We had the good fortune of connecting with Sal Santoro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sal, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My fiancée, now wife, and I were discussing the future and the subject of opening up our own business came up. She asked ‘if there was anything you could do, what would it be?’ And I responded, ‘open up my own metaphysical shop.’ I explained that I wanted to make occult knowledge available to those seeking it and help people see that occult practices are not scary. After a lot of discussion, planning, people trying to dissuade us from opening up a brick and mortar, we finally bit the bullet and opened our doors in August, 2017. Over the last three years, we’ve been able to do just what we wanted – share as much knowledge with the community by hosting free community events, hosting classes that either I or other practitioners teach and getting off the cuff lessons while stepping into the shop. There are a lot of people that come in here afraid to ask a question because they say they’re new. We were all “new” to this at some point and despite all my years of my studies, I’m still learning myself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m very practical with my work and very open to demystifying words like witchcraft, spell casting and occult. At the end of the day, I see what I do as math and I want people to understand that no matter if they identify as Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Atheists, etc., they can all conform their will to manifest change.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would give a shoutout to my two biggest occult influences, George Derby from Panpipes and Judith Defrain from the Eye Of The Cat. Both were mentors of mine and unfortunately both have passed away. They imparted so much knowledge to me that it has shaped the occultist I am today. But as mentioned, you never stop learning. Today, I’m very thankful to Jason Miller, who’s an author, teacher and fellow occultist. His practices are helping me further develop my craft.

Website: www.thecrookedpathshop.com
Instagram: @thecrookedpathshop_la
Facebook: Thecrookedpathshopoccult

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.