Creepy Conversation with Donna Kruger of The Broom Closet

On 1811 Quebec Street you will find a lovely house where the Broom Closet calls home. Within this comforting house, you will find the interesting and eccentric Donna Kruger, surrounded by incense, art and anything that your heart would desire for witchcraft. Here is our conversation with Donna:

Tell us about the Broom Closet:

About 11-12 years ago it started. I always wanted to be a storekeeper, and then I have a background in retail as well as bookkeeping so it laid the foundation for the business aspect. For the shop, I could never find the supplies I needed, the tools or things I wanted - if I ordered online, the stuff wouldn’t be right or feel right, look right or wasn’t the right size. At that time, there was only one other place in town that you could get things and they only had a really small section on witchcraft, the rest of it was multiple religions. When I decided it was time for me to leave a straight job, my late husband figured we should open the shop. He was really good friends with the people at Water Boy, and he offered us a good price on that first location. We opened there 11 years ago, he built the shop for me. There was nothing in there, no windows, no doors, no walls, and he built that all for me and that was his legacy, and this continues to be his legacy. I’ve always been a witch, I couldn’t always articulate it until I was in my late 20’s, I was just reading and realizing that’s what I am. To set the record straight, not all Wiccans are witches, and not all witches are Wiccans. Wicca is the religion, witchcraft is the vocation. There not interchangeable terms, I am very adogmatic, if you bring dogma into the equation I’m gone, I’m out. I typically describe myself as an eccentric syncretic conjure woman and head hag at the broom closet. The etymology of the word hag is a wise woman or older woman who knows stuff. You can’t call yourself wise, but you can say you know stuff. Hag isn’t the negative connotation that people have for it. 

It was always a dream to be a storekeeper and what better way then to with witchcraft. The supplies were needed and necessary thing, and it is fun. I’ve always enjoyed it and its been a passion.

When did you become interested in the occult?

As a practise, it was not until I was in my late 20’s. Prior to that I could do things like I would wish something and it would happen or I would think about somebody and they would appear, those kind of things. I couldn’t put the words to it, I didn’t know what the words were. Once I started reading and getting books for the library. There was a lot of [books by] Sybil Leak and Szander LaVey, those were the two I remember [reading] most. There was no Gardner only because when you look at all the books that have been written or are being written about witchcraft, for the most part they are male authors and so I try to subscribe to more female authors because it is more fluid. I find that men really like the dogma, the ritual and the ceremony. Whereas women are more fluid, like I have my alter, my crystals, my herbs and I can cast a spell, I don’t need all the other stuff that goes with it.

What is a memorable moment since opening the store?

The first time someone came in and said “Someone told me about your shop and I had to come in and check it out!”. The first time anybody time anybody did that, and the first nonfriend/nonfamily member customer. Now every time someone comes in when they used to come in as kids and now they have grown up and have kids of their own and bringing their kids into the shop. Watching everyone grow up and be who they are growing up. The other thing that builds the legacy is the community has become much more open to one another. When the congregation of the Wiccan Society of Saskatchewan would hold chats at the shop every Saturday, and seeing all the people come -my husband wasn’t a believer but he loved me and he loved seeing all of these wonderful people and it made him so happy and proud that he was the catalyst for developing the community and seeing people come together.

What do you think is something that is misunderstood about the occult community?

I don’t think there is anything specific in Regina from a nonsecular point of view. Christians have the view that witches are evil, that we boil babies and suck their souls, and that we worship their Satan. That is not true. For the most part, we are Earth Mothers and Earth-centric. We honour Mother Earth and try to do our best and try to be as nonjudgmental and accepting of everyone as we possibly can.

What do you want Regina to know about the Broom Closet?

That we are here, and all-encompassing. There is no judgment, no biases, no bigotry. Everybody that comes through that door is welcome, and if not loved right away, loved eventually.

What is your favourite thing you have in the store?

There are two things, the lamp and a photo at the top of the stairs. Those are my personal items. The lamp was from my husband, we hadn’t been together very long and he was looking on Used Regina and he found that lamp for $20 and he had to buy it and its been a fixture in the shop ever since. Then the photo, the frame is one of the original bubble glass frames and I found it in an estate sale because it reminded me of a frame that my grandma had. Then I just came across the photo one day and my daughter enlarged it and it just spoke to me, especially when it was enlarged and some of the faces were blurred it gives a bit of a spooky feel. The image just spoke to me with the community of women in the village who knew stuff and knew what herbs would help stuff and what things to do if say your cow stopped giving milk because someone put a curse on it.

How do you want people to feel after visiting the Broom Closet?

Peace, calm, serene, and happy. To have people just come in and wander around or sit in the chair-talking is not required, if you're just having an off day you can sit in the chair and I’ll crochet and burn some incense and you can listen to the music.

What is a Halloween tradition you have?

When my daughter was little it was always about getting dressed up and going out Trick or Treating, and then when Bill (husband) and I got together it was always big decorations in the yard. I always listen to Macbeth on Halloween. I have a friend who is an amazing pumpkin carver and he always brings me a pumpkin and it is always something different.

What does Halloween mean to you?

It means so many things. The veil between this realm and the other realm is thinning, so as we approach that, and more able to feel my ancestors and people who have past. Bill becomes more evident around this time of year, I know he’s here but it's just that closeness that I feel with the people around  me that have passed.

Is community important to you?

I really enjoy being able to support other artists in town, so a lot of the product I have in the shop is supplied by local artisans. Being able to do that makes me really happy because it was one of my original intentions was to have my shop look like this- a little old house with spiderwebs and dust filled with local artists' stuff.

I am a solitary practitioner, but when I see other people being community-minded. There are things community-minded that are close to my heart, like the community cupboards so any time we get donations on our public altar we take that and buy supplies for the cupboard. From a distance, yes community is important, but I am an introvert. Seeing how the community is flourishing makes me really happy to know that I’ve been part of it.