The Shop That Magic Built

Eric and I used to have a little magic shop that looked like this:

I did not imagine having our own shop again and yet in a dizzying display of forward motion, doors opened on our new location on March 29th. We successfully deflected the Universal call for a couple of months, but as the Divine is wont to do, They picked up a two by four and started with more aggressive encouragement and well, here we are. The unbelievable wave of support we received once we stopped being obstinate and did what we were told was quite humbling and still makes us a bit teary. (Thanks, y’all…*Sniff*)

We closed Two Sisters Botanica in October 2017 and rarely looked back. We knew we had outgrown the venue, then the venue doubled its parking prices, which made it more difficult for our clients to reach us. Never let it be said that I don’t know when to leave a party. The closing of that shop came about as quickly as the opening of this one and suddenly, I had inventory floor to ceiling in my laundry room at home.

In February 2018, a friend of mine suggested I consign our Two Sisters line at a local store and we started that in late March. Just under a year later, the Wheel turned again and we knew it was time to again have our own shop and here we are. Never let it be said that I don’t know when to leave a party.

A month ago, I had no idea this place existed.

Eric looked at it on March 18th and we had keys in hand on the 19th. After that, it was a huge flurry of purchasing fixtures from local thrift stores, moving inventory from our home, and setting up for our grand opening on March 29th.

On March 28th, Eric and I closed the doors to the shop at 11pm and knew it was ready for opening the next day. It was done.

The scope of what we can do here is a little breathtaking for us. The incredible support my students showed to help us was humbling. We all worked together to create a magical home for people, many of whom we do not yet even know.

The joy we see on people’s faces when they come in is rewarding beyond measure. “It feels so good in here,” is what we hear most often. That is precisely the response we wanted. Each time we hear that, we know we did what we were meant to do and what we intended to do.

This weekend, we had our first ritual and our first classes here in the shop. That was a beta test of its own and we found a few nips and tucks to take, but overall, I am calling it a full success. We also had our first Karaoke Night, which was so much fun.

I am working full time outside of my home for the first time since early 1998 when McClellan Air Force Base Closed. I have worked at home in the intervening years as a journalist, author, and online shopkeeper. This was our second week of operation and we are finding our flow with the life changes, which brings me back around to this blog.

Routine! I have not seen any kind of routine since my last child graduated high school nearly two years ago. As a Virgo, I thrive in routine and so this is me in my natural habitat.

Finding a routine brought me full circle to writing again. I am working on a new book for Llewellyn with the working title of The Sacred Art of Brujeria and the quiet times in the shop are a great time to craft that new baby. Blog writing gives me a nice cleansing of the palate, so I am stepping off here into blog land and will transition over to Patheos Pagan when and if that finalizes. For now, this will be my writing home.

Next, I get the privilege of putting together the next month of classes and events for Crossroads, our new magical home. April fleshed out nicely, but we wanted a good marketing lead in for some of the heavier classes like Tarot, Wicca, and Eric’s wonderful meditation series. I feel richly blessed beyond reason.

This is us on opening day, tired but happy:

I look forward to sharing thoughts with you on a regular basis. I hope you will meet me at the Crossroads.

One of the Big Five of things most Pagans want to do is to own their own magic shop. What are the Big Five? It’s the campfire dream list:

1. I want to own a metaphysical shop
2. I want to run my own Pagan festival.
3. I want to get a big piece of land and open a Pagan commune.
4. I want to write a book
5. I want to open a Witch School.

I have now done #1 twice. I am on the fifth year of #2 (PanGaia Festival). I don’t like people enough for that last part of #3, but could definitely get down with the first part. Two acres is starting to feel a bit crowded for me. I did #4 over thirty-five times and #5 goes hand-in-hand with #1 this time and was impossible with our first shop.

If you need me, I will be at my gratitude altar. This experience really taught me that if you want something, ask for it and then be prepared to do a shitload of work to get it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always “No.”

Why “Crossroads?” Because that is where the magic happens and this is the shop that magic (and a lot of love) built.

I used to listen endlessly to a song by Colin Hay called “Waiting For My Real Life to Begin” with a sort of longing. Now I know I have arrived at the place that had me longing for it.