 My choice of tarot deck 
A Place For All Things Spiritual
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Recommendation added: 01/02/2007 13:15
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +817)dewberry has been thanked 5 times for this contribution
"Knowing I'm a fan of sourcing unusual gifts, my mum set me the task yesterday of finding something for her friend at work who's 40th birthday is coming up. From past meetings I remembered that her friend is a spiritual person who swears more by crystals than doctors to get her back on her feet after illness, so I thought I'd head into Birmingham's City Centre and see what I could find.
I didn't quite know where to start as this lady is fairly wealthy and I thought to myself that whatever she wants she probably goes off and buys herself – or gets her rich as a king husband to go and buy it! I thought I'd have to settle for a set of crystal ornaments I'd spotted in Debenhams when, while wandering through Brindley Place, I saw a shop with the simple name of 'Zen'. “Zen”, said my totally un-spiritual head, “that sounds kinda crystal-like”. So in I went.
Zen specialise in selling a huge range of 'feel good' items and things to help you get in touch with your inner self; it all seemed a wee bit new age for me but with an open mind (and remembering I wasn't buying for myself) I started browsing the multitude of heaving shelves. And when I say heaving, I mean HEAVING. Upon entering the shop don't be surprised if you get hit with a sudden attack of claustrophobia as every available space is absolutely stacked and piled full of unusual looking stock, some sections of the shop look positively unsafe with the way things are stacked!
It's a nice looking place though and the packed out appearance reminded me of old nick nack shops, and it also means you need to have a good old rummage before deciding what to buy. Great stuff. There seems to be little organisation in Zen, although there's so much stock available that the shop must be a prime example of organised chaos. While certain items are stocked together in an obvious way, sometimes I found myself staring at a shelf in utter confusion as to why a solitary fragrance oil was being displayed next to the Buddah section… However, the longer you spend in the shop the easier it'll become to make your way around the different displays as it soon becomes obvious just why things are displayed in this way.
So, what kind of things does Zen stock? Well, anything you can think of to help you lead a more spiritually fulfilling life will probably be here. From gorgeous scented candles, Buddah statuettes, aromatherapy oils and mixing bowls to books on all kinds of spirituality, tarot paraphernalia and even capsules which promise you a 'herbal high' with not a illegal substance in sight!
I was looking for something unusual enough to give as a present, yet something not so unusual that the recipient wouldn't know what to do with it – and as I had no idea what I was looking for I decided to ask the helpful looking member of staff for some advice. After asking me a few general questions about the type of person I was buying for she took me over to a couple of sections of the shop, made a couple of suggestions and left me to browse in my own time after telling me to give her a shout should I not be able to find something suitable. She was very conscientious in her advice and didn't actually recommend one item in particular, rather gave me a broad range of interesting stuff to consider.
I liked this approach as often when a staff member makes a recommendation I'll feel obliged to buy it or else risk offending them by snubbing their advice. In Zen I didn't feel under any pressure at all to buy a specific item and I felt the staff are committed to making sure customers buy the appropriate gift regardless of what they'd buy themselves.
I eventually chose a particularly decorative deck of tarot cards, a book on holistic therapies and a crystal angel ornament. These three items cost me £23.17 which I think was good value as they are all excellent quality products, with the tarot cards in particular costing much less than I thought they would upon first glance. In fact everything in Zen is reasonably priced with prices for individual items ranging from just £2, and the most expensive thing I saw was £40 and this was for a particularly beautiful and exclusive crystal set. This is, however, one of those kinds of shops where you really don't mind paying more than a couple of quid for your purchase as everything I saw during todays visit was great looking and of the best quality possible.
The atmosphere in Zen is conductive to a pleasant shopping experience; the mingled scents of incense, aromatherapy oils and other gorgeous smelling 'stuff' left me with an absolutely wonderful relaxing feeling, while the soothing sounds of a multitude of wind chimes completed the relaxation picture. The strong purple and gold colour of the décor makes it a particularly attractive shop in an otherwise very neutral Birmingham, and I found these sorts of colours really enhance the spiritual nature of the stock inside. The front of Zen itself is a large glass window which displays a selection of what you'll find once you enter the shop, and this too is decorated in a vibrant purple which makes this particular shop stand out well amongst the other drab fronted buildings.
Wheelchair access is absolutely fine. The front door and aisles are wide and there is plenty of room to manoeuvre at the end of each aisle and at the till area. Although the shelves may look cramped and like they're ready to fall on you, it really is a safe shop and getting a wheelchair around once inside should be no problem at all. The only trouble I can envisage you may have if you're using a wheelchair is reaching the stock on the higher shelves, but a member of staff will certainly help you out should you need it.
I honestly wouldn't recommend you take small children into Zen as the nature of the stock means things can easily get broken by small grabbing hands and you are liable to pay for any breakages – I know when my two kids' were tiny I'd have rather cut off my big toe than risked bringing them into this kind of shop!
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this shop. I had a chilled out and inexpensive shopping trip and found the staff to be both approachable and extremely knowledgeable about not only the stock but also its uses. They definitely have a genuine interest in spiritual matters and the lady I spoke to was honest with her recommendations, to the point of warning me off a certain book as she didn't think it would be suitable for the lady I was buying the gift for. On this note can I just add my mum phoned me a few minutes ago to say her mate is completely chuffed with her gifts, and particularly loves the tarot deck which she intends to use once she's completed a tarot reading course she's currently taking. Bonus.
To find Zen is easy once you get into Birmingham City Centre. Simply get onto the A38 and follow this until you reach St Chads Queensway underpass, then branch left following the signs for the Convention Centre parking. When you reach Paradise Circus simply look out for the signs that will lead you to Brindley Place. Likewise if you're travelling by bus you can jump on any WM bus which is marked Broad Street and then follow the same signs to walk through to Zen. Parking is at a premium around this area of town, so be prepared to park some distance away and have a short walk to the shop – or if you have mobility problems you can contact Zen and they will try and arrange some suitable nearby parking for you.
Zen
4 Brindley Place
Birmingham
B1 2HL
Tel: 0121 6433933"
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