Let me take you to another witching place!
I have found a museum where my witch felt at home, and I want to share this with you.
I have recently been to Edinburgh, and of course I had to visit the museum of magic, fortune-telling and witchcraft!
To be honest, I did not know what to expect from this place. As you know, I have a rather historic reading on the topic. I am not writing about witchcraft out of the hope for magic to be true after all, the stars to determine our fate, and the modern world to have been wrong all along, but rather out of a specific interest in crisis and our response to it. This place, however, seemed to have a lot more interest in magic itself. It offers tarot-readings, and wants to keep the magic going! I was more than curious to see it myself, and my witch giggled loudly in the back of my head.
The museum can be found just down the High street, walking from the castle to the other end where you can see the ocean in the distance. It is hidden in one of those dark and tiny corners that are so tempting to explore throughout all of the city!
After paying, you can enter a small room through a curtain, and an interesting journey begins! Although the exhibition room is rather small, it is packed with objects and information texts all over the place! From Voodoo, Ouija boards, and witch hunts all over Europe – I would say that this small room holds something for everyone.
It always showcases the historic context of these phenomenon, but also gives space for the personal hopes, dreams, and tragedies attached to it. I think, this is wonderful!
When visiting you can find a a few alternative explanations for things I have already put on my blog. Things such as why witches are pictured with pointy heads, or riding a broom. I found all of them interesting as well, since they worked with different cultural narratives present in Scotland, while I mostly researched mine over here in Germany looking south to Rome in the 17th century.
But this trip was more than just looking at curiosities. The museum captures all the creative, touching, wonderful, wild, and terrifying things humans do to cope with being alive in a world that is often overwhelming and unstable. And I think that is a wonderful thing to remember.
And we need to talk about why witches are always imagined to have ginger hair. My witch giggles even louder now. We’re rather guilty of this one as well …
I don’t want to spoil too much, just in case you will ever get a chance to visit, so that’s it. The rest you should see for yourself, and I really hope you will one day! It’s totally worth it! My witch and I felt confirmed in a sense of being that we feel somewhere deep within ourselves, and that is a truly wonderful thing to experience. We will wear our two souvenirs remembering this from now on!
Mistress witch writes 
Hmm… not heard of this one. I’ve visited the one in Boscastle, in Cornwall, and my son recently discovered a place called the Morbitorium in Wales…
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I really enjoyed it. The next one I want to visit is in Bavaria. Much closer than Edinburgh, but a part of Germany I tend to avoid.
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I’ve never visited Germany. Why is Bavaria to be avoided?
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For most Germans who are not Bavarian, it feels rather foreign. They have the strongest dialect, all their weird traditions with Lederhose and Oktoberfest that we other people cannot relate to at all. Aslo, it is rather religious and conervative in a political sense. Also, I live close to the Dutch border now, but I come from Hamburg, and it is broadly known over here that we people from the north have the biggest issue with Bavaria for all of these things. The north has always been rather political left, not very religious, and yea … but, Bavaria is full of historic places, so it is definitely worth a visit. I even have friends there, so it’s not super serious.
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Actually, I misled you saying I have never visited Germany. I forgot that, when I took a holiday in Austria, probably c. 12 years back, I crossed the border and visited Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” mountain stronghold at Berchtesgaden (I think I spelled that correctly…).
Anyhow, I’d probably just concentrate on the beer and ignore the religious and political conservatism.
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That’s a wild place to be!
Bavaria has many medieval towns. I want to visit a witching prison in Bamberg soon.
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That sounds pretty wild as well…
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