Viktor Wynd’s Guided Tour of His Museum with Devil’s Botany Absinthe

Tuesday 25th Feb  2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 25th Mar 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 29th Apr 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20th May 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 8th Jul 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 9th Sept 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 11th Nov 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

In person at the museum NOT BY ZOOM!  Join the reclusive Viktor Wynd on a journey, (with a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe) into the bowels of the earth and his basement museum.  See things that no one else sees, or notices, hear how he collected dodo bones and shrunken heads, extinct bird feathers, old master etchings and more.  Mr. Wynd has been described as ‘a sick orchid’ by John Waters, ‘ a true exquisite’ by Derren Brown’ & as ‘one of the great latter-day collectors’ by The Times Literary Supplement and guarantees that no two tours will ever be the same as  he attempts to explain the origin of the idea and tell you what it is all about, he will ramble from subject to subject, object to object and vaingloriously explain all the obscure objects of his desire.

Viktor Wynd’s Guided Tour of His Museum with Devil’s Botany Absinthe

Tuesday 25th Feb  2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 25th Mar 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 29th Apr 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20th May 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 8th Jul 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 9th Sept 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 11th Nov 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

In person at the museum NOT BY ZOOM!  Join the reclusive Viktor Wynd on a journey, (with a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe) into the bowels of the earth and his basement museum.  See things that no one else sees, or notices, hear how he collected dodo bones and shrunken heads, extinct bird feathers, old master etchings and more.  Mr. Wynd has been described as ‘a sick orchid’ by John Waters, ‘ a true exquisite’ by Derren Brown’ & as ‘one of the great latter-day collectors’ by The Times Literary Supplement and guarantees that no two tours will ever be the same as  he attempts to explain the origin of the idea and tell you what it is all about, he will ramble from subject to subject, object to object and vaingloriously explain all the obscure objects of his desire.

Viktor Wynd’s Guided Tour of His Museum with Devil’s Botany Absinthe

Tuesday 25th Feb  2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 25th Mar 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 29th Apr 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20th May 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 8th Jul 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 9th Sept 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 11th Nov 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

In person at the museum NOT BY ZOOM!  Join the reclusive Viktor Wynd on a journey, (with a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe) into the bowels of the earth and his basement museum.  See things that no one else sees, or notices, hear how he collected dodo bones and shrunken heads, extinct bird feathers, old master etchings and more.  Mr. Wynd has been described as ‘a sick orchid’ by John Waters, ‘ a true exquisite’ by Derren Brown’ & as ‘one of the great latter-day collectors’ by The Times Literary Supplement and guarantees that no two tours will ever be the same as  he attempts to explain the origin of the idea and tell you what it is all about, he will ramble from subject to subject, object to object and vaingloriously explain all the obscure objects of his desire.

Viktor Wynd’s Guided Tour of His Museum with Devil’s Botany Absinthe

Tuesday 25th Feb  2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 25th Mar 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 29th Apr 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20th May 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 8th Jul 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 9th Sept 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 11th Nov 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

In person at the museum NOT BY ZOOM!  Join the reclusive Viktor Wynd on a journey, (with a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe) into the bowels of the earth and his basement museum.  See things that no one else sees, or notices, hear how he collected dodo bones and shrunken heads, extinct bird feathers, old master etchings and more.  Mr. Wynd has been described as ‘a sick orchid’ by John Waters, ‘ a true exquisite’ by Derren Brown’ & as ‘one of the great latter-day collectors’ by The Times Literary Supplement and guarantees that no two tours will ever be the same as  he attempts to explain the origin of the idea and tell you what it is all about, he will ramble from subject to subject, object to object and vaingloriously explain all the obscure objects of his desire.

Viktor Wynd’s Guided Tour of His Museum with Devil’s Botany Absinthe

Tuesday 25th Feb  2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 25th Mar 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 29th Apr 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20th May 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 8th Jul 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

Tuesday 9th Sept 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 11th Nov 2025 6pm – 7:30pm
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025 6pm – 7:30pm

In person at the museum NOT BY ZOOM!  Join the reclusive Viktor Wynd on a journey, (with a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe) into the bowels of the earth and his basement museum.  See things that no one else sees, or notices, hear how he collected dodo bones and shrunken heads, extinct bird feathers, old master etchings and more.  Mr. Wynd has been described as ‘a sick orchid’ by John Waters, ‘ a true exquisite’ by Derren Brown’ & as ‘one of the great latter-day collectors’ by The Times Literary Supplement and guarantees that no two tours will ever be the same as  he attempts to explain the origin of the idea and tell you what it is all about, he will ramble from subject to subject, object to object and vaingloriously explain all the obscure objects of his desire.

London Magical Moon Pilgrimage – Parsifal David Solomon – London – LIVE

Walking the Thames Serpent Dream Bridge

With our brave, wild, beautiful imaginations, the grief and laughter of our bodies, the attention of our hearts and desire of our dreams

A small and merry band of pilgrims will join in a ritual journey of visionary geography and psychomagic

Walking with purpose and freedom as a powerful act of creation, change, and healing

All through the long night of the dark moon, along the river Thames, between Lambeth Palace and the Tower of London, crossing every bridge, to make the shape of a giant serpent’s wiggle

Through the collective dream of London

(what actually is it?)

and its many meanings, and how it relates to reality

to liberate the vast wealth buried here

which belongs to the earth, to everyone, to the children of the future

to liberate the life force, soul, imagination

with play, myth, metaphor, silence, poetry, song, sound, shape, movement, make-believe, breath, sacrifice, pareidolia, foolishness, soul, spirit, nonsense, and other ritual technologies of attention and prayer

paying particular attention to the land beneath us and the river beside us, and what they want of us

honouring the land and the river as beautiful powerful beings

what has been hidden in the depths, what is hard to see up here on the crackly surface

dancing luminous songlines

in the personal and the collective

how lightly can we walk upon the earth

and what wants your attention?

PRACTICAL DETAILS:

You are invited to participate in a rite. This is not a guided tour or history walk. Participation requires just your presence and attention. Some advance preparation can help deepen it but is not compulsory – a willing attitude is enough.

The ceremony will last all night until around dawn. The end time is an estimate. Once the walk ends you are free to find your own way onwards, but if you are in any way concerned about eg walking alone at that time of the morning, then we can chat about this and find a way to help).

You need to be fit enough to walk 5 miles at a moderate pace, on the hard stones. We will be walking quite slowly and stopping often.

Numbers are very limited, to maintain the focus of the group. Once you have booked I will be in touch to assist in preparations.

We will be in touch with further details, guidance, preparation, etc. once you book

BIO:

Parsifal Solomon was born in London. At age 3, in his first dream, he fell into the Thames. He has been practising forms of walking as a healing art for at least 15 years, has held many ceremonies, in many forms, bringing together many different traditions, techniques, and ideas, always with the wild weird imagination of the creative life force at the heart.

As performer and organiser (and known as David Piper), he cut his teeth finding ways to create novel, exciting, reality-expanding experiences for people in London nightlife: he co-founded The Last Tuesday Society, performed in Dreams That Money Can Buy and Propaganda For The State Of Love, starred in Prayer Cushions of The Flesh, and ran the infamous Rakehells Revels at The Cafe Royal, and The Modern Times Club.

Please Note This Event is entirely Run and Operated by Parsifal Solomon – though highly recommended by Us – you might even see us there!

Mummified cats & other concealed ritual objects– Wayne Perkins – Zoom

 

Deliberately Concealed Objects & Ritual Deposits in Ancient Buildings

The phenomenon of old leather shoes and boots being deliberately concealed up the chimney, large caches of worn-out clothes and objects discovered within the voids of old buildings, along with mummified cats found between the walls are a range of attested practices acknowledged by archaeologists.

It is now understood that the objects had been inserted by the inhabitants who believed that they were going to act as a prophylactic (a measure taken to fend off disease and general pestilence), bring good luck to the inhabitants, ward off the evil eye or, in some cases, avert the attentions of the witch’s familiar.

It would seem that secrecy and non-disclosure of the concealment had been crucial to their potency.

 

Speaker Bio

Wayne Perkins is an archaeologist of 23 years with a special interest in apotropaic graffiti, folklore and concealed objects recovered from ancient buildings.

Don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

 

The Werewolf of Hull – Deborah Hyde – Zoom


Was a werewolf really loping around Hull’s Barmston Drain in 2016? Folklorist Deborah Hyde investigates this modern manbeast mystery

In 2016, a peculiar story hit local headlines – a werewolf was loping around Barmston drain, an eighteenth century canal in Hull. Such tabloid gold couldn’t stay local for long and national newspapers amplified the reports to the point that international publications like the Huffington Post repeated them. Rock start Alice Cooper even commented on social media. But what lay behind the sensational spin? How many eye-witnesses were there and what did they really say? The Hull Werewolf’s context – both folkloric and contemporary – is rewarding to examine, to illuminate the content and transmission of this popular twenty-first century cryptid tale.

Bio

Deborah Hyde writes and broadcasts about religion and dark folklore. She regularly appears as a contributing expert on the top BBC podcast Uncanny and she edited The Skeptic magazine for ten years.

The illustration is of the Beast of Gevaudan, a comparatively late (1764-1767) werewolf case from France.

Don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

 

Macaroni and sausages – Mr. Punch’s journey from Napoli to somewhere-on-sea – John Rudlin – Zoom

Macaroni and sausages – Mr. Punch’s journey from Napoli to somewhere-on-sea

Join award-winning actor, academic, playwright, director, theatre designer, reviewer, and onetime showman, flyman and rigger, John Rudlin for a fabulous journey into the life and times of the outrageous Mr Punch! A renowned expert in Italian commedia dell’arte, John traces Mr Punch’s origins in the Italian theatre through to the supposedly English tradition of a loveable but murdering slapstick puppet. John will also take more than a glance at the women in Mr Punch’s life.

In his little booth, Punch is today the sole performing survivor in England of the great theatrical genre of commedia dell’arte, which dominated the European stage for almost three centuries. John Rudlin is an acknowledged expert in the form – his Commedia dell’arte, a Handbook for Actors has been continuously in print for forty years. (See www.commediahandbook.com). He is the current holder of the Society For Theatre Research Stephen Joseph award.

Speaker Bio:

John Rudlin is the author of numerous books, articles, and chapters, including Jacques Copeau (CUP, 1986); Copeau, Texts on Theatre (Routledge, 1990); Commedia dell’Arte, an actor’s handbook (Routledge, 1994); Commedia dell’Arte, a resourcebook for troupes (Routledge, 2001); Commedia dell’Arte: its structure and tradition, John Rudlin in conversation with Antonio Fava (Routledge, 2021); The Metamorphoses of Commedia dell’Arte: whatever happened to Harlequin? (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2022).Checkout John’s website for more publications – including his keynote addresses: ‘Flour Sacks and Farthingales’ for the conference Crossing Boundaries: Commedia Dell’ Arte Across Gender, Genre, and Geography (University of Windsor, Ontario, 2013) and ‘Jacques Copeau’s Legacy to Theatre and Education’ for The Actor as Person, Theatre as Communion (University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 2013) – available at www.commediahandbook.com

Curated & Hosted by:

Marguerite Johnson is a cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean, specialising in sexuality and gender, particularly in the poetry of Sappho, Catullus, and Ovid, as well as magical traditions in Greece, Rome, and the Near East. She also researches Classical Reception Studies, with a regular focus on Australia. In addition to ancient world studies, Marguerite is interested in sexual histories in modernity as well as magic in the west more broadly, especially the practices and art of Australian witch, Rosaleen Norton. She is Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History at The University of Queensland, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Six Centuries of Madness- the History of Bedlam Asylum – Lena Heide-Brennand – Zoom

Six Centuries of Madness – the History of Bedlam Asylum

Step into the haunting history of Bedlam Asylum, a name synonymous with madness and human suffering. Founded in the 13th century, this notorious institution became a chilling symbol of how society treated the mentally ill. Journey through the eerie corridors where the cries of the tormented once echoed, and explore the harrowing tales of its residents, many of whom were subjected to barbaric treatments and inhumane conditions. From its early days as a charitable institution to its transformation into a spectacle for public viewing, Bedlam’s legacy is steeped in tragedy and intrigue. Discover the dark secrets behind its walls, the infamous patients who resided there, and the evolution of mental health care that emerged from its shadows. This lecture promises to immerse you in the unsettling yet fascinating narrative of Bedlam, revealing how this once-feared asylum continues to captivate our imagination and challenge our understanding of mental health today. Dare to uncover the eerie truths behind one of history’s most infamous institutions.

Bio:

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day