Action packed weekend

It was certainly a hive of activity in the museum over the weekend with the lovely Simon Costin designing and putting together our new window display. Simon is an internationally renowned art director and we're so happy he was able to come down and spruce up our window. He made the fab crow by hand and we love the whole new look! I believe there may be a piece of chiffon in the mail as a finishing touch to the cauldron. It was also Simon's birthday so we hope he had a good time. Here is a pic of the crow in action and some before & after shots of the window in question. We also have the lovely Spencer & Craig & Roger in the museum wielding paintbrushes & drills as they helped with the finishing touches before the museum opens. Here are a few pics of them as well.

Thanks to Philippa & Angela

Graham has been kept on his toes over the last weekend as two volunteers came down to help with preparations for the museum's 2010 season. They worked really hard & made a big difference - painting, drilling, moving objects around, putting skirting boards up ............ the list goes on. Here is a pic of them moving the witch balls from the front window in readiness for Simon Costin coming down this weekend to do the new window display. Only 2 weeks to opening - we hope you lime the new displays & the new lighting.

Modern Witchraft

Had a lovely day yesterday rearranging some of the modern witchcraft display, mainly the Stewart Farrar & Brownie Pate section. It's such a privilege to handle the magical objects that once belonged to such interesting people ad know they are being cared for in a respectful environment. As you may know Graham has donated all the artifacts in the museum to the Trust for the Preservation of the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft so the collection will always remain together. Here I am with Brownie's elf doll - one of my favourite artifacts.

Volunteers Respond

Our first volunteer turned up for duty today and was busy waxing & polishing some new cabinets for the 'Images' display as PF conference attendees came to visit. Though not officially open it is a tradition at allow PF visitors to have a look around the museum on the Sunday after the event....it's great to see the same friendly faces each year & indeed some new people as well. Quite a few have decided to join Friends of the Museum now that they see what a benefit it is to the museum.

More volunteers are due to come in next weekend which is greatly appreciated. Here are a couple of photos of Dee performing her magic on the new cabinets.

New Friends of the Museum Blog

Friends has a new website thanks to Gemma & Jane of Rockpool Arts. It's a much easier to access site & we hope will be more interactive than before. Check out the sire at www.friendsbmw.org.uk

We also have a blog on the site which keeps you up to date on latest Friends info. This can be accessed on:

http://friendsbmw.wordpress.com/

We hope you like it - let us know!

Work Begins on Christian Magic

As well as moving our fabulous hare around Graham has started work on the Christian Magic display. It will be located next to the Herbs & Healing section within the gothic arch & should be rather interesting!! Here's Graham showing off some of his handiwork.

Hare Today.............

Our lovely hare is moving to a new space in the museum............she will be sitting in the space vacated by the automaton by the stone circle. Graham has been doing a lot of work on the surrounds including moon lighting, mirrors, & plinth. She looks amazing & it's a logical place for a hare to be, by the circle in moonlight. Lovely!

Farewell Automaton

You may remember the lovely

automaton which sat in the area around the stone circle in the museum. Well last weekend we reluctantly returned it to the maker Alan Manktelow over in Eastbourne. As part of our annual revitalisation of the museum, we realised we needed more space in this area, so unfortunately it had to go back. It was refurbished by Alan after the flood as it had been flung around quite a bit & was under water for a time. Alan is looking for a new home for the automaton so if anyone has any ideas please contact the museum & we'll put Alan in touch with you. Fare thee well!

Too Much Wind

Just before the end of last year we had a rather full-on wind storm in Boscastle and our fabulous sign 'Selling The Wind' painted by the lovely Vivienne Shanley was blown down and damaged. Graham has had the painting repaired and it will be reframed by Andy of The Old Forge Gallery up the road. It should be reinstated to its usual place above the window of the museum before we reopen at Easter.

This image is available as a greeting card from the museum shop but we have now discontinued the other cards painted by Vivienne. They will be replaced by a new range of cards based on the Richel Eldermans collection, reproduction Good Luck cards and other images from the museum. We did have a small selection last year but should have a larger range for 2010.

Work Begins so Volunteers Prepare for Action

Lots happening at the museum at the moment in readiness for the 2010 season.Graham has started work on installing the new Phillips lighting system which was donated by Friends Thanks to Phillips for supplying a large number of sample bulbs when Graham was researching the project. They should save money in the long run, be more ecologically friendly, and give a better light to the objects. To those volunteers who registered an interest in helping with the installation project, could you please either phone or email Graham at the museum to organise a time to come in and help out - that would be much appreciated.

As well as the lighting there are many other areas where volunteers can help, from cleaning displays to touching up paintwork so please get in touch & we'll slot you in. We are very grateful to all those who help out each year.

Another project happening at the moment is the replacement of some of the glass panels in the front window with panel board so that we can affix browsers for the Richel Eldermans prints. The prints are selling really well online and with the launch of 'The Occult Reliquary' shortly we expect demand to rise. Retail space is limited in the entrance area so we're trying to be creative and utilise the available area to its full capacity. Here is Graham working on the window.

And, exciting news, it looks like Simon Costin, internationally renowned designer and curator of the new Museum of British Folklore, has agreed to design our 2010 front window display. More on that later.

Work Begins Again

Hannah has done a great job holding the fort over the past couple of months but now it's back to work for Graham as he gets busy in the museum, readying it for opening at Easter. The biggest project is the new lighting which the Friends of the Museum have been so much a part of funding. Graham will shortly be calling on the volunteers who offered assistance at the Friends' December Get Together for practical help in the installation.

The Occult Art Company which sells museum items was extremely busy over xmas with a particular run on the new witch weather vanes, glass knitting needles and the Richel-Eldermans' prints. We are replenishing the prints as we speak so if you've been watching the website our stock levels should be back to normal by mid next week.

The book 'The Occult Reliquary' which relates to the Richel-Eldermans collection is due for publication end March/Early April and pre-orders are coming in quickly. If you would like information on the book or to reserve a copy please email Kerriann at kg@theoccultartcompany.co.uk . Three Hands Press are the publishers of three limited edition versions so we know the quality will be excellent and will become a real collectors' item in the future.

Our historian Joyce Froome's book 'Wicked Enchantments' is getting closer to publication as well. She has been doing talks around Cornwall and London based on the book and has an article in this month's Pagan Dawn. Speaking of Pagan Dawn there is a very good review of the museum's new Ouija Board in there. Graham designed the board based on the Richel - Eldermans images and it's been very popular so far.

That's all for now. More soon.

Hamish Miller

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing to spirit of Hamish Miller in January this year. Hamish has been a great friend to Graham & the museum over the years. He was well known through his books on sacred landscapes and dowsing and made the dowsing rods which we sell in the museum. He was also well known for being a thoroughly lovely chap. We send our sympathies Ba & his family & friends. Merry Meet & Merry Part & Merry Meet Again

Happy Yule

After a fabulous Friends' meeting the museum is now well & truly closed for the season. We will open again at Easter next year. Our membership has already outstripped last year's & Graham has already ordered the new lighting, the funds for which were handed over by Friends at the AGM.

Our membership dates have changed to coincide with the opening of the museum so new members will get a few extra months free as this year's lasts till April 2011. We have already reached half our target membership for the year so if you want to help spur it along by becoming a Friend or promoting it at your Moot please contact Deborah our membership secretary at friendsbmw@googlemail.com & she can help you with both joining & getting hold of application forms.

Hannah is ably holding the fort at both the museum & The Occult Art Company while we take a short break in Brittany. I'll aim to keep the blog up to date while away - WiFi permitting.

Happy Yule fest to you all.

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.