Money, Magic, Motives — and the Museum of Witchcraft
The phone call came from a most unlikely source. Could I confirm how much I was purchasing the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall for — was it the £1.5 or £1.8 million figure?
Uproarious laughter followed on the heels of a split-second of speechless astonishment; ‘who makes this stuff up?’ I thought to myself.
There was a time when I thought I could guess what concoctions might be tossed into the cauldron of gossip. Silly me naively believed that the grapes of the vine could be traced back to some sort of twisted truth no matter how far-fetched the vintaged hearsay was. Nope. The reality is that not even a scintilla of truth is necessary at the millstone of rumour mongering.
Now gleeful with the utter preposterousness of my alleged soon-to-be new purchase, I delighted in ringing the owner of the Museum to let him know that he was apparently divesting himself of his custodianship in favour of me. Soundings of the Shania Twain song ‘Ka-Ching!’ came to mind.
His laughter echoed mine followed with ‘Where do they get this stuff from?’
‘They just make it up’ I replied — like Maxine said in her talk given at the ‘Day for Doreen Valiente’ at Conway Hall, London in 2009 and I re-quoted in my blog post about ‘Trolling Wicca’-:
“I was not interested in other covens’ opinions about me or the workings and training within The Temple of the Mother’s circle, which was intense, leaving little time to socialise or even communicate with those who had more time for gossip.
Inevitably, they made it up!”
In all seriousness though, where laughter combined with a shrug of disregard followed by silence would be my normal modus; this situation took a different turn which is no laughing matter and therefore warrants comment.
The rumour went on to say that after my purported purchase of the Museum, I intended to take the collection out of the country — exactly what and to where was unclear — — yet to be fabricated I suppose.
The Museum owner and his dedicated team as well as the Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, a registered charity, have done a remarkable job over the past several years maintaining the Museum’s relevance and expanding its vision to create a vibrant and dynamic, heritage-filled destination.
Hence, involving this unbiased, non-political institution which is not only a mecca for Occultists of any genre but one which also engenders respectibility in Paganism, Witchcraft and Magic world-wide, whilst bringing economic and social benefit to the local Boscastle community, in a frenzy of false conjecture and speculation is, frankly — unconscionable.
I would encourage any who regard the sanctity of truth to not become enraptured in the ill-intentioned hysteria of rumours brought about by unverified claims and petty political motives.
The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic is, as far as I’m aware, firmly ensconced where it currently resides, its treasures safely contained in a Trust, with not the faintest sound of a cash register Ka-Ching! to be heard.
