Enchantments is full to the brim with two floors of magical items. (Suzi Thayer photo)
Boothbay Harbor has been through a lot of changes over the last 30 years, and businesses have come and gone. Enchantments, at 10 Boothbay House Hill Road, has been around for all those years, and many loyal customers return year after year.
Marilyn Gewacke, from just outside Albany, N.Y., makes the five-hour trek to Boothbay Harbor twice a year with her friends, Diane Saunders and Jen Westacott, for the seafood and fresh ocean air. But if not for their favorite shop, Enchantments, they might go to some other coastal Maine town.
Gewacke said she and her friends love Boothbay Harbor, but the main reason they come is to shop at Enchantments and visit with the owner, Bill Kirby, and his business partner, Hunter DeGarmo.
“When we enter Enchantments, it’s like a magical world,” Gewacke said. “And Bill and Hunter are the most gracious owners of a store I’ve ever known.”
Hard-to-find crystals abound at Enchantments. (Suzi Thayer photo)
To anyone who isn’t familiar with the store, Enchantments might seem like a place for people only interested in metaphysical things, like crystals and tarot. But Gewacke, a psychologist, said it’s much more than that. “I come from a scientific background,” she said. “Diane is a social worker and yoga teacher, and Jen is a nurse and massage therapist. We’re grounded.”
“We always go to Boothbay Harbor for a long weekend, and spend three or four hours there on both Saturday and Sunday,” Gewacke said. “We love the merchandise, and the spirit of the shop. There’s so much breadth and depth to it.”
Kirby, originally from New Hope, Penn., opened his store in 1988, in the building next door. The wide open space Enchantments now occupies was originally a dinner theater.
“I sat in here one day watching ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ with some friends, and said, ‘One day this will be Enchantments.’ We all laughed,” Kirby said.
Raised Southern Baptist, Kirby said he was always hungry to learn about metaphysics. “I’ve been fascinated with crystals since I was a little kid, and I always felt energy from them,” he said. “I knew there was something there. Then I started getting into tarot.”
Enchantments carries over 400 different types of tarot decks. Kirby said a common belief about tarot – that it will tell one’s future – is a misconception. “What tarot does is, when you shuffle the cards and lay them out, you stop time,” Kirby said. “The cards show you the path you’re on, and the direction you’re headed. Period.”
Shoppers see lifelike statues and cutouts, like this one of Saruman, when they round a corner at Enchantments. (Suzi Thayer photo)
He said this clarity can give someone the insight to change their course, if desired. He found the direction to make his move to Maine through tarot cards.
Along with the tarot cards and literature, the shop features an endless array of healing crystals, jewelry, clothing, rare sculptures, tapestries, candles, handbags, all manner of magical gift items, limited edition statues and figures, Buddhist statues and books, and metaphysical books and supplies. Meditation classes are held in a spot on the second floor.
“I’m a jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” Kirby said. “I know something about Wicca, crystals, tarot, and everything we sell, but those are only a part of my life.”
Kirby defined Wicca as the study of herbs, learning to focus one’s direction on something desired, and intensifying it with certain herbs and crystals.
There’s a section in Enchantments dedicated to Alcoholics Anonymous recovery: coins and literature. At one point in his life, Kirby was drinking heavily. He said the organization saved his life.
Kirby said he’s noticed a change in people’s perceptions of his shop over the years.
“When I first opened, in 1988, people would walk in, and turn around and run out,” he said. “That’s really changed. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people and explaining what I do.
“Now people come in looking for answers. There’s healing of all kinds here: mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional.”
“Bill has esoteric crystals that aren’t easy to find,” Gewacke said. “We know every crystal shop in the Northeast, and Enchantments is the best by far. When we walk in, we feel like we walk through a portal into a different dimension.”
Magical gifts, like the star light, are scattered throughout the shop. (Suzi Thayer photo)
Kirby said he’s grateful for the support of people from away, like Gewacke and her friends, but also for his local following.
“My heartfelt gratitude goes to the local folk who come and support Enchantments during the offseason, which includes those long, bitter, cold months of winter,” he said.
“We post many items for sale on eBay and various online avenues, but to keep up with heating bills and all the other expenses of keeping the store open year-round, it’s our Maine support that enables us to do so,” Kirby said. “Summers keep me in business, but it’s the winter support that allows us to not close our doors offseason.”
Enchantments is open seven days a week. For more information, call 380-6899 or find the shop on Facebook.
