Godwin the Gargoyle | Guardian of Witches Brew Coffee Co.
The GuardianGodwin · Keeper of the Brew
Godwin the Gargoyle
Patron guardian of the brew. Keeper of the corner. Collector of coins, flowers, and small treasures.
He has watched over every pour since the beginning. Regulars nod to him on the way in. Some leave a little something. He notices.
Every witch's house keeps a guardian at the threshold, and ours is Godwin. He stands sentinel on his stone pedestal inside Witches Brew Coffee Co. at 2940 Canal St, wings half-raised, eyes fixed on the door. Nothing enters the room without his say-so, and so far he has approved of everyone.
Ask a barista to point him out and they will. Ask them to explain him and they will pause, because Godwin is not really explained. He is simply part of the shop, the way the steam and the tarot decks and the eight-minute steep are part of the shop.
Visitors leave Godwin offerings. Nobody started it on purpose, and nobody is in charge of it now. Coins collect at his feet. Flowers appear tucked against the stone. Small trinkets arrive and stay: buttons, beads, charms, the occasional tiny figurine standing guard beside the guard.
Coins
For luck. Pennies most days, foreign coins when travelers pass through.
Flowers
Fresh or dried, single stems mostly. He does not seem picky.
Trinkets
Charms, beads, small tokens. Left behind on purpose, kept with care.
If you feel moved to leave something small before your coffee or your reading, you are in good company. It is not required. He guards freeloaders too.
A confession, before someone with a folklore degree emails us: Godwin has the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, which makes him, technically, a griffin. Gargoyles, strictly speaking, are the carved rainspouts of medieval buildings, throwing water clear of the walls. Carvings that guard without the plumbing are properly called grotesques.
Godwin has heard all of this and does not care. He was named Godwin the Gargoyle, he does a gargoyle's true job, which is standing watch, and griffins have guarded treasure in stories for more than four thousand years. We serve the treasure in cups. The arrangement works.
Stone guardians are one of the oldest human habits. Cities have set carved watchers at gates, bridges, and doorways for millennia, from the winged lions of Mesopotamia to the grotesques of Notre-Dame, all doing the same quiet work: marking the line between outside and inside, and promising that someone is minding it.
New Orleans understands this instinct better than most cities. Here the threshold matters, the porch matters, who watches the door matters. Godwin is our small contribution to a very long tradition.
Godwin keeps the same hours we do, which is to say he never leaves. Find him at Witches Brew Coffee Co., 2940 Canal St in Mid-City New Orleans, open every day from 8am to 6pm, on the Canal streetcar line. Say hello, order something from the menu, stay for a tarot reading. Leave a coin if you like.