By Catherine Carr
I remember how at home I felt the first time I walked into World Tree Healing. I’d grown up in a conservative religious culture where people looked at me like I was crazy if I talked about my spiritual experiences. The people around me didn’t seem to sense natural energies in the same way I did and considered belief in such energies heretical. They warned me against investigating the spiritual arts or other religions on the ground that these would open me up to demonic influence.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I walked into this Chicago metaphysical shop a friend had referred me to and saw runes on the wall. Runes were my language: I’d learned them out of fantasy books, then learned that they were a real writing system used in Scandinavia before Christianity. I had always found writing in them therapeutic, and I had always gotten weird looks for it. But there they were written on the window and the walls.
I walked up to the counter and asked for a specific tarot deck. I’d accidentally purchased the guide for the deck, thinking it was a standalone book a few weeks earlier. The woman behind the counter stopped what she was doing and stared at me, then pulled the deck I needed out of her bag.
“This is mine. I was just debating whether to sell it. I guess we were meant to meet each other today.”
Thus began my relationship with a store that would introduce me to a community of people who understood me on this deep level for the first time and open my door to a national community of like-minded spiritual seekers.
There’s a saying that metaphysical shops serve almost as places of worship for people of alternative spiritualities. Without a tithing base, spaces for teaching spiritual arts and knowledge often need a commercial front to finance their public spaces. Almost every metaphysical store also serves as a community hub where people meet each other, support each other, and often feel truly seen for the very first time.
Crazy Wisdom in Ann Arbor is one such space, with its extensive library of books and its event space serving as a community hub for spiritual and magical groups. Here I’ll share my travels to four more such venues across Michigan and give a shout-out to four others I was unable to visit during my first cross-Michigan magical road trip.
Keys to Manifestation, Lansing
One thing I did not expect was for Lansing to feel so much like downtown Ann Arbor. I knew both cities were about the same size, but I didn’t expect both to have such similar university town feels, or to see many of the same chain restaurants and coffee shops on its main street. Lansing even boasts a Pinball Pete’s location (a beloved Ann Arbor staple I’ve never seen in another city). But that’s not the reason I came here: I came for Keys to Manifestation.
I first learned about Keys to Manifestation from people in one of my online religious communities. I was especially delighted because I didn’t know of any members of this online community in Michigan, and apparently there were some in Lansing. What I discovered was a vibrant magical community committed to accessibility and the support of Michigan families.
When I walked in the door, owner Solinox Glantzberg greeted me, their forehead painted with a crescent. “We’re so glad you could come,” they say. Nearby, a teenager is sitting at a low table, eating. Customers are browsing rows and rows of shelves filled with books, crystals, incense, and candles.
Keys to Manifestation boasts free parking and extensive retail and event space. A large library of magical and spiritual books are arrayed on shelves along the walls, with stands and counters offering crystals, candles, incense, and ritual tools across the store. The main room and adjacent rooms host event spaces where book signings, classes, spiritual services, and community rituals are held.
Keys’ robust community support enables them to build family-friendly and disability-accessible space which welcomes spiritual seekers of all stripes. During my visit, I met local graduate students, patrons with a variety of disabilities, and one man who came in off the street saying that a dream had led him to seek out a place like this.
I also ran into staff members of Pagans in Need. This Michigan-based Pagan-run system of food pantries with locations in Lansing, Grawn, Kalamazoo, and Mt. Morris provides food assistance to people regardless of religious affiliation. Its mission is especially important in small towns, where food assistance resources may be limited to just one or two religion-based pantries which may limit food access to those willing to sit through religious sermons.
Pagans in Need offers food assistance to anyone at physical locations on Sunday mornings or by request through the form on their website. At my visit, I learned that the Lansing location shares space with Keys to Manifestation which is also one of Pagans in Need’s corporate sponsors.
In addition to its valuable support for Pagans in Need, Keys to Manifestation offers regular offerings of classes, magical learning intensives, and rituals that provide a robust community for the spiritual and magical seekers. Through their support to Pagans in Need, Keys is also making a difference in the quality of life for people around Michigan.
Readers who want to hear about Keys to Manifestation’s upcoming events may wish to follow the shop on Facebook and Instagram @ManifestLansing. You can visit Keys to Manifestation at 809 Center Street, Suite 7A Lansing, MI 48906 or online at ManifestLansing.com.
Cafe Tamaki, Muskegon
Muskegon is a beautiful seaside city. Despite its small size, its culture reminds me of the more youthful urban neighborhoods I’ve lived in. High-end local coffee shops dot the town, and the local marina hosts yoga classes on the deck of a historic ship anchored in the harbor. It’s an increasingly popular city with Michiganders who want the charms of both progressive culture and small-town life.
I am in Muskegon to visit Cafe Tamaki. The first time I met proprietor Samuel Birkenkamp, he was serving tea with a sword on his hip at a steampunk convention. He explained the herbal medicine applications of the tea we were drinking as he served it in Victorian-era porcelain teacups and saucers, and I knew I’d found my new tea supplier.
The Cafe space is cozy, small tables and a couch surrounded by plushies in one corner. As soon as I sit down at a table, earthenware sample cups of drinks appear in front of me. Birkenkamp is here, and he’s eager to make sure everyone gets a chance to try his latest tea-based drink invention.
Though not a typical metaphysical shop, Muskegon’s Cafe Tamaki now provides space for numerous activities and events, including those of the spiritual and metaphysical variety. Tamaki serves teas from around the world with a commitment to ethical sourcing and expert brewing to bring out the best flavors of each blend. The menu features in house made tea-based drinks like sodas, smoothies, and mocktails, and unique sweet treats made to complement the flavor profile of its signature tea blends.
Birkenkamp is quick to point out the similarities between tea and wine, where soil, elevation, cultivar, the season of harvest, and the processing of the leaves after harvest all contribute to creating the many unique and complex flavors of tea. From sweet and delicate white teas to smoky fermented pu erhs and caffeine free rooibos, Cafe Tamaki stocks a tea blend for every palette.
Where Tamaki shines most, though, is in its community space. The cafe’s sizable event space is a converted greenhouse which hosts regular parties, classes, craft sessions, and community meetings. One of the Cafe’s stated missions is to be a sober venue for late-night community life, and it is succeeding in that wildly.
From karaoke and TTRPG nights to tarot salons and a regular Death Cafe discussing end-of-life issues, Tamaki provides space for a rich and varied community life. The cafe hosts regular meetings of local witchcraft groups, and hosts book signings and rituals by magical and spiritual authors.
For those in south and central West Michigan, Cafe Tamaki is more than a place to get unique tasty treats: it’s a space offering community and a spiritually open-minded teaching and learning space. Those wishing to stay up-to-date on their upcoming activities may wish to seek out the Cafe’s social media presences on Facebook and Instagram. Birkenkamp notes that the event space is always eager to add new offerings and support the local community: Michigan authors, artists, healers, instructors, and anyone else wishing to host an event is encouraged to reach out to cafetamaki@gmail.com.
Visit Cafe Tamaki at1222 Peck Street in Muskegon, MI, @CafeTamaki on Facebook and Instagram or online at CafeTamaki.com.
Four Directions Alchemy, Ludington
Ludington is a cozy small town on Michigan’s west coast. Mostly known for tourism during the summer months, it hosts attractions like cruises on the historic ship S. S. Badger, the hiking trails and dunes of Ludington State Park, and the various historical museums like the Big Sable Point Lighthouse and Historic White Pine Village. It was definitely the smallest town I visited on my road trip with an off-season population of less than 10,000.
I learned about Four Directions Alchemy through the Witches of West Michigan. Tucked away in Ludington, this shop welcomed me in for their annual Samhain celebration. Walking in, I was greeted by a surprisingly spacious expanse of high-end spiritual healing tools. Singing bowls and gongs, some of startling sizes, line the walls and shelves. So do crystals, and an impressive array of jars of herbs on a wall behind the counter. In the back, a curtain separates the main retail space from a private area where healers, coaches, and diviners offer their services. The sweet, spicy scent of hot mulled cider hung in the air emanating from the Samhain snack table.
Owner Sarah Domin described the store as a center for conscious living and spiritual growth for all people. She opened Four Directions Alchemy after an invitation to level up her first career made her realize that she didn’t want to stay on that path. Instead, Domin wanted to do something that felt more meaningful: open a spiritual healing and empowerment center in Ludington which at the time had no such resource. She quickly found an enthusiastic community of local people—some of whom told me the shop had given them permission to be their true selves for the first time.
Four Directions hosts events for spiritual seekers and those seeking healing, including Tuesday sound baths, and full moon shamanic journeys. The shop also offers a wide variety of herbs, singing bowls, and other healing and magical supplies. Reiki healings and certifications and courses and coaching programs designed to combat imposter syndrome, help people discover their divine life path and help turn that path into a reality.
The shop has formed a close community of locals. In addition toclasses and healing sessions, it hosts holiday celebrations, book signings, and community rituals. Its annual Samhain “taste of magic” celebration includes seasonal snacks, drinks, and materials for small magical workings.
Those wishing to keep up with Four Directions’ calendar and offerings may wish to subscribe to their email list and follow their active Facebook and Instagram communities @FourDirectionsAlchemy. You can visit Four Directions Alchemy at 507 East Dowland Street in Ludington, MI 49431 or online at FourDirectionsAlchemy.com.
Blessed Be Tea, Traverse City
Traverse City is one of Michigan’s top seasonal tourist towns. With gorgeous views of the Great Lakes, the lakeside dunes, and the brilliant autumn colors of north Michigan’s verdant forests, it has a distinctly Michigan feel. Where else can you have the experience of seaside sand dunes while surrounded by cool breeze and brilliant red, orange, and golden autumn leaves?
I heard about Blessed Be Tea through the grapevine and visited in time to participate in its annual community scavenger hunt. An innovative way for small businesses to support each other, Blessed Be Tea’s proprietors had hidden a different ingredient for a spell jar in each of eight nearby local businesses.
Walking into Blessed Be, I was struck by the array of locally made items. Art by local artists hung on the walls as did apparel for sale made by local designers. The standard crystals, candles, incense, and books were joined by shelves stocked with tea blends that had magical and medicinal descriptions.
The woman behind the counter drew my attention to a box of tiny glass jars and a dish of rose petals with a delicate, tiny spoon for scooping. “We’re doing a spell charm scavenger hunt,” she told me, and handed me a card. “If you visit every business on this list, you can get every ingredient you need to fill up your jar. Then bring it back here and we’ll seal it with wax.”
Another tea-shop-turned-community-center, Traverse City’s Blessed Be Tea sells a wide range of self-care and magical supplies, including tea blends crafted with flavor, herbal healing qualities, and magical qualities in mind. From Demon Detoxes to tea blends formulated for herbal support of various women’s health issues, the joint culinary, herbal, and magical knowledge makes these tea blends unique.
The shop’s magical, self-care, and community care mission is also supported by its other locally made wares, including herbal bath blends, magical spice and seasoning mixes, jewelry, candles, crystals, spells, and incense. Their themed gift baskets include some of all of the above allowing buyers to give a complete magical self-care experience to loved ones—or themselves.
Like the other venues, it also hosts local events, including community events to mark New Moons, Full Moons, Wiccan holidays, guided meditations, magical rituals, a monthly Dead Poets Society, and a selection of local tarot readers. Last October, if featured a community Ofrenda open from October 1through November 1, inviting patrons to bring images of loved ones to be honored and contribute offerings for the beloved dead.
The Blessed Be Team maintains a podcast, as well as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube presences to allow those who wish to participate in the community life from home. The shop works with Northern Michigan spiritual practitioners and service providers including the House of Bear Spiritual Sanctuary, social media witch Bellamy Black, and seasoned tarot reader Loreen Muzik. You can visit Blessed Be Tea at 116 East Front Street South Suite, Traverse City, MI 49684. Find them online at @BlessedBeTea on Facebook or @Blessed_Be_Tea on Instagram, or on their website, BlessedBeTea.com.
A World of Spirituality
These shops are only a tiny sampling of the metaphysical venues found throughout Michigan. New shops are opening across the state as more and more people find connection, empowerment, and meaning in alternative spiritualities that may not be neatly contained by churches, mosques, or synagogues. Many members of these communities hold dual memberships in Buddhist temples, Hindu ashrams, or indigenous religions which all tend to be open to the spiritual and magical arts in ways that more conservative religious communities may not be.
To honor the shops I was not able to visit on this road trip, here’s a selection of local venues which caught my attention but didn’t quite fit on my itinerary this time:
Bloodroot Herb Shop of Ypsilanti. According to their website, Bloodroot offers a wide variety of herbal products including skin care, teas, and tinctures, as well as community care including solstice and equinox celebrations, herbology workshops, and intensives for somatic healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Proprietor Alex Crofoot offers healing consultations, and Blood Root’s event space can be reserved for gatherings, classes, and workshops.
The Crystal Cauldron of Rochester Hills. With a wide selection of herbs, spiritual books, tarot decks, jewelry, and yes, crystals, the Crystal Cauldron is a go-to metaphysical supply store. According to their Facebook page, they host events including Wiccan holiday celebrations, book signings, and book release parties. Facebook is the best way to follow this shop for updates.
Black Cat Bodega of Grand Rapids. Describing itself as an artisan witchcraft shop, the Black Cat Bodega is also something of a community center for the Witches of West Michigan and other alternative spirituality groups.
Recently voted the second-best gift shop in West Michigan by a poll of Revue readers for the second year running, the shop hosts workshops, book clubs, and a seers’ circle for divination enthusiasts. Members of the Black Cat Club subscribe for $9.99 per month to gain access to a magical library space with complimentary tea and beverage service and special store discounts.
Artes and Craft of Hartford. A hidden gem deep in the countryside of southwestern Michigan. In addition to the usual fare of candles, incense, crystals, and ritual supplies, Artes and Craft stocks rare magical books from UK publishers, an impressive array of 12-15” altar statues, and works with a local metalsmith to produce handmade Druid, Pagan, and Witchcraft jewelry and ritual tools you can’t find anywhere else. Like Keys to Manifestation, Artes and Craft is a corporate sponsor of the Pagans in Need food pantry network. You can shop their supplies online at their website and follow their Facebook and Instagram to learn about updates to the inventory.
I’ve been privileged to grow up in the state of Michigan, whose vibrant cultural tapestry is often underappreciated outside the state. Watching Michigan’s metaphysical communities grow, evolve, and multiply over the last decade has been a joy. I can’t wait to see what we do next together.
Know of Michigan metaphysical venues I missed? I’d love to hear about them for my next journey! Please send tips to author@catherinecarr.org!
Catherine Carr is an author, ritual facilitator, and transformation coach originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has spoken at the Parliament of World Religions and written two books: World Soul, Healing Ourselves and the Earth Through Pagan Theology, and Breaking Your Bonds: Finding Freedom Through Adversity. You can follow her work at CatherineCarr.org or find her @authorcatherinecarr on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
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There’s a saying that metaphysical shops serve almost as places of worship for people of alternative spiritualities. Without a tithing base, spaces for teaching spiritual arts and knowledge often need a commercial front to finance their public spaces. Almost every metaphysical store also serves as a community hub where people meet each other, support each other, and often feel truly seen for the very first time.