Fancy a 'Lust', 'Pheromones' or 'Sugar Daddy' essential oil that claims to titillate the libido? Or a 'Share Market' infused with mojo beans and horse chestnuts for good luck? 'Bend Over' claims to assist married women with domineering husbands to grow a spine. These bottled claimants prepared in-house, share shelf space with other Wiccan paraphernalia – statues and candles of angels, magical beings, couples, evil eye charms, altar tools like pentacles, chalices, cauldrons, bells and wands. Welcome to The Wiccan Shop, Mumbai's only haunt for an estimated 10,000 followers of the Neo pagan religious movement, Wicca or Pagan witchcraft that worships Mother Nature.
With a galaxy-themed facade and signboard listing services such as '...Tarot readings, Tea leaf readings, Wiccan spells, Wiccan healing…', the one-storey shop is a pop of colour in the otherwise nondescript Mahim neighbourhood. The space also holds the city's only publicly displayed Wiccan altar, where the idols of the Triple Wiccan goddesses and symbols congregate with those of the Virgin Mary, Ganpati, Radha and Krishna, the Quran as well as the crescent moon and star that symbolise Islam, plus an array of offerings – packets of chips, jewellery, sweets, photographs of loved ones, and more. It is this harmonious coexistence of faiths that all Wiccans adhere to, as reflected in the eight-word couplet of the Wiccan Rede: 'An it harm none, do what ye will', which basically means, do whatever you will, but harm none. "We don't break a branch, but only use a fallen twig to make a wands.
Wicca says do your duties to the religion you follow while integrating Wicca teachings in your life," says 30-year-old Angel Serrao, a Wiccan high priest and owner of The Wiccan Shop. He prepares the unique essential oils himself, provides a haven for the Wiccan community and is happy to talk endlessly about his coven. Wiccans, he says, use spells for protection, make affirmations to the universe with repetitive prayers, ask for signs from the universe, chose to speak little and listen more as they strongly think that words make or break you, prefer to exercise free will and believe in the concept of 'as you sow so shall you reap'.
"From Standard 2 onwards, I began seeing Goddess Kali in my dreams in all her ferocity, loose hair, and tongue rolling out. As a Christian I didn't know about her, I thought I was seeing the devil. I would sleep with a huge cross and wake up crying," recalls Serrao, explaining his foray into this mystical world. Later, he joined the seminary to become a Catholic priest, but couldn't feel the spirituality and left. It was walking into a Wiccan store in California at 18, where he had moved to study clinical psychology, changed his life. The tarot reader took one look at him and said "You have the goddess with you". Along with his academics, he trained under her to connect with his psychic abilities using Wiccan divination tools like tarot reading, water gazing, aura/face reading and casting spells. Initially, it took his parents some convincing – his father burnt his Book of Shadows that had Wicca religious texts and rituals. "I just prayed hard. One day, mom told me she had seen Goddess Kali in her dream. My parents now accept my beliefs."
Serrao, who is now pursuing a PhD, says he counsels with a cognitive approach using a combination of his psychology practice and his Wiccan learnings. In fact, the priestess at the store, Sonal, came to him as client. He claims to have seen it in the cards that her then boyfriend was dating four other women. That proved to be the case. He further predicted that the boy would turn vicious and stalk her "till I threatened to file a police complainant," says Sonal. In another case, the client was told to look after his father, with regard to the stomach and water intake, but the family didn't pay heed, and the patriarch passed away from a bout of jaundice. Serrao forewarned a Muslim woman that her husband was having an affair and intended to remarry; she didn't buy it, but a week later confirmed that Serrao was right. "A couple of us have predicted that 2018 will see an increased number of deaths from suicide, cancer or heart attack." Here's hoping this prediction doesn't ring true.
