The Museum of Witchcraft

The Wise Woman

The village Wise Woman or Cunning Man used magic and wisdom to solve day to day problems in the village. In Cornwall they were sometimes known as Pellars or Pellers, today we would call them witches.

These remarkable people were renowned for their ability to remove curses, heal people, pets and stock, provide love potions etc. Most however specialised in a particular aspect of the craft.

"She has no fancy or expensive tools; she works with every day objects, and with what she gathers from her garden, the hedgerows and the moors, and off the seashore."

The tableau in the Museum shows a village Wise Woman of the late nineteenth century. Around her are herbs, charms and the tools of her trade, all of which are genuine. The sound track is a compilation of traditional spells and charms.

"They were consulted, not only with regard to the fortunes of those whose exact time of coming to light (the time of birth was then carefully registered, even to a minute, to serve as data on which to consult the horoscope), but were relied on for raising the spells of witchcraft, and often by their hints, advice, or threats of exposure, procured the restoration of stolen property. They were generally believed to have the same faculty of divination as is now assumed by the pellar of Redruth, who is making a fortune out of the credulity of people in our enlightened times".

(Stories and Folklore of West Cornwall. William Bottrell 1880)