We’ve all been inside a beautifully decorated home that somehow feels cold and unwelcoming, despite the picture-perfect décor. Instead of exuding a feeling of hominess and hospitality, the space’s overwhelming vibe is that of a museum—lovely to look at, but you wouldn’t want to live there.
So what’s missing? It’s probably not a new set of throw pillows or a statement wall hanging. Maybe, the missing magic ingredient is just that: magic.
That’s the idea behind the book HausMagick: Transforming Your Home with Witchcraft, by Erica Feldmann, owner and head witch in charge at the beautiful Salem boutique HausWitch Home + Healing. “Where you live does have a profound effect on your overall energetic and psychic health,” Feldmann says. “You have the ability to influence the energy of your space, and influence, really, the energetics of your life by putting some intention into how you live at home.”
HausMagick is an instruction manual for doing just that. It gives readers practical, easy steps to infuse their homes with positive energy and create a sanctuary where they can relax and refresh in a way that feels true to them. “I want people to just feel like they are empowered to make their lives feel how they want them to feel,” Feldmann says.
HausMagick is a natural extension of Feldmann’s shop, HausWitch, a bright, sun-drenched boutique in the heart of downtown Salem that’s filled with clean lines, light wood, exposed brick, and beautiful handmade housewares, gifts, Salem souvenirs, and witchy goods. You’ll find cozy chunky-knit blankets, handmade art and pottery; crystals, incense, and candles; feminist books and zines; potions and tinctures; jewelry; magically charged natural cleaning products; and welcoming employees eager to answer your questions.
HausWitch’s offers an open-arms, community-fueled brand of witchcraft. At any given time there might be someone reading tarot at the front of the store, a vintage clothing pop-up shop, a new moon circle, an herbal workshop. Visit HausWitch in October and the store is packed with people longing to bring some of that magical, friendly aesthetic into their own homes and lives, something that Feldmann has been helping people do for years.
In fact, the store began as a blog that combined two of Feldmann’s loves: interior design and witchcraft. When friends saw the magic Feldmann worked decorating her own home (“If a space has hardwood floors and natural light, I can fix anything else,” she says), they clamored for her to redecorate their homes, too.
Eventually, she started selling home-focused spell kits—which are still among HausWitch’s most popular products—that contain tools like candles, incense, and mini cauldrons, crystals, and meditations to help users set a particular intention for the energy in their homes. After all, Feldmann writes in HausMagick, “A spell is a prayer with props.” There are kits to do things like create a cozy home, to cleanse and refresh, and seek protection and positivity.
“That was how HausWitch was born,” Feldmann says. “I had the idea that you could do these makeovers on people’s homes without a lot of money or a lot of resources and that it would be a sort of magical transformation.”
With HausMagick, Feldmann takes that idea a step further with in-depth, practical instruction, showing people that creating magic in their homes is easy and fun if they have the right intentions.
“This kind of stuff can actually be really accessible and you can really sort of work it into your everyday life in ways that maybe some people haven’t thought of before,” she says.
The book is broken into six main chapters—manifesting, clearing, protection, comfort, harmony, and balance—each of which includes instructions, guidance, and tools for bringing those elements into readers’ homes.
In the clearing section, for instance, you’ll find a KonMari-esque guide for clearing physical and energetic clutter that includes instructions for making a nice-smelling homemade sage room spray. In the chapter on comfort, there’s a recipe for a full moon chocolate zucchini cake, and the recommendation to “charge” the cocoa under the full moon “for an added lunar boost.” Feldmann says HausMagick may help readers “demystify the mystical,” and convince them to make space for magic in their lives.
“It’s just been a goal of mine to show people really how you can bring magic into your every day,” she says. “It’s not about dancing naked in the woods under a full moon—I mean sometimes it is, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be the way to set the intention of having good psychic boundaries.”
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