What makes Portland a great place to be a witch
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A wall of tarot card decks at Seagrape Apothecary. Photo: Meira Gebel/Axios
Spooky season may be ending, but for some Portlanders witchcraft and wizardry is a way of life — made simple by the city's open-mindedness to all forms of magic and an abundance of resources for those who practice it.
The big picture: Portland's occult community is diverse and vast. There are specialty shops focused on astrology, tarot and grimoires, plus regular workshops for how to create ritual altars or heal energies with herbs.
Between the lines: Witchcraft is not solely about summoning spirits or exorcizing demons, according to Iris Bell, the general manager of The Raven's Wing Magical Co-Op and decades-long practitioner of Wicca — a long-practiced religion focused on nature worship.
- "Almost any definition of witchcraft is going to hold some misconceptions in it because there's somebody else out there who does it differently," she tells Axios.
- For her, an inclusive definition of magic is "making change using the metaphysical forces and the tools you have in front of you."
Meanwhile, for Maria Vashakidze, witchcraft is self care — candle lighting, bathing, concocting perfumes and even bed making.
- It's "about cultivating a pleasurable life so I can show up to hold space for, and cultivate care in my communities," Vashakidze, who owns Seagrape Apothecary, said in an email.
The intrigue: Overlapping communities — like crusty punks who brew their own beer, knitters who weave spell-blessed wool and pagan clergy ordaining weddings — is why both Bell and Vashakidze believe Portland is a great place to be a witch.
- The city's widespread focus on social justice and mutual aid efforts also makes it "much easier to lean into magic and witchcraft when the city as a whole is working on cultivating radical care and acceptance," Vashakidze said.
Direct access to nature — including rivers, forests and mountains — is a plus, too, Bell says. "We have four different seasons, so that is a big help when you're trying to attune yourself to the natural world."
- And for those interested in ancestor worship, Portland's bounty of historical cemeteries (including Lone Fir, which is home to thousands of unmarked graves across more than 30 acres), is a good place to "go walk around and see who you meet," she adds.
- The acknowledgement of death is a core fundamental for many witches — some are even practicing death doulas.
What's happening: Right now, Portland's community of witches is growing. Steve Kinchen, owner of Dark Star Magick, a rare occult book store, has seen new interest in esoteric material from not only younger generations, like Gen Z, but older folks, too.
- Kinchen attributes the popularity growth to "rising uncertainty" because, he said, people tend to gravitate toward practices outside of tradition that make them feel powerful — a sentiment echoed by Bell.
- "If astrology and tarot is empowering, and makes you feel powerful, you're a witch," she says.