In this special field-trip episode of On the Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas heads to the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in Sydney to explore one of the most fascinating corners of the modern wellness economy.

Between handmade pottery and beeswax candles are stalls offering:

• EMF harmonisers

• orgone energy devices

• pet psychics

• “structured” frequency water

• cannabinoid oils

• crystal healing

Some of it is beautiful.

Some of it is harmless fun.

And some of it makes some very ambitious claims about biology and physics.

In this episode we wander the aisles together and ask the question we always ask:

Prescribe… or Pass?

Along the way we unpack:

• the strange history of orgone energy and why scientists rejected it

• why structured water can’t store “molecular memory”

• what rouleaux formation actually means in real haematology

• the science behind β-caryophyllene and CB2 receptors

• and why the endocannabinoid system — a very real biological system — is so often misunderstood in wellness marketing

We also discuss new calls from the RACGP for national reform of medicinal cannabis prescribing, and use that as a springboard to explain how THC, CBD and the endocannabinoid system actually work in the body.

Because somewhere between laboratory research and Instagram captions…

the nuance often disappears.

And sometimes the best way to understand the wellness industry

is simply to walk through it.

Plus: crystals, a pet psychic, and possibly the most anatomically accurate granite sculpture you’ll ever see at a health expo.