Witchcraft market in Lille hosted by local LGBT+ centre

A temporary witches’ market was organized this Saturday 3rd October at the LGBTI+ centre of Lille, “J’en suis j’y reste”. Different witches participated to present their natural, handicrafted and zero waste creations.

As Samhain, the most important celebration of the year for pagans, approaches, two witches decided to organize a temporary market based on their own handicrafts this Saturday 3rd October in Lille “Winniefred and I co-organized this event, we both make bewitched handicrafts and wanted to share our practice and religion with other witches” said Rachel who is a green witch and has been practising witchcraft for 13 years.

“I’ve started spontaneously by reading books about paganism, mythology, plants, then I started lucid dreaming, connecting with energies, elements, trying to communicate with spirits and I set up my first altar. Nowadays, I work with seasons, plants, ancestors and I have four altars for four of the Greco-Roman deities I worship such as Persephone, the Goddess of fertility and Queen of the Underworld” Rachel was selling spell kits, cartomancy services, plants, black salt and Mercure oil vials protected by runes.

Winniefred, a sea witch and co-organizer, was selling products such as recycled candles and soaps based on the flower language. Each of their creations had a particular magickal intention, based on their interpretation of flowers, to be used in rituals and spells.

The cherry blossom represents the present moment, the purple hyacinth represents calmness and the violet has a sapphic meaning nowadays but used to be the flower of death in France. “It’s rare nowadays but the flower language has been spoken in different eras and cultures. Especially in Britain during the Victorian era. Flowers were a real way of communicating at that time.”

Klaire, another witch owning a small aphotecary named “The Witch Hut”, was selling bath salts, enchanted mists and anointing oils for Samhain as well as natural cosmetic products.

At the end of the day, a prize draw was organized and 32 euros were collected for the LGBTI+ centre hosting the event. “We decided to host the market here because we wanted to please the community and gather with fellow witches in a discrete area” explained Rachel.