From a business perspective, Dragon’s Paradox, a Contoocook gift shop specializing in metaphysical items, is not a rousing success after its first 10 months. On a good day, the store gets three customers, said owner KaLea Thoits. But for Thoits, 31, finances are secondary - to her, the store represents the fulfillment of part of her spiritual journey as a witch.

“I don’t consider it a success or a failure based on how many customers I have,” she said. “It’s a success because I made it, because it’s here. Anything above that is a bonus.”

Tucked away in a barn next to her home on Burnham Intervale Road, Dragon’s Paradox is an out-of-the-way haven. A pellet stove with a burning fire heats the room and folksy music plays in the background. A deck of purple “fairy affirmation cards” offering messages like “never give in” is spread out on a table and a rug with a pentacle lies near the door. A bookshelf holds titles like Ecstatic Dance and Develop Your Psychic Skills. Most gifts, from jewelry to paintings, are handmade by Thoits, her husband or others she met in the pagan community.

But although many of the shop’s wares cater to a pagan or Wiccan clientele, Thoits stresses that it is not exclusive. Smooth, colored crystals can be used for healing or meditation, but Thoits bought some of them just because she liked their look. Wands of maple wood or cherry wood, carved by her husband, Chuck, a builder and carpenter, are on sale for between $8 and $175.

“They can be used for ceremony and ritual, or to hang them on a wall because they look cool,” Thoits said. The 6-foot staffs Chuck Thoits carves, which cost $75 for a plain wood stick or $125 for one with delicate stones and a dreamcatcher on top, can also be used either for ceremonies or for a hike in the woods.

Thoits, who makes the shop’s jewelry, has even made rosary beads, so crosses hang near healing herbs and incense. Recently, she started crafting necklaces and bracelets out of freshwater pearls. Ranging in price from about $13 to $150, her creations are unique - one features yellow and green round pearls interspersed with purple squares.
“The store’s eclectic, you never know what I’m going to have,” Thoits said. “When it started, I wanted a metaphysical shop, but it became a shop of cool things.” For example, her husband insisted the store needed a full suit of armor, although, she said, he was upset that the suit fit the blacksmith and not him.

Thoits first imagined opening her own store when she was around 19 years old and started learning about Wicca. She was always interested in the subject - as a child, her answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was always “a witch.” She said she would play with her mother’s tarot cards and Ouija board, and always felt she had strong intuition and a connection with nature.

But at 19, she started meeting Wiccan friends, celebrating holidays, and reading about the practice. She also started shopping in metaphysical stores. “I felt the majority of metaphysical, new age, witch shops had all the same thing,” she said. “I wanted to have my own stuff.”

At 22, Thoits was living in Dublin with the father of her three children. She still dreamed of opening a store, but said it was not the right time or place. They eventually split up, and she began drifting away from Wicca and developing her own philosophy. “Part of being a witch for me is trying to live a life of balance, taking responsibility for everything I do, trying to teach my children to do the same,” she said.

In October 2003, she met Chuck and in April 2004 moved to Hopkinton. “He took my dream of a store and ran with it,” she said. She started making jewelry; he carved knife handles, boxes and wands. They opened the store last March and began traveling to Renaissance fairs, buying and selling crafts, and connecting with artists and craftsmen. They are still expanding, building a stone circle between the house and the store to be used for fire circles and holiday celebrations.

Thoits has done little advertising, hoping that signs at the end of the road and word of mouth will be sufficient, although she knows the store is off the beaten path. But she said she is not nervous about staying in business, despite minimal traffic. She said, “This is what I want to do, so I did it.”

Dragon’s Paradox, at 67 Burnham Intervale Road in Contoocook, is open Monday through Friday from 11 to 6 and Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 4. The website is dragonsparadox.com.

Source: Concord Monitor

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