The spooktacular display at Claro Hair Stylists in Knaresborough has been crowned the winner of the town’s Halloween window competition.
The impressive window on the High Street includes potion bottles, cauldrons and spell books, which have been created by owner Sue Orr.
The competition, organised by Knaresborough Business Collective, is being run alongside the Halloween scarecrow trail.
Annie Wilkinson-Gill, from The Crystal Buddha, who launched the not-for-profit business group with Natalie Horner, from Sid Horner and Son said:
“Sue was thrilled to have won.
“This is our third window competition through the business collective and the turnout has been great. Lots of businesses decorated their windows in the run up to Halloween. It really creates a buzz in town and people love looking at all the displays.
They all looked spectacular, especially alongside the scarecrow trail, which has done so well and brought a lot of people into Knaresborough. We’ve sold hundreds of maps for the trail. We did have some vandalism on the first night, but since then it’s more than made up for it.”
Mystical Ways in Westminster Arcade is not your typical high street shop.
This month it moved to a bigger location in the arcade on Parliament Street to accommodate Harrogate’s first tarot card reading room.
It’s owned by Jay Clarke and Joanne Mayben, self-declared witches who say they can summon energy and communicate with spirits.
Believers can buy dreamcatchers to ward off nightmares, crystals to summon good energy and incense, which can help cast spells that attract money, love, protection or light.
Ms Mayben said she gave up a potential job with the police to follow her dream of being a spiritual medium and tarot card reader full time, but some people in her home of Pateley Bridge were critical of her choice.
“Someone said ‘oh my god, you shouldn’t be practicing the arts of the devil!’
“Movies have made witches evil. I’m an electric witch. I’m drawn to fire, crystals and candles.”
The two are dressed head to toe in black, but Mr Clarke insists it’s nothing to fear:
“We wear black not because we’re gothy or scary. People are scared of black, but it’s the best colour for repelling negative energy.
“In life, there is no light without dark, you have to have that balance.”
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Mr Clarke said Harrogate has an undercover community of people into spiritualism and mediumship.
“Some people are ‘in the closet’ and they might sneak in to buy a crystal.”
They say there is a big demand for tarot readings, which are available Monday to Saturday from 10am until 4pm, costing £25 for 30 minutes.
Practitioners such as Ms Mayben use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into someone’s past, present or future.
Mr Clarke said:
“We don’t bullshit. The cards don’t lie and we don’t either, if something negative appears in the cards we’d work you through that.”
Ms Mayben saw the Stray Ferret reporter’s white dog in her crystal ball
Skeptics say tarot readings are fake, and some people are put off by negative experiences with mediums on Scarborough seafront, but Ms Mayben encourages anyone visiting the shop to have an open mind.
She says she can also communicate with spirits — just don’t call them dead people.
“I have been poked and pushed in the face by a spirit, sometimes I get clear words”.
Ms Mayben says one of her gifts is summoning and understanding energy, so what sort of energy does Harrogate have?
She says:
“Harrogate could be so much more. Everything is asleep and it’s laying dormant, but we are here to wake it up.”