Talk at the Harvest Moon festival by a Friend of the Museum

Gemma Gary, Friend of the Museum, gave a talk last weekend at the Harvest Moon Festival in Norwich which mostly explored artefacts at the Museum related to the magical use of animal and human remains.

http://www.harvestmoonfestival.co.uk/home

The talk went down well and lots of people came up after to ask about the Museum. There were a number who hadn't been before and said they'll definitely be making a visit.

Here is a photo of Gemma at the talk (wearing a shawl lent to her by someone in the audience because she was so cold!)

Here's the description of the talk from the website:

Vessels of Spirit

Folk magic and historical witchcraft have left behind an array of fascinating and often bizarre artefacts to be found in museum collections, most notably in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle. For many, the most visually intriguing and perhaps puzzling of these artefacts make use of once living remains, either animal or human. In this talk we will explore the use and meaning of some of these items from the popular magic and witchcraft of the past, as well as the use of such artefacts within modern traditional witchcraft.

Gemma also took part in the closing ritual which involved the creating of magical charms which were handed out to everyone present. She also took one for the Museum.   Gemma visited the Museum on Saturday and donated a charm bag and the words of the ritual.

There's a good interview about it on Youtube with Val Thomas who wrote and performed in the rite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAYKHLfCfuE#t=1199

Thank-you so much Gemma (and Jane) for all the great work you do on behalf of the Museum.