The Buckland Witchcraft and Magick Museum finds a home in Cleveland, but why here?

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick has found a home in Cleveland after a lifetime elsewhere.

The museum, located on Broadview Road in Cleveland, is a collection of vintage witchcraft memorabilia that once called New York City home.

Raymond Buckland started the museum in 1966.

The number of artifacts grew to include items from Ancient Egypt and the Salem Witch trials.

The museum lived in New York from 1966-1976, moved to New Hampshire, and eventually found a home in New Orleans.

Damaged and reduced the collection was saved and in July of 2015 it was relocated to Ohio.

“The museum is a seeker as much as anyone else, it’s wanted to experience New York, wanted to experience new Hampshire, wanted to spend some time in New Orleans,” Cleveland curator Steven Intermill said. “Sometimes you want to come home to Cleveland.”

Buckland had hoped to bring his collection to America to dispel the myths about witchcraft and magic.

“Generally they’re people that a have a reverence for nature, people who believe in doing good for the community,” Intermill said. “I think that’s something we should all hang our hats on.”

When you visit the museum you can expect stories to accompany each artifact.

“People can come in whether they are Wiccan ... no matter what their religious philosophies are,” Intermill said. “I would never want to display anything I would be uncomfortable with having my mother come and see.”

Although Intermill said there is a large community of people that follow alternative spiritual paths in Cleveland even he was surprised at the interest in the museum.

“We started out in an incredibly small space, but the door kept knocking,” Intermill said.

Buckland passed away in September of 2017 at the age of 83, but did visit his collection when it opened in Ohio.

The crowds visiting the museum in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood continue to increase and Intermill promises to share the tales of artifacts that have a story to tell.

The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick is located at 2155 Broadview Road, Cleveland, Ohio.

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