My dear friends,
About 42 years ago I opened the first Witch shop in America in the small town of Salem Massachusetts. When I first arrived in Salem it was a sleepy little town with a disturbing history, today Salem is a thriving city that hustles and bustles and overloads during the fall season with all the wonderful October events. Those many years ago when I opened my shop I had distinct goa...ls: to be able to care for my children, support myself and family financially and educate the world about Witchcraft while living my life as a Witch. As you can probably imagine living as a Witch and not hiding who you are while owning a Witch shop in 1970 was no easy task, but we kept our heads high and marched forward looking to educate the world and receive equal rights and protection. Several years after I opened my shop I was honored with the title ‘Official Witch of Salem,’ bestowed upon me by then governor Michael Dukakis, a title which I have worked my life to ensure that I met, to educate, to guide, to help and to heal.
Here I sit now, reflecting on my life as a Witch, my goals, challenges and successes both in the past and what will be in the future. My goals have changed, my focus must now change to meet those goals and it is to that end that I have decided to gear my focus to our temple, the first ever temple of Witchcraft in Salem, the Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple, what an event! In 1692 people in Salem township were killed in the name of Witchcraft, murdered when there is no evidence to support they were even Witches or knew what Witches were, and now today we have founded our temple in its place! We are working to replace fear and hate with hope, love and majick. My goal is to is to see this temple flourish, I want to see us have a building, a real place where anyone can come and learn about Witchcraft, the science, the art and the religion. A place where you can learn about your Celtic ancestors, our Gods and Goddesses, where we can use majick and cast spells to heal the world.
As you can imagine running a store and trying to be available to the temple is a lot of work, and so I have decided to align myself with my new goals and close my store, The Official Witch Shoppe. I will continue to offer all of my products (and some new specialties) through the online store operated by On-Line New England which is owned by friends and students of mine, they have added all of my products to their already large selection of inventory (and also they also ship WORLDWIDE!). You can find their full inventory and my products by visiting their store through the Online Shopping button on The Official Witch Shoppe website (www.TheOfficialWitchShoppe.com) or through my own site, www.LaurieCabot.com.
Closing my store was a very difficult decision but one that I am pleased with. For the past 42 years I have been very involved with the operations of all of my stores, from the first, The Witch Shoppe to Crow Haven Corner and then The Cat, The Crow and The Crown and finally to The Official Witch Shoppe. It has been a dream come true to have had the experience of operating my stores and the countless wonderful people I have met and interacted with at each of my shop locations.
I will continue to teach; my classes on Witchcraft and Tarot are still very much available as are my physic readings and workshops. The shops phone number will remain the same and continue to operate for more information on classes, workshops and readings as well as online at the shops website which will continue to operate, more information will be provided should the fate of that site change.
As of right now I am planning a book signing at the shop on Saturday, January 21th and the final day of operation is planned for Tuesday, January 31st. I would like to invite you to check our website in case any changes to the dates should occur.
I would like to thank all of you for the many many years of support and love. Without you the shops would not have been a success and Witchcraft may still be something misunderstood and feared.
I wish all of you many blessings.
Reverend Laurie Cabot, HPs
The ‘Official Witch of Salem’
Contact Information:
Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple: http://www.cabotkenthermetictemple.org/
The Official Witch Shoppe: http://www.theofficialwitchshoppe.com/
Online Shopping: http://www.theofficialwitchshoppe.net/
http://www.lauriecabot.com/
Phone number: 978-744-6274
About 42 years ago I opened the first Witch shop in America in the small town of Salem Massachusetts. When I first arrived in Salem it was a sleepy little town with a disturbing history, today Salem is a thriving city that hustles and bustles and overloads during the fall season with all the wonderful October events. Those many years ago when I opened my shop I had distinct goa...ls: to be able to care for my children, support myself and family financially and educate the world about Witchcraft while living my life as a Witch. As you can probably imagine living as a Witch and not hiding who you are while owning a Witch shop in 1970 was no easy task, but we kept our heads high and marched forward looking to educate the world and receive equal rights and protection. Several years after I opened my shop I was honored with the title ‘Official Witch of Salem,’ bestowed upon me by then governor Michael Dukakis, a title which I have worked my life to ensure that I met, to educate, to guide, to help and to heal.
Here I sit now, reflecting on my life as a Witch, my goals, challenges and successes both in the past and what will be in the future. My goals have changed, my focus must now change to meet those goals and it is to that end that I have decided to gear my focus to our temple, the first ever temple of Witchcraft in Salem, the Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple, what an event! In 1692 people in Salem township were killed in the name of Witchcraft, murdered when there is no evidence to support they were even Witches or knew what Witches were, and now today we have founded our temple in its place! We are working to replace fear and hate with hope, love and majick. My goal is to is to see this temple flourish, I want to see us have a building, a real place where anyone can come and learn about Witchcraft, the science, the art and the religion. A place where you can learn about your Celtic ancestors, our Gods and Goddesses, where we can use majick and cast spells to heal the world.
As you can imagine running a store and trying to be available to the temple is a lot of work, and so I have decided to align myself with my new goals and close my store, The Official Witch Shoppe. I will continue to offer all of my products (and some new specialties) through the online store operated by On-Line New England which is owned by friends and students of mine, they have added all of my products to their already large selection of inventory (and also they also ship WORLDWIDE!). You can find their full inventory and my products by visiting their store through the Online Shopping button on The Official Witch Shoppe website (www.TheOfficialWitchShoppe.com) or through my own site, www.LaurieCabot.com.
Closing my store was a very difficult decision but one that I am pleased with. For the past 42 years I have been very involved with the operations of all of my stores, from the first, The Witch Shoppe to Crow Haven Corner and then The Cat, The Crow and The Crown and finally to The Official Witch Shoppe. It has been a dream come true to have had the experience of operating my stores and the countless wonderful people I have met and interacted with at each of my shop locations.
I will continue to teach; my classes on Witchcraft and Tarot are still very much available as are my physic readings and workshops. The shops phone number will remain the same and continue to operate for more information on classes, workshops and readings as well as online at the shops website which will continue to operate, more information will be provided should the fate of that site change.
As of right now I am planning a book signing at the shop on Saturday, January 21th and the final day of operation is planned for Tuesday, January 31st. I would like to invite you to check our website in case any changes to the dates should occur.
I would like to thank all of you for the many many years of support and love. Without you the shops would not have been a success and Witchcraft may still be something misunderstood and feared.
I wish all of you many blessings.
Reverend Laurie Cabot, HPs
The ‘Official Witch of Salem’
Contact Information:
Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple: http://www.cabotkenthermetictemple.org/
The Official Witch Shoppe: http://www.theofficialwitchshoppe.com/
Online Shopping: http://www.theofficialwitchshoppe.net/
http://www.lauriecabot.com/
Phone number: 978-744-6274
I heard about this from Penny on Twitter earlier today. I was shocked and saddened at first. But now, as you so aptly put it," What an event!" I'm a little sad that I never got to physically come to the store, but imagine one day visiting Salem's first Witch temple! Much love to you, Laurie!
ReplyDeleteCrumbs Laurie, I remember reading your book years ago. Then suddenly your name came up again, years later. My copy of your book is a bit battered :-) Well read :-) A tatty book now to be honest, but that is the making of a well read book. Hope all your readers do the same with their books. READ THEM.
DeleteGood to see you blogging as I have said before.... Times are that we have to move on, it's knowing when to move on,that is important to us. Enjoy your book signing :-) X X X