'Witches are a force for good!' Adrian Chiles embraces the 'dark arts' after visit to witch shop
Former BBC presenter Adrian Chiles says he has started studying witchcraft following a visit to a Halesowen witches' shop.
The former The One Show presenter and Match Of The Day 2 host revealed in his latest column for the Guardian that he is now studying 'the dark arts' after a particularly 'magical' visit to Halesowen.
The 57-year-old West Bromwich Albion fan, who grew up in Hagley, dropped into Windmill Hill's The Wicklow Witch, which sells candles, crystals, guidebooks and other assorted items used in witchcraft, Wicca and magick.
In his column, Mr Chiles explains that he had been "decidedly anti-witch" ever since he saw The Wizard Of Oz as a child, but has now had a change of heart and taken it up as a new hobby, even vowing to return "to buy some crystals".
He said: "My curiosity got the better of me and I paid a visit. And there, behind the counter, was the witch herself. I asked her if there were many witches, here in the Halesowen area. ‘You’d be surprised,’ she said. Actually, I wouldn’t. I don’t think anything is ever going to surprise me again.
"I’m thankful to this witch, the delightful Juliet O’Brien, for putting me right on a few things, not least that proper witches don’t do bad things because they know such behaviour will only come back and haunt them. Witches are a force only for good.
"I’ve been reading up on them in a book I bought from Juliet called Basic Witches and I’m liking what I’m finding. I’m going back soon to pick up some crystals, seriously."
The book is called Basic Witches, written by Jaya Sazena and Jess Zimmerman, and costs roughly £12, promising to help readers "tap into their inner sorceress and channel the dark arts".
