On a recent Friday night at Oktober’s metaphysical shop in Lakewood, Ohio, astrologer Ana Druga talked to patrons about how to interpret the influence of the upcoming total solar eclipse.
"It's very well suited for starting something new because you have the sun and the moon together," said Druga, who goes by the name Ana Transylvana. "Because the moon is just opening all of those solar energies."
Solar eclipses happen every 18 months, but the path of totality only falls in one location roughly once every 400 years.
On April 8, Cleveland will be in that path of totality for the first time in centuries.
It’s a big deal for members of Northeast Ohio’s large and active spiritual communities.
For the more than one in five Americans who say they’re spiritual but not religious, nature can be especially significant. And while Monday’s total solar eclipse is a scientific phenomenon, it can take on a real mystical dimension for some.
They believe, like their religious brethren, that people have souls or spirits, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center. But they are less likely to believe they’ll be reunited with a loved one after death and more likely to believe that animals and parts of nature like rivers, mountains and trees have spiritual energies.
The term "spirituality" is an umbrella term that includes people who are simply concerned with being in tune with the human spirit and polytheists, witches, ceremonial magicians or Wiccans like Steven Intermill, who runs the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood.
"We are in the age of the individual where people want to figure themselves out," Intermill said. "One of the ways to do it is exploring different forms of spirituality."
Social media can be credited, at least in part, with the spread of interest in the metaphysical. #WitchTok on TikTok has more than 6 million posts. Even American consumerism has jumped on trend, mixing materialism with many traditions, like actress Gwenyth Paltrow’s luxury brand Goop.
These trends are likely due to access to the internet and information on other ways of life, said Deepak Sarma, a philosophy and religious studies professor at Case Western Reserve University.
"It's really fascinating to me to see the way that people pick and choose from other religious traditions and kind of create their own," Sarma said. "It gives freedom and certainly freedom from the doctrines and control of religious institutions."
Intermill says Northeast Ohio has a very active spiritual community. On a walk through Lakewood, you may stumble upon several metaphysical shops selling crystals and incense, or get your palm read or tarot cards pulled by astrologers like Druga. She’s originally from Romania but said she picked the Cleveland area specifically because of the large community of people like her.
Intermill speculates the area has a large spiritual community because of Northeast Ohio’s abundance of natural resources like the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cleveland Metroparks, Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.
"You go out there, and you spend time in nature, and then you really understand nature's call and its pull," he said. "For a lot of people, nature is their church."
Those natural resources will play a role in how Cleveland’s witches experience the eclipse, Druga said. She believes Lake Erie, which has tides affected by the moon, will absorb the energy of the eclipse and maintain it for months, while the faster-moving Cuyahoga River can send away any negativity.
While some cultures historically viewed eclipses as bringing bad energy or destruction, Druga said she plans to embrace it. For example, she intends to set out water under the eclipse to create moon water, which she says can help with cleansing and intention setting.
"We can do ritual to bring about brand new life cycles. We're not talking about, 'Oh, what am I going to do next month?' It's, 'What am I going to do for the next ten years?'" she said. "It's like a lot of wishing magic."
Meanwhile, Intermill said he plans to stay inside to avoid any potential negative energies. He will, however, host a talk at the Buckland Museum on Sunday, the day before the eclipse, about the folklore and mythology associated with the eclipse.
"I'm actually going to close the museum for two hours so people could go enjoy their eclipse, and then they can come see me before or after," he said. "But I'll be inside, thank you very much."
Regardless of who you are, how you identify, what you believe or celebrate, the eclipse is inescapable for Northeast Ohio’s population, so it’s best to just lean in, said Sarma, the professor at CWRU.
"It's really a wonderful moment to feel united with all living creatures," Sarma said. "Every living creature is going to be affected by it in some way. You're going to be part of it whether you like to or not, and it'll be something that people can talk about for the rest of their lives."
