It was a sun-soaked day last May when my mum and I disembarked from the Tube and followed an increasingly confusing set of Google Maps directions down several streets until we stood, sweating and footsore, in front of The Atlantis Bookshop, one of my must-visit destinations for our London trip.
London’s oldest independent occult bookstore, The Atlantis has been owned and operated by the same family for 100 years. I’d read about it many times and knew that several magical luminaries had visited this place over the past century. It felt utterly magical (of course) stepping inside and being surrounded by walls of texts brimming with the accumulated wisdom of witches, alchemists, philosophers, druids, and magicians. Something unconscious clicked for me then, but it wasn’t until months later that I realized what it was.
In October, my husband and I spent a weekend in Toronto, and of course our visit had to include some shopping for books, candles, and other eldritch goodies. We went to The Occult Shop, and after filling a bag with incense and crystals, we were on our way out when he said, “You know, you could do this.”
That’s when it became visible. The rest of the weekend, I rolled over every argument in my mind for why owning an occult bookstore was out of my reach, and none stuck. When we got home, it was time to get to work.
Like these things do when you suddenly find yourself falling into alignment with your purpose, everything came together quickly and wonderfully as soon as I said yes to that nudge. I’d been feeling a little lost, drifting but comfortable, for the past couple of years. I’d needed that time to do some serious inner work and healing after a dark period in my life, but now it seemed I was ready and being called back to the world.
The magic needed a landing place, and so I humbly and with immense love and gratitude present my shop, The Crow’s Key, in service to all seekers and those whose hearts have always known the call of enchantment. Welcome! And Blessed Be.
