We had a post lined up highlighting some of the new crystals that we’ve received over the past few weeks, but then we visited Augur’s folks up in Columbus and found ourselves sitting on their porch chatting with a pair of old dogs and thinking about friendship.
Specifically, we were dwelling on the paradoxical fact that to be a good friend, one needs to be a bit selfish.
We are all so very busy that it feels like the considerate thing to do is not to bother anyone. Surely, we think, our dear friend could better use their time preparing taxes or catching up on their doomscrolling.
In truth, they want (or at least would be better off) spending time with us, but they will only do that if we selfishly pull them away from their tasks and demand their attention.
We think that one of the reasons people get dogs is because we can show them love without worrying that we’re being an imposition.
These two dogs, Phoebe and Atticus, would like to remind you to impose on your friends.
Call one.
Maybe take one out for coffee.
Or bring a friend to a magic shop.
We really value all the new friends we’ve made in the last couple of weeks, and appreciate everyone’s patience with the crowds.
We will be open this week on Thursday (3/6) from 12-2PM, Saturday (3/8) from 5-8PM, and Sunday (3/9) from 12-4PM.
When the weather is bad, it is okay to hunker down beneath blankets and ignore the outside for as long as you need. That goes for weather both natural and cultural.
Within each of us is the connection to an infinite astral plane upon which hopes and dreams can sail unimpeded by the frosty headwinds of base material concerns. That is the realm where magic and imagination dance, and laugh, and nurture the seeds of wonder.
It is a space that can not be conquered or contained. It bleeds into social media and newspapers, but it remains sacrosanct even if those venues are corrupted.
The purpose of the shop has always been to remind people, ourselves included, that the world is an enchanted place because people bless it with hope and dreams. We enchant it with every gaze and every contemplation. We consecrate it with every smile and every tear.
No one and no thing can take away that magic.
Summer always comes. Dawn always rises.
We will be open this Saturday (1/25) from 12-4PM and Sunday (1/24) from 12-4PM.
We present to you our Covington Map of the Occult and the Arcane.
This project began thirteen months ago as a simple ley-line survey, but refused to be contained.
It spiraled into over a thousand hours of measuring creepy alleys, tracing crumbling Victorian maps, squinting at mildewed books, interviewing baleful-eyed grandmothers, and drawing and redrawing so so so many buildings.
It contains our best effort to document all the haunted mansions, ghoul attacks, and phantom streetcars. It outlines safe places to hide during outbreaks of nefarious magic, and lists almost every downtown shop, restaurant, and bar.
It also documents the devastating effects of deindustrialization and suburbanization, and shares some of our favorite tales from the history of our beloved city.
We had hoped to do a giant print run, and offer them as promotions. Unfortunately, the American map printing and folding industries collapsed this year, and the handful of printers that remain now limit themselves almost exclusively to government contracts.
We thus contracted a local printer to produce a limited edition of just fifty, and we folded them ourselves.
Each is unique, hand sealed, and numbered. They will be available for sale beginning this week.
We’re quite proud of them.
Hierophany & Hedge are purveyors of fine eldritch goods and services including magical reagents, sib
