At least once a year (if not more!) the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick hosts cool displays. Past exhibits have included William Mortensen’s “Witches” (2019), the 3D virtual “Apparitions” (2020), and “MEDIATRIX: New Work by Shannon Taggart” (2022), which captured mediums at work using Skype, Zoom, and FaceTime during COVID-19 lockdowns. Starting Sunday, June 3, the Buckland Museum will welcome the Tasseomancy Museum.

“Amy Lou and I have been planning to do this exhibit for years,” Steven Intermill, the director of the Buckland Museum, said. “It was delayed by the pandemic, so we decided earlier this spring that it was finally time to bring Canada’s Tasseomancy Museum to the USA for the summer. I’m in awe of Amy Lou’s vast knowledge of the subject matter and her incredible collection she has curated over the past 30-plus years. It’s truly an honor to host it here.”

The Tasseomancy Museum Displays Leaf Magic

As Intermill mentioned, Amy Lou Taylor, the collection’s owner/curator, hails from Hamilton, Ontario. Per the newsletter the museum sent out, they’ll house the collection in their back gallery. It “spans over 120 years of tea leaf magic,” and features “cup sets, books, pamphlets, advertisements, cards, postcards, novelties, and textiles.”

The museum will also offer “a series of classes revolving around the tea leaf reading collection.” Those start on June 3 as well.

On June 4, Taylor will teach “Tasseomancy: The Art of Telling Futures and Fortunes.” The class is “an in-depth look at the history, origins, tools, and forms that tea leaf reading is done in.” It’s an interactive presentation for people of all ages. Tickets cost $40 and can be found here.

The newsletter about the Tasseomancy Museum at Buckland didn’t specify how long the exhibit would run. However, I reached out and asked. They replied that they haven’t decided on an exact end date yet, but are “thinking mid-August.”

Mike Schiavone’s Catacomb Saints

The Museum of Tasseomancy collection will start right after Mike Schiavone’s “Catacomb Saints” ends on May 30. Schiavone is a multidisciplinary artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose both a painter (oil and acrylic) and a sculptor.

“Catacomb Saints” is an interpretation of relics inspired by medieval European religious art and tradition. He used “found objects,” including vintage jewelry, antique elements, fabric, and jewels, “to create and venerate secular saints and sinners.” The resulting “bejeweled skulls” pay “homage to the beautiful and macabre decorated skeletons of martyrs and saints found throughout ancient churches across the world.”

For More Info

Visit The Tasseomancy Museum here: https://taotat.ca/tasseomancy-museum.html.

Visit the Buckland Museum here: https://bucklandmuseum.org.

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Have you ever had your tea leaves read?

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.