If you’ve ever found yourself in the Cenisia district of Turin, you might have walked past a little shop. Completely unassuming from the outside, even a glance in the window would write the place off as a regular bookshop. Look a little closer though, or better yet walk through the door and take a look around, and you’ll see that appearances can often be decieving.

This shop is called ‘Libreria Mistica e Spirituale Psiche’ translating to: The library of the Mystical, Spiritiual and Psychological, and can be found on Via Monginevro. Once you step inside you can instantly figure out what this shop sells, books and items all to do with spiritualism and the occult.

I’m partial to a good bit of witchcraft – after all how do you think I stay looking so youthful – so finding a place like this is always a blessing; literally. The first thing I noticed was their large selection of Tarot cards lining the archway through the another room.

Tarot cards are a simplistic way of telling the future. You draw cards either for yourself or another person and depending on what cards appear, how they are arranged, and the particular mood of the drawer, the future can be told. Whether or not things like this have genuine power is up to your discretion but often even the most skeptical person has found their prophecy coming just a little bit true.

Continuing my journey around the shop I saw items from across the world collected here. There were books on the gods of the native americans, texts on the spiritualism of the babylonians, and best of all: instructions on how to lay your very own curses on people. I have no need of that right now, but it’s always good to know where to find the information should the situation come about.

A typical thing most of the more spiritual people I know have is methods of making charms. These are often made out of different herbs and natural items that have been said to ward off evil for thousands of years. This shop has most of the standard items in stock like sage and gemstones, but often the key to a good incantation is the atmosphere. Luckily there are plenty of different scents of incense in stock for all your smokey needs… if only I was allowed flames in my accomodation I’d be able to ward away all those pesky evil spirits.

A key thing to know about this shop for my English readers out there, almost all of the texts they have available here are in Italian. I am of course in Turin so that is to be expected, witches and occultists need to get their information no matter what their language, but it was rather fun to see how different sections are named in Italian. Here’s a few of my favourites:

• Occultismo – Occultism
• Stregoneria – Witchcraft
• Tarocchi – Tarot
• Cristalloterapia – Crystal Therapy

In my opinion, I think places like this get a bit of a bad rap. Obviously things like satanism should be steered clear of, the last thing we want is for anyone to be sacrificed. However, engaging in a little bit of witchcraft every now and then can be pretty fun and personally I think it’s all only as true as you make it.

I’ll leave you today with some crystal balls to ponder over. Don’t stare upon them for too long though, there’s no telling what visions might take over you.

Goodbye my pretties, you’re charmed I’m sure.

Cassie