Psychic Shops, Occult Stores and Oddities Around the San Francisco Bay Area
Halloween is a great time to explore the stranger side of the San Francisco Bay Area. I have seen a lot of strange stuff in the city, but what we are talking about here is all the weird and spooky shops that you can find if you look hard enough. You might see some random psychics or tarot card readers with a table set up on the sidewalk in busy neighborhoods, but there are actually a lot fo cool, little shops all over the place that embrace the odd. The San Francisco Bay Area has occult shops, crystal stores, herbal apothecaries, tarot readers and stores filled with preserved insects, animal skulls and all kinds of random stuff. Some places are serious spiritual businesses. Others feel more like small museums where nearly everything happens to be for sale.
You do not need to practice witchcraft or believe that tarot cards can predict the future to enjoy these stores. A visit can be about finding an unusual Halloween decoration, buying your first tarot deck, learning about local spiritual traditions or simply seeing objects that would never appear in an ordinary gift shop. Even a tarot card reading done by a talented reader can be a fun experience. I don’t really believe in all of this stuff, however I did enjoy both psychic reading and tarot the few times I participated. It is actually pretty amazing how good some of these people are at picking up on cues. Or maybe it actually is real. Who knows?
October makes the experience especially fun. Halloween is coming up at the end of the month a room filled with candles, old books, crystals or preserved specimens feels right for the season. Several shops also offer readings, workshops and classes, although appointments may be harder to secure close to October 31.
Occult Stores in the Bay Area
San Francisco
Paxton Gate
Paxton Gate is the clear choice for anyone more interested in oddities than fortune-telling. The Mission District store combines the feeling of a natural history museum, garden shop and a curiosity store. Its collection includes ethically sourced taxidermy, animal skulls, bones, fossils, crystals, minerals, framed butterflies, insects, unusual home objects & more.
The inventory can get pretty strange. Past and current offerings have included wet specimens, articulated skeletons & antique objects. They also have small taxidermy mice arranged in detailed scenes, which reminded me of the movie Dinner for Schmucks. The business also offers workshops connected to subjects such as insect spreading and taxidermy. Paxton Gate has operated in San Francisco since the early 1990s and has become one of the city’s most recognizable unusual stores.
Paxton Gate
824 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
The Sword and Rose
Hidden behind a courtyard near Cole Valley, The Sword and Rose has the kind of entrance that makes a visit feel separate from normal city shopping. Founded in 1985, the store describes itself as both an occult shop and an esoteric temple.
Its best-known products include ceremonial incense, oils and ritual baths made by the shop. Visitors can also find candles, books, tarot cards, jewelry, stones, crystals, talismans and ritual tools. Tarot, palmistry, astrology and other divination services may be available depending on the reader schedule. The shop is small and personal rather than polished or commercial. Visitors should enter respectfully and understand that the space is connected to sincere spiritual practice, not simply Halloween entertainment.
The Sword and Rose
85 Carl Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Crystal Way
Crystal Way is a longtime Castro metaphysical store with crystals, mineral specimens, jewelry, tarot supplies and spiritual tools. It is easy to browse if you are curious but do not know exactly what you want. The store also works with several readers, allowing customers to schedule tarot or intuitive sessions. That makes it a useful stop for someone who wants to shop for a deck and experience a professional reading in the same place. Its Market Street location is convenient to other Castro shops, restaurants and bars so you could make a date night out of it, but maybe a little risky for a first date.
Crystal Way
2335 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
The Love of Ganesha
The Love of Ganesha fits naturally into the history and personality of Haight Street. If you have walked along Haight Street, you would probably recognize the outside of the shop even if you didn’t go in. The shop carries crystals, clothing, jewelry, incense, statues, singing bowls, spiritual gifts and decorative objects from several parts of the world. It is less of a dark occult shop and more of an inviting spiritual marketplace. One of its most talked about features is a meditation room, which gives visitors a quiet break from the activity of Haight Street.
The Love of Ganesha
1573 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
East Bay
Ancient Ways
Ancient Ways has served Oakland’s Pagan, Wiccan and New Age communities for more than 30 years. The store carries books, candles, herbs, oils, incense, icons, jewelry, stones and ritual tools. The shop also offers tarot readings, candle dressing and classes. It is one of the best choices in the Bay Area for visitors who want practical supplies rather than items chosen mainly for decoration. Someone preparing a personal ritual can find basic tools, while a beginner can browse books and ask questions.
Ancient Ways
4075 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
North Bay
Milk & Honey
Milk & Honey is one of Sonoma County’s best spiritual gift stores. Also, for some reason, the name Sebastopol just sounds like a place where you would find psychics, witches and all kids of occult stuff. The shop carries crystals, stones, jewelry, candles, books, statues and tools connected to personal healing and spiritual practice. It has received repeated recognition in the North Bay Bohemian readers’ poll in categories that have included gift store, jewelry store and psychic. Milk & Honey is a particularly good choice if you prefer a welcoming atmosphere instead of a shop built around dark imagery. Halloween visitors can still find plenty of crystals, candles and symbolic objects, but the space is useful throughout the year depending what you are into.
Milk & Honey
123 North Main Street
Sebastopol, CA 95472
South Bay and Santa Cruz Area
The Universal Connection Store
The Universal Connection Store is one of the South Bay’s most complete metaphysical shops. It carries a wide range of crystals and gemstones, along with books, tarot and oracle decks, jewelry, oils, incense & meditation supplies.
The store also hosts people who may offer card readings, Reiki sessions, aura or chakra photography, sound work and other services. The dedicated selection of tarot decks and books makes it a good place for both beginners and experienced readers.
The Universal Connection Store
1261 Lincoln Avenue
Willow Glen, San Jose, CA 95125
Moonstone Metaphysical
Moonstone Metaphysical is the Los Gatos sister store of Moon Kissed in Santa Cruz. It offers crystals, tarot and oracle decks, candles, oils, jewelry, books, statues and other spiritual goods. Its downtown Los Gatos location makes it easy to include in a larger afternoon of shopping and dining. The store is a good middle ground for people who want a serious metaphysical selection in an easygoing retail setting.
Moonstone Metaphysical
130 North Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Moon Kissed
Santa Cruz is techncially a little bit outside of the Bay Area, but Moon Kissed deserves a place on this list for anyone willing to make the drive. The downtown shop sells crystals, oils, candles, tarot cards, books, statues, clothing, jewelry and ritual or healing tools. It is also known for classes, workshops, music and community events.
Moon Kissed
1360 Pacific Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Mystic Flora Apothecary
Mystic Flora Apothecary is an shop on the Peninsula that is mainly focused on events. In addition to spiritual and botanical goods, it has hosted tarot readers, tea gatherings, creative workshops and private events. This is a place to check for a scheduled experience rather than assuming that every service is available as a walk-in. Around Halloween, a tarot event or group reading can provide an interesting alternative to a haunted house or costume party.
Mystic Flora Apothecary
1501 El Camino Real
Belmont, CA 94002
Why Halloween Is a Good Time to Visit
These stores are open throughout the year, but October changes the mood. People are starting to visit pumpkin patches, buying decorations and starting to get in the mood for Halloween. Buying a tarot deck or visiting an oddities shop feels less like a random errand and more like part of the season.
Halloween is also a good time to shop for decorations that do not look mass-produced. A framed insect, mineral specimen, handmade candle or old-style anatomical print can remain in your home long after plastic Halloween decorations have been packed away. This is the kind of stuff you probably won’t find on Amazon.
Famous Occult and Oddities Shops Around the World
The Bay Area has a lot of cool spots, but I wouldn’t really say that it is the best place in the world to step into the weird. When I think about witches, psychics and oddities, places with a really long history seem to come to mind. Salem, London, Paris and similar places just seem like they would have a deeper connection to other worlds. If you feel like making a trip to see some of the really odd stuff all over the world, here are a few places that are kind of famous.
Watkins Books in London
Watkins Books traces its history to 1897 and is one of the famous esoteric bookstores in the world. Its shelves cover magic, mysticism, astrology, tarot, Eastern philosophy and spiritual traditions. It also carries tarot decks, crystals, statues and incense, with in-store readings available. The location in Cecil Court adds to its appeal. The narrow pedestrian street is famous for specialist book and antique shops, making Watkins feel like part of an older literary London. People visit because of the shop’s history and the depth of its esoteric book collection.
Watkins Books in London
19–21 Cecil Court
London WC2N 4EZ
United Kingdom
Treadwell’s Books in London
Treadwell’s is a modern occult bookstore and study center in Bloomsbury. It is known for carefully selected books on witchcraft, folklore, magic, Pagan traditions and odd history. The store also holds lectures, classes and tarot readings. What makes Treadwell’s famous is its balance of serious study and practical spiritual work. Academics, authors, practicing occultists and curious visitors can all find something useful. Its events have helped make the shop an international meeting point for people interested in the history and practice of magic.
Treadwell’s Books
33 Store Street
London WC1E 7BS
United Kingdom
Hex: Old World Witchery in Salem
Salem is one of the world’s leading Halloween travel destinations, and Hex is among its most prominent witchcraft shops. The store sells ritual candles, oils, incense, charms, books and tools connected to folk magic and modern witchcraft. Psychic readings are also part of the business. Hex is famous partly because of its scale and location. Its Essex Street shop sits in the center of a city visited by enormous crowds each October. The business also operates in New Orleans, linking two American cities strongly associated with supernatural history and magical practice. Salem is one of those “Halloween bucket list” places that I would love to visit one day and it will definitely include a visit to Hex if I make it there.
Hex: Old World Witchery
184 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970
Deyrolle in Paris
Deyrolle is not an occult store, but it may be the world’s most famous oddities and natural-history shop. Founded in 1831, the Paris institution is known for taxidermy, insects, shells, minerals and educational science displays. Walking upstairs can feel like entering a private museum from another century. Large preserved animals stand among cabinets filled with butterflies and natural specimens. Artists, designers, collectors and curious travelers visit because Deyrolle sits at the unusual meeting point of science, art, education and retail.
Deyrolle
46 Rue du Bac
75007 Paris, France
A Different Kind of Halloween Outing
A trip to a psychic shop, tarot reader or oddities store can be as serious or as playful as you want it to be. You might schedule a reading, search for a rare book, choose a crystal or simply spend half an hour looking at preserved insects and strange objects. You don’t really need to believe in any of the spooky or supernatural stuff to enjoy a visit. However, even if you are skeptical, you may just find yourself second guessing the things you hear.
These shops give you a seasonal activity that does not depend on jump scares, costumes or events. They can also introduce you to independent Bay Area shops that support working readers, herbalists, artists, teachers and small retail communities throughout the year.
