About Us
Starting an occult shop has been a lifelong dream for all of us here at 21st Century Witch.
My own story is typical. When I was a youngster my family visited Mother Shipton's Cave in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, and I became fascinated with the idea of this woman living in the Tudor age (she was born in 1488 and died in 1561) who was recognized as a prophetess and a witch. This began a lifelong study of the history of witchcraft and the witch hunts -- in England, Scotland, Continental Europe and North America.
By the time I was in my early teens I was living with my family in a small town in southern Ontario, Canada and I began to practice Tarot and delve into ceremonial magic. As a teenager, I made pentacles out of coloured wax and cobbled together rituals from library books. I would save money from after school jobs to take the train or bus to Montreal or Toronto so that I could visit occult book shops. Back then, my prize possessions were Antonine Publishing's facsimile reprint of John Dee's A True and Faithful Relation and a hand-forged iron knife. Like a pendulum I was drawn to the orbit of ceremonial magic and Neo-Pagan witchcraft for decades. In the past few years I began to focus more on witchcraft because of its relation to Nature and became excited by both traditional forms such as Wicca and new "committed" strains of witchcraft which have an ecological approach to the world around us.
Now, with a new circle of close friends who share similar beliefs and inspiration, we are finally able to make our dream reality.
Welcome to 21st Century Witch!