Stepping inside Crow Curiosities is transportive. The storefront is a welcoming dark green, which continues as you enter the shop. Shelves groan with trinkets, curios, and ornaments. Tables are laden with spell materials and esoterica, and a serve-yourself spell ingredient display dominates one wall.

Towards the back of the surprisingly spacious shop is a large tea shelf, some comfy sofas, and a mismatched assortment of tables and chairs. It feels like stepping off the street and into a community living room, which is exactly what proprietor Lisa Lang wants.

“I’m not here to get rich,” she says with a laugh. “I hate money, I hate capitalism—I just want a space where people can get together. If I can pay my bills, that’s great. Everything else is about community.”

Image Credit: Ali Rees

Lisa’s interest in witchcraft began at fifteen, when a friend’s mum introduced her to a woman from Glastonbury who practised openly. “She piqued my interest,” Lisa says. “I was gifted a set of tarot cards, and I’ve always done tarot. But it’s only in the last five or six years that I’ve really delved into things.”

A major turning point came after she lost someone close to her. “Spirituality brought me a lot of comfort. It helped me through that grief, and now it’s just part of my life.”

Her professional background working in drug and alcohol services, homelessness support, and community education deepened Lisa’s desire to create a space where people could explore themselves, heal, and find companionship. Crow Curiosities became the natural next step.

From Humble Beginnings

Crow Curiosities began in a small unit inside Stirling Arcade, which was much loved and full of personality, but plagued by water ingress and damp. “We worked hard on the décor. People came in, but the footfall wasn’t great, and the damp was horrific,” Lisa says. “We were told repairs had been done, but they never were.”

Eventually, she decided to take a leap into a larger street-front space. It wasn’t just about escaping the damp. The shop’s witchcraft classes had grown so popular that people were sitting on the floor. Lisa wanted room not just for classes, but for other practitioners, visiting teachers, and the community she saw forming around the shop.

Image Credit: Ali Rees

Today, Crow Curiosities houses everything from tarot and witchcraft classes to massage therapy, Dungeons & Dragons nights, and soon, the sound baths that will occupy the renovated downstairs space.

For Lisa, none of this was part of a master plan. “Everything happens organically,” she says. “A lot of what we have now came from simple conversations with people we’ve met.”

Creating a Third Space

Walk into Crow Curiosities on any day and you might find a group chatting on the sofa, someone reading from the communal bookshelf, or a dog walker stopping in for a £1 cup of tea and a moment’s peace. Lisa has been intentional about making the shop a “third space” – a place outside of home and work where people can simply exist.

“Everywhere you go now, you have to pay to be there,” she says. “Libraries are closing. Community centres are expensive. I want this to be somewhere you can come, sit all day if you want, read a book, use the Wi-Fi, bring your dog. No judgement.”

Image Credit: Ali Rees

The sense of welcome has attracted a surprising range of people. “D&D isn’t that far from witchcraft,” Lisa jokes. “Players live in these imaginative worlds. It fits.” What ties everything together, whether it’s D&D, meditation, massage, or tarot, is, in her words, “self-care… feeding the soul.”

Breaking Down Misconceptions

Not everyone understands what Crow Curiosities is at first glance. “Occasionally an older person will walk in and say, ‘Oh no, this isn’t for me,’” Lisa says. “They still associate witchcraft with evil.”

She handles these moments gently, often reminding people that pagan traditions are centuries older than Christianity and that the concepts of “good” and “evil” aren’t as clear-cut as some believe.

Image Credit: Paul Hudson / Pexels

“I see things as dark and light. Everything is balance. We did used to get a lot of Mormons hanging around outside and asking me to go to church, but they don’t really bother anyone, we have a bit of a laugh together now.”

Running a Business with ADHD

Lisa talks openly about being a business owner with ADHD. “It’s terrifying,” she admits. “I always worry I’m doing something wrong with the rules and regulations. But I try my best, and if I mess up, I know I’ve done everything I can.”

Her ADHD, she says, also shapes the way she approaches witchcraft. “There’s always something new to learn. It feeds my ADHD in the best way possible. Never-ending curiosity.”

Learning, in fact, is built into the shop’s culture. “I don’t pretend to know everything. I love that people come in with ideas or things they want to learn. If I don’t know it, I go learn it, and we learn together. It’s all an exchange.”

Putting Down Roots and Establishing a Communal Future

Crow Curiosities has found its place alongside other independent Stirling businesses. Lisa speaks warmly of Luna’s, a local CBD – “I’m there every day for a Lion’s Mane coffee to help my ADHD, they come to a lot of the classes here”, and the many makers and practitioners who now use the space. The shelves are open for local creators to rent—cheaply and without commission. “We want to be a launch pad,” Lisa says. “If people grow out of here and move on, that’s great.”

Image Credit: Ali Rees

The downstairs renovation is ongoing and is being done mostly through DIY and family help. “It’s been quite the learning curve, but we’ve tried to do as much work on the shop ourselves as we can,” she says, smiling. “My uncle’s down there painting right now, my eldest son does my website for me. We’re just building a really good community. I love being here, and I love the people we’ve met along the way.”

A Place to Breathe

If there is one thing Lisa hopes people take with them when they leave Crow Curiosities, it’s a feeling.

“People walk in and go, ‘Oh…’” she mimics a deep exhale. “They relax. They feel calm. Even if they only come in once, I hope they leave with a sense of peace.”

For Lisa, the shop isn’t just a business. It’s a place she loves so much that she comes in on her days off. Customers become friends. Practitioners become collaborators.

At a time when community spaces are dwindling, Crow Curiosities has brought something vital and vibrant to Stirling City Centre, and with aspirations to continue adding classes and practitioners to the roster, paired with Lisa’s energy and desire to keep learning and building, Crow Curiosities is sure to keep growing and evolving, becoming a Stirling staple.

You can visit Crow Curiosities’ website here.

Featured Image Credit: Crow Curiosities & Co.