others in this industry, I approach things from a very grounded, no nonsense perspective. Although it might sound strange, due to the ethereal nature of the techniques I utilize, information I provide in my readings is usually very focused and straight forward. I provide counseling and suggest very grounded ways to handle the life situations that my clients are dealing with in their day to day.
I have developed a reputation for this and it works for me. People know they can come to me for a straight forward answer to many of their problems and/or issues.
This is the vibration that I put out there and I attract people who benefit from this approach.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I do manufacture my own product. I would say about 50% if what I sell in my Shoppe is handmade by me. I have always been interested in the healing and medicinal properties of herbs and plants. I use this knowledge, along with my somewhat extensive background in folklore and Magick, to construct soaps, sprays, salves, jewelry, charms, amulets and talismans and candles to not only aid my clients in there everyday lives but also to help further them on their spiritual journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thegreenmsnstudios.com www.arthurgraye.com
• Instagram: @thegreenmanstudios @thegreenmanholisticfaire @arthurgraye
• Facebook: @thegreenmanstudios @thegreenmanholisticfaire @arthurgraye
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-greenman-studios/

Image Credits
Arthur Graye