Eye of newt with your tea, perhaps?

It was a dark and stormy morning when I pulled into downtown Keene. I'd just had routine lab work done at the hospital and purposely wanted to drive right down into the construction to see how difficult it was going to be to maneuver. It really wasn't at all. Cones lined the lanes and there was some equipment. A man hopped out of an excavator with a large McDonald's bag in his hand. The scaffolding for all the jack-o-lanterns was being assembled and there was a daisy chain of folks unloading a truck bed of pumpkins. They looked like they were having fun despite the drizzle. The falling leaves swirling in the air made the whole scene seem like a step back in time. Festive anticipation. I was on a mission to visit Shadow and Soul Emporium & Tea Lounge. Years ago, I'd checked out Soul Emporium when it was across the street a few doors down from sister store, Shadow Emporium. In my mind every town needs a metaphysical shop. There's a thread of metaphysics in all of us, isn't there? Whether you're a full-blown Wiccan or a medium, a college student with a hippie soul or simply anybody who believes there are things in this world that can't be measured by physical science, a shop like Shadow is a creative, soothing respite. At her previous Soul location, owner Brandie Wells was nice enough to share with me her source for concrete statues. Very gracious of her since retailers sharing their resources is uncommon. I think sharing and openness are just two of the elements I felt as I perused the 5,000 square foot shop. It's crazy huge, having formerly been Your Kitchen Store, Toy City and Jupiter Music way back when I was in college. And what an emporium it is. You can see across the enormous length of the space, all the way back to the kitchen and tea lounge. As you wander through, there are vignettes set up all along both side walls, offering jewelry, incense, home décor, candles, all kinds of bulk herbs, spices and essentials for brewing potions and practicing self-care. I looked carefully at the lineup of bulk items. I was hoping to spot some Eye of Newt but the closest I got was some Cat's Claw Bark. Not sure what that's for. Interesting, nonetheless. There's cards and naughty tea towels and in the window up front is an array of very cool houseplants. Amid the bits and bobs galore, I picked up a few items… no-reason friends' gifts and a few Christmas presents. All of this was under the watchful eye of some taxidermy sprinkled throughout the place. In the center of the store was a great selection of vinyl records. At a glance, I saw some of the albums my older sister collected back in the day. I didn't see any of my old Cher or Donna Summer, but it could be there. Throughout all this stimulating retail, there were interspersed little seating areas set up for you to have some tea and chat with a friend. My favorite was a little spot backed with blue velvet drapes, two blue chairs and a blue light shining on it. Straight out of a David Lynch film. The tea selection is vast, and you can also get sandwiches, milkshakes and sweet treats as well. I met three of Brandie's adult children working in the store… Marshal, Emily and Mallory. Very engaging and warm people. Brandie's a busy lady at this time of year with all those events and talking-to-the-dead appointments; she wasn't in the shop, but I gave her a call a couple days later. A very warm person to talk to, I complimented her on her shop's array of coolness and asked her if she considered herself a Wiccan, a witch? Is a medium the same thing as a clairvoyant? Is she feeling the veil getting very thin right now? Patiently, she told me that while she considers herself a practicing witch, she doesn't define herself as Wiccan. A psychic medium is basically the same thing as a clairvoyant although when I Googled it, AI said, "All clairvoyants are psychics, but not all psychics are clairvoyant." Regardless, they're closely related. A medium is a psychic who can receive and transmit messages from the spirit world. I asked Brandie for a little quote, maybe something spooky and gritty to close this article but she said she's not really a gritty person. She's more empathetic. She did give me a quote that's posted in her shop, though. "Through the shadows we find our lights."