MUST BE THE SEASON OF THE WITCH (AND THE OCCULT AND MAGIC)

Musings Abroad | Molly Gosewich

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October occupies a special place in the Gregorian calendar and in our hearts. As soon as September 30th becomes October 1st, you must watch Hocus Pocus while drinking Black tea. I don’t make the rules… But, ever since I can remember, I have been a sucker for every type of media that has to do with witchcraft, magic, and general spook.

So just as Halloween is impending, we travel to Cornwall in south-west England to steal a look at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, the perfect amalgam of the aforementioned and the occult. Cecil Williamson, a British Neopagan Warlock, founded a Museum of Witchcraft in Stratford-upon-Avon but later moved to the Isle of Man after local opposition in the 1940s. In 1951, The Folklore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft opened with Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, who was featured as the ‘resident witch.’ As time went on, Williamson returned to the mainland to set up a succession of witchcraft museums. Eventually, he settled in the Cornish village of Boscastle and opened the Museum of Witchcraft in 1960.

This brings us to today. With a selection of beautiful and mysterious objects ranging from shamanic amulets, talisman and ouija boards to grimoires and genitalia-shaped vessels, the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic is quite incredible. As a meaningful site for practitioners of Wicca, Paganism, and other esoteric traditions – the non-practicing public is welcomed too, including those interested in folklore, like myself.

In the spirit of Spooky Season, I present you with the most curious objects present in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic’s collections.

Incense Stick Holder

Brass

Source: MWM

Poppet of a Vicar

Wax, hair, metal, paper, wood, glass

Source: MWM

This puppet pictured above is equally creepy and cool. Copyright information states that it is likely from Battle, East Sussex and Victorian, although a slightly later date of c. 1920 seems more likely. The Museum's Director has tried and failed to identify the church depicted in the painting attached to the back of the box. I would not want to be the guy inside the box, someone definitely had it out for him.

Photograph

Source: MWM

Perhaps the creepiest object I found is a photograph of a woman named Joan Wytte aka the Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin. According to folklore, she was a witch and clairvoyant who lived in Bodmin, Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. Her nickname, the Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin, is in reference to her short stature and her even shorter temper. According to Strange Remains, "The legends of Joan Wytte state that she was born around 1775 in Bodmin... She was infamous for her tendency to pick fights. During a particularly nasty fight, she injured a couple people pretty bad and was arrested. She became ill in 1813, while in jail, and died at 38 years-old."

The photograph above was taken prior to her burial in 1998, as her bones had been interred for some time. They were also used for seances and other practices, and were eventually hung on the wall of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. Her bones are pictured here within a fleece lined blanket, along with a headstone and dish containing a clay pipe, tobacco, brandy, oils, herbs, and incense. It is alleged that while her skeleton was on display, they started to experience disruptive poltergeists... very spooky. 

You can check out the MWM Collections for more photographs of her skeleton. If you're brave enough!

UNEARTHING HISTORY: ALUMNI CHECK-IN WITH KRISTEN MCLAUGHLIN

 Alumni Check-In | Elizabeth Cytko

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Kristen McLaughlin poses with a newly unveiled sign.
Photo courtesy of Kristen McLaughlin

Kristen McLaughlin is the plaques co-ordinator at Heritage Toronto. She graduated the Museum Studies program in 2018, was a former editor of Musings and was the Vice-President of MUSSA. Kristen has a passion for archeology and continues to incorporate it into her work.

What is your favourite memory from your time in the Museum program?

I think one of my favourite memories was when I was Vice-President of MUSSA and we put together the first panel hosted by the MMSt program on Women and Leadership in the Museum/Cultural sector. We invited four brilliant women leaders and our Musings Editor, Serena Ypelaar, asked them questions compiled by students. It was a full house and really addressed what, we felt, was an important issue in the field, such as how women deal with the barriers facing them in the sector, stories of success, advice, etc. I felt so proud to have contributed to the discussion of an important topic, felt empowered by all the powerful women around me, and my feminist heart was very happy.

What did you like about writing for Musings?

I loved being able to research the things I was passionate about and then writing it in an accessible, digestible format. My very first article was an interactive PDF flowchart on quick conservation methods for smaller institutions. My last column on Museums Abroad let me go a bit more in depth into what interested me about museums around the world and how they are different than our standard North American concept of museums and memorialization. I believe traveling, learning, and realizing the bubble of your world is not the world of everyone. I find in academic streams the mindset can sometimes get a little too narrow, and it was a great reminder to be aware of all the heritage issues that are happening around the globe!

What does a typical day entail at your job?

My job is Plaques Coordinator for Heritage Toronto, so I work on all aspects of the heritage plaques you see around the city, from working with applicants, budgets, and funding for the plaques, intensive research, writing, logistics, installation, and more! For me specifically, there is a lot of research involved.

If I am working on a current heritage plaque project, I can spend several days to a week+ researching the content. It's really fun, actually, because I get to use amazing resources like the City of Toronto digitized directories through the Toronto Public Library, or visit the City of Toronto Archives and scroll through tax assessment forms from the 1920s on microfiche. Other days it can be lots of emails, as plaques don't just mean research! I am frequently going back and redesigning and researching. If it's one of our larger enamel plaques, my day can also include finding appropriate images and requesting or ordering high resolution versions.

There is also a lot of logistics works: how do we actually install the plaque? Whose permission do we need? How do you make sure the plaque won't hit a pipe? So it's a great mix of creativity, due diligence, and organization and planning, all things I enjoy! We also have public plaque unveiling events throughout the year, and those are fun too because you get to meet and interact with the groups who are super passionate about the topics of the plaque. It's a great reminder that the goal of our plaques department is creating an accessible platform for various facets of Toronto's heritage.

Kristen (left) poses with Herman Custodio (centre) and Emily MacRae (right.)
Photo courtesy of Kristen McLaughlin

How does your archeological fieldwork and your work as a historian inform your museum work for Heritage Toronto?

What we are trying to do in the plaques program is to make stories accessible and diverse. I have worked with various Indigenous communities over the years in different kinds of jobs and it is important to me to make sure that we fight to get Indigenous stories about Toronto told. Archaeological fieldwork has taught me the importance of being humble and respectful, which are key in many situations when plaques can focus on histories and stories that are not necessarily my background or experience. I have learned that is important to learn from and listen to those who know better. I also came onto the job with a general knowledge of Toronto's pre-settler history, which I think could be a valuable point of view to have in a program that, historically, has focused on settler stories but is now working diligently to change that!

How do you see the role of museums evolving in Canada?

Museums seem to be at a crux of existence right now. On one hand you have them as stalwart knowledge keepers of bygone eras, there to educate the masses, etc. On the other hand, they are starting to work towards becoming more community spaces; having community events, opening up to ideas of community consultation and exhibition creation, etc. How do you market to people so they still see museums as something different but worth going to? How do you do this and still exist as an educational institution? Their backgrounds are so complex, as is the future. My thesis work focused on small museums in Alberta and their place in the community. It's quite different than bigger institutions, like the ROM or RAM, for example, and not necessarily one that can (or should) be copied by institutions of bigger sizes. I see them working towards becoming more community-focused, but I see that being quite difficult to pull off, especially for the larger ones.

What advice would you give to museum professionals entering the sector today?


If you can't find a job that suits you where you live now, apply countrywide! I've done plenty of Skype interviews. Go on a trip and forget about school for a while! The job field is not all there is to life. Be sure to explore and enjoy life in other ways, too. Which I know is hard when we have loans, debts, etc. But we have to try and figure out a good balance! I'm such a big fan of getting out of the comfort zone. Go do it! If you're scared of speaking in front of crowds, apply for a job where you'll have to public speak a lot—I did that, and it was terrifying, but now public speaking is no problem at all. Skill learned!