For anyone seeking a “Nightmare Before Christmas” tarot deck, a bracelet of skulls, hand-dipped incense, or a copy of Dion Fortune’s “Principles of Hermetic Philosophy,” one small, long-running Toronto boutique will cast a spell.
The Occult Shop, which owner Nicole Lavande calls a “one-stop shop for all of one’s pagan and occult needs,” had been a fixture of St. Clair West and Bathurst since opening in 1979. Earlier this year, the store moved next door to 1371 Bathurst St., when Lavande, an artist and holistic practitioner who has worked there since 2015, bought it.
Lavande began exploring Wiccan spirituality when her beloved mémère (grandmother) was ill. “She was a very devoted Roman Catholic, but we always had great conversations. And she always allowed me to pick her brain from her. We could talk very openly about (spirituality),” says Lavande. “And then she got really sick. And then she started to think outside of (Catholicism).”
Inspired by the reiki – Japanese touch therapy – and other energy treatments that supported her mémère throughout her illness, Lavande studied to be a holistic health-care practitioner, and as part of the program needed to complete a job-shadowing assignment. Because she was also studying Wicca and the occult sciences at the time, the Occult Shop seemed like the perfect nexus of her interests.
“In the holistic world, you care for the person as a whole being: spiritual, physical, emotional health,” Lavande says. “Working at the shop gave me an opportunity to put those skills to use, and I got to help people in my community that way, which was really rewarding.”
It also meant Lavande could learn from two pioneers of the contemporary Canadian Wiccan movement: Tamarra and Richard James, the shop’s founders, who also started the Wiccan Church of Canada, the first public church in the country to practice the modern pagan, nature-oriented religion.
Lavande was eventually promoted to manager, and when the opportunity came to take over the shop from the Jameses, she jumped on it. “I understand what Tamarra’s dream was,” Lavande says, “she’s a very artistic soul as well.” And while the shop has been modernized, traces of the previous owners are still present throughout, including jewelry designed by Tamarra.
Planning the new space allowed Lavande to call on her background as a visual artist, especially after flooding damaged some of the cabinetry. “The look and aesthetic of the shop got a face lift and lots of upcycling of the old fixtures,” Lavande says. She also introduced some new elements, like a “cheesy, kitsch moon shelf” and shelving units in the shape of coffins, made with the help of her father-in-law. “I mean, if there’s one store you can get away with coffin shelves, it would be here,” Lavande says with a laugh.
Visitors expecting a Harry Potter-ish theme store or a gloomy Satanic sanctum are in for a surprise. “The new landlord said, ‘Please don’t paint it black.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m not gonna paint it black.’” Lavande has opted instead for lighter colors (“Shelves are a softer turquoise and the walls are O’Reilly green”) to help open up the space, which may be small, but features an extensive inventory.
The shop has all the mystic delights one might hope to find in an occult shop, like sheepskin vellum, wooden wands, Ouija boards and cauldrons, as well as an apothecary with more than 200 dried roots and herbs and some 2,000 proprietary oil blends. In addition to a wide range of books on diverse practices, including “The Craft: A Witch’s Book of Shadows” and “Foundations of Practical Magic,” Lavande also stocks rare tarot decks and offers live tarot readings with the likes of well-known author Tarostar.
While Toronto now has an esoteric community that includes such public pagan events as Wic-Can Fest and WITCHfest North; a large selection of metaphysical supply stores, like WonderWorks, the Hermit’s Lamp and the Rock Store; and social outlets like the Toronto Pagan Pub Moot and the Witch Palz Zone, the Occult Shop remains a go-to destination for pagan, Wiccan, and Santeria spiritual needs.
Some of the ritualistic items one can find in the shop include athames (Wiccan daggers), statuary (including Celtic, Egyptian and Norse deities) and chalices.
“(Because) the former owner was also initiated and crowned under the Orishas,” say Lavande, referring to a belief system of Yoruban origin, “we also carry a lot of the ritual items that are necessary for Santeria and Hoodoo, like black salt , floral waters and cascarilla, which is compacted powdered eggshell.
“Not everyone who walks in here is interested in the occult but are here because they like our incense and our other scented products,” she adds. “That’s just fine too.”
Many customers have been coming since the ’80s for the house-dipped incense sticks and other favourites, including handcrafted products by Madame Phoenix (“a mentor and a great supporter”), who got her start at the Occult Shop with Magical Baths, Spiritual Floor Washes, and Smokeless Incense Sprays that Lavande says, are now “in all of the pagan and cool stores.”
After remaining one of Toronto’s best-kept secrets for over four decades, the Occult Shop recently built its first website and may soon be sharing its products with the world. “For now, it’s a vast list of items we carry in the shop, like an online catalogue. We are currently working on updating it and adding a shopping cart,” Lavande says. “Most of the big changes will only be noticeable by the staff, though – some of our regulars might be upset if we changed things too much.”
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