Future appears bright for witches' store

Redford Observer, May 4, 1997 (enlarge)

In the next post Gundella delves into ESP which contains a story about the Titanic and a novel which was published 14 years before the fateful incident which seemingly predicted it. 

In this article Observer staff write LeAnne Rogers was reading the tea leaves all wrong concerning Gundella's daughter Veronica's venture into business under the moniker Gundella's Witch Ways and Wares. Not that one would ever suspect that she would be murdered and by her witch husband on Halloween to boot but her future turned out to be anything but bright. While I refuse to cover the murder in detail because it's a pointless enterprise into Gundella's psyche and legend, it is still a matter of fact and public record and will be left in that manner out of respect for those it gravely affected. 

As for the store, it carried the normal slew of book titles including The Witches Bible, How to Use a Ouija Board, The Magic of Herbs, and Easy Astral Projection among many others. "Other merchandise" ranged "from candles and incense to crystal balls, Tarot cards, chalices and wishing pyramids."

The store was located on Middlebelt south of Maplewood in Garden City in an old meat market store. The front window display showcased Gundella's table, crystal ball, iron cauldron, books and a photo of the great witch in a bubble-bath holding up a glass.

Veronica traveled with her mother when she was younger and began doing readings a year after Gundella's death in 1993. What she lacked was Gundella's ambition to spread her witchy ways across the state and beyond, preferring to stay local. The store was the perfect vehicle for such an endeavor. Unfortunately, it lead to both controversy and later a multi-faceted tragedy that changed the trajectory of numerous lives and snuffed out the protege of Gundella herself.