Inside private witchcraft meet where hidden items are shared with occult lovers

Once a year the Museum of Witchcraft & Magic in Boscastle closes its doors to members of the public and welcomes patrons inside for a private members event. Occult enthusiasts and practicing witches from around the world gather to see hidden objects from the collection and meet in the museum’s private library.

As a focal point for dark tourism in the South West, the permanent and touring collections from the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic are sure to delight anybody with an interest in the occult or the macabre, spanning everything from poppets and Ouija boards to mummified cats and black mirrors.

The highlight of the annual calendar at the MWM is undoubtedly Patrons’ Day, which takes place after the Museum closes for the winter, and the collection is opened exclusively to members for one day only.

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You might wonder what kind of people you’d find as patrons of one of the world’s most notorious collections of witchcraft and occult artefacts. On the day, you’re likely to meet practising witches from covens across the UK, rebellious spirits who are curious about the occult or just happy to support such a subversive organisation, and also an inordinate amount of artists.

After hours, the celebrations tend to relocate across the road to the Wellington Hotel, where previous events have included performances by esoteric folk band Moroven, alongside their skeletal Obby ‘Oss.

A mecca for dark artists

Spellbinding performances are the least that you can expect from any event at the museum. Creativity and experimentation go hand in hand, and it's common to find artists in any form of subculture, but the level of creative talent that you’ll meet in the museum on Patrons’ Day might be enough to encourage any aspiring artist to dabble in the dark side.

Simon Costin, director of the museum since 2013, is a set designer, artist and curator who has collaborated with Alexander McQueen - both on McQueen's own line and Givenchy ready-to-wear and haute couture shows. His curatorial eye extends beyond public exhibitions – you can even find his Cornwall home featured in the new issue of The World of Interiors magazine.

Under Costin’s supervision, the museum has become a mecca for alternative artists. In 2016, the museum received donations of original artwork from Brian Froud, the English fantasy illustrator and designer best known for his work on The Dark Crystal film and Netflix series, and David Bowie's film Labyrinth, and Wendy Froud, most famous for sculpting the prototype for Yoda for The Empire Strikes Back.

As well as welcoming Hollywood talents, the museum also supports emerging artists and profiles occult-adjacent art that’s beginning to attract global attention. The museum has on display the first issue of Hellebore, an independent magazine devoted to British folk horror and the occult that counts director Guillermo Del Toro, actor Elijah Wood, and author Grady Hendrix, among its fans.

Maria Pérez Cuervo, founder and editor of Hellebore, said: “I see the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic as a temple of counterculture, where the material objects of magic, paganism, folklore and witchcraft interweave to produce an ever-inspiring atmosphere.

“There is no better place for it than Cornwall, traditionally regarded as a wild, transgressive, magical peninsula, a place that refuses to conform, a bastion of re-enchantment. Artists and creators are drawn to this energy emanating from the landscapes and megaliths. I can’t stress enough how meaningful it is to have a museum at the heart of it all, preserving something that has been neglected by modern mainstream culture but that is very much alive.”

In recent years, every Patrons’ Day at the MWM has been an opportunity to meet artist and occultist Jason Atomic, whose work features in the museum and who is famous both for his role in founding London’s infamous Satanic Flea Market and as the cartoonist creator of Satanic Mojo Comix.

Closer to Cornwall, other Patrons’ who often make the pilgrimage to the MWM include Devon-based artist and writer Ethan Pennell, creator of the Dartmoor Folklore Map. Ethan missed Patrons’ Day this year because BA (Hons) Costume Production students from Arts University Plymouth were exhibiting costumes based on his illustrations in Ashburton on the same day, inside Field System, a new shop and gallery that often focuses on folklore, the supernatural and the occult.

You can’t swing a black cat inside the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle on Patrons’ Day without hitting an artist whose work is making waves across the UK, and often, around the world. With such an abundance of dark inspiration on offer in Boscastle, the only thing left to do is wait for the museum to open its doors again in April 2025.

P M Buchan is a writer whose stories have featured in Rue Morgue, Kerrang!, and Starburst. He writes about horror, dark art and the occult here.