It’s taken me a long while, but I finally made it down to Curia Arcanum in south Austin. It’s part museum, part gift shop, and all very curious and interesting.
More than just an oddities shop it offers “rare and strange items, artisan designed and antique jewelry, wet specimens, books, magical tools, t-shirts, and more.”
And wow there is more.
I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s some really cool curiosity/magical adjacent stuff in here that is really delightful to discover. I’m so glad they took the chance and went outside the usual bounds of oddities collection. I love the “non canon” choices here because it feels more personal and unique.
The shop is actually a multi-story live-work location and the owners have given most of it to the work side of things. If you look closely, you can see that they have sacrificed some of their kitchen for the shop. It’s fantastic dedication to a fantastic place.
Curia Arcanum also has an Austin Chronicle award-winning “not so secret society”. But you’ll have to dig around their site to find that because I’m no spoiler.
The owners are the very cool and dedicated Katlynn Rose Blakely Suchomel and Francis Houston Blakely Suchomel III. I was able to talk to Francis while I was there and he was extremely friendly and welcoming to both me and everyone who walked in the shop while I was there. Go check it out!