Richard Carter of Mystical Moments who sells magic wands in Huddersfield but has banned Harry Potter fans Credit: Ben Lack Photography Ltd.
Okay…might want to pad your desk or start some eyeroll protection here.
A shop which makes magic wands for real life witches and wizards has been blasted by Harry Potter fans for refusing to serve them. The business, called Mystical Moments, is making a name for itself in the wizarding world by supplying wands to cast healing spells and charms for good luck.
But wand-maker Richard Carter says he is selling “spiritual tools” – not toys for young Muggles – and he is barring Hogwarts fans. The wands can be used to draw protective circles to ward off dark forces while owners meditate, bring them money, and help them find love. They can also be used to cure aches and pains and stress, speed a sick relative’s recovery or wish for happiness, courage or physical strength.
Local mystic Mr Carter, 57, spends whole days standing at his lathe in a trance lovingly crafting each wand and anointing them with oil. He says he does not know one end of a lathe from another and works while controlled by the spirits in his shop in Slaithwaite village, near Huddersfield.
He says all you need is faith in the product for it to work wonders – literally.
Riiiight. I’ve been around lathes. You definitely need to know one end from another, because if you don’t, that’s a good way to lose bits of your body you just might be fond of, and I doubt any spirit is overly concerned about that particular problem. Lathes aren’t exactly the cheapest tool around, either, but Mr. Carter just happens to have a tool he can’t use at all in his shop.
[…] In the few months the shop has been open, sandwiched between a church charity shop and shabby chic store on the village’s high street, it has attracted sorcerers from all over the country. But Richard says he only wants to attract true believers in magic and can detect Hogwarts fans wanting his wands for their collections of memorabilia by their aura. He said: “JK Rowling has obviously done her research but Harry Potter is for children. It has done nothing for business.
“You wouldn’t believe how many real witches and wizards there are knocking about. You would be amazed. They know they can come here in reveal themselves without people thinking they’re mental. “I don’t have customers who have been Harry Potterfied. If I had someone come in wanting a wand just because they liked Harry Potter I would not sell them one, not matter how much money they were offering.
“I can tell what people are like when they walk in by their aura.” He would also spot dark wizards and witches the same way and will not sell wands to those wanting to hex other people or perform curses.
Oooh, are they Death Eaters, maybe?
Former textile worker Mr Carter, opened the shop in April with partner and fellow spiritualist Jackie Restall, 43. He claims he does not make a penny out the wants, costing £15 to £25, which he uses to spread the spiritual message.
Different types of wood give each wand different magical properties – oak for strength and courage, yew for those seeking immortality and rebirth, sweet chestnut for love and healing, elm for balance and calm, sycamore for boosting feminine intuition, and mahogany for spiritual growth.
He says: “I have no training in woodwork. I use spiritual guidance and don’t know how any of the wands will turn out. All you need for them to work is faith.”
Jackie said: “Personally, I’m a big Harry Potter fan but I’m afraid it is just about escapism so I respect Richard’s views.”
Zak Cohen, 20, President of York University Potter fan club, the HP Muggle Society, said: “I don’t know what our members will make of this. “My personal view is it’s a bit weird to say the least. I can understand they don’t want it treated as a joke. “But I did not think it was allowed for a shop to say they won’t sell things to a specific group of people. “If they sold to Harry Potter fans, rather than just equipping real witches and wizards, they would sell loads more wands and we wouldn’t treat them like toys.”
GP Taylor, the former Yorkshire vicar turned fantasy author, said: “Magic wands do work by being a focus for your inner desires and powers. “But I think this is terrible. Harry Potter fans should be served. They are going crazy over the Cursed Child and need their wands. It is discrimination against Potter fans. They should go to court for justice.”
The full story is here.
Huh. If he doesn’t know one end of the lathe from the other, I wonder how he gets it plugged in? And he’s not making a profit? How does he pay for that electricity? And his rent, clothing, food and materials -- faith?
I’ve always thought it was weird when people think it’s bad to make money. More than once I’ve been assured “I don’t make any money doing this!” as if this is somehow a good thing. Sad to break it to these people, if you don’t make money you won’t be able to pay your rent or buy food, and that will make you go out of business and not eating can even make you die. There’s nothing holy or wonderful about that.
Kestrel:
Oh, I’ve heard that plenty of times, too, and it’s rarely true. People like Mr. Carter don’t count all those mundane things like utilities, food, and rent. Those are necessities, y’see, what’s really important is he’s not making a crass, greedy profit from it! That would probably mess up the vibes or something.
It may be real, because this story has magically made the contents of my stomach find their way back to my mouth.
Banning Harry “Total Eejit” Potter fans? Sounds extremely sensible to me. Now if we can just get rid of the rest of that boredom (the books, the movies, the plays, the whatever-feck-else)…
(In case you haven’t guessed, I
latheloathe Harry Potter.)Then we’d better get to work on purging the works from the world so nobody else ever has to suffer from their existence…
Seems reasonable. Would also save a lot of paper, electrons, energy, ink, and braincells. Unfortunately, no effect on peas.
True Harry Potter fans are so talented they can cast spells just as effectively using chopsticks.
Somewhere on the internet there are movies of my kid catching a broom that is rising to their hand, and a movie of them riding said broom. The wonders of playing video backwards.
It’s amazing the kind of impact a couple of Englishwomen had with their fictional accounts of witchcraft. One sold her stories as children’s books, the other wrote “history”.
The Harry Potter website at Warner Brothers sells a ridiculous amount of Harry Potter tchotchkes.
You can buy a fake flying broom or a three-set of wands.
I was doing some work for WB back in the day, and I have to say the amount of Harry Potter stuff they move through the online store .. it’s scary.
I have a friend who is a wood turner. Those wands don’t even look especially nicely done, so maybe the guy doesn’t know one end of a lathe from another. Also, a halfway decent amateur could knock out a finished wand off the lathe in 5-8 minutes tops. Add a couple of minutes for some minor rubbing and two or three 60 second (tops) sessions for oiling and polishing… at least 6 wands and hour, maybe 8, at an average of 20 pounds a pop. You could make a decent living off very few hours production work (second hand lathes and tools are dirt cheap). Huddersfield has a median wage of #17,666 as of 2011, so about 150 hours per year.