Our Favorite Places to Get Witchy Shit: The Modern Merlin
Hello everyone! It’s a snow day here in my neck of the woods in Northeast Ohio, so I decided to take the initiative this morning and kick off a new column series that we’re super excited for. This is going to be a collaborative column, with all or many of us here at the PaganPages family participating. As the holidays approach, many are traveling out of town to visit family, and we figured we could share our favorite witchy/occult/spiritual shops and businesses-whether a brick and mortar, small business, or online.
Given the state of our politics in the U.S., we’re also looking at this as a form of protest-favoring small business and local shopping over the big-box stores and Fortune 500 companies, who are no doubt contributing to this whole mess, and polluting our environment in the process. This also puts money into local communities, real families, and the suggestions we’ll be giving have been vetted by us personally. Why else would we recommend them? Instead of just listing places that I’d like to highlight in the Akron/Cleveland area that those with witchy, occult or spiritual leanings may want to visit, including a popular attraction in Cleveland, I want to go over each of them in a little more depth, without giving too much away. So for those who read my piece from last night, this will likely be a much shorter piece. Without rambling on, let’s move forward!
The Modern Merlin’s Favorite Witch/Occult/Spiritual Stores-Local Brick & Mortar
- The Dragon’s Mantle-Akron, OH
- Spirit Apotheosis-Bedford, OH
The Modern Merlin’s Favorite Witch/Occult/Spiritual Stores-Online
- 13moons.com
- MoonlightMysteries.com
- Etsy Shop: Renegade Jewelry Store
The Modern Merlin’s Favorite Witch/Occult/Spiritual Attraction Locally
- Buckland Museum of Witchcraft-Cleveland, OH
Having listed them, I’ll now give each a small section running down what they carry, and why I like that particular business so much. I’ll start with the brick & mortar shops local to me first, and then follow with the online shops, followed by the Buckland Museum. Basically, the order I listed them. Without further ado, our first featured small witchy business is up next!
The Dragon’s Mantle-Akron, OH
2433 Manchester Rd., Akron, OH 44314
(330)-687-5654
https://www.thedragonsmantle.com/
https://www.facebook.com/dragonsmantle
The Dragon’s Mantle is a lovely witch shop in Akron, chocked full of goodies ranging from candles, books, tarot, runes, crystals, incense and so much more! Carrie, the owner, always has the best selection of jewelry, and usually at fair prices. Currently, she’s running sales up until the holidays, and you can find those on their facebook page, which I’ve linked here.
The Dragon’s Mantle has such unique vibes, and that’s in part to the owners, Carrie and Rick! They’re wonderful people, and have high standards in terms of product quality, and the quality of the readers & other services they offer. I particularly love their house incense, which has its own wall, and incense in general has its own room in the store. The Mantle carries name brand incense like HEM, Green Tree, and others, as well as their aforementioned house incense.
With unique scents like “Witches Kitchen”, “Witchcraft”, “Wizard’s Rule”, and so many others, including deities such as Persephone, Hekate, and countless others, you’re sure to find your perfect vibe-setting scent for ritual, relaxation and meditation. Their herbal selection is wonderful, and at great prices, too. They carry all kinds of smoke cleansing supplies, statues, jewelry, and so much more! The friendly and welcoming staff are always willing to help you if you need it, too!
I’ve been going to the Mantle for nearly as long as they’ve been in business-even when they were at their old location just down the road in downtown Kenmore, a neighborhood in Akron. She’s since moved her shop to a beautiful two-story building, a former funeral home (how witchy!), where the ground floor is the retail part of the store, as well as space for a tarot reader, and the upstairs is reserved for Reiki, classes and the like. They keep the witchy vibes going strong every day, burning incense they carry in store (they have my favorites), and playing spooky rock selections like Korn, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and the like. I can’t say enough good things about The Dragon’s Mantle, it’s definitely a witchy shop to check out in Northeast Ohio!
For those interested/local, I may be teaching some classes at the Mantle, follow my Facebook page for updates on that!
Spirit Apotheosis-Bedford, OH
691 Broadway Ave., Bedford, OH 44146
(440)-439-4372
https://www.spiritapothecary.com/
https://www.facebook.com/spiritapothecary
Spirit Apotheosis is half apothecary, half spiritual and witchcraft shop. The owner, Matthew, also works with Orishas like myself. I first went there this past weekend, and after having only been there once, I can safely say I will be back many times to come. The prices are great, the selection is so diverse that I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve seen so much selection and unique items all in one place, save for the shop I just mentioned above. Their shop is also right across the road from the location of the annual Cleveland Pagan Pride Days Festival!
As a bibliophile, I was awestruck at the walls of books, tarot decks and even spinning displays of booklets with all kinds of unique, magickal information. They carry so many different publishers, some I hadn’t even heard of, and I’m an editor who oversees book reviews on these same subjects!
They’re also currently running sales for the holidays, and I was able to pick up a new Lenormand deck at a great price, with 20% off on top of it! Their crystal selection is amazing, and their prices on our rock friends are more than reasonable. Their candle selection is great, with figure candles, 7-day image candles, plain colored 7-day’s and so much more, all at affordable prices. The owners, and employees, all have a laid-back, accepting vibe and truly just want you to walk out of there with what your soul needs. There’s no pressure, and you’re left to browse on your own accord, with the friendly and helpful staff available to help when needed.
As for the apothecary end, I was impressed most by their smoke blends, being an herbal smoker myself. While I haven’t yet tried any of these blends, I’m most interested by their “Wizard’s Blend” which includes smokeable herbs to get you in a magickal mindset! They also carry pipes and smoking accessories for those who want their own magickal smoking apparatus. They obviously have quite the herb selection, and all of their magickal oils are made in house, and smell great! They also carry odds and ends, including buckeyes (Go Ohio State!), and even High John root at extremely reasonable prices, as well as mojo beans and so many more curios!
Overall, I definitely have two favorite local witchy shops: The Dragon’s Mantle and Spirit Apotheosis!
The Modern Merlin’s Favorite Online Small Witchy Businesses
13Moons
13 Moons is one of the original and oldest online witchcraft retailers! They’re a privately run small business based in Vermont. With reasonable prices, cool finds and tons of house made oils, candles and so much more, they’re great for any magickal person! I also appreciate that they wildcraft a lot of their herbs and many of their wands are made in house with locally (to them) harvested woods, or from trees they tend to themselves. They also offer books, journals/book of shadows, jewelry, tarot, runes, crystals, oils, curios for hoodoo/voodoo, and so much more. For those wanting to stay in, but still have a fun witchy shopping trip, 13Moons is a great choice!
Moonlight Mysteries
https://www.moonlightmysteries.com/
Moonlight mysteries is based in Michigan, and offers a huge selection of witchy and spiritual, occult jewelry in Sterling Silver, Bronze, and pewter. They also offer altar tools, statuary, and so much more! This is one of my favorite places to get my witchy jewelry-they carry Peter Stone, Dryad Designs and have their own house made pewter items as well. They offer pendants, rings, bracelets and just about any kid of jewelry you’d expect in fine metals. Give them a visit, they offer free and fast shipping, and I’ve never had a problem ordering from them, and have been doing so for 8 years now.
Etsy Shop: Renegade Jewelry Store
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RenegadeJewelryStore
This seller is based out of Oregon, and has an extended selection of Sterling Silver, quality witchy and spiritual jewelry at great prices. Their shipping is often fast, arriving across the country to me in Ohio within a week most times. I’ve found so many unique pieces here that I couldn’t find anywhere else, and have gotten many compliments on pieces from this seller. Definitely worth a visit when shopping for high quality, affordable, sterling silver witchy and spiritual jewelry.
The Modern Merlin’s Favorite Northeast Ohio Witchcraft Attraction
Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick
2155 Broadview Rd., Cleveland, OH 44109
(718)-709-6643
Last, but not least, is the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick in Cleveland, Ohio. Raymond Buckland, often coined as the “father of American witchcraft” at least in the modern sense, having brought Wicca here to the States, and written numerous books on that and related subjects. This museum showcases multiple artifacts of Buckland’s, along with numerous other witchy and occult attractions. No museum is complete without a gift shop, and theres is essentially a witch shop! Filled with books, not only by Buckland, but others, too, and decks, and so much more, this is sure to be a fun, witchy, family trip. At just $8 per person to enter, this is also a budget friendly choice! Be sure to buy tickets in advance online through their website listed above (the link copied weird, and is showing “Home” in blue, select that to go to their website).
Supporting Small Online and Local Businesses Gives Back
Supporting small, independently owned businesses-local or online- is a great way to not only protest with your wallet, but also gives back to the communities they’re in, and supports another magickal family trying to make it in this world. We can lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down. Support small, local or online, businesses this holiday season.
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Author Bio:
The Modern Merlin is a Polytheist, Pagan, Animist, Witch, Sorcerer, Paranormal Investigator, Amateur Folklorist, Chaos Magician and Occultist. He embarked on his spiritual and magickal journey over 15 years ago. As such, he has extensive knowledge of The Occult, Ceremonial Magick, Chaos Magick, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and both modern and ancient world religions and folklore. He is a practicing Sorcerer, blending ceremonial high magick, chaos magick and witchcraft, as well as plant medicine, poisonous plants and entheogens, shamanic techniques, and mysticism. He believes that magick can be as simple or as complex as one needs it to be, and rejects dogma, instead trusting his intuition, and encourages other magickal and spiritual folks to do the same! He venerates and casts magick with a wide array of spirits and deities, and works with both the Left and Right Hand Paths, having experience in both. He has also studied eastern philosophies such as Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and Hinduism. He is an Astrologer and Tarot reader and actively studies and practices many other forms of divination including Runes, Ogham, Palmistry, Lenormand and Scrying. An animal lover, he sees divinity in nature-the trees, plants, animals and sky. Also an avid reader, you’re hard pressed to not find him nose deep in a book, most likely on an occult, mystical, religious or magickal subject. He is the Co-Editor of PaganPages.Org and the author of multiple columns for PaganPages.Org. He gives readings and other spiritual services through his Facebook Page, The Modern Merlin, as well other free informational posts for everyone to see! You can reach him on Facebook, or e-mail him at [email protected]
