Odinist Fellowship

Congratulations go to the Odinist Fellowship. We were recently notified of the "ground-breaking judicial decision, giving legal recognition to the Odinist religion in English law...For the first time ever, a judicial declaration has stipulated that a pagan religion, namely Odinism, is to be accorded recognition, as a religion, for legal purposes. The legal precedent...will help to protect the rights, not only of Odinists, but of all pagans, in the workplace. The Odinist Fellowship is proud of having achieved this breakthrough for the wider pagan community." (adapted from information received from Robin Jackson, Information Officer for the Odinist Fellowship)

Brownie

It is with sadness that we announce that on the 4th of May 2006 Brownie Pate passed to the Summerlands at the age of 84.
Brownie was a witch and psychic, as well as a good friend to Cecil Williamson and this museum. She suffered terrible persecution from the press in the 1970s when they discovered that she was both a witch and a children’s ballet teacher. The tabloid press at the time thought that witches should be kept away from children.
This museum is indebted to Brownie for the books and magical artefacts that she bequeathed to us. We are now busy cataloguing & covering all the books and this bequest may force us to bring forward our plans to add more storage space to the library.
Enjoy the Summerlands Brownie!

Pagan Federation International

Anyone who is planning to attend the PF International meeting in Lunteren in Holland on 20th May will be very excited (?) to hear that I will be attending the meeting and doing a talk on the history and happenings of the Museum of Witchcraft. Unfortunately it appears that there is no powerpoint facility so I may have to do a bit of a soft shoe to spice up the presentation.

The Occult Art Company will also be there with a selection of prints from the Richel Collection. The collection originated in Holland so it is only right for them to be shown over there. Hope to see some of you there.

What's W?

Just had a query from Wade asking about W magazine. It's an American Fashion Magazine & the one featuring some museum artifacts is the latest issue with Meryl Streep & Lindsay Lohan on the cover. Unfortunately the magazine doesn't credit the museum in the story. Hope that answers your question, Wade.

New Book by Paul Broadhurst

For all those fans of Paul Broadhurst's books (Sun & the Serpent which he co-wrote with Hamish Miller, The Dance of the Dragon, and others), he has just published another book called The Green Man and the Dragon. Graham and Joyce from the museum were among those who proof read the book and they say it's fascinating. I'm yet to read my copy but I'm loving the cover. It was launched on St George's Day and can be found in most good book stores. I have seen it on Amazon as well but there does appear to be a bit of a wait with them for some reason. It can also be bought from Paul's store The Otherworld in Boscastle if anyone's visiting.

New Retail Items Proving Popular

There have been a few new additions to the retail cabinet since reopening and they are proving to be very popular. The standout items are the dowsing rods made by well know author & dowsing specialist Hamish Miller. Graham has placed a coin under the mat and has great fun getting customers to locate it with the rods. There are handmade leather Books of Shadows from Sue Bucklow and protection charms from Levannah Morgan. Steve Patterson has made some beautiful dark scrying mirrors. Two are carved as Green Men and the others are of a more simple design. The Occult Art Company is now offering framed Richel prints in the museum.

Nice Surprise

We had a rather pleasant surprise in the past few days. Regular readers may remember the statue of the obsidian owl that was stolen from the post outside the museum several months ago. Someone has placed a little black cat statue in the space now & it looks rather fetching. We have no idea who put it there but it's very attractive. So thanks very much to the phantom pussy placer.

As promised some more Morris pics

Here are a few more piccies of the Hunter's Moon side dancing outside the museum and around Boscastle.

Oh drat, the computer is not letting me upload any more pics at the moment. I'll try some more later.

This is Ray showing some festive Easter cheer with a few chicks in his beard. Chortle.

Happy Oestre with Morris

The sun came out as the Hunter's Moon Morris side started their dance outside the museum this morning. What a wonderful way of celebrating this ancient festival - music and dancing! This was their fourth year of dancing in Boscastle and this year they were raising money for the Boscastle Busker's charity "The Mount Edgecumbe Hospice". It is great to hear that three generations dance in the side, the tradition is living on. Graham celebrated with the side by downing a giant pint of beer followed by a tiny one. I'll add more pictures later. The web browser has just gone weird & won't upload more pics.

W!

For all you American readers, get a copy of the most recent W magazine as some of the artefacts from the museum are in it. There is also a shot of us in the dark of night. Haven't seen it myself yet but am eagerly awaiting a copy. Fashionable at last!

Stick it to me...

We've had some wonderful friends from Holland visiting us over the past week. Rosalie & Freya have been painstakingly going through all the four & a half thousand books in the library, checking their dewey numbers, shelf placement, and generally getting them in proper order. They had a break from indoor action on Wednesday when Graham got us all out harvesting sticks for the walkers who visit the museum. Here we are gathering the aforementioned sticks.

Surprise Visit

A bit of excitement in Boscastle today! Word had been going around that a senior government figure would be visiting the village to check on the rebuilding process and show support for the villagers and workmen. John Prescott arrived around 315 pm, stopped off in the Wellington Hotel for a bit, then strolled around the harbour meeting & greeting. He was very pleasant to everyone & agreed to a photo in front of the museum with Graham & I. Voila!

Fums Up

Graham has recently acquired this little Fums Up charm for the new "Charms and Talismans" display. They were given to soldiers in WWI as good luck charms. The arms are articulated & the head is made of wood so that one could "touch wood" for good luck. Cute, isn't he!

Mags Galore

We've had a mass of old magazines donated recently so the duplicate ones have been put up for sale in the museum. We originally just asked for a donation but yesterday Graham noticed someone taking about 20 mags & putting only 20 pence in the Friend's box so we are now charging 50 p each. I think they are worth more than 1 p each!! There are some interesting ones there: old Pagan Dawns; Man, Myth, & Magic; Quest; & the Australian Pagan Times. We have a great collection of most esoteric magazines in the library so it's great to be able to share some of the duplicates with people who may have their own collections. Here I am to the right with the box of mags.

DOORS OPEN FOR 2006

We start the season a little early this year due to the early commencement of school holidays. Last week was spent frantically cleaning & reorganising the museum ready for the big day.

Joyce (left) and Carole have been mainly helping Graham in the museum itself, and we have had our friends Rosalie & Henny working their way through the four and a half thousand books in the library.

Despite everyone's best efforts the books get mixed up on the shelves and need to be cross-referenced with our computer data base to ensure all information is correct. They are about half way through and probably going crosseyed.

Only half an hour till the doors open today. See you there!

Gearing up for the season

Time is passing really quickly lately and we'll be reopening again for this year's season really soon. It looks like the opening date will be April 1st but keep checking as I'll announce it officially when it is definite.

We had fun cleaning & polishing the museum for the open day last Sunday for the attendees of the Devon & Cornwall Pagan Federation Conference which was held on March 11th. Carole had a lovely surprise when she found someone had stuffed a bag full of dog poo underneath the automaton. Some people are really fabulous aren't they? Apart from that, the day went very well & the museum was extremely busy with both PF members and regular members of the public taking advantage of this one off treat.

Things have been a bit glam around here as photographers from W magazine (a US fashion mag) have been over photographing for a new issue. Some of the artefacts have been used in the shoots as well as local Cornish landmarks like Tintagel Castle. The photos are extremely good and we look forward to seeing them in print.

What's New...?

Well not a lot really. Work has been continuing upstairs and "Protection" is just about finished. Martin the carpenter is doing some finishing touches in the booth area and we're having trouble with the paint on the walls flaking off. If anyone has any suggestions for a paint that will stay on please let us know. We've tried the distemper style paints & they're not surviving very well.

A bit of excitement the other day when the museum was checked out as a possible set for a fashion shoot for a major American fashion magazine. I don't want to jinx it by saying any more but fingers crossed.

The Devon & Cornwall Pagan Federation Confrence is on in Bude this weekend so we'll be going along to that. You may see us on one of the stalls there. We'll also be doing the International Conference in Lunteren Holland on 20th May so for any Dutch readers, we hope to see you there.

Palace Visit

Here is a not-very-good photo of Graham outside Buckingham Palace last Wednesday evening 15th February. A reception given by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was held for UK Rescue Service men and women and Graham was lucky enough to be invited for his actions during the Boscastle flood. He had a really good time viewing the exquisite artwork and sampling the New Zealand wines on offer. Good to see the Palace still supporting the colonies! (I can say that because I'm Australian.) Graham actually met the Queen at the end of the evening but contrary to village gossip he has NOT been knighted. He's already a King after all.

Unfortunately I had to dash out of a waiting cab & quickly take this shot so it is not quite as dapper as the photo we have of Gerald Gardner entering the Palace Gates with his walking cane in hand.

We spent the next day at the British Museum checking out the fabulous Aztec turquoise mosaics. The masks are incredible as is the two headed snake. Have you ever checked them out? Highly recommended. They're in the Americas section.

So now we're back and work is continuing. We had a belated "Yule Do" at Trebarwith Mill pub (belated due to Hannah being slightly preoccupied with giving birth just before the original Xmas party date). It was an extremely pleasant evening with yummy food & put us all in the mood for a fabulous year ahead. A dry one we hope.

What's happening inside.....?

There's masses of building action outside but a lot of activity inside as well. "Protection" is coming along nicely and should be finished this week. The lovely chimney doll already has a new space in her own glass cabinet. There is much more space for aretfacts to be displayed. Graham has been working on the trench art section. These artefacts are from WWI and are mainly made from bullets and bits of schrapnel, and were carried as protection. They are previously unseen and were part of Cecil Williamson's collection. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure.

Building site

This is what things are looking like outside the museum at the moment. Cranes, sheds, and dust are pretty much the norm most days. luckily the weather has been gorgeous down here which keeps the mud down. Lots of visitors to the village as well. We're having to queue for sandwiches in the Bakery already! Despite the "closed" sign on the museum door we have found people wandering aimlessly around inside. Quite incredible!

The museum will be opening around Easter. Watch this space as we will announce the exact opening date here.