Tucked away in the hustle and bustle of Court Street, Imagicka has been a mystical facet of Downtown Binghamton, offering tarot readings and a decorative assortment of flowers, figurines, wind chimes, teas, herbs and incense, complete with ambient background music.

Opened in 2000, the crystal and spiritual shop has become a fixture in the Binghamton community, sponsoring last year’s LUMA Festival and hosting weekly Pagan meetings to foster connection with others who practice the religion.

“It is one of the most unique places,” said Robert Wandell ‘87, who co-owns the store with his wife, Kelly Stephens. “If I see this stuff at Walmart, I tend not to want to sell it here.”

Wandell earned an associate degree at SUNY Broome and a bachelor’s at Binghamton University in electrical engineering. While working at IBM as an engineer for 14 years, he sold handmade drums at music and Pagan festivals. He told Pipe Dream that his familiarity with drums stemmed from his father, who grew up in the Cattaraugus Reservation near Buffalo, New York.

Wanting more stability than festivals could offer, Wandell eventually opened Imagicka on 39 Court St. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Thursday, when it closes at 7 p.m., and Sundays, where it is closed all day. The interior features brick walls, a dark purple ceiling, hanging wind chimes and a corner for tarot readings.

Imagicka’s inventory includes a wall of herbs for tea and oil, spell jars, dream catchers, stuffed animals, spiritual figurines, candles and soaps, crystals, camping basics, stationery and a back wall of swords ranging from $70 to $200. For online orders, the store’s website offers assorted herbs, teas, stones, soaps, books and a variety of decorative and functional novelty items. Items range in price from $1 for small stones and upward of $1,000 for large amethyst geodes and crystals.

“The connection to nature, that’s very strong in this store, in Native American spirituality and pre-Christian European pagan spirituality,” Wandell said. “It’s decidedly very connected to that. That which is sacred is that which gives you life, and that which gives you life is the land.”

With the exception of individual tumbled stones, Wandell and Stephens select every piece by hand.

The two are the sole sponsors of the New York Faerie Festival, which is hosted on the last weekend of June in Ouaquaga, New York.

“Nature, magic, and the mythic arts are central themes of the NY Faerie Festival, and they are also central themes of Imagicka,” wrote Billy “Bardo” Thorpe, the festival’s executive director. “The two enterprises are thematically and aesthetically connected, which makes the association mutually rewarding and effective. Like all good sponsors, Imagicka promotes the festival year-round and is exactly the kind of place that attracts lovers of nature, of faeries, of magic, of lore.”

A day pass for the Faerie Festival is $25 for adults, $12 for a child 3 years of age or older and $1 for a younger child. Weekend and camping passes are more expensive.

Wandell told Pipe Dream that Imagicka’s customer base is predominantly female and that the store’s spiritual aura reflects a balance between femininity and masculinity. He shared that growing up with Native American mythos and later finding Paganism gave him an understanding of religion that appreciates the value of community and contains a mix of both feminine and masculine elements.

Imagicka gives the local community a space to explore themselves in ways they cannot discover by going online, Wandell said. The shop has a selection of books about civil and LGBTQ+ rights, Celtic and Norse culture, divine masculine and feminine figures, faeries and dragons and types of herbs.

“It is a way to escape the parts of reality that are comfortable — and to find some reality that is more comfortable,” said Wandell. “It’s about imagination, but it’s about reality too.”