What Do Witches think of the Church?

We've had an interesting request from a researcher who writing an article looking at the question: What Do Witches think of the Church?  If you would like to contribute your ideas, please email them to museumwitchcraft@AOL.com and we will pass them on to the researcher.  The article may well be published in two Christian magazines (Fortean Times and Premier Magazine).

The researcher's rationale for this article is: "I’ve made it clear to the editor that I don’t want to write an article condemning witchcraft... Instead, I thought it might be a good way of breaking down a few barriers and challenging some stereotypes that Christians might have of witches. It might also give them food for thought as to why church didn’t fulfil their spiritual needs. For example, I remember at the last ASSAP day, I spoke to a witch who said that Christianity’s male-centric deity was a problem for her. I thought that was fascinating and something that Christians could learn from."

He would like to know:
-the opinions and stories of witches who may have had positive or negative experiences with the church
-if any witches might have any sort of apologetic or explanation for the reading of the anti-witch texts of the Bible? Are their Christians who would also practice witchcraft? If so, how do they reconcile those texts?
 

Tintagel Storyteller

You can listen to four stories by Jill, the Tintagel storyteller on youtube.com.
https://www.youtube.com/user/JillLamede/videos?view_as=public

Photography project update

We had a dedicated team of photographers in the Museum all of last week.  They were absolutely brilliant - so much enthusiasm for the collection and they took such care of the objects as they cleaned every item before it was photographed.  There was also a lot of technical expertise on display (which left the writer of this a little baffled!) but they have taken some great shots and have got a very professional set up and production line going.  All the volunteers are Friends of the Museum and we know how lucky we have been to have them!  The project continues later this week and in January.

Below: photos of the team in action and some of their fabulous snaps!

Wonderful winter straw crafts

Above: Gillian's work on display - something to aspire to!

Saturday was a wet and windy day in Boscastle but that didn't dampen spirits at our second straw crafts workshop session led by the wonderful Gillian Nott.  The group made items for winter festivities/Christmas and were taught lots of techniques.  Another brilliant day and there was enthusiasm for another so watch this space!  See photos below for the day's activities.

 

From the Museum store part five

These doors and signs are no longer in use in the Museum but they are being kept in store as a valuable part of the Museum's history.

From the Museum store part four

These items (a mannequin in costume and three black and silver cut out witches) were given to us after the Museum helped with a display in Lancashire Museums.  They are being kept in store.

From the Museum store part three

These items are in the Museum store.  They date from the early days of the Museum.

This colourful picture has holes where it eyes should be.  We've been told that it used to have glowing red eyes.  This look was achieved with red plastic and a light bulb.  You can clearly see this painting in the photo below which shows an old Museum display.

We are told that this cross formed part of an old Museum display on Ritual Magic as did the paintings below.

Maybe someday we'll have a temporary exhibition on Ritual Magic which would get these items on display and give us a chance to consider the subject in greater detail.

Visited by Young Farmers

The Museum was visited last night by a group of Cornish young farmers from nearby Camelford.  They enjoyed their visit and seemed particularly interested in the Wheel of the Year and our display of corn dollies (some of them had made these at one time - keeping the old traditions alive!)  It was great to have them here and we hope they'll come again!

Group visits are available by appointment at any time of year and guided tours can be arranged on request.

Objects from the Museum store part two

Graham King* told us that these boards were originally part of the Isle of Man displays and that he believed they were created by Cecil Williamson's* daughters.  When we looked on the back, we saw that they had an address in Windsor on them.  The Museum of Witchcraft was located in Windsor at one time.

*Cecil founded the Museum and Graham ran it until recently.

Photography volunteers get started

The Museum welcomed three enthusiastic volunteers this morning (who are all members of our Friends of the Museum organisation).  They have offered their time to help photograph objects in the Museum's collection so we can have a complete visual catalogue on our online database.

There will be more volunteers here tomorrow and over the next three months.  We will post some examples of their photos as they come in.

A very professional set up in the library.

They were so busy photographing they don't notice me taking this snap hence the startled looks!

Mad about Macbeth

Yesterday, the Museum was visited by a group of enthusiastic Year 8 students from Shebbear College in Devon.  They had been studying Macbeth in their English lessons and were brought on a visit to the Museum by their teacher Mr Wolverson.  We opened the Museum specially for the group and provided them with tasks to do.

The visit started in the library where the students were asked to describe what witches are like and how they behave in the play Macbeth.

The main theme of the visit was: Were Shakespeare's witches real?  And students were asked to think about what the witches do in Macbeth and whether or not the objects in the Museum's collection suggest that this is what witches actually do.

The students were given a variety of statements and they had to decide if they were true or false.  Some examples of the statements they were given:

In Macbeth, the witches use human body parts in their spells.  Human body parts are used in witchcraft. 

In Macbeth, the witches control the weather.  Witches really do things to try and change the weather. 

In Macbeth, the witches predict the future.  Witches really do try to see into the future.

In Macbeth, the witches interfere with kings and powerful people.  Witches are mostly concerned with kings and power.

 In Macbeth, the witches do spells that sound like poems.  Witches always speak their spells and they sound like poems.

In Macbeth, the witches make use a cauldron to make their magic.  Witches mainly use cauldrons to make their magic.

Can you guess which sections of the Museum they used as evidence to prove or disprove these statements?  You can see from the top photograph below how they used the divination display as evidence.

One of the statements the students had to consider was: In the play Macbeth, the witches seem to encourage Macbeth to do evil things.  Witches use their power to hurt people.  Is this true or false?  In the photo above you can see the students considering our cursing section and discussing it in light of the representation of witches in Macbeth.

Another statement the students considered was: In the play Macbeth, there are three witches.  Do witches always work in threes?  In the photo above, you can see the students looking in our Images of Witchcraft gallery at the section with the Macbeth plaque which explores the idea of witches as the Three Fates/the Unholy Trinity.  The students voted at the end on whether or not Shakespeare knew what he was talking about when it came to witchcraft.  Are the witches in Macbeth anything like real witches?  The students had mixed views and made some really interesting points.

The visit ended with the students considering some mystery objects and discussing the nature and uses of magic.  The students all seemed to enjoy themselves and were certainly intrigued by the Museum.  Their teacher said "We will be back!"  

The students do their best "witch crone" impressions outside the Museum!

School groups are very welcome at the Museum and visit tasks can be tailored to suit your groups needs.  Please contact Judith Hewitt at the Museum for more details.

Objects from the Museum store

As part of our refurbishment this year, the Museum team have been tidying up and rearranging the Museum storeroom.  We've unearthed some interesting items and we'll post a few photos of them over the next few days.  It is unlikely that these objects will find a permanent home in the Museum displays due to space constraints but they are being kept safely in store and who knows, they be on display again some time in the future.

If you have any information about these objects or remember how they were displayed in the Museum in the past, please do let us know!

First items to show you, some paintings.

The black and white photo shows how this painting was displayed when Cecil Williamson ran the Museum (he ran it from 1951 until 1996).

If you look carefully, you can see the painting above to the left of this photo of an old Museum display.