...the séance...

Last weekend, I went to a séance. Let me clarify, I went to see “Humbug: The Great P.T. Barnum Séance” at The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Magician, storyteller, and professional humbug artist, David London describes himself as someone who “presents original interactive magical experiences.” Yet, the fact that he has worked as a curator for a museum struck me as quite interesting; with the advertisement noting that he was bringing actual artifacts from P.T. Barnum himself, well, that’s was what sealed the deal. 

The Branch Museum

Last year I completed my graduate study in Public History where I continually focused on the intersection of education and entertainment. I bought Inner Circle tickets so that Babushka and I could sit at the séance table. It was double the price since only twelve tickets were available so that along with our lead Spiritualist there would be 13 at the table. It was completely worth it especially when those at the séance table were able to select one of the artifacts to bring to the table with us. Calm down! Everyone in the audience was required to wear white cotton gloves to handle the collection.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The first part of the show had everyone sitting in rows as Mr. London shared the story of P.T. Barnum’s life. London used a few magic tricks to share aspects of Barnum’s life. If you ever want to be pulled out of the audience to act as an assistant to a magician, wear a veil and look a little spooky. Remember, that happened to me in Eureka Springs when I attended the Illusionist and the Medium show at Intrigue Theater. Honestly, I just like veils but it works every time! While holding up an old picture and a clipping of hair of Annie Jones, known as the bearded lady, who also happened to hail from Virginia, I was completely duped into selecting just the right cards although supposedly I was channeling Annie Jones. How did the trick work? Magic!  

London looks spooky during the intermission.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this is probably the best spooky event I’ve ever experienced in Richmond. Real history, mystery, theatrical storytelling, and showmanship. David London was amazing!

The second half of the show included the séance table. I have to admit that that was not only a dominating feature in the room at 9 ft. in diameter it was the part that I most looked forward to. That says a great deal considering that Mr. London had already shared a miniature wedding album of Tom Thumb, Charles B. Tripp’s fountain pen, photos of Barnum's Living Wonders, and even a copy of Barnum’s autobiography that was even owned by Barnum himself.

Spirit horns

Many of us dabbled with Ouija boards as children. I admit that I was always the one with the short attention span who would have rather been watching a horror movie so admittedly, I moved the planchette. I’m sorry! I admitted to my friends later but I’m just not the type of girl that enjoys sitting around waiting for the dead to communicate, which many of you know from my posts about paranormal investigations and whatnot.  In the mid- 19th century, the spiritualist movement had begun to experiment with Spirit communications through table-turning where the alphabet was inscribed on a table. Mr. London’s table did not include the alphabet but it did turn making it exceptionally cool.

The Inner Circle guests sat at the séance table where we selected artifacts from the first half of the show. Babushka selected the miniature wedding album of Tom Thumb while I selected Charles Tripp’s fountain pen. Behind us there were twelve council seats for members to observe the séance. A good amount of the activity occurred near the council seats so everyone was close to some type of encounter. The artifacts were used to summon the spirit of P.T. Barnum or possibly those from his Living Wonders show. There were bells, smoke while London manually maneuvered the table in order to put the artifacts into the center. Who did we summon? Well, I’m not going to spoil his show here.  

The seance table with artifacts carefully placed.

Harry Houdini and P.T. Barnum were among the prominent sceptics of Spiritualism. While I consider myself a sceptic and even a cynic sometimes, I also seek out magic… and the magicians like when I had the magical adventure to see Magician Howard Thurston at Green Lawn Abbey, which is rarely open to the public but I lucked out that a conference trip was at the same time as a fundraising event. Wait, was that good timing or Magic?

Whatever you believe, know that this was good fun. We could all use a bit more magic in our lives even if it is just the magic of story. 

The last show is tonight at 8pm.

... For Women Everywhere & Grace Sherwood...

The USA Today post, “Witchy fashion is 2017's most exciting, subversive trend” has been going around social media. The article shares one of the fall trends with a focus on the “witch style” while noting that there are “many archetypes of the modern witch” which include "goth witches in black maxi dresses and capes”… yay! Capes are always good but they have been around in mainstream fashion for the last few years. 




The article pointed to a few other descriptions with one being the “mall witches in anime buns….” Are anime buns the same as Princess Leia buns? If so, I’ve been rocking them for weeks because it has been over 100 degrees every day in Virginia and because, up until yesterday when my Gremlin Spike finally scared me, I have been parting down the middle to try to distract folks from noticing my grey roots.

I don’t follow fashion trends so much but I do like being aware if this season I will be able to find lace and velvet in the mainstream shops. Recently, I bought a long, floor-length dress and a kimono-style garment, which isn’t something that I have ever wanted to wear before (mostly because they have little form and I’m a busty girl that needs some structure!).

And, as the article notes at the very end:

"…once you begin to awaken your inner witch, it also becomes clear that blindly following trends or copying what some celebrity is wearing is just another way of suppressing our own authentic self-expression."

*Witches* have been on my mind recently. Last week, my Babushka (my best friend/ more-like sister) and I had an excursion to Virginia Beach and then to Colonial Williamsburg to see the performance “Cry Witch.” We made a day of it by going to the Grace Sherwood statue and then attending the performance.

When you think witch trials in this country, you rarely think of the Commonwealth but it has its own history of witchcraft cases.

As I wrote in last year’s blog post about scapegoats:  

Although most conquer up the Salem Witch trials when they consider colonial witchcraft, in 1626, Virginia was the first of the colonies to see a formal accusation of witchcraft of Joan Wright out of Surry County; and, in 1641, Virginia held the first trial with Mrs. George Barker out of Norfolk.

Two cases, to me, are particularly interesting. The first is with Katherine Grady who is considered the only person who was ever executed for witchcraft in Virginia. Even with convictions, Virginia officials were always hesitant about executing anyone convicted of witchcraft (perhaps one tiny aspect of Virginia history that isn’t so problematic). Ms. Grady’s case is particularly troubling because she had never even set foot on Virginia soil. Instead, she was traveling on a ship headed for the new colony from England when a fierce storm had the passengers seeking a scapegoat. For whatever reason, the elderly Grady became that woman and she was hung at sea. Because Virginia was the ship’s destination, the murder was under the Virginia colony’s jurisdiction and the captain had to report this when the ship arrived in Jamestown.

 

The second case came in 1698 when Grace Sherwood, who was considered a bit eccentric for the times, had rumors spread that she practiced witchcraft. Sherwood was a healer, an herbalist and a midwife who allegedly “wore men’s trousers when planting crops” (Strock). Later, she was accused of bewitching pigs and destroying crops. She was also accused of “riding” a neighbor before escaping through a keyhole.

 

After several other allegations, Sherwood had formal charges against her in 1706. She was searched for the marks of the witch. Although none were found, she was ordered to a water ducking trial. Basically, if her body floated to the surface she was guilty; and, if her body sunk being accepted by nature, she was proven innocent. She survived and thus was proven guilty of witchcraft. She was imprisoned for 8 years and then released to live out the remainder of her life.

Just ten years ago, in 2006, former Governor Tim Kaine (who is now running for the office of Vice President for my international friends) exonerated Sherwood on the 300^th anniversary of her trial.

Colonial Williamsburg’s “Cry Witch” performance goes through the case of Grace Sherwood. During the trial, the Colonial lawyers point out what was acceptable in court trials of that time, including dreams as damning evidence. In the end, the audience gets to make the ruling. It was a close-call while we were there but the group still found Sherwood guilty of witchcraft.

I don’t believe that focusing on witches is a new trend. Last winter, I attended the performance “The Peculiar Case of Jane Wentworth: A Witch Trial Based on Historical Texts” at Agecroft Hall; and, then later my fella and I attended the Colonial Williamsburg for the “Curse of the Sea Witch” event. There is resonance in our political climate. In my course on vampires, I repeatedly say, “It’s never about the monster.” This emphasis on witches, eccentric or simply working women who spoke up for themselves, isn’t actually about witches. Let’s be honest; this is about women.

Selfie with the actress who played Grace Sherwood

Works Cited

"A Tale of Witchcraft at Hertford Theatre." Hertfordshire Mercury. Hertfordshire Mercury, 07 June 2012. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

Bond, Edward L. "Source of Knowledge, Source of Power: The Supernatural World of English Virginia, 1607–1624." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 108, no. 2 (2000): 105–138.

Burgess, Maureen Rush. The Cup of Ruin and Desolation: Seventeenth-century Witchcraft in the Chesapeake. Ph.D. Dissertation. U of Hawaii, 2004. Print.

"History." Agecroft Hall. Agecroft Hall, n.d. www.agecrofthall.com/ Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

Klein, Christopher. "Before Salem, the First American Witch Hunt." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2012. www.history.com. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

Miller, Kate. The Last Witch. directed by Richard Syms; produced by Pins & Feathers Productions; performed at Hertford Theatre and at Walkern Hall, Herts. 2012.

Ross, Jessica, and Jessica Hann. "Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Sea Witch." Making History: Inspiration for the Modern Revolutionary. Colonial Williamsburg, 22 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

Strock, Anna. "These 14 Real Life Witches Show the 'Wicked' Side of Virginia's History." Only In Virginia. OnlyInYourState, 13 Dec. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.

Witkowski, Monica C. "Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 30 May. 2014. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.

Woodall, Janet. "Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern." Walkern History Society. N.p., 24 Nov. 2011. www.walkernhistorysociety.co.uk/. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.