Museum to appear on BBC Radio Cornwall

On Monday 26th October, Judith Hewitt (one of the managers of the Museum) will appear on BBC Radio Cornwall.  Her interview will last roughly five minutes.  She will be talking about our upcoming Halloween event.  If you would like to tune in, the interview should air at around 3.15pm.

Exhibition featuring the work of Gemma Gary and Jane C

The Museum was delighted to receive the news today that work by Gemma Gary and Jane Cox (Friends of the Museum and the team behind Troy Books) will feature in an exhibition in New York.

Gemma said: "We were very excited when Jane was asked if some of her witchcraft themed photography could be included in the ‘Magica Sexualis’ show, co-curated by Barry Hale, at the Stephen Romano Gallery in New York. http://www.romanoart.com/

Her photography will be shown alongside other pieces of occult themed art, including some of the famous images of the Alex Sanders coven taken by the late Stewart Farrar. One of my ink drawings has also been chosen – the cover illustration from the paperback edition of ‘The Black Toad’."

Below is the poster for the exhibition (which uses one of Jane's photographs).

Details of Friends of the Museum AGM announced

Looks like it will be an interesting day!  This event is only open to Friends of the Museum.  For more information about joining, see http://museumofwitchcraftfriends.blogspot.co.uk/

Jon Day

We are sad to hear that Jon Day, co-founder of Capall Bann Publishing, has died.

A tribute to him and Mike Howard, who also passed away recently, will be made at our forthcoming AGM.  We have a small announcement in the Shrine here at the Museum to his memory also.

Alchemical Landscape

Friends of the Museum Yvonne Salmon and James Riley have a fantastic project called The Alchemical Landscape; an exploration of how writers, artists and film-makers are currently re-investing the landscape with magical, esoteric and mythic imagery.  Importantly, the project explores the crossover between magical and artistic practice - a theme that was central to MWM's conference on Women in Print:  Witchcraft and the popular press, 1920-1990, earlier this year.

New events are always coming up, so catch up via their blog:

http://thealchemicallandscape.blogspot.co.uk/

See also a great interview with them for the Cambridge Festival of Ideas:

http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/speaker-spotlight-dr-james-riley-and-yvonne-salmon

We look forward to working with James and Yvonne in the future.

Feria Internacional del Libro

The Museum of Witchcraft & Magic is going to Mexico!  Well, only in spirit - we are having our own small section at the annual Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL) - the largest Spanish-language literary festival in the world in Guadalajara.  (Unfortunately we don't get to go...)

This has been arranged by the British Council - an organisation designed to improve international relations and educational opportunities.  This year, the UK is the 'Guest of Honour' culture in Mexico, and for nine days (28 November to 6 December 2015), Guadalajara will be filled with the music, arts, cinema and theatre of the United Kingdom.

The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic has been selected as one of 276 cultural institutions and collections to represent the UK.  More details to follow, but at the very least, attendees of the fair will get to take away a picture of one of our objects...this beautiful spirit symbol snake vertebrae necklace worn by the Pensilva cunning woman Bessie Oliver (Object No. 509).

Hopefully the fair will encourage lots of Mexicans to come to Boscastle and experience the magic of the collection for themselves!

Halloween Event this year - new poster available

Museum holds first straw crafts day - review in local press

Lovely article/photos of Straw Craft Day:

http://bit.ly/1hMaBeH

http://bit.ly/1NOSfbo

Another Yuletide Straw Craft Day will take place in Boscastle on November 28th.  Places are going fast so hurry!

http://museumofwitchcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/winter-crafts-workshop.html

museumwithcraft@aol.com

More Festival fun outside the Museum

Today is the last day of the Boscastle Festival of Food, arts and crafts.  There has been lots going on in the village.  Today there were performers outside the Museum.

 Above: the Boscastle Busker who regularly sings in the Harbour to raise money for Cornwall Hospice Care.

Judith and Peter also visited an art exhibition in the Youth Hostel (Joyce went yesterday and recommended it highly).  There we talked with local residents and artists Anthony Hircock, Donna Tweitman and Anita Langham and purchase some of their lovely items.
https://onepaintingaweek.wordpress.com/
http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Trio-unite-Boscastle-Festival-hostel/story-27888990-detail/story.html
If you didn't make it here this year - maybe see if you can visit the village for the festival next year?

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.

Museum Manager's PhD

Written by Judith Hewitt, co-manager of the Museum and proud wife of Peter.  

Peter Hewitt, one of the co-managers of the Museum, completed his PhD in the Material Culture of Shakespeare's England last year.  He submitted his thesis last summer and had his VIVA at Birmingham University in December.  It all went extremely well and he only had minor corrections to make to his work before receiving final confirmation of his doctorate.

Peter doesn't make much of his academic achievements - his PhD certificate arrived the a couple of months ago without much fanfare (he didn't even tell me it had arrived, I only found out a couple of weeks later when I saw it in his desk!).  This morning, Peter let slip that you can read his thesis online.  If anyone would like to read it, it be found by clicking on this link:
http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/5870/1/Hewitt15PhD.pdf

Peter talked about some of his research at last year's Friends of the Museum AGM.  He has been approached about publishing chapters of his thesis in academic journals and he hopes to look into this  more seriously soon.  He has also contributed to a book on Shakespeare and Material Culture which is being published by Bloomsbury for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (where he conducted research during his PhD).  The book will be released within the next few months.

You can read some samples of the type of work that will appear in the book here:
http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/tag/peter-hewitt

If you want to "follow" Peter's academic work, you can here (not sure much will be happening for a while as we're both happily busy with the Museum!):
https://museumofwitchcraft.academia.edu/PeterHewitt

Festival happenings outside the Museum

Peter and Judith went to their first Boscastle Festival today which was great.  Lots of crafts and things to eat.  As part of the weekend, there have been some interesting things going on around the village including music and a "flashmob" in front of the Museum.

A festival flag outside the Museum and curiously near "flags, flax, fodder and frig"!

More to follow tomorrow...

Great article about the Museum

Our local magazine, the Boscastle Blowhole, has dedicated a whole page to the Museum and its upcoming Halloween extravaganza.  Thanks to the Blowhole team for their support!  If you're not a regular Blowhole reader, you can read the article below.  The Muts Cuts part is an unrelated advert!

Mysteries of the Museum filming

On Monday 28th September, the Museum was visited by a film crew from the Travel Channel.  They had travelled all the way from America to film across Europe and they stopped in at Boscastle to visit the Museum.

Prior to visiting us, they had been to Italy and also Switzerland where they filmed at the Apothecaries Museum (which sounds amazing).  They also went to the Imperial War Museum in London.

Each programme focuses on various Museums and focuses on one object and one story.  Our show will air in the New Year and go out across America (and also in any country which has the Travel Channel which is a lot!)  It should be great promotion for the Museum and its collection.

http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/mysteries-at-the-museum

http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/mysteries-at-the-museum/video/mysteries-at-the-museum-full-episodes

The TV crew filmed throughout the Museum in the morning.  They also took some shots of the village and cliffs.

In the afternoon, they focused on shooting one object: the scold's bridle (Museum object number 162).  The following text is taken from the Museum's online database: Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'A so-called scold's bridle, but in actual fact this bridle is reported to have come from Exeter castle where it was kept to clap on any female prisoner who gave way to shouting, swearing or screaming abuse during the night hours, it is highly uncomfortable to wear, for discomfort is the name of the game.'

From around 4pm until roughly 7pm, the film crew took over the library and interviewed Judith Hewitt (one of the Museum managers) about the case of Jane Wenham.  

Jane Wenham was put on trial in 1712 in Walkern, Hertfordshire.  Jane was 70 years old, she had one daughter, she seems to have been very poor (she was accused of begging and stealing turnips), she may have been a Dissenter or Quaker.  She was married twice.  Her first husband died and this is when her reputation as a witch may have begun as the rumour was that she had killed her first husband.  Her second husband abandoned her.

She was accused of many things: compelling people to do things against their will, cursing, conversing with the Devil in the form of a cat, killing sheep and children.  Before being officially tried for witchcraft, she was scratched in the face by one of her accusers, her body was searched for a witch's mark and she was asked to recite the Lord's Prayer,  Jane asked to undergo the swimming test to prove her innocence but this request was denied.  The urine of one of her "victims" was boiled to try and break Jane's curse.

Jane's trial became a cause celebre and is sometimes cited as the last witch trial in England.  It was notable for the amount of churchmen involved (three Anglican ministers accused her of witchcraft).  The jury found Jane guilty and sentenced her to death by hanging but the judge put aside the verdict and appealed to Queen Anne for a pardon.  Jane was able to live out her in peace and died aged 90.  She was described in later life as a pious woman.

Her case was taken up by the learned elites of the time and it became part of a national debate on witchcraft accusations and the legitimacy of the Wicthcraft Act of 1604 (which was repealed in 1736).  We have a book in the Museum which brings together two pamphlets from opposing sides in the debate: one written by a clergyman arguing that Jane was a witch and one by a skeptic who deconstructs the evidence to prove that Jane was falsely accused by "ignorant rustics".

The film crew seemed very happy with the shoot.  We received an email from them which said: "Thank you so much for all of your fantastic time and help and expertise on Monday.  We had such a lovely, stress-free day in Boscastle...it might be my best day of the whole shoot!  Also - you (Judith) were a total rock star! Hope you had some fun!"

We look forward to seeing the finished article and hope that it brings the Museum to an even wider (worldwide) audience!

Museum object to be on display in Bristol

The Museum was visited last week by some lovely people from Bristol Museum.  They were here to collect a Museum object which has gone out on loan to take part in their exhibition: Death the human experience which runs until March 2016.
http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/death-human-experience/

The object on loan is Museum object number 14.  The online catalogue describes it as a witch bottle or Bellarmine jar and comes with the following information:

Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'An example of the famous bellarmine type jars and bottles much beloved by witches for use as spirit houses and hexing bottles. This one was found built into the wall of a bombed-out house in Plymouth in the Sutton Harbour area. The bottle was wax-sealed and the items within had been set in a dry hide, that is no liquid within the bottle. The items extracted can be seen in the glass covered box alongside. From the evidence to hand everything indicates that whereas the bottle is of considerable age, its filling and its concealment would have taken place between 1895 and 1912. None the less it is a good example of a west country witchcraft used for retribution magic most likely from an aggrieved employee against his or her employer or master if an apprentice.' 

Although Cecil Williamson interprets the bottle as a curse, in fact it is far more likely to have been protection magic. These bottles are first mentioned in written records in the 17th century, when they were used specifically when someone believed they had been bewitched, to turn the curse back on the witch. For example, in his Astrological Practice of Physick published in 1671, Joseph Blagrave writes, “Another way [to treat someone bewitched] is to stop the urine of the patient, close up in a bottle, and put into it three nails, pins or needles, with a little white salt, keeping the urine always warm: if you let it remain long in the bottle, it will endanger the witch’s life, for I have found that they will be grievously tormented making their water with great difficulty, if any at all.” 

Later they were often used for general protection, rather than to retaliate against a specific curse. Cornwall Record Office has an interesting document from the 18th century, written by a wise woman or cunning man, which describes how to make a witch bottle, explaining that then “no enemy will have power over you.” 

Information from German visitors to the museum: The original name of these bottles was not Bellarmine but Bartmann - 'Man with a Beard' in German - and they were made at a pottery in Frechen near Cologne. Wooden Witch Boxes were also used. 

One found in London had been built into a fireplace in place of a brick in the 18th century, and contained bones from a sheep or goat, a pig and a goose. (Source: 'Tracks Through Time', Museum of London Archaeology, 2009.) 

Wheel of the Year in pride of place

To connect the two windows on the front of the Museum, we have put a small reproduction of the Wheel of the Year in the shop window (in the middle of our two other information panels).  It has the text underneath it: the Wheel of the Year, Seasonal Festivals.  For more information about the current festival look in the window to your left.

We hope that this will encourage visitors to look at the window with the stag's head in it (which is changed about once every two months) to find out about the different festivals.  Having the whole Wheel of the Year on display should help people connect together the different festivals and understand the current one's place in the yearly cycle.

The original Wheel of the Year was painted by Vivienne Shanley and can still be viewed inside the Museum.

Drawing Competition pictures now on display in the Museum

We announced the winners of our second annual children's drawing competition a little while ago. The prizes have gone out to the winners and now their work is framed and on display in the Images of Witchcraft gallery.  They will remain there for a year (until the next children's art week).

Winter Crafts workshop

Following the success of our Straw Crafts Day last week, we are pleased to announce another crafty event on Saturday November 28th.

Lammas is over, and Yuletide fast approaching. Gillian Nott will be holding another straw craft workshop with a festive theme. Come and have a fun day making straw angels, stars, tree decorations, cards and much more.  The day will run from 10am until around 3.30-4pm.

Places are very limited.  Tickets £20 per person (to be paid on the day).  To book a place, please contact Judith Hewitt at the Museum.  01840 250111 or email museumwitchcraft@aol.com.

Watch trailer for Crowley play (in Exeter this October)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=UGJD2AiFKKo

Visit by local moot

We were very pleased to welcome members of the Plymouth and South West Devon Pagan Federation Moot to the Museum today.  They had a tour of the Museum with Peter and then had a look around the library as well.  Their group also joined the Friends of the Museum organisation.  We look forward to seeing more of them all in the future.  Here is a photo of the group outside the Museum in the beautiful Boscastle sunshine.