Friends Meeting 2009

From the feedback we've had so far the Friends Get Together & AGM was one of our best yet! Over 60 people attended the event to see Simon Costin speak on the development of his project the Museum of British Folklore and Helen Cornish talk on Joan Wytte: The Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin. Unfortunately Geraldine Beskin was unable to attend so Levannah Morgan gallantly stepped in at very short notice and spoke on Spirit Contact the Cecil Williamson Way. Geraldine has kindly offered to speak next year. We all raised a glass to our Honorary President Adrian Bryn-Evans & his wife Anne who, unfortunately, were unable to join us.

The whole day had a distinct feeling of Folklore & traditions and the evening event was full of lively folk singing with the very first public appearance of Graham King & Kerriann Godwin singing The Chase Song from the museum's CD 'Songs of Witchcraft & Magic'.

At the AGM we welcomed our new treasurer Martin Shepheard & it was a great pleasure to hand over a large cheque to Graham for a project he will be undertaking in February. All the lighting in the museum will be transferred over to lower voltage, more cost effective bulbs & tracking. This will ensure a long term saving on electricity bills for the museum and will be a much greener option than the current bulbs used. A softer illumination is given which is beneficial to the artifacts as well.

Membership has already overtaken last year's figures thanks to the hard work of membership secretary Deborah Westmancoat, and we're already putting together a programme for next year's meeting. I think it may have a more Ritual Magic feel but more of that later.

The following morning a few stalwarts made the annual pilgrimage to Joan's headstone up near Minster Church while others visited the museum. Thanks to The Wellington Hotel who hosted the event & being as helpful as ever. Hopefully we'll see more of you next year. I had to include this fabulous photo of Ray looking gorgeous & amusing.

Friends meeting Dec 5

The Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft meeting is on next weekend Dec 5 at The Wellington Hotel 1030 to 1700. speakers include Geraldine Beskin, Simon Costin & Helen Cornish. Free entrance to Friends or those wishing to join on the day. A walk to the Joan Wytte memorial stone on Sunday 6th. Hope to see you there.

'Harry' Takes a Break in Bournemouth

A visit to the museum this summer by Dr Martin Smith of Bournemouth University has started the ball rolling for a tantalising research project regarding our beloved tarred head known affectionately as 'Harry'. Martin is an osteoarchaeologist and was excited to come across 'Harry' in the cabinets as it turns out he/she could be one of only three such specimens known to exist in the UK.

Today he came to pick up 'Harry' and transport him/her to Bournemouth for some tests which we hope will give us a lot more information than we currently have. From Cecil Williamson's notes it appears 'Harry' was found in a box (which we still have) in a bombed out church in London during WWII. Martin and his colleagues will be performing a CT Scan and various other tests to try to narrow down when he/she was alive, where he/she came from and other information as yet unknown to us. We've always presumed he was a man but there is evidence already to show she may be a woman.

'Harry' is one of our favourite exhibits and we always say hello and have a chat when we do the morning cleaning every day. It will be great to have more information on him/her. We'll keep you updated via the Friends newsletter and future posts. I've attached a photo of Martin delicately placing 'Harry' into the transport box.

Luckily Sarah Ransome from the BBC was here doing an interview with Graham for Radio 4 about businesses recovering after disasters and she managed to do a piece with Martin which we think will be on Radio Cornwall shortly. If we hear anything about when this will be on on mention it on the Twitter site. Here is a picture of Graham being interviewed by Sarah with Martin in the background.

Grey Chapel Gallery

We had a lovely time up in Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago and while we were there we popped in to see Sylvia Wolfe in her recently opened business 'The Grey Chapel Gallery'. It's sort of across the road from the entrance to The Chalice Well so easy enough to find & Sylvia mainly sells artworks with an esoteric theme & some really unique pieces ranging from handmade staffs to snakeskin walking sticks, tribal masks and bronze phalluses. If you're after something different this could be the place for you. I think its been running for about 3 months so is still quite new. Sylvia is German originally and is passionate about her business as well as being one of the friendliest people we've met. There is an exhibition of Ann Sudworth paintings on at the moment. For details have a look at the website www.greychapel.com . Here is a photo of Graham, Sylvia & her partner Peter.

Cleaning Frenzy

Had a bit of a whizz around the museum last Thursday cleaning for the end of the season....so much dust accumulates so quickly, especially in the library. Having the new roof put on earlier in the season meant that dust got to places we didn't know were places!!! All beautiful now though....we'll be working on a couple of new exhibits while the museum is closed over winter so there'll be something fresh for all our repeat visitors to see when they come back next year. We try to change or update things every year to keep it exciting for everyone. A new window display is being worked on as well.

By the way, there's an interesting art exhibit at Tate St ives called 'The Dark Monarch - Magic & Modernity in British Art'. Worth a look if you're in the area, some Ithell Colquhoun, Osman Spare, Henry Moore et al. There's a rather nice unicorn from Damien Hirst to greet you as you walk in.

V & A Talk a Success

A fab night was had by all at the V & A Halloween Late Night last Friday night. Simon Costin performed his Dine with Death painted head to toe in red surrounded by others in High Victorian garb. He arrived in a rather fabulous hearse. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it in person as Joyce & I were doing a talk in the Arts Library. Joyce is writing a new book on magic in the Middle Ages called 'Wicked Enchantments' and she was asked to speak on this subject at this event. I read out the spells in my best Medieval Australian accent. Apparently the talk was 'sold out' within 5 mins of the tickets being released. Joyce did a great job & the reaction from the audience was very popular. Interestingly one of the questions was 'where is the Museum of Witchcraft?' Clearly we neeed to do some more promotion as there are still people out there who don't know we exist.

Notification of Painting For Sale

We don't normally mention these types of things on the blog but we've been informed of an oil painting for sale in the USA featuring a witch on a bat & thought we'd let people know in case anyone was interested. Please note the museum is not selling the painting & we are not taking any agent's fees for putting this notice on the blog. Following is an excerpt from the email regarding the painting and some photos. If you would like to be put in touch with the seller please email the museum on museumwitchcraft@aol.com.

These subjects in art are extremely rare to come by. My client is asking $5,000 US, and I think this is an excellent opportunity and investment. It has a few old repairs, but in good condition for age and rarity. I can find no other paintings from this time period and subject matter anywhere. Please let me know if you have a buyer for this excellent piece. It measures 34 x 62 inches, and has its original period frame from 1899. Shipping would be absorbed by potential buyer. Thank you, Michael K.

The Occult Reliquary Notice of Publication

March 2010 will see the publication of The Occult Reliquary by a very high quality US publisher Three Hands Press which is run by Daniel Schulke. Many of you will be aware of Daniel through his other publishing house Xoanon which is responsible for the Chumbley works Azoetia and Qutub among others, as well as his own Ars Philtron.

The Occult Reliquary showcases the Richel-Eldermans Collection which is an occult archive of over 2000 images and artifacts housed in the Museum of Witchcraft. 'Situated at the crossroads of erotic magic, ceremonial angelic conjuration, and witchcraft, the images comprise, in part, a veiled pictorial cipher of the practices of several European Occult Orders operating in the Netherlands in the early 20th Century. Among these are Ars Amatoria, a magical order using sex magic and the lesser known M.M ...............

The Reliquary presents for the first time a selection of these magical images reproduced at full scale, & bound with the highest quality materials. The book is 216 pages, with over 200 illustrations, 80 of which are in full colour, & includes an introduction by curator Graham King.'

The book is available in three editions as follows with UK prices:

Special Edition - gilt stamped full leather with felt lined slipcase, limited to 100 copies - £200.00

Delux Edition - gilt stamped & quarter-bonded in leather, limited to 250 copies - £130.00

Standard Edition - casebound in cloth with gilt stamping, limited to 700 copies - £65.00

For information on Pre-ordering contact the museum's official retail outlet The Occult Art Company on kg@theoccultartcompany.co.uk