New Additions

Here are two of our recent donations. The colourful Golden Dawn Tools were used by a Canadian magician and are now on display upstairs as part of our Ritual Magic section. I must say I think they are truly fabulous but I've always been keen on a splash of colour. On a less colourful yet equally interesting note are the two concealed cats which were found in a house in Bristol during refurbishment work. The house was built in the late 1800s which makes this a fairly late example of cats concealed in walls. It is thought they were used as charms to protect houses from mice & rats. We are coming along with the Tarot display. We (& by we I mean Graham) are constructing the case from mahogony doors & toughened glass. We've also had some offers of images & text from some fabulous people. More on that later.

Thanks Exmoor Pagan Camp

A Big thanks go to Yarrow & all who attended the Exmoor Pagan Camp & took part in the raffle. £50 was raised for Friends of the Museum. Much appreciated.

Swallows a Big Hit

The live stream of the swallows' nest footage has proved a big hit with visitors to the museum!! The staff have even got a sweep stake on when they think the chicks will fledge. Derek, the largest of the chicks, appears ready to take off at any minute. Meredith & Merlin are great parents & all four of the little chaps are still doing well. Check out the latest video.

In the meantime Graham has been working on some new exclusive products for retail & I've introduced some new cards based around the Richel collection. They are doing very well & I'll be putting some on The Occult Art Company website shortly. As soon as Graham's new products are ready I'll put some info on this blog.

Mandrake it is

We're delighted to announce that the name of the male swallow is Mandrake (as suggested by Lesley). 'Meredith & Mandrake' has a nice ring to it. Their chicks are now popping their heads above the nest so we'll try to get a snippet of them having their lunch. Joyce is beside herself with excitement in the booth & is being easily distracted from her research. She's getting closer to finishing her book now so she needs to keep her eye on the ball - not the birds!! Chortle. I do amuse myself at times.

Cool Blog

I thought I'd draw your attention to a cool blog that has some info on the museum. You can find it by clicking this link http://www.squidoo.com/museum-of-witchcraft .

Meredith

If you're coming to visit make sure you check out the screen in the booth showing Meredith the swallow & her new chicks. We're doing our own version of Springwatch with a camera set up discreetly near Meredith's nest to watch her antics. The nest is in under the roof between the museum & the National Trust cafe next door. Have grabbed a video from Graham for you to have a look at. It was filmed earlier today & we can't see any small beaks yet. It seems to start with Meredith's chap then she comes into the picture towards the end. Does anyone have a suggestion for his name?