So, I came across this article recently about one couple’s experience trying to shop at black-owned businesses for a year, to support their community. While the discussion around it devolved a bit, as is prone to happening on the internet, it brought up some really interesting ideas for me, about supporting one’s community.

I know that I try to support local business, women-owned businesses, and indie crafters if possible. It’s hard sometimes–not so much the actual buying of things there, but trying to explain it to others. That, no, I really would wait a while longer and pay $30 for a butter dish from a potter on Etsy than go to World Market and buy one for $5. It’s also been a battle sometimes for me, to break away from what my parents insist are necessities and things I should buy cheaply so I have them right away, and what actually are necessities–usually, it turns out there are far fewer things I actually need than I’ve been raised to think I do.

Anyway. The point of this, is that the article sparked an idea in me. What about buying pagan? The pagan community isn’t always the most visible community, and while I’d love to support pagan-owned and pagan-friendly businesses, sometimes it’s kind of hard to recognize them outside of your local metaphysical shop. And a quick glance around the internet tells me that no one seems to have embarked on this in a comprehensive way.

So, what I’d like to do is ask you, internet, to help me out! My plan is to collect a list of pagan-owned and pagan-friendly (either in their support of their employees or the community) businesses to make available for people who would like to make an effort to support this community. Obviously, this will include a lot of pagan suppliers, but I also want to make an effort to have more mundane stores (from bookstores to grocery stores to accountants).

If you are a pagan business owner, or know of one who would like to be included, leave a comment or send an email to quirkyknitgirl@gmail.com. And please, feel free to re-blog, Tweet, or whatever this!