The Cart at the Crossroads

The Cart at the Crossroads When the world seems dark, when your needs exceed your resource, meet us at the Crossroads; where your life is put back into your own hands...

The bindery has been busy once again! Three new handmade leather bound grimoires now available for purchase! Each grimoi...
07/09/2025

The bindery has been busy once again! Three new handmade leather bound grimoires now available for purchase! Each grimoire is handbound with goat leather, including approximately 180 sheets (360 front and back) of high quality paper that takes both ink and pencil very well. Each book measures around 9 inches tall and 6 inches wide when closed. Perfect for a small grimoire or journal. We have two with designs (one featuring the classic elements, bound in a soft green leather and one featuring a traditional pentacle in a soft black goat leather) and one with simple embellishments along the spine that allows for a more discreet but elegant look. Only one available currently of each design, priced between $125-$135.

Check out our Etsy page for purchase options!

https://cartatthecrossroad.etsy.com/listing/4332742931

https://cartatthecrossroad.etsy.com/listing/4332748415

https://cartatthecrossroad.etsy.com/listing/4332753246

Sticking with our medieval magic themes, this week we’ve also finished bottling a whole line of magical botanical inks. ...
07/11/2024

Sticking with our medieval magic themes, this week we’ve also finished bottling a whole line of magical botanical inks. Two recipes, our Dragons Blood Ink and Iron Gall Ink, both come directly from medieval recipes, while our Beet Root and Onion Skin inks are based on similar root ink recipes from the same period.

Dragons Blood Ink is well known for its usefulness with empowerment and speeding magic along to its destination. A popular choice for various Hoodoo tricks and name papers.

Iron Gall Ink is one of the earliest recorded inks across much of Europe. Our recipe uses the same methods and ingredients as a recipe recorded in the 1400s, though its use goes back at least to the 4th century. Made with Iron, this ink is powerful for works of protection and warding.

Our Beet Root Ink is such a vibrant purple-red and stands out on a page so beautifully. Both it and the more subtle brown ink of our Onion Skin Ink are rich in earthy magic.

The quiet alchemy of transmuting botanicals to inks is so satisfying and calming, and making these inks has been such a pleasure. Seeing them turn into words and pictures on a page is even more satisfying, as their subtle scents drift up to the nose and the colors dry and change…

Two Handbound Grimoires available! Each handmade with 144 sheets of high quality paper (great for inks, pencils, and lig...
07/08/2024

Two Handbound Grimoires available!

Each handmade with 144 sheets of high quality paper (great for inks, pencils, and light paints) for a total of 288 pages of blank space. Both are covered in soft goats leather. The first, a rich brown, with a 16th century protective sigil found in Reginald Scot’s “Discoverie of Witchcraft”. The second is bound in a beautiful gray, and in the first in a series of grimoires made with silhouettes based on famous occult woodcuts. This silhouette is based on the woodcut found in the 1720 printing of “The History of Witches and Wizards”, and depicts a group of Witches presenting wax dolls to the Devil. Inside the front and back cover you will find a copy of the original woodcut in its entirety. Each book measures 9in by 6in, a perfect size for a nice, discrete grimoire.

We are so excited and proud of these books, as binding has been a goal for decades, and now that we’ve found a good space to work and create, our ideas can flourish. Both books are available for purchase on our Etsy shop! Grab them while you can, there’s only one of each!

Working with both hands is a crucial part of both the Traditional/Folkloric path and American Hoodoo, and as more practi...
05/20/2024

Working with both hands is a crucial part of both the Traditional/Folkloric path and American Hoodoo, and as more practitioners come to terms with such things, it’s important to know our own boundaries as we confront those who make a habit of crossing them… is shattering a bottle of War Water against your rivals front door your go to? Is a poppet full of pins appropriate for the punk who picked on your PowerPoint?

https://thecartatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/2024/05/19/war-water-sounds-a-little-extreme-do-you-maybe-have-passive-aggressive-water-instead/

Being back in the south always warms my heart, and even after all these years there are still magical places to explore....
05/19/2024

Being back in the south always warms my heart, and even after all these years there are still magical places to explore. This week, our destination was Rock City, which might ring a bell for fans of the book American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Some of the more man made points of interest were kitschy for sure but damn were they fun, and the natural features, I have no words.

It has always been my assertion that first and foremost, Witchcraft is the tool of the oppressed. The choice we make whe...
05/10/2024

It has always been my assertion that first and foremost, Witchcraft is the tool of the oppressed. The choice we make when we have no choice. Why do we turn to Witchcraft? Are we drawn to it, or do we have it thrust upon us out of circumstance? Drawing on the works of contemporary authors like Gemma Gary, Emma Wilby, and A.D. Mercer, as well as historic accounts, we can explore those who are called to the craft and those who come calling…

https://thecartatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/2024/05/10/the-called-and-the-calling/

For some, it’s hard to understand who and what we are in the grand scheme of the world. Among magic practitioners, title...
05/03/2024

For some, it’s hard to understand who and what we are in the grand scheme of the world. Among magic practitioners, titles and labels tend to be a difficult subject, as the definitions of such things are so ever-changing. Modern pop culture has co-opted many of those terms too, just adding to the confusion and misinformation. So, how do we decide how to describe ourselves? What words do we choose to help others understand our practices and beliefs? Let’s talk about it…

https://thecartatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/2024/05/03/arent-they-just-called-wiccans-now/

Is that a coven of dark haired feral hags, circled up on this warmest of MayDays? A hidden circle of dark stones erected...
05/01/2024

Is that a coven of dark haired feral hags, circled up on this warmest of MayDays? A hidden circle of dark stones erected in the middle of our beautifully humid Georgia forest? Or just the most beautiful specimen of Stemonitis I’ve ever seen in my life?

The correct answer is Stemonitis, a breed of slime mold, but good gods have you ever seen something so beautiful?

Just like me, Penny never misses a chance to slip into a stream whenever possible, letting the water carry us into a new...
05/01/2024

Just like me, Penny never misses a chance to slip into a stream whenever possible, letting the water carry us into a new season of growth and change.

“Carry away my dead leaves
Let me baptize my soul with the help of your waters
Sink my pains and complains
Let the river take them, river drown them
My ego and my blame
Let me baptize my soul with the help of your waters
Those all means are so ashamed
Let the river take them, river drown them”

-Lisa Kainde Diaz, Naomi Diaz, Eric Sterling Collins

🌻

For seven years now, the Cart at the Crossroads has been chasing folk magic practices across the country, living and wor...
05/01/2024

For seven years now, the Cart at the Crossroads has been chasing folk magic practices across the country, living and working with the land in dozens of states and town from coast to coast. As we have moved from point to point, it has become increasingly common for us to celebrate the seasons in ways that make sense for where we are at rather than what we have read in books or done in previous circles and groups, leading us to question, how do we really celebrate seasonal shifts in such a fluid and changing landscape? How did these celebrations look to those we have adopted them from, and how do we apply it to a practice that relies on understanding the differences in our regional environments? Let’s explore the topic together…

https://thecartatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/2024/04/25/if-youre-not-moving-cattle-to-another-field-are-you-even-celebrating-beltane/

One of my favorite things in the world is looking up at the moon through the trees of my warm, damp southern forests, bu...
02/25/2024

One of my favorite things in the world is looking up at the moon through the trees of my warm, damp southern forests, but there’s certainly something to be said for a landscape that is so incredibly different. Here in the desert, the moon shines even more brightly when it is full. With no tree canopy to filter her light, even the smallest plants cast a shadow when her beams shine down past the clouds, and in the dead of night you can still see the mountains from miles away. As the pup and I took our final walkabout before winding down, I couldn’t help but stare up at the silver lady in the sky, listening to the chirping of bats just beyond the wash, and thinking on friends who would have loved to hear them too…
•
•
•
•
•

Address

Charlotte, NC

Telephone

+17044029900

Website

https://cartatthecrossroad.etsy.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Cart at the Crossroads posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Cart at the Crossroads:

Shortcuts

Share