Uncategorized – Hierophany & Hedge

August 26 2025

A Familiar Magic Cauldron

Magic in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Simulacra are some of the oldest and most powerful forms of magic.

The first human paintings are found deep in ancient caves. They illustrate game animals, and were part of rituals designed to guarantee successful hunts.

Similarly, various forms of representational poppets (e.g., “Voodoo dolls”) have been used magically to treat illness or curse enemies. One might treat a fever by chilling a therapeutic poppet, or hobble an enemy by putting a pin though a doll’s foot.

As a result, we take very seriously any representation of our shop, and were a little concerned when we started receiving messages that Hierophany & Hedge was on display at the 2025 Miniature Society of Cincinnati show.

But then we saw the photos of the marvelous model that a long-time customer and her daughter had produced, and we haven’t stopped grinning since.

This is perfect, right down to the green string on the packages, and we love it. We are so looking forward to seeing it in person

Our customers are wonderful, and we are honored every single day to be able to serve you. Thank you so very much for helping to create something worthy of becoming magical art.

August 19 2025

Enchanted Living Magazine

Augur Uncategorized

How we long for for the fashion magazines of old!

There is a downside to binding elemental spirits into fire alarms.

While they are exceptionally good at what they do, they are also incredibly loud.

And they like to tattle.

So, yes, there were some ringing ears and anxious phone calls this weekend while Coil was out of town and Augur got to play with his smoke machine.

This video was abbreviated because the little gremlins refused to stop screaming, but hopefully you get the idea.

We are now a proud stockist of the current issue, as well as of selected back issues, of Faerie Magazine (which is now called Enchanted Living Magazine for fey copyright reasons).

We miss glossy fashion magazines. Looking at pouty lips and dramatic lighting just isn’t the same on phones.

August 15 2025

Routines & Rituals

Augur Uncategorized

On Morning Rituals

Our lives are filled with routines.

For most of us, what we do today will be very similar to what we did yesterday.

That can be comforting, but it can also be dull. Days may blend into one another and we can start to feel more like robots than people.

Our favorite way to avoid this is to make routines into rituals.

The most important aspect of this is to be intentional and conscious of the activity in question. Don’t just make the coffee in a half-asleep state. Take a moment to address your ingredients, to thank the sun, the plants, and the people who made the drink possible. Then purposefully perform the task thinking consciously about each step.

It helps to be a little bit . . . extra. Our coffee maker is a colossal pain. It takes forever to prepare, to brew, and to clean, and it only makes two cups of coffee. But every use also feels like we’re doing mad science. Forcing ourselves to wait and to observe the wonders of physics helps us to savor the result.

Finally, be protective of your ritual time. You don’t have control of every aspect of your day, but you can find a way to carve out five or ten minutes here and there for activities that you refuse to be distracted from. Turn off your phone. Tell your partner to find their own socks. You deserve to be able to focus on your own thing for a moment.

We love this little book on coffee magic. While it has some spells, it is really a reminder that much of enchantment is a decision to find the miraculous in everyday existence.

It reminds us that rituals don’t even have to be “magical” per se, they just have to be things that you elevate above the level of “task.”

We are stretched a bit thin with daily life this week so our hours are limited, but we look forward to seeing more of you in the rest of August.

August 5 2025

Happy Birthday, You Princesses of Maine

Augur Uncategorized

All Cats are Leos

Please join us in wishing a (slightly belated) happy second birthday to Lt. Commander Atramenta Murderpaws and her twin sister, Baroness Belladonna Nightshade.

We had no idea when we summoned these two furry voids from the outer darkness that they would lodge so deeply within our hearts. But it turns out that if you stare long enough into the abyss, it stares back . . . and meows.

They have gifted us with cryptic utterances, savaged toys, and occasionally hard-won purrs, and we can’t believe there was ever a time that they weren’t the managers of our little shop.

They are shown here “helping” us hang a canvas astrological painting from an early twentieth century circus.

We once thought that they were terrible astrologers, since every fortune they give is exactly the same, “You will give us treats.”

It turns out, however, that they have a more accurate prediction rate than any diviner we’ve ever met.

July 29 2025

On The Fear of Fear

Augur Uncategorized

Too Many Monsters

One of the perils of staring for too long at the abyss (or of reading too many Facebook comments) is to fall prey to catastrophism, to start to believe the world is full of monsters.

A healthy amount of fear is a good thing. Our ancestors survived because they knew when to hide from the terrifying things lurking in the dark.

But, in excess, it becomes a paralytic. It keeps us from becoming our best selves, from building better communities, or even from getting out of bed.

Everyone faces fear differently, but the best strategies involve taking action and finding allies. It is easier to be brave when you’re doing something, and when you’re doing it with others.

We are so happy that our little shop has become a tiny seed crystal for community building. We’re also proud that contacts made in the shop allowed the all-star local defense firm of Mayer Law to take the case of one of the Roebling Bridge defendants pro bono, and get their spurious felony charge dismissed.

Many thanks to The Art of Rain who provided us with this painting of our basement. It illustrates why our stocking sometimes takes longer than expected, and why we’re getting better at facing our fears.

July 25 2025

Take Care of Each Other

Augur Uncategorized

The Small Things Matter

Successful relationships are built on daily respect – sharing labor, listening, and compromising. This isn’t glamorous, but without it all the dramatic performances of affection are just that, performances.

Which isn’t to say that memorable displays don’t matter. It’s good to have stories years later about the Christmas car with a bow on it, or the proposal on an exotic beach.

The parts of our relationship that we love the most, however, are the things that sit between these extremes – the fun parts that aren’t work, but that don’t require months of preparation or a loan.

We’re talking about small presents, weekend trips, going for walks, and spontaneous romantic date nights.

The summer is always a challenging time at Augur’s day job, and to cheer him up, Coil made him an arrangement of grocery store roses (in a coffin tiki mug, naturally).

A small gesture now and again makes all the difference in the world.

Our advice for this week? Take half an hour out of one of your days to do something thoughtful for someone you care about.