If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, a great place to consider spending an interesting morning or even the better part of a day is a flea market. Flea markets can be feast or famine, but you’ll almost always find something worth your trip if you keep a keen eye. Old glass milk bottles, horseshoes, cauldrons, antique and foreign coins, stray keys (both antique and contemporary), cast iron trivets with magickal knotworks, and even pentacles can be found. Hunting for bargain-priced used occult books is also a more common occurrence than one might think. You may also find inexpensive old apothecary jars to store your herbs in, as well as flats of canning jars priced at next to nothing—a kitchen witch’s goldmine! Flea markets are actually a great place to keep your eyes peeled for bona fide occult and Pagan booths. More than once, when you’d least expect it, I’ve rounded a corner or stumbled into a nook and found myself in a small closet-sized botanica or a corner booth run by Pagans brimming with herbs, books, candles, tarot decks, and a selection of jewelry. Flea markets are becoming popular venues for occult and Pagan vendors because the overhead cost for the space is much lower than more permanent types of retail space. In some cases, this results not only in a larger profit margin for the shopkeeper but also lower prices for the customer.
Continue your local shopping adventure at antique and thrift stores. When it comes to antique shops, prices can vary widely from great bargains to high bounties aimed at wealthy collectors, but they are always worth a look. Old coffee tables and dressers can have new life breathed into them when reincarnated as altar tables or herbal apothecary cabinets. Keep your eye out for these finds at the local thrift stores. I actually found a lovely small handmade tile mosaic table for just six dollars at a thrift store run by the local school district’s PTA. It now serves as a goddess altar that we decorate with appropriate foliage each season.
It is also important to note that many thrift stores are run by charitable organizations as fundraisers for their causes. Shopping at these businesses can be a form of giving back to your community. As magickal practitioners, we often discuss how the energy you put out into the universe will return to you. This is obviously true for our magickal workings but it’s also important to realize that it is true outside of our rituals and spellwork. Giving back to your community is something that will return to you in a beneficial manner, both physically and metaphysically. These transactions create a truly win/win situation.
There is an old and well-worn pun that “witches are Crafty people.” This phrase endures because of its truth! Most Pagans have a talent and/or skill in some type of art or craft. We are all well aware of the fact that any magickal tool or item you put your time, effort, and energy into making will be far more powerful than anything purchased in the store. This brings us to your local arts and crafts shop. Walk the aisles and soak in the inspiration: beads to craft into magickal jewelry; wood to paint, carve, or burn into protective charms and talismans; clay to be sculpted into runes; wooden boxes waiting to be finished, stained, painted, or decoupaged into spell and tarot boxes; yarn to be knitted into a ritual shawl . . . the list goes on and on.
Akin to the craft store is another much-overlooked source: hardware and home improvement stores. Do you have an affinity for power tools or working with your hands? Were you unable to find that perfect altar table or herb cabinet at the thrift store or flea market? No problem. Draw up some plans, head to the local home improvement store, and pick up some lumber, stain, and other supplies. Soon you’ll be on the way to building yourself custom magickal furniture! Another option to consider if carpentry isn’t one of your stronger skills is the purchase of a ready-made wall shelf. Home improvement stores carry a wide selection of such shelves these days. A wall-mounted shelf serves as a great shrine or altar if you are living in a small space or have children or pets you are worried about getting into your ritual items. Or perhaps you have an existing magickal cupboard or old dresser you use as an altar and it’s looking a bit tired. One great way to spruce up such furnishings is to pick out new drawer knobs or pulls. These can totally change the character of a piece, turning it from dreary to dazzling. Home improvement stores often carry fun novelty pulls, such as leaves or Celtic knots, or ones made of glass or metals.
A perfect shopping stop for the green witch is the local plant nursery. You will likely find almost any plant you’re looking for, as well as some you probably didn’t even know existed.
For those who do much magickal work with plants and herbs, one option always up for consideration is growing your own plants and herbs in a magickal garden. A perfect shopping stop for the green witch is the local plant nursery. You will likely find almost any plant you’re looking for, as well as some you probably didn’t even know existed. They’ll stock houseplants, garden plants, annuals, perennials, a selection of herbs, and even seeds if you prefer to start from the ground up, literally. You can’t beat the expertise of nursery employees. Oftentimes, employees at locally owned nurseries are knowledgeable especially as to what will grow in your region and under what conditions. If you live in an apartment or have little to no actual space to plant a garden, never underestimate the power of a container garden on a porch, patio, or windowsill. Don’t forget to look for both gardening tools and creative pots and containers at the other stops
