where to buy crystals and tarot in san francisco or LA?

frac_ture

she is traveling , she has now left san francisco.
she is going to : monterey, santa maria, sherman oaks and las vegas.

please help!

i have been searching not finding anything.
do you know what frases to use when i search?


When I visit some other city and want to visit these kinds of shops, I'll do searches using keywords like "(name of city) occult metaphysical crystals Tarot" -- that usually turns up a few possible candidates. Punching the same words into Yelp can also yield some good results.

I can't be of much help with respect to Monterey, Santa Maria, or Vegas, but Sherman Oaks I can do...

First, there's a long-standing shop right in Sherman Oaks called The Psychic Eye. It's been around for quite a few years, but a word of caution: lots of people remark that they don't love the energy there, and I kind of see why. They seem to neglect their stock, and shelves will stay fairly empty for quite a long while before they reorder new goods to fill them. They also have a lot of things like statuary (figurines and such), big items such as swords and cauldrons, jewelry, and prepackaged incense and candles, but they don't have much on hand in the way of crystals, Tarot decks, or books (a little bit of each, but not very much, and I never found their crystals to be remarkable at all). Still, it's been there for a long time, and it's right in Sherman Oaks, so it might be worth a visit.

About five miles away, in North Hollywood, is The Green Man, which would probably be a better fit for what your sister is seeking. They have an apothecary section in the store where they make their own incense and powders and oils, they have cool statuary stuff, and more on point, they have lots of lovely crystals, and more Tarot decks than The Psychic Eye does (although still not a massive selection of those). Probably a good place for your sister to look for crystals.

Moving farther out, also worth a visit if her time allows:

Panpipes -- very small shop, but just over the hill in the heart of Hollywood, and also one of the oldest such shops around. Like The Psychic Eye, this shop will elicit complaints about how it has "dark energy," and quite a few people have told me it's been closed when it should have been open, although I never had that problem. They don't have a ton of stock when it comes to Tarot decks, and their crystals are kind of hit or miss for me -- some very so-so stuff, but with occasional great finds sprinkled throughout. This place also has an apothecary section, and they make incense, oils, and I think candles there.

The House of Intuition -- over in Silver Lake/Echo Park, they have a smallish selection of Tarot decks, but a very good assortment of beautiful crystals. I go there a lot when looking for stones...

The Crystal Matrix -- a little farther still, but in the same direction, this shop over in Atwater Village also has really beautiful crystals. Totally worth a trip just for that, although they have virtually no Tarot decks for sale beyond maybe the Rider-Waite, which any shop would have.

The Alexandria II -- and yet even more of a drive, this place in Pasadena might be the best option if your sister can only make one stop or is really pressed for time. I say that because they have a pretty good selection of crystals (some small tumblestones in bins, but also some nicer, larger, more noteworthy stuff in locked cases), some nice statuary stuff, and also a lot more books than the places listed above, and probably the best assortment of Tarot decks on hand in the whole LA area. If she can get out to Pasadena and has time, this could be a good choice.

Mystic Journey -- everything else I listed above was moving from Sherman Oaks to the east, inland...Mystic Journey is in the other direction, in the Santa Monica/Venice part of town, right by the ocean. It probably wouldn't be too easy or practical to try to hit this shop and a bunch of the others in the same day, but it's similar to Alexandria II in that they're maybe the most "mainstream" ones on this list, and it offers lots of books, some jewelry, a pretty fair array of crystals, and the second biggest collection of Tarot decks around here, behind only the Alexandria II (although they're not arranged too helpfully in Mystic Journey -- non-alphabetized bunches of them in a few different parts of the store means some diligent browsing is required to see everything...in contrast, Alexandria II keeps theirs helpfully alphabetized in one big section).

...and that's all the info I got! I hope that helps your sister. :)


ETA: I forgot to mention: Mystic Journey just moved a few blocks away from its original location, so if your sister wants to go there, she should definitely look at the website and be sure to take down the new address. I think it's only a move of a couple of blocks, so not a huge deal, but she'll want to get the proper location...
 

wildchilde

Hi Storm82!
Wow, that is quite a trip your sister is on. Don't know how she has time to visit all these crystal and metaphysical stores along the way! :)

frac_ture, I wish I had known about all those shops when I was in LA! I had a heck of a time finding anything decent there. I remember though once going to a place in Woodland Hills called the Native Spirit Lodge on Ventura Blvd (right off the 101) that had a lot of crystals. As you noted though, a lot of those shops in LA do not have very positive energy, and (at least to me) this was one of them. I never went back. There are also several shops in Long Beach (south of LA) but I haven't visited them and it may be too far out of the way for your sister depending on her trip itinerary.

I live in the Pismo Beach area near Santa Maria and that town doesn't have anything that I am aware of...there is a crystal shop in downtown San Luis Obispo (north of Santa Maria) called Unique Selections. I think their prices are a bit high, and not the greatest selection but it is a dedicated crystal shop and it's better than nothing. There is also a tiny new age store in Halcyon (again, North of Santa Maria), called of course The Halcyon Store. They have a small selection of tarot decks and crystals.

Here is a directory link of metaphysical stores with addresses that might be helpful for your sister:

http://www.newagedirectory.com/dir/cameta.htm

Would be happy to meet your sister on her way through if she wants! Sounds like a fun trip!
 

frac_ture

frac_ture, I wish I had known about all those shops when I was in LA! I had a heck of a time finding anything decent there. I remember though once going to a place in Woodland Hills called the Native Spirit Lodge on Ventura Blvd (right off the 101) that had a lot of crystals. As you noted though, a lot of those shops in LA do not have very positive energy, and (at least to me) this was one of them. I never went back.

wildchilde, i've never been to the place you mention here, but it sounds like maybe I don't need to make that a high priority!

LA does have some decent shops, although my favorite, the Bodhi Tree, closed almost a year and a half ago, and I think the city is much the poorer for its absence! If you visit here again, you can maybe check out my list before making plans, and you can drop me a line if you want fresh intel, too, as I definitely try to keep up on these places.

The "bad energy" thing is weird: it's very subjective (what puts me off might not bother you, and vice versa), it's often hard to put into words, and it can even vary in a single place from one visit to the next...but it can definitely be a factor! For me, there's just something about The Psychic Eye, for example, that I don't love, and I've gotten that feeling every time I've been there. It's not a horrible thing, but I basically will go to one of the other shops every time out of the gate...