Last October, I did a story about Israel Shvhi V. Magdalene Rose, 51, of Melvina.
She’s a self-proclaimed witch who
planned on opening a store called “The Twilight Zone” located at
403 Central Drive in Melvina filled with oddities and curios.
The story caused a flurry of snarky comments by readers and was even
picked up on an online occult forum.
People called her crazy people called me crazy and many debated her
status as a “witch” and took me to task for using the term
“self-proclaimed.”
I found her to be amusing and fascinating, but then I don’t have to
live next door to her.
Those who do, anonymous Web postings aside, don’t like to talk about
her much. I don’t blame them after all, what can one say?
Apparently not enough, as through the year I’ve had various e-mails
asking for a follow-up story on Israel.
A call to her store led nowhere the number was disconnected. A call to
a local tavern in Melvina led almost nowhere. I found out Israel was
still in town, but further questions led to a hang up.
There was nothing left to do but venture out to Melvina, which I did
on Thursday night.
A few people in the Tribune newsroom showed an uncommon concern for my
safety. Israel could be evasive. Cell phone reception in Melvina can
be unreliable. And there were the wolves.
Not wolves running in the wild but the two Israel kept as pets.
When I first met Israel, she was in full witch garb, on a balcony with
a long sword pointed at me.
“The DNA of every woman you’ve ever slept with will live in your
body permanently,” she said.
This week, Israel was home all right, and our meeting was just as
memorable.
Although not in her costume, Israel pointed at me once again
thankfully not with a sword as we were standing in a darkened street
in front of her house.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day long,” she said.
Telepathy, she said, brought me to her, and she began to tell me why
she hasn’t opened the store yet.
First, she said, her 70-year-old mother died on Dec. 7.
“That didn’t bother me,” she said. “My mom was a curse in my
life, right up until the day she died.”
It also left her with a lot of inherited stuff and the only place she
could find for it was in the proposed store.
Then, on Dec. 27, her Russian doberman, Harley, attacked her.
“I shouldn’t be alive,” she said.
The dog went nuts and started violently ripping into her arm, she
said. She was massively hemorrhaging from the bite wounds.
So, Harley had to go, she said, and so did her two pet wolves.
“It got to be too much for them in town,” she said.
They’re now happy and safe in a wildlife sanctuary, she said.
Harley, with great sadness, had to be put down.
Being “property wealthy, but income level low,” she said, it’s
also tough to get a loan, although she’s planning on putting out a
donation box to raise money for the store.
There’s always interest, she said, and sometimes five cars a night
stop to inquire about her business.
Indeed, a black TrailBlazer stopped during our interview, and a woman
asked when she would be opening.
As for those who want to know her status as a witch, she classifies
herself as a Druid.
“I’m exactly what Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were,” she
said. “They practiced love, not hate and anger.”
Asked why so many people are interested and stop by to see whether
she’s open, she said they’re are drawn to her.
“They sense the spirit of truth,” she said.
As we stood in street, and rain began to fall, Israel said she wants
to move forward with the store and her life.
“I’m not going to live in the past anymore, I’m just going to
live in the future,” she said.
