Catland, A Dark and Mystical Wonderland
In an unassuming and dark space along Flushing Ave in Bushwick lies Catland Books. “Brooklyn’s favorite witch shop” is bleak and crammed. Its black facade looks like it came straight out of an episode of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Inside, the walls are lined with grimoires and tarot cards and all the essentials to cast a hex on anyone you desire. There are incense and prayer candles, herbs and oils, and classes promising to teach everything from beginner’s witchcraft to demonology.
Catland opened in 2013 as a place to bring together the enchanted. The vibe within the dark walls of the occult favorite shop is magickal and intellectual. Magick is not a typo, but instead the way to separate performance magic from the harnessing of power and energies.The shop’s adjoining garage-esque event space is used for teachings, events, and marketplaces. Here practitioners can partake in rituals and conjurings of ancient gods, goddesses, spirits, and saints. And, if you are feeling devilish, you can join the coven at one of their upcoming events. With Halloween on the horizon, Catland and their followers are meeting within the wicked shop to celebrate on the eve of the holiday.
“It is in the darkness that we may engage with the true witch in each of us: the heretic, the bastard, the whore and the criminal. It is through the taboo and the forbidden that each of us may find our way to the root of ourselves, challenging and confronting that which holds us back.”
All Hallow’s Eve—or Halloween, for those less aware of the pagan holiday’s origins—is rooted in the ancient Gaelic festival Samhain. It is believed that on this night the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead are at their thinnest. And with that the eve before Halloween quickly became associated with mischief and mayhem, as the beckoning of Devil’s Night.
The ritual performed at Catland on October 30th marks the celebration of witches and their long forbidden practices. Reveling in their ritual, those who choose to attend can join the witches for a night of dancing with the Devil. And for those less adventurous, stop by the shop on any day and get a peak inside the dark and mystical wonderland of Catland Books.