A Bay Area woman was preparing for a weekend of wizarding when she realized people were stockpiling supplies at Costco amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The woman imagined a world in which people rushed to Costco for magic supplies, too.

She made that fantasy a reality by printing fake signs advertising orbs and crystals and hanging them over the signs of other sold-out goods.

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This week Danielle Baskin, who practices divination and tarot reading, was preparing for a gathering of wizards planned this weekend in the Bay Area. At the same time, she was reading about people flocking to Costco in preparation for a coronavirus outbreak.

Then she had a funny thought: What if people were preparing for a pandemic by buying up magical items that, in this world, are sold at Costco?

"I can make this seem like reality," Baskin told Insider.

Danielle Baskin replaces signs for sold-out items at Costco with signs for magic goods. provided by Danielle Baskin

On Tuesday, Baskin went to her local Costco and replaced signs for sold-out products, like water and rice, with signs for magical items like boots of levitation, an enchanted battle ax, and summoning orbs.

Baskin said she was inspired by items familiar to people through fantasy games and novels and also items commonly used by people who practice divination.

Baskin said Costco was already chaotic around noon on a weekday, with people on the hunt for supplies, so nobody really noticed her putting up the signs.

She said one man read one of them out loud "like facts" without questioning it and then asked Baskin if she knew whether the store was "also out of rice."

A fake boots-of-levitation sign at Costco. provided by Danielle Baskin.

Baskin then tweeted photos of the signs and, for the most part, they were well-received. The original post was retweeted more than 2,000 times.

A few people commented on Twitter that Baskins' actions were disruptive for employees, but she said that she was careful not to disrupt workers' inventory process and that the signs could be easily pulled down.

Baskin said she hoped the Costco project raised awareness of other acts of "public wizardry" in the Bay Area.

For example, each year she and 30 friends attend the Oracle tech conference dressed as wizards and pretend they're looking for a conference for magical oracles.

Then they stay at the conference and offer tarot readings to guests, she said.

On Friday, the famed New York wizard Devin Person will be visiting the Wizards of the West Coast, of which Baskin is a member.

There will most likely be 20 people roaming around the Bay Area "coming up with different spells and divination methods," she said.

"I think everyone this week is kind of in shock with what's happening in the world. I think that will play into the sorts of rituals we do. Whether it's attempting to remove fear, or empowering people to create things," Baskin said. "If anything, it cheers people up even if they think it's silly."