I see a mystical birthday weekend in your future
Hi! My girlfriend is obsessed with mysticism and the occult: gemstones, tarot cards, so forth. Where can I take her to celebrate her birthday? We live in the Annex.
First off, congrats on being a thoughtful human! Taking an interest in your partner’s passions should earn you major birthday nookie points.
Living in the Annex, your gal undoubtedly passes half a dozen hole-in-the-wall storefronts advertising psychics and tarot card readers every day; feel free to skip those and surprise her with more original mystic options.
Start with a romantic stroll over to the Royal Ontario Museum, where you’ll lead your girlfriend up to the second floor’s Teck Suite of Galleries. Make a beeline for the Gallery of Gems and Gold, which boasts spectacular displays of more than 600 rare gems, crystals and minerals. She’ll be in gemstone heaven. Get lost in the dazzling depths of the Light of the Desert, the world’s largest faceted cerussite at a whopping 900 carats, but be warned: This might set the bar unrealistically high for a future engagement ring.
Next, wander back to your hood and treat your gf to a shopping spree at Seekers Books, a hidden gem of a used bookstore that just happens to specialize in mysticism and the occult. Breathing in the intoxicating scent of incense and musty books, she’ll spend long, happy minutes perusing the shelves for rare New Age finds.
Of course, you’ll offer to carry her haul when she’s ready to leave.
Finally, plan to meet up with a group of friends at Snakes & Lattes, where you can linger over drinks, snacks and spooky board and card games such as Graveyards, Ghosts & Haunted Houses (haunt the largest portion of the graveyard with your chosen ghost), Nevermore (evil ravens, what’s not to love?) or the classic Ouija for a nostalgic frightfest.
And if your girlfriend’s birthday happens to fall on or around the third Sunday of the month, check out Psychic Brunch at Cranberries restaurant, where she’ll enjoy a 20minute reading from one of Canada’s leading psychics — plus a five-minute reading from another psychic, in case she wants a second opinion — alongside her bacon and eggs.