HausWitch
Think you know witchcraft? Think again with this space in Salem redefining Witchcraft for modern times.
Go here if: you are seeking strategies for self-care, are ready to push against some social boundaries, and want to make your home the sanctuary you need it to be.
What is it: A metaphysical lifestyle store for the modern witch, or those curious about what that even means, in Salem – yes, that Salem.
Why you’ll love it: Founder Erica Feldmann opened HausWitch in 2015 after completing her graduate studies in the sacred feminine and witchcraft at Simmons College and as a positive space to bring magic into our everyday lives and homes. This isn’t the version of witchcraft told in fairytales or Halloween stories or even those witch trials: it’s not black peaked hats, cauldrons, and evil incantations. Rather its more Scandi design and modern twists: the storefront is light-filled, combining a keen eye for interior decoration with products that reframe witchcraft for contemporary times, bringing in ideas of self-knowledge, empowerment, healing, intuition, mindfulness, and nature-inspired spirituality.
What you need to know: The Treasure Palace as Feldmann refers to the storefront holds minimally designed items for the modern witch (some serious, some playful): incense, spell kits, candles, and potions as well as throw pillows, cleaning products (from own brand LightHaus) and ceramics (‘Witches are the Future’ ). HausWitch also hosts workshops for developing intuitive skills, such as tarot reading or astrology, and that offer safe spaces for women to share, learn and support one another.
How to bring this into your life: HausWitch has just opened up again after a year of being closed due to the pandemic but you can still shop the collection from wherever you are, attend an online workshop or even bring in some magic to your home with Feldmann’s book, HausMagick.
Why we think it's different: Witchcraft is being reframed; we’re increasingly curious about what it represents, what it can provide, and how we can bring it into our lives. In a moment when we’re struggling to live within the constraints of our modern-day world, for the curious and the seekers, witchcraft offers alternative ways into healing and reflection. Its rituals can ground our days, its practices offer self-care to orientate us in spiraling lives. But witchcraft is also about empowerment, about resistance. HausWitch offers ways to slow down, tune in, recognize, but it also offers ways to push against, make space, be heard.
When you get beyond the narrative that has represented witches as outsiders, you get to one that reveals that witches are often those who have pushed against patriarchy, social norms and spiritual expression denoted narrowly. As Feldmann has said: "It's more about feeling empowered, wanting to change the world and connecting to your own intuition."
Witchcraft here sits closely with feminism, with women no longer silenced, reclaiming their powers and making space for themselves in a world that better reflects who they really are (Also shop: “A simple spell against the cis hetero white supremacist patriarchy”. ) For Feldmann, the meaning of witch is ‘Women in Total Control of Herself’ — with women here meaning all gender identities. HausWitch is an intersectional space that is consciously open to “all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, abilities, and anyone who feels like they are in need of a truly supportive and safe environment in this ever-changing world.” Feldmann’s wife Melissa Nierman teaches workshops here (currently offering Past Life and Clairvoyant Energy Readings) and runs NowAge Travel.
In their own words: “HausWitch Home + Healing is a modern metaphysical lifestyle brand and shop, providing Salem locals and visitors with a selection of witchy and handmade products from independent makers from around New England and the US! HausWitch combines the principles of earth magic, meditation, herbalism, and interior decorating to bring magic and healing into everyday spaces.”
Inspired to: We’ve all been tied to our homes this year in ways that may have made us love our spaces slightly less than usual. This spring, find a way to reconnect to where you are. In her book HausMagik, Feldmann suggests rebuilding our relationship to our own space by decluttering, being attuned to what feels good and what doesn’t, bringing in greenery and crystals, and burning sage to reset the energy of a room. Our homes are the spaces that can hold and sustain us through the less cozy outer world; this spring find a way to make it your own again, restorative and replenishing for whatever comes next.
Cafe Con Libros
A feminist bookstore making vital space for the stories of women and girls.
What is it: An intersectional feminist independent bookstore and coffee shop in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.
Why you’ll love it: Café Con Libros was founded by Kalima DeSuze in December 2017 when she made real the space that she wanted to see in the world, one that could hold the stories of womxn and girls – stories which have overwhelmingly been sidelined in favor of those of male voices – for those who want, need and are open to hearing them. Though intimate, the reach of the store is wide, bringing together on its physical and virtual shelves an abundance of books by female authors (99% of the selections are books by, for, or about womxn), including those beyond the continental US and by LGBTQAI+ writers.
Why we think it matters: During normal times, Café Con Libros is very much a community space for female-identifying folx; it's somewhere to hang out and be as much as it’s a bookstore. As Kalima says, the spaces that we create are political. Who holds physical space, what that space is used for, and even the stories these places are allowed to tell has meaning on a personal and collective level. Bookstores like Café Con Libros hold not just the stories within pages that we need to hear, but stories within a place that allow for all possible futures, for nurturing relationships, for community action, and for extending our learning together. As Kalima notes: “It’s time that womyn’s stories be prioritized and that a space exists explicitly for and about womyn. So many of our spaces are male-dominated; even the ones that are created solely to be for and about womyn. My womyn only spaces have served as a healing tonic and, a reminder of whose shoulders I stand on. It’s important that more of our girls and womyn have access to such warmth and mirroring.”
How to bring this into your life: As mothers of young daughters, we’re excited by the monthly subscription boxes, which include an option for baby feminist board books for the zero to fives and emerging feminist books for kids aged five to nine. There are also subscription boxes focusing on womxn of color and for the feminists among us. You can also join one of two book clubs that meet monthly (on zoom during shut-door times): either the Feminist Book Club which focuses on a book by, for, and about womxn, or The Womxn of Colour Book Club, a reading space and conversation for womxn of color. There are also virtual read-a-longs and a monthly podcast Black Feminist & Bookish, hosted by Kalima.
In their own words: “ We value: family. community. justice. art. transparency. accountability. equity. equality. authenticity. joy. solidarity. earth. the brilliance and possibility of imperfection. love.
We respect and value the contentious history womxn of color have with the word "feminist;" the tension hold us to account to live our Black Feminist and Womanist principles in real and measurable ways. We were born from and are guided by the lush cannon of Black Feminist thought producers and activists; the space endeavors to be intersectional, inclusive and welcoming of all who stand with and on behalf of the full human rights of womxn and girls. We seek to advance and uplift stories of womxn and girls around the globe who are redefining the word feminist and feminism with every day, ordinary culturally informed acts of resistance and love.
Something to inspire: Try a reading challenge: purchase, support, and read books only by womxn, or womxn of color, or by LGBTQIA+ writers for 3, 6, or 12 months. Change your knee-jerk choices in what you’d ordinarily see or consume. Extend this challenge even further to include podcasts, TV shows, films, and music that are by, for, and about womxn. This not only helps our own understanding of the ongoing pursuit for gender equality but the choices you make in where you put your attention and your money indicates to the industries behind them – the entertainment, publishing, and culture industries – what it is you really want to see.