Lewin’s Metaphysical Books

This place is hella charming. old school Bay Area. great selection, loved the woman working, a kind soul who is definitely dedicated to spirit and healing. glad we caught them because they close somewhat early. a nurturing experience on a day I got super stressful health news. glad to support this business.

Such a fun place with a great esoteric selection. Highly recommend.

A wonderful bookstore with things you won’t find elsewhere plus a quiet and helpful atmosphere.

This store is amazing with all the choices and Yvonne the owner is so knowlegable, she will order anything for you. I love this store! I drive all the way from Tracy, Ca.

Amazing. I not only found books I had been searching for for years but the company in the store was incredible. I’m bad with names so I’ll have to ask her again, but thank you thank you for such a wondeful conversation and for passing on information on new places to travel and to photograph.
I will always visit this bookstore when in town and I will definitely use them to ship the books I can’t find in other local store. Namaste.

I really love this enchanting and charming book store. the lady who works here is also super nice and very helpful. she even suggested that I let my dog walk around her bookstore off-​leash!
I’ve been here a few times in the past. they have all kinds of metaphysical books and other cool things like crystals, tarot cards and even sage to burn.

This is a great little bookstore in an excellent Berkeley neighborhood. There are very good selections in such areas as Tarot and astrology, and the shop owner is happy to order other books for you if there’s something you want that she doesn’t have in stock. She carries some nice accessories like small leather pouches you can wear around your neck, and at times when I’ve suggested to her a possible title she might consider carrying in stock, she’s been quite receptive to hear my suggestions. Considering how difficult the times have been for brick and mortar bookstores all around the country, I think it’s important that we support them.

This store is exactly what it says it is — a metaphysical book store. And if that is what you are looking for, this place does not disappoint. Lots of different sections and some ~out there~ types of topics. There are also a smattering of oracle cards, greeting cards and other small «gift» type of things. Very organized and special!

First and foremost, Lewin’s Metaphysical Bookstore is very appropriately named. It is a metaphysical bookstore and has a very extensive selection of metaphysical books approached from every imaginable perspective. There are the more traditional religious texts that keep in line with more orthodox approaches to interpreting religious scriptures, and there are plenty of the esoteric counterparts. The selection includes selections from all along this very traditional to very new-​agey spectrum from almost any tradition you can imagine – Christianity, Buddhism, and all the major ones in all their various sects… and all the less recognizable traditions of modernity and antiquity. There is also, of course, lots of material written for people who enjoy a more secular, strictly philosophical approach to metaphysics. Whether you’re looking for Kant and pre-​Socratic Greek metaphysics, karmic astrology and kabbalistic cosmology, or the Pali Canon or Bhagavad Gita, Lewin’s Metaphysical Books will probably have quite a selection of treasures.
But why three stars? I definitely get bad vibes from this place, which makes spending time browsing through the impressive selection much less enjoyable. Perhaps my expectations were a little higher for this one, being a metaphysical bookstore and all and having thought I’d reached the end of the rainbow when I first walked in and beheld the tall shelves all around loaded with so many books on many of my favorite subjects. The lady who I assume runs the place seems deeply resentful of actually having people come into her store and especially of having to communicate with them… or maybe she just doesn’t think I look like someone who should be in her metaphysical bookstore. Either way, I was the only customer in the store the entire time, but there was no greeting, smile, or acknowledgment of any kind when I came in. I asked her a couple of couple of questions between my bouts of browsing, which seemed to bother her and prompted concise, impersonal responses that reminded me of a Turing test. Finally, when checking out, I saw some very pretty holographic postcards on a rotating rack and asked about the price – a very simple question that actually prompted the first multi-​sentence response to one of my questions during my whole time being there: «They’re $ 3.95. There’s a sticker with the price on it right there on the rack. Do you see it?» (There is a short pause as I look awkwardly for the sticker.) «It’s right there.» She points, and I see a small sticker, slightly bigger than my thumbnail, with «$ 3.95» handwritten on it. My bad!
Still, the place is definitely worth checking out if the subject matter interests you, as you’ll definitely find several treasures on Lewin’s shelves.

I think this bookshop is the epitome of Berkeley.
When I first entered and saw rows and rows of motivational and metaphysical books, I did not know what to expect. As I walked into the hushed atmosphere of sweet incense and perused inspirational nonfiction ranging from self-​help healing cookbooks to works on Rumi and modern applications of Zen Buddhism, I felt at peace. THIS is what a bookstore is meant to feel like. Books should nurture us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in some cases, physically. I found that here.
Lewin’s has a vast collection of nonfiction, including titles that you can find on Amazon (such as all of Michael Pollan’s works) to unconventional (shall we say, «indie»?) titles that you wouldn’t find on Amazon. I appreciated being able to find extensive books on Enneagram personality analyses, Chinese holistic medicine as well as the macrobiotic diet that were by knowledgeable and certified individuals and not by people pushing products or with a celebrity endorsement. Also, what was nice is that the owner is not obtrusive. She does her own thing, but when prompted into a conversation, has a comprehensive knowledge about the books she sells– we had a brief talk about holistic health and the ubiquitous presence and health consequence of refined sugar in the modern diet– something that you don’t get from just shopping anonymously online.
I came away with a book on aromatherapy that is succinct and informed. In the two hours that I was in Lewin’s books, my soul and intellect were nourished. I think it’s a beautiful place to step back in time and remind yourself of the pleasure of reading.

I have been visiting Lewin’s since I moved to the bay area in 1977. It is a great comfort, and the only metaphysical bookstore left in the east bay. You can meet all your spiritual and metaphysical book needs here in an extremely laid back atmosphere. I love this place.

When I walked into this store (with my toddler child) it reeked of cigarette smoke. I am an ex smoker so I am not one of those people who is hyper-​sensitive to and overly critical of the smell of smoke. I am actually pretty tolerant of smoking and smokers, so I hope you know it is not an exaggeration when i say that this place REEKED as if someone had been smoking, not in a back room, but inside the small store.
This really bothered me. Not only do I question whether it is even legal anymore to have an establishment that is zoned as a business to allow smoking inside (I am almost sure it’s not legal), but as I said, I had my toddler with me, which made me even more unhappy about the idea of exposing him to secondhand smoke.
I digress… I was looking for a specific book and not only did the store not have it – the entire section of books on the genre was pretty poor. Selection-​wise this store tries to be everything to everyone and in doing so, doesn’t succeed in providing much depth in any individual section. I wanted to support a local store instead of buying my book off of Amazon, but I will never go into this store again.

I did not like most of the books in there. They didn’t have what I was looking for. Bad vibes.

It had been way too long since I stopped in at Lewin’s. I adore this bookstore – the dark wood floors, the high ceiling, shelves lined with books you can feel the weight of in your hands and to riffle their pages.
I stopped in today and picked up a copy of Antero Alli’s 8 Circuit Brain.
There is now an even wider selection of the Reiki-​charged votive candles, still at $ 1 a piece. I got Joy, Friendship and Abundance.
In addition to the beautiful The Mother’s Frangrances, Yvonne is now stocking a line of heavenly incense by Botanical Creations from Colorado. These are made with essential oils! You can see the moisture of the oil or resin on the inside of the package. This looks to be a quality product. I can hardly wait to light up a stick of Air (white sage, lavender, lemongrass).
Yvonne is so generous too. As I was browsing, she gave a young woman an entire head of celery. I could smell it from the back of the store, so I’ll bet it was homegrown. Yvonne tucked an extra packet of incense in with my modest purchase. You don’t receive that sort of gesture from Amazon!

The spirit of Bud’s decodings lingers in the old calendars on the wall and the mounds of maya Dreamspell are the sacred ware of the shop.
The selection is vast: from Argwelles to Melchizideck. Zacariah Stitchin fanatics rejoice. If you’re lost Yvonne will help you. Metaphysical describes it all. Ask for a 13 Moon calendar, and you may get one.
Thus find ye in the Elmhood of Berkeley, find some magic at Lewin’s.

i love this store and go into it whenever i can get a chance. they have all the typical metaphysical stuff– tarot, astrology, divination books etc. they also have a lot of psychology and alternative health/​healing books, which i personally think is really cool.
their tarot selection is fantastic, and they usually have the matching book to the deck. i love the astrology section too-i’ve found a lot of books there that i had been looking for for some time. the woman who works there is really friendly and helpful and often there is a cute little dog snoozing behind the register.

i pass by this place all the time.. .decided to go in and look around.
is your chi low?, are your chakras out of allignment?, do you want to know what «the age of aquarius really means?.. . then this is the bookstore for you.
the bookstore is large and has a good selection of titles for both eastern and western spirituality. the clerk behind the counter was knowlegable and helpful. :) the vibe here is mellow and low key, not hip or trendy. if you want a particular title and they don’t have it in stock, they’ll be glad to order. they have a pretty nifty collection of tarot cards too.