Weird and Wonderful: Mystic Wisdom Tea and Bookshop

Meet Charles Innis, the manager of Mystic Wisdom Tea and Bookshop! Located at 610 Dundas Street, Mystic Wisdom Tea and Bookshop is a one stop shop for your esoteric needs. Mystic Wisdom is actually the merging of two separate businesses; Wisdom Tea and Mystic Bookshop. The bookshop was opened in the mid to late 90s, with the tea shop opening in the early 2000s. “The shops were further apart and over the years, have moved closer together,” Innis says. “We're trying to maintain the traditions of the old owners, so we've learned a lot about tea, we've learned a lot about different esoteric subjects, we've added our family’s thing, we come from a performing arts background, so all these influences are converging here.” 

Innis has a history in Old East Village; he’s a born and raised Londoner and lived across the street from where Mystic Wisdom is currently located. After some time in Toronto working for Chapters Indigo and Al Gordon Music Publishing, he came back to London where he managed the Goodwill Bookstore. The store was passed along to his family when the owner, a former coworker of his, decided to retire. “If you had asked me back when I was looking out that window over there, across the street, I never would have guessed, because at one point I said I would never end up back in London,” he says. “I’m glad that I am back, because while there are challenges like every other city, there is an amazing subculture of creative people here, especially in this area.” He adds that it’s reassuring to see that Old East Village has such a strong and creative community, and things are moving in the right direction.

Mystic Wisdom is not your typical bookstore, carrying everything from old comics and pulp novels, to cookbooks and religious texts. Innis says that he’s seen many people’s personal journeys start with Mystic Wisdom and grow over the years. “The types of books that we carry, people kind of seek out when they're asking existential questions in their lives, and we’re able to fill that void and give them what they’re looking for” he says. “Books are important that way, they’re like capturing a lifetime of knowledge in a piece of amber.” 

When it comes to the tea shop side of things, they plan to keep the space for events, rather than day to day business. So far, they’ve hosted tea socials and a few workshops. Innis says that tea is crucial to any self-improvement journey. “It’s a very healing and social thing. When we sit down with our friends for tea, there's usually conversation involved. Anytime we can bring food and good beverages to a place of good conversation, it just elevates everything.” They now sell their tea out of the bookshop side, with a desire to sell ready made meals in the future. 

So what’s the future look like for Mystic Wisdom? Innis wants to see the Old East Village community grow and to have the opportunity to work closely with other businesses in the area. He adds that post COVID-19, people don’t get together in person nearly as much. “I want this to be a place where people can come and meet up in the real world for a little while. People can get together and help each other thrive.” 

Mystic Wisdom Tea and Bookshop is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm, and on Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm.

📍 610 Dundas Street

☎️ mysticwisdomteaandbookshop@gmail.com

🌐 https://www.facebook.com/themysticbookshop/