I arrived in Australia in the ’90s, little knowing at the time that I was smack bang in the centre of what is often referred to as “The ’90s Witch Craze”. What a time it was. Charmed had just aired on television, as had the OG Sabrina the Teenage Witch, followed soon after by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Movies like The Craft and Practical Magic served as a major introduction to the craft for many newly aspiring witches.

This was also the time when I was experiencing my very own culture shock. I had just landed in Brisbane, Australia. My luggage had been lost, and my father and grandparent were there to greet me. We then drove from Brisbane to Mackay, a town with palm trees along Main Street. There were no buses to and from my house. I lived about one kilometre from a newsagency, and the corner store was a 15-minute walk from my home. That was it: nothing but houses as far as the eye could see. I was in the burbs.

Then one day, homesickness had dug its clutches into me and I was hungry, not because I was being denied food, but because my cooking skills were appalling. So, on this fateful day, I decided to go and buy some hot chips from the fish and chip shop next to the newsagency, one kilometre down the road. As I began my walk in the scorching sun, I was swooped by a fucking magpie, a demon from the sky. Its claw cut the side of my face near my right eye, and by the time I had reached the cluster of shops that was my destination, I was a frightening and bloody sight. I remember that the kind lady at the video store offered to “clean me up”. I accepted the help and ordered my chips.

While I was waiting for my food to be cooked, I stumbled into the newsagency. It was mostly fishing and gun magazines; picture and people magazines were of course there too, and lots of cooking and gardening magazines populated the shelves. As I perused the stands, I found a magazine that my own father would sometimes bring home, New Dawn, and right behind it was Witchcraft magazine. On the cover of Witchcraft was Australian witch and singer Wendy Rule, whom I recently met at a private Artemis workshop in Cygnet, Tasmania.

Witchcraft magazine changed my whole life that day. I devoured it from cover to cover, and that is when I found The Esoteric Bookshop. So I followed the instructions, wrote to them requesting a mail-order catalogue and bam! That’s where it all began for me.

And so, as I shrug off the remaining vestiges of my hereditary practice, I was recently in search of rue, the herb. I looked high and low for it, both online and off, and found nothing. It seemed that everywhere was out of stock. So I resigned myself to acquiring a small portion, about 20 grams of the rue for the time being, just to get me through. And that was where I remembered The Esoteric Bookshop. I checked and was delighted to find that they were still in business. What a vibe.

Words cannot say how delighted I was to have come full circle. So, logically, I took it as a good omen, and here we are. I am basking in the nostalgia of it right now. It’s a beautiful time. I feel as though I am waking up from a dream, and it feels good.

Blessed be,

Avalon Cameron