by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Debra Aubin

Age: 35

Bio: This ethereal yet delicious Beaconsfield broad discovered witchcraft approximately 13 years ago, at around the same time she opened Mélange Magique, now arguably the most renowned occult shop in Canada. A new mother and big science fiction fan who actually attends sci-fi conventions, Debra is currently in the process of finishing her undergraduate degree in sociology at Concordia, sporting a perfect 4.3 grade point average. Claiming to be a witch, "but not a traditional witch by any definition," Debra insists she has never even considered building a gingerbread house, nor has she any particularly strong desire to feast on children.

Do the ingredients needed to cast spells start to get expensive after awhile, and will higher quality ingredients bring about better results? "No. And we don't try to sell people $300 wands when they can just use a Popsicle stick either. The magic is not in the tool, but in the intention."

Does she ever get together with a bunch of other chicks, go out to the woods and start jumping around a bonfire in the nude hollering shit trying to conjure up spooks? No. "It's not very practical in this climate, now, is it."

Do confused goth teens often loiter around her store, looking for tips on how to cast an effective love spell on the Cure's Robert Smith? Not really. "But teenagers are the ones most likely to have misconceptions about witchcraft. We definitely get groupies at the store though. These are people that tend to have problems and are looking for magic to fix it. Sometimes we have to find them other sources of help."

Would that involve handing them a broom and pointing them in the direction of the Douglas Hospital? Yes, minus the broom.

A "disturbing" thing that has twice happened in her store: People have stolen Mélange Magique's resident felines. "It's very stressful. You don't know what kind of a sick person would do that, especially when the cats come from an occult store."

Has she ever, while casting a spell, started doubting witchcraft and felt kind of silly, thinking in the back of her mind, "Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually chanting a load of medieval shit while boiling up a concoction of myrrh, bat droppings and the jism of some homeless man all in some vain attempt to put a love hex on Charles Nelson Reilly?" Never.

What she's got lined up this Halloween: "Well, Halloween is the end of the pagan year and one of the things people do is to say goodbye to certain things or people that have left. It's also a time for ritual recognition of ancestors. My father passed away suddenly in June so I will be with a few close friends, doing a special ritual, saying a final farewell to him."

One recent film she totally dug: Kill Bill.

Childhood ambition: To become a genetic engineer.

Last book read: Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right, by Anne Coulter.

Musical preferences: Enya.

Television preferences: The Sopranos, The Shield.

Words of wisdom: "Don't shit where you eat."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca