NPR Interviews Store Owner Haley Murphy
Atlanta Store Brings Witchcraft Out Of The Shadows
This post was originally published by Olivia Reingold on GBP News.
The paranormal is often in the shadows, but a new store in Atlanta brings witchcraft to the public. ATL Craft opened last month. It sells mini-cauldrons for the urban witch, handmade wands, plus "everything you need for your spell work." GPB Intern Olivia Reingold stopped by the shop to meet owner Haley Murphy.
Murphy, 29, opened the Atlanta-based store on Edgewood this March after 10 years of practicing witchcraft, but her interest in the supernatural first began when she was 11 and living in Macon, Georgia.
CREDIT STEPHANIE PHARR
Murphy described her childhood home as “haunted” and “teeming with all sorts of activity.” When she told her parents that she was seeing spirits, her mother reacted with fear and her father with anger. Her Southern Baptist parents raised her and her three brothers in a “very strict household” that forbid TV and alternative radio. This didn’t stop her at a very young age from tuning into Radio Disney and entering a talent contest, which she won. The prize - a Sabrina the Teenage Witch Psychic Phone - enticed her to call in and enter. When she found out she won, she couldn’t help but tell her church friends at a service that evening. Her parents knew by the end of the night.
“Not only was I not allowed to have the Sabrina Psychic Phone, but I was, you know, kind of in trouble,” she said.
Today, Murphy has created what she hopes will be the kind of safe space she never had as a kid, which is what ATL Craft means to Asheville, North Carolina native Jenni O’Shea.
O'Shea said she grew up going to stores that took advantage of witchcraft’s trendiness and gave her unreliable information.
“Sometimes you would go into a store and somebody would really know what they were doing, and then you could also find people who were very much so misguiding you and just making stuff up," O’Shea said.
She was therefore relieved when she moved to Atlanta and learned about ATL Craft.
“I was really excited to have this open up and have it be this very reliable source,” she said while shuffling a deck of tarot cards. “Having a space like this makes me feel very comfortable; it makes me feel safe.”
Haley Murphy’s altar, where she begins her morning rituals. She starts each day starts by burning sage and sometimes ringing the purple bell on her mantel.
CREDIT OLLIVIA REINGOLD
Creative Loafing Interviews ATL Craft Owner Haley Murphy
ATL Craft Brings Witchcraft to Edgewood
This article was originally published by Caroline Cox in Creative Loafing Atlanta.
From a young age, Haley Murphy recognized that she had what she refers to as “spiritual gifts.” Murphy’s the driving force behind ATL Craft, touted as Atlanta’s witchcraft store and community space. The new shop recently opened its doors on Edgewood Avenue in a shared retail space with artist/entrepreneur Grant Henry, owner of the elaborately named bar Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium.
Growing up Southern Baptist and being home-schooled the majority of her life, Murphy left home at 18 and embarked on her own mission of self-discovery, immersing herself in ancient literature and numerous walks of faith. “Nothing touched me like the ancient polytheistic pagan ways,” she explains.
After a stint performing and touring in the local (and now disbanded) music/performance art group the Back Pockets, she returned to honing and expanding her love of healing arts and magic. This led to her hosting teaching workshops and online discussions on subjects such as herbalism, science, ancient literature, spell work, astrology, magic, yoga and mysticism. Once she decided to start teaching out of her home, the response was so overwhelming that she knew she needed her own brick-and-mortar space. “[ATL Craft] was born out of anger and love for human rights, women’s rights, and the acknowledgment of our own power,” says Murphy. “It was made in the fire of the belly of the beast and plopped right down into the Old Fourth Ward.”
The shop will stock what Murphy calls “everything you need for spell work” — candles, oils, crystals, ritual bath supplies, meditation masks, jewelry and more, along with Henry’s signature Sister Louisa hats, mugs, stickers, shirts and paintings. “We are also supporting our local artists and healers by providing a space to share and sell their work,” Murphy says. “The space is not only used for retail but as a center for magical activism and learning within our community.” They’ll also sell wares from local artists and healers, including Julie Goedekke with Goodness Gracious, Kat Shaw from Herbalista, Orion Crook, Maddy Baretto, Trevor Howell, and Fossil and Hide.
“My dream is that the shop brings hope, laughter and education and unifies our community with our diverse classes and resources,” she adds. “It is so important, especially in these tumultuous times, that we come together and encourage each other in our strengths and support each other through our weaknesses. There are so many hopes and dreams for the future, and I suppose my greatest one is to educate and inspire those to make this world a better place.”
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