You don’t have to leave downtown Wausau to step outside the ordinary anymore. Writual Collective opened on Third Street a few weeks ago, offering not just a variety of spiritual items like tarot cards, runes and crystals, but also a place for curious, thoughtful minds to better understand themselves and connect with others.
“People are longing for a space like this, not just a place that they can go and buy something, but just a place that they can walk in and feel welcome,” owner Sheila Ellis said. “We are here for anyone who is just a little bit curious, on up ... If you have never dabbled in any of this and you just are curious and have an open mind, then we are the store for you, too.”
In addition to a diverse mix of goods that includes herbs, spell candles, tarot cards and crystals, Writual also hosts a rotating lineup of in-house tarot readers, astrologers and aura photographers, alongside regular community classes and gatherings.
But patrons don’t need to believe in supernatural or magical forces to find something useful at Writual, Ellis said. She likens some of her products more to therapy tools than ancient mystical items.
“I view tarot as more of a psychological help tool rather than something divinatory,” Ellis said. “It’s kind of a way to access your subconscious, feelings that you have that you just can’t quite get to otherwise — tarot kind of evokes that and draws that out. It helps you look at things in a different light or unearth things that you wouldn’t otherwise.”
The business was inspired by that line of thinking. Before moving to Wausau a few years ago, Ellis lived in Colorado, where she started Writual Collective as an online business, selling daily planners that incorporated tarot card readings. Those tarot planners are still popular and on sale at Writual today.
“It’s your yearlong planner — it’s got a calendar, dates,” Ellis said. “We’ve incorporated all the astrological and lunar phase information for people that follow all of those energies, and then ultimately the daily spaces are designed for your tarot practice. It’s a dedicated spot that you can record those readings. It’s a good way to establish that practice if you’re writing it down every day and coming back to it. It also kind of creates a record over time so you can look back and remember what you pulled.”
Before Ellis even moved to Wausau, she started scouting the area for a metaphysical shop. She quickly discovered Mother Moon Boutique, then owned by Rachel Trudeau. When Norwegian Wood closed on Third Street earlier this year, Ellis took the opportunity to finally open her own shop, hiring Trudeau as the retail manager.
“She shut down Mother Moon to come work here and manage this store, which is amazing because she’s incredibly knowledgeable and so good with people and so welcoming,” Ellis said.
Writual Collective opened in mid-September. Ellis said the response from the community has been very supportive.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Ellis said. “I think my biggest takeaway is just how excited people are. It’s been really rewarding just to see how happy people are to be here.”
Despite the popularity, Ellis said there are still some incorrect perceptions about metaphysical stores like Writual Collective.
“The biggest misconception is that any and all of this is somehow in direct opposition to religion,” Ellis said. “It is not. It’s not a counter to it, it’s not dark forces, it’s not Satan worship — it has nothing to do with that because that is that belief system and it doesn’t have anything to do with this belief system ... the biggest misconception is that somehow there is inherent evil in these tools or in these practices and there just isn’t. It’s just a means by which you can connect to yourself and the greater world as a whole.”
For those looking to dip their toes into the world of tarot, Ellis recommends attending one of Writual’s regular group readings on the last Tuesday of every month.
“We hold a tarot circle, which is just an evening, about an hour and a half, where everybody comes in and we set our intentions and our goals for the month ahead, and then just pull a tarot spread,” she said. “Everybody comes in with their own deck and their own pen, sits down and journals it all out. It’s a supportive space. So if you’re brand new, bring your guidebook and you can look things up and you can ask your neighbor.”
Writual Collective is located at 525 N. Third St. in Wausau. The store is open daily 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. — closed Mondays.
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