New home for the metaphysical and magical opens in downtown Petoskey

PETOSKEY — A new home for the mystics and fantasy lovers recently opened its doors in downtown Petoskey.

The Smoking Dragon, which specializes in the medieval, the metaphysical, fantasy and fun, according to pirate-owner John “Darkstar” Rich, is located at 435 E. Mitchell St.

Darkstar, who grew up in Cheboygan, owns the store with his wife, Brook "Luna LaFae" Rich.

Originally working Renaissance festivals, the couple offers a variety of items at the store, including tarot cards, swords, jewelry and more. Much of the merchandise in the store is made by Darkstar and LaFae themselves, who also work with different companies globally.

While they’ve hung up their travelers' hats and opted to settle down, their love of mysticism and playing pretend has not faded.

“It is way nicer to just come unlock the door and flip a light switch than to load up tables, and a tent, and tubs and tubs of stuff,” Darkstar said. “We've had many a fun adventure where we've been caught in the rain and storms and had our tent break, merchandise unfortunately get ruined, or boxes get ruined. It was a fun growing experience and learning experience to be actual moving pirates for a while.”

Darkstar said the opportunity to act as a character — the pirate he plays now, for example — has always been a safe haven for him.

Open for a little over a month, Darkstar said that he’s riding the wave of getting the shop’s name out in the open and welcoming locals into the store to get to know them.

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In addition to different mystical items, the store offers services, with LaFae being a tarot card reader and certified in Reiki.

At the Smoking Dragon, the goal is to be welcoming and inclusive to everyone, Darkstar said.

“We do embrace all religions, and all sorts of walks of life and things like that,” Darkstar said. “So we just tried to be all inclusive, not only with our merchandise, but with our attitude and the people that we want to see and help support in town.”

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: New home for the metaphysical and magical opens in downtown Petoskey