Living
Explorations in the Witch Shops of Cleveland
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Lyonel Perabo introduces readers to four of the Witch shops he has visited in the region of Cleveland, Ohio.
News
New women’s workspace uses Wiccan terms to empower its members
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MINNEAPOLIS — A woman-focused shared workspace called “the Coven” has been opened in this city. Despite members being addressed as “witches,” it does not have a specific Wiccan or Pagan religious identity and appears to be completely secular. The Coven was opened March 8, International Women’s Day, by Alex West Steinman, Bethany Iverson, Erinn Farrell, and Liz Giel. It is a membership-based workspace for female and non-binary-gender identified people. All four women had worked in advertising, and elected to use the term “coven” to attract female entrepreneurs with whom, they felt, the term would resonate.
News
Pagan merchants continue to wrestle with occult bans
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TWH –It’s still not a good time to accept credit cards while Pagan. As was reported in March, terms of service forbidding fortune telling and other “occult” practices are enforced arbitrarily, and sometimes without warning. A new twist in the tale was discovered by Yeshe Rabbit, who was advised that not using a particular processor for the forbidden transactions is not enough. She was told to remove the offending services from her business web site. The Sacred Well, her shop with two West Coast locations, now uses a different provider, but she’d like to work on clearing this climate of uncertainty once and for all.
News
The high-risk digital world of occult sales and psychic services
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TWH –The explosion of online platforms has been a boon to many in the polytheist and Pagan communities who can now sell crafts, books, and esoteric services more easily than ever before. At the same time, owners of all-sized businesses must be able to accept electronic payments in an increasingly cash-free society. Sometimes, vendors fall afoul of rules against the sale “occult” items or “fortune-teller” services, which now seems to be near-ubiquitous in the industry’s user agreements. The Witchery is such an online business. Its owner, who declined to give a name, was unaware that the popular processor Square is one of those no-occult zones.
News
Business Networking for Pagans in its Infancy
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UNITED STATES — As the Pagan and closely-aligned communities continue to evolve, the desire to run profitable businesses within those communities has tried to keep pace. There are no shortage of people who dream of supporting themselves solely by providing divination, healing, wedding ceremonies, magical consultations, books, jewelry, clothing, or any of a number of other products or services to people in their Polytheist, Heathen or Pagan community. But only a few can do so. Such dreams are sometimes accompanied by plans for temples or community spaces to serve that community, but not always. Certainly it’s safe to say that anyone who lives under the Pagan umbrella, or its shadow at the very least, knows somebody who is trying or planning to support themselves without venturing beyond that umbrella’s coverage area.