Entry No. 4 — the Buffalo file — filed under: witchy
Rising Goddess
A metaphysical shop parked on a residential run of Highland Parkway in Tonawanda, where the draw is the loose spell ingredients and altar supplies sold alongside books, incense, crystals, and decidedly non-mall gifts. Psychic and tarot readers work most open days, and the schedule runs to spell workshops, energy work, and spiritual coaching. Unusually for the genre, it keeps real evening hours — open until 9 Wednesday through Friday — so it works as an actual night stop instead of a weekend errand.
→ Three more occult & metaphysical spots in Buffalo — never the same twice
The story
The logo says Rising Goddess Metaphysical Supplies, and the line the shop leads with is "For Witches, by Witches!" — fair warning that this is a working practitioner's shop, not a crystals-and-candles gift counter. It sits on a residential block of Highland Parkway in the Town of Tonawanda, about fifteen minutes north of downtown Buffalo, billing itself as magical supplies plus educational workshops, with readers available daily and beginners welcome.
The stock is organized the way a practitioner shops. An Apothecary section sells loose herbs, roots and resins by the jar — agrimony, alkanet root, arnica flowers, balm of Gilead, benzoin, bat's head root — next to altar and ritual supplies, altar cloths and tapestries, raw crystal specimens, statuary, incense, hundreds of books, a deep wall of tarot and oracle decks, and a rack of witchy skirts. Local makers get shelf space under their own names, including Moriarty Magic and The Green Witch Cabinet, and there is a lending library you join as a member.
The readers are the other half of the business. Alex Jusko has read professionally since 2008, took a psychology degree in 2014 and certified as a spiritual life coach in 2021; Kathy Moriarty reads tarot; Grace Schlau of The Green Witch Cabinet reads tarot and oracle; Minxy Mea specializes in past-life work; Rev. Tim Staube is a Reiki master who also does birth charts and grief counselling. Readings sell in 15-, 30- and 60-minute blocks, rung up like any other item. Each month the shop posts a calendar of who reads which day and what is running: August 2026 carried an herbal workshop, two $10 Magical Philosophy sessions, a tarot workshop, Witch-n-Stitch, a Spirit Circle, and an hour on the Kemetic calendar and Ma'at, with Lughnasadh and both moon phases marked.
What it's like
Park free on the street and walk into a room that is bright and busy rather than hushed — nobody makes you prove you already know what you are doing, which is the whole pitch. Reader shifts are shorter than store hours and run in blocks: roughly noon to four Saturday and Sunday, two to seven Monday, and split 2–5 and 5–9 shifts Wednesday through Friday, so an evening walk-in usually finds someone at the table, but the monthly calendar tells you exactly who. Buy the reading at the counter like a candle. Workshops are evening things, usually 7pm, cheap, and small enough that showing up cold is fine — though the herb jars will eat your budget faster than the crystals will.
The move: Go Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday evening while it's open till 9: browse the spell-ingredient shelves, each assemble the fixings for a working on the other's behalf, and grab a tarot reading if a reader is in.
📍 Before you go Closed Tuesdays; otherwise Mon 2–7, Wed–Fri 2–9, Sat 11–6, Sun 11–4. Readers aren't guaranteed every day — call 716-783-8384 to ask who's reading before you build the night around it. Easy free parking; about 15 minutes north of downtown Buffalo.
- 📍 Tonawanda
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 225 Highland Pkwy, Tonawanda, NY 14223
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Black Sheep Market — About ten minutes north in the City of Tonawanda and closing mid-afternoon while Rising Goddess runs to nine — do Black Sheep's horror-and-handmade shelves first, then drive south for the herbs.
- Enchanted & Aligned — The other end of the same instinct, three miles away on Amherst Street: a Collective Altar reset by lunar phase, and afternoon-only hours, so it is the daylight half of a witch-shop double bill.
- The Old Chapel Antique & Artisan Market — Four miles north, a deconsecrated 1894 church filled with vendor stalls and open daily until six — the same appetite for salvaged sacred objects, minus anyone offering to read your cards.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
How do I get there, and is parking a problem?
225 Highland Pkwy in the Town of Tonawanda, roughly fifteen minutes north of downtown Buffalo on a residential street. Free parking, no meters, no garage. Note it is closed Tuesdays; otherwise Mon 2–7, Wed–Fri 2–9, Sat 11–6, Sun 11–4.
Do I need to book a reading, or can I walk in?
Readers work scheduled shifts rather than covering the whole day, so a walk-in is a decent bet in the evening and a gamble at opening. Check the monthly calendar on risinggoddessny.com, which lists each reader by name and time, or call 716-783-8384. Readings come in 15-, 30- and 60-minute lengths.
What does an evening actually cost?
Browsing is free. Workshops are posted individually and run cheap — the August 2026 Magical Philosophy sessions were $10 — and readings are priced by length. The apothecary jars and tumbled stones are pocket-money items; the crystal towers and statuary are not.
Is there anything to do besides shop and get read?
Yes. The calendar carries workshops most weeks — herbal, tarot, moon-phase, a Spirit Circle, a stitching group — plus a members' lending library. They also throw full events: Summerween on Sunday, August 23, 2026 ran 3–9pm with free food, vendors and live entertainment.
I have never done any of this. Will I feel like an idiot?
The shop's own copy says it welcomes beginners and experienced practitioners alike, and the stock is labelled for people still learning. For a low-commitment entry, a 15-minute reading and an ounce of one herb is a complete visit.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · stepoutbuffalo.com · Instagram
last checked: 2026-08-25