10 Years

TEN YEARS SINCE BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE

Bell, Book And Candle shut down ten years ago this week. It had been such a Vegas institution that it is still very hard to believe. It was singular, it was incredibly magical, and it served the Occult community in Las Vegas well for several decades.

Charmaine Dey (author of The Magic Candle and Casting The Rune Stones) and her husband Steve opened BB&C in the early 70s,

with other well known Witches and authors Tarostar (Sacred Pentagraph and many more) and Sybil Leek (Diary Of A Witch, Complete art Of Witchcraft and many more) being mainstays at the shop, and in the corporation when BB&C was incorporated.

The original site was on Las Vegas Boulevard South, on a sliver where LVB and 4th Street converge. ‘Talk Of The Town’ was next door for many years. The building on the site has only been demolished in the last few years. The second location was on East Charleston, close to Eastern where the antique shops are now. The third and last location was also on East Charleston, in a strip mall that for many years also housed Vessely Music, Macayos restaurant, with Blueberry Hill diner next to it.

Ownership changed hands to Lucky Simone sometime after Charmaine died in 1983. Steve Dey continued to work there. When Lucky died (1997 or ’98 if I remember correctly) ownership passed one more time to Robin Criswell and Alex Triton, who most of us know as Lady Morgana and Lord Mordred.

"Like many Witches,
I got my start in Bell Book and Candle."

It was 1989, I was newly stationed at Nellis AFB, and despite my Lutheran upbringing, I was a long time atheist. The first day I was brought to the shop I bought Anna Riva’s Secrets Of Magical Seals. The next day, I took a bus down and bought A Book Of Pagan Rituals and that was all it took. 

Steve Dey sold me many of the classics: A Witch’s Bible Compleat, Modern Magick, The Spiral Dance, Gems From The Equinox, Wicca For The Solitary Practitioner, The Golden Dawn, and several others as well as Tarot, Runes and thee coolest jewelry. 

It was the most magical, fascinating store I had ever seen.

When Lady Morgana and Lord Mordred were offered to take over Bell Book and Candle, they jumped at the chance. They described it to me as a life-long dream come true. For a year or so, they ran their old store, Cat N Cauldron concurrently. This was home of Temple Of The Inner Circle, which used the same corporate documents as All Saints Church Of Mystic Science, which had also been founded by Charmaine and Steve Dey and Tarostar. We are fortunate to have both sets of corporate documents in our archives.

Robin and Alex eventually closed Cat N Cauldron, and we all helped move the store and TOTIC to Bell Book and Candle. The back room became TOTIC with its beautiful Altar, large columns, banners and artwork. 

The fountains/candle nooks were removed, and a reading room and closet installed.

Any customer who wanted to burn their candles at the shop could burn them on the Altar,

under the gaze of an incredible Artisans’ Guild winged Isis statue. Soon a second Altar was installed to handle all the candles.

We were lucky to have the legendary Ed Fitch come to one of our Saturday Night events, as well as authors on book tour like Christopher Penzcak. Lupercalia, Halloween, Karaoke, Belly Dancing, Lectures on Runes, Tarot, Ouija, Pendulum, Sabbats, Gated Candles, Aromatherapy (Uttati oils!), movie night, Street Smarts (Occult style)- the list goes on and on. And most Saturday events turned into late night parties, often like a dance club.

All of the Elders of Inner Circle Sanctuary worked in the store; most of us here and there, but Lady Atheona worked it for several years. Lady Airrawind was the last, and we owe her a huge debt of gratitude for being the one to keep BB&C open realistically two years or so past any viability. She with Lady Rowyn also kept classes going after the store closed, and we are also very thankful for that!

Temple classes started to be held in the front of the store. The final class began in January, 2014. Poor health, and changing times slowly led to the decline and closure of Bell Book and Candle. 

Please support local stores as much as possible. And remember the good, magical, Witchy times you had at Bell Book and Candle!

Lord Tanys, High Priest, Inner Circle Sanctuary

www.innercirclesanctuary.com/
Lady Morgana's Tradition lives on!

www.facebook.com/sacredpentagraph
Tarostar's Tradition lives on!

web.archive.org/web/20131020024108/http://lasvegasbbc.com/whatto1.ivnu
The old BB&C website set up by Lady Sisterwolf from a… let’s just say more innocent time. These pages starting in 2002 bring back many fond memories!

witchworld109.com/main_page.html 
Las Vegas Occult history particularly BB&C to 1989 (a lot of which is used in this post) can be found on the late and wonderful Tarostar’s page

www.blackmoonpublishing.com/left-hand-press 
Several versions of Tarostar’s incredible Sacred Pentagraph books can be purchased here

www.amazon.com/Magic-Candle-Fundamentals-Ritual-Candle-Burning/dp/0942272005
The classic by Charmaine Dey

www.amazon.com/Queen-Dreams-Heather-Valencia/dp/0671797239/ref=sr_1_1
Some memories of Bell Book and Candle by Charmaine’s niece can be found in this very interesting book

redwheelweiser.com/book/a-book-of-pagan-rituals-9780877283485/
A Book Of Pagan Rituals The book that started it all off for me, purchased at BB&C in the Spring of 1989- still one of the best books out there!

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