The Spirit World

Well, that’s a loaded title, isn’t it? Last weekend my husband Gary and I took a trip to Salem, Massachusetts to see a new exhibition at PEM (Peabody Essex Museum). It’s called Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums, and it runs until February 2, 2025. We’ve visited Salem many times and have been to PEM four or five; it’s always greatly enjoyable. When I had read about this new exhibition, I just had to go.

The spirit world

I’ve always been intrigued by mediumship – or claims of mediumship. After my dad passed away in 2022 I read several books on the subject. I’m also very intrigued by spiritualism, haunted houses, ghost hunting, seances, even the tradition of Ouija and other spirit boards… basically discussions of “the spirit world” in general. I am not a complete true believer, but believer I am. I have had too many of my own experiences to simply dismiss. But I do not immediately believe, and I do not believe without considering more concrete or reasonable explanations.

The exhibition

The entrance to the exhibition.

We arrived in Salem just after PEM opened. The museum already had a good number of visitors, and the exhibition was popular and busy. It’s actually pretty cool that there were so many people there. I think that despite our inclination to doubt before we believe, there is still at least the desire for something to believe in. We aren’t all just automatic skeptics.

The exhibition was great. We were impressed by the extent and variety of the pieces on display, and by how well each piece was presented and described. The posters and newspaper advertisements for different mediums or magicians were thought-provoking. Supposed “spirit photography” was so interesting to see, considering that people at one time truly believed it to be authentic. A photo of a child who had passed was protected by a heavy curtain, so visitors could decide whether or not to look at this object (I actually declined to look). The death mask of a very old woman was probably the most poignant item for me personally.

The curators did an excellent job selecting these pieces, as well as recreating devices that in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were claimed to bring forth spirits and other entities. This wasn’t quite a hands-on experience, and certainly it was experienced through a contemporary filter, but it did very much demonstrate what people would have seen.

Some major figures were represented as well. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was apparently very much a believer. Not only that, he was a defender of mediumship as well as fairy photography. Harry Houdini was honored with quite a bit of exhibit space, and a number of famous (or infamous) mediums were of course also represented.

Memorabilia and souvenirs

Conjuring the Spirit World

I was not able to take photos during the exhibition, but I did purchase the accompanying exhibition book. Also for sale were a selection of prints of posters from the exhibition, as well as a good number of titles on ghost hunting, mediumship, and even a Salem Ouija Board (that I was so tempted to buy!). I had been hoping for a t-shirt – I have a t-shirt from an earlier PEM exhibition (It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection) that I love – but I admit I do not need any more graphic tees!

Inside the book.

Salem Witch Trials 1692 Exhibition

After enjoying Conjuring the Spirit World, we grabbed a late lunch around the corner, then returned to PEM to see the Salem Witch Trials 1692 exhibition.

In all the times we have been to the museum, we had not checked this one out. A smaller, ongoing exhibition, it was effective in portraying the time, and just how brutal the accused’s fates were. Much respect was shown to the accused men and women, and there was appropriate messaging regarding intolerance and injustice. The exhibition featured historic court documents, as well as recorded testimonies of the accused. There were a number of pieces preserved from victims and their families: a walking stick, a cane, a cabinet; leaded glass windows, a (beautiful) wooden door, and heavy wooden pieces of a wall from a jail cell. This last was quite moving to see; it was immense and foreboding, when considering it had held an innocent person in their final days.

Exhibition pamphlet and museum guide.

I would suggest that despite its smaller size, this exhibition is a must-see for anyone interested in the witch trials. And of course, I highly recommend seeing Conjuring the Spirit World. If you can get there in October, even better for enjoying the city. Salem – the Witch City – in October is a very fun experience, and can’t be missed for a great Halloween season. I already look forward to my next trip to Salem, and to PEM.

We wrapped up our afternoon in Salem, having spent all of our time at the museum. Then we headed north to the shore. I do love Salem, and love walking around and shopping in the Witch City… but the beach was calling…

~ Nellie

Center Street Cemetery

Center Street Cemetery
Center Street Cemetery

Last month my dad was in and out of the hospital several times, and I ended up spending quite a bit of time in my hometown of Wallingford, Connecticut. Though I visit often throughout the year, I don’t usually visit my old stomping grounds from when I was a kid. While I was there last month I ended up having some time to kill, so I took the opportunity to stop by a very old cemetery I used to frequent when I was growing up, Center Street Cemetery.

Center Street Cemetery Big Tree
One of the many big old trees

It isn’t the cemetery where my mother is buried, in fact, I’m not sure I know any of this cemetery’s inhabitants…

But, as a teenager I would often stop by Center Street Cemetery in between school and work. I would head over from where I lived a few blocks away, stopping on the way at the New York Bakery (as it was called) for a pastry, and then through the entranceway on the corner of Orchard and Center Streets. I would find a place to sit for a few, underneath one of the many big old beautiful trees. After, I would head off to work feeling relaxed and recharged. It was a very quiet place, despite being located on two of our town’s busiest streets.

1980s

This was the first cemetery I ever took photos in, for a high school photography class; I still have the negatives and contact sheets. It started a since life-long love of mine, combining my reverence for cemeteries with my love of photography.

Center Street Cemetery

Center Street Cemetery started serving the area as early as 1670, was formally established in 1683, and has a pretty intriguing history. I wasn’t the first or only person to enjoy sitting and having a bite to eat amongst the gravestones… the cemetery has twelve full size stone tables, where visitors in the 18th century would lunch while paying their respects. The last woman tried for witchcraft in New England – and eventually acquitted, Winifred King Benham, is reportedly buried there. The paths are well worn from genealogists and historians frequenting the place now; while I was there, at least two others were there taking close-ups of stones.

I have the most fun with graveyard photos when I get to work altering them; these are just a few basic pics from the hour or so I spent there… It was a beautiful, very bright sunny day. It was nice to be back there, and it again offered a bit of peace during a difficult time.

Thanks for reading,

~ Nellie

Center Street Cemetery, Wallingford, Connecticut