o, who are we anyway? The Little Mysteries crew are Sandra and Vanessa Smith, a mother / daughter team, joined by another daughter/sister, Amanda. We are experienced and knowledgeable in the areas of Earth-based spirituality, Celtic topics, stones and crystals, tarot, aromatherapy, and more. Vanessa has been involved in the local Pagan community since 1990. She offers classes on the practice of Wicca and Pagan spirituality and has been interviewed on the subject for radio, newspaper, and television. Amanda is our stone and crystal buyer and general stone enthusiast in the store.
Our name is a nod to the everyday sacred. Too often we spend our time looking for the BIG Mystery and lose track of the little mysteries that bless us daily: a good friend's laugh, the smell of baking bread, or the first snowfall of the year. Our logo is the White Horse of Uffington, a giant hill figure carved into the chalk hillside in England. The image is thought to depict the Goddess Epona in Her guise of a white horse.
The store opened for business on April 1, 1995 in historic downtown Halifax, just down the street from our current home, pictured above. Our goal and dream was to provide resources and supplies for the growing alternative spirituality and personal growth community in the Atlantic region and to offer accurate information on modern day Paganism to the general public. As well, we planned to serve the local holistic health community as interest in alternative forms of healing increased.
We moved to our current space in March of 1998, which allowed us to expand our book selection and add some wonderful new lines. In April of 2005, we celebrated the store's tenth birthday. That year, we also co-hosted a workshop on Celtic Shamanism with author and teacher, Tom Cowan. Since then, we've had booksigning and author events with Dr. Brendan Myers and Dr. Shelley Rabinovitch, as well as Dr. John Demartini (one of the visionary speakers in the movie, The Secret), John Chambers (Victor Hugo's Conversations with the Spirit World), and Tadao Yamaguchi (Light on the Origins of Reiki), and hosted the official book launches for both of Karen Forrest's books, Angels of the Maritimes and Canadian Angels.
We currently offer a wide selection of books on areas ranging from Earth-based spiritual practices (Wicca, Paganism, Druidism, Shamanism) to divination (tarot, runes, palmistry, astrology) to history and mythology (Celtic, Northern Europe, Egypt) to personal growth and spiritual healing (all your favourites like Eckhart Tolle, Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, and Caroline Myss, plus books on journaling, abundance, and angels) to complementary health and healing (Reiki, chakras, aromatherapy, herbalism). You'll also find variety of sacred tools and statuary, plus beautiful music, unique Celtic and Goddess jewellery, incense and oils, stones, crystals and many other treasures.
When you stop by our store, take your time and browse the aisles, chat with our friendly and knowledgeable staff, or have a tarot or psychic reading with one of our professional readers.
If you can't make it to Halifax to visit in person, we do offer mail order to almost anywhere! Drop us a line and let us know what you're searching for - we may just have it on the shelves! Our quarterly newsletter Silver Horse also covers great new products and books plus useful information on topics near and dear to our customers.
