It’s happening, the holiday shopping season. Don’t worry, I’ll soon be publishing my Favorite Things list to help you select the best of the best for yourself or others, but today I want to highlight Small Business Saturday. I feel like it’s a tradition that was started by American Express Small Business, but for whatever reason, the Saturday after Thanksgiving is highlighted as a good time to hopefully support smaller businesses in your community. However, what if the small businesses in your area don’t carry that much in the way of witchy magical products? Don’t despair because I happen to spend some time on Etsy, and I have a handful of great Etsy shops for you to consider.
Obviously, it would be silly to not mention MY Etsy shop, TheMagicalBuffet. I am the smallest of the small businesses I’ll be highlighting in this article. I mainly craft talismans, but there’s other fun stuff to be found there.
Next up is probably the largest of the small businesses I’ll be writing about today, and that is SpookyDoodleClub. I love this shop! The artist has a spooky cute aesthetic that ends up as jewelry, hats, lighters, and more! I own multiple pairs of earrings from here!
If you want a little Jewish mysticism this holiday season, I’d direct you to Devotaj. The owner crafts adorable golems and cute stickers. One of her Nazar (Evil Eye) stickers is on my cell phone right now!
Here comes a one, two, three punch of talented professional artists who have set up Etsy stores to sell their art in a wide array of gift ideas.
First is albaillustration, home of Elisabeth Alba. Are you familiar with the “Everyday Witch Oracle” or “Everyday Witch Tarot”? Alba did all the artwork for those decks, along with a myriad of other witchy publications. You can purchase original artworks and even the paintings that became cards in those well-known decks!
JaneStarrWeils is a fantasy artist that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at a few events. Her beautiful artwork is on mugs, totes, stickers, and more.
The last artist is MickieMuellerStudio, the Etsy shop for Mickie Mueller. I feel like I don’t need to say anything more, but I will. Mueller has done the artwork for multiple tarot decks and illustrations for Llewellyn. She’s kind of a big deal. Buckle up because her Etsy shop has a nearly overwhelming variety of inventory.
And if you know anything about me, you know I’m going to make sure you know that my friend and author Deborah Blake has an Etsy shop! Go to deborahblake for signed copies of books and decks, adorable gift sets, and handmade jewelry. That’s right, she also makes jewelry.
I’m going to close this out with one shop that doesn’t do anything “witchy”, but I love his work. MichaelJoJewelry handmakes amazing jewelry by using parts from broken and/or unwanted jewelry. Some of his work is straightforward, however, you’ll also find some jaw dropping works of funky, chunky, awesomeness.
I try to shop more intentionally than I used to. To that end, I try to support my local independent businesses, after that, I’ll try to find independent crafters, and you know what? Sometimes you just buy someone a gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts. Do your best. Stay hydrated. Exhale.
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I am fortunate that I get offered the opportunity to review lots of books and decks. If you’re part of my Patreon, you’ve seen my reasoning behind some of the items I’ve chosen to review. When I was offered a copy of the deck “Cultivating Grace: Access Inner Peace, Clarity, and Joy on Your Spiritual Path” by Miranda Macpherson I accepted, and I could not tell you why. It didn’t look awful, but it also didn’t seem like something I would enjoy, and yet, I wanted to review it. I’m glad I did.
Each card features beautiful art by Anna Kuptsova and ideas to reflect on and practice. Macpherson’s appreciation of classic spiritual thought is obvious when reading the accompanying guidebook, and unlike some decks I highly recommend reading the guidebook as it offers much more than just card descriptions. Also, I just need to mention, you get the beautiful 64-card deck, which comes in a lovely fabric bag and a full-color 176-page guidebook, all in a compact, sturdy box for the suggested retail price of $18.99. That’s just shockingly reasonable.
The oracle deck we’re looking at today is wonderful, but also prompted some design questions on my part. Let’s look at the “Soul Helper Oracle” by Christine Arana Fader and illustrated by Elena Dudina. If Fader’s name sounds familiar it’s because you’ve seen it before on The Magical Buffet when I held 
The deck itself is 43 cards and the guidebook offers a 21-day cycle of working with the theme of a card to explore yourself. Each card has four companions to support your work with the message of each card: a crystal, a spirit animal, a number, and a plant essence. I love how the deck is geared towards self-discovery and that Fader offers ideas to support your work. The only question I have, is with such clear ideas in mind, and a capable illustrator rendering the cards, couldn’t the crystal, spirit animal, number, and plant be incorporated into the art of each card? (Each card has a number, some have the animal, some have crystal, and some have the plant.) As it is, you need to always refer to the guidebook to see those.
I had to say yes when offered the opportunity to review “Soul Cats Tarot” by Leeza Robertson with art by Adam Oehlers. I’m good friends with Deborah Blake, an author well known for her affection for cats. If she found out I had the opportunity to review a cat-based tarot deck and passed, well, she wouldn’t be angry, just disappointed. And here we are….
Leeza Robertson’s cat inspiration and Adam Oehlers artwork have created an evocative deck that should resonate with many tarot fans.
Why are animals such a popular subject for tarot and oracle decks? The most obvious reason is that animals are adorable, however Siolo Thompson, author and artist of “Winterseer Animal Oracle”, points out that animals have always been used as archetypes and personifications of the gods. Siolo Thompson took inspiration from Celtic, druid, and Norse belief systems to create the 54 card “Winter Seer Animal Oracle.” Thompson is a wonderful artist and illustrated all the cards herself. The “Winterseer Animal Companion” book is beautifully written and full of personal reflections and observations as well as folklore and legends.
I was intrigued when Watkins Publishing reached out to me about reviewing “The Inner Compass Deck” by Teal Swan. According to their press release “The Inner Compass Deck” is part of a “new, upcoming trend” of values decks. Decks like these are more about introspection than divination. However, even knowing this I was not mentally prepared for the deck, which is over 200 cards.
Most tarot/oracle decks talk about being used for introspection, however “The Inner Compass Deck” by Teal Swan is totally about introspection. If you’re ready to take a long look inside yourself, I HIGHLY recommend this deck.
It’s why I was delighted when a publicist reached out to me about “The Peaceful Protectors: Coloring Collection” by Real Weng. She is a freelance artist originally from Taiwan and she has created a beautiful coloring book based on Asian mythology. “The Peaceful Protectors” is 64 pages and features 15 mythical characters turned into 30 floral integrated unique coloring pages and an additional introduction page of the specific character with each image hand drawn by Real Weng.
There is no denying that this would be a fantastic holiday gift. You can learn more 
The list was put together by 
Okay, here’s the deal. I had NO intention of reviewing “Animal Love Oracle Cards” by Nadine Gordon-Taylor. Apparently in this instance I have the brain of a 12-year-old boy and the name kept making me smirk and/or chuckle like Beavis and Butthead. I’m not proud of it, but at least I’m honest. However, I took my time putting the box away, and with time I noticed the adorable cow in the corner of the cover. Eventually the cute cow wore me down and I cracked open the deck.
Gordon-Taylor has taken her research on animals in symbolism, religion, and global cultures and condensed it into wholesome, loving, positive messages from the animals to you. The animal selection is wonderful! You’ll find everyday critters, such as Chipmunk, Cat, and my friend Cow, less run of the mill creatures like Hippopotamus, Elephant, and Dolphin, and even the downright mythological! The deck is 52 full-color cards that like all oracle decks can be used in any way you want. Like I do with most oracle decks, I recommend and prefer the single card draw.
Wenman describes archangels as, “Angels of a high rank who assist humanity with our evolution by helping us to access the divine through our higher wisdom and knowledge. They differ to other angels, who solely help us with practical day-to-day things. The Archangels, along with the day-to-day, have more to with Ascension and the attainment of enlightenment.” She feels the interactive nature of an oracle deck is a great way to access them and their wisdom.
Anyone interested in working with angels and/or angelic energies would be well-served in purchasing “Archangel Fire Oracle” by Alexandra Wenman.