In early September, the UW Libraries Special Collections opened its exhibit, “Magick and Mystery: Exploring the Supernatural.” The exhibit showcases materials of all things magical and mystic, ranging from tarot cards to mythological creatures, and offers insight into concepts like spiritualism, occultism, and the evolution of supernatural history from the Middle Ages to the 21st century.
Digital collections curator and curator of the exhibit, Ann Lally, first came up with the idea after noticing a number of occult and magic-related items in the library’s collection, including book art, rare books, and instruments. Lally, who has a personal interest in the exhibit topic, shared that her first “entree to witchcraft” began as a child when she read the fantasy book, “Bedknob and Broomstick,” which she featured in the display.
A large focus of the exhibit focuses on tarot, an area Lally has studied for several years. Unique cards from local publishers, artists, and witches are featured on display, as well as Lally’s own collection to show a more traditional tarot deck. Several cards belong to the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, with a specific focus on artist and occultist Pamela Colman Smith who Lally credits as first making tarot accessible in the 20th century.
The tarot exhibit also features the quote “the world is magic'' from famous American ethnobotanist and mystic Terence McKenna, who was known for his work and advocacy in psychedelic drugs.
Alongside the displayed work, the Special Collections team hosted a “Tarot for Beginners” event in late October with Abigail Varquez, named best psychic reader in Seattle and owner of AV Tarot Reading. The workshop taught attendees about detailed tarot history and practices like laying down cards and doing yes-no readings. Lally said the event was successful, with roughly 30 attendees, and is intent on hosting it again.
She shares that to her and others fond of tarot, the practice serves as a fascinating and self-reflecting journey.
“It’s the symbols that speak to us without language that people just really resonate with,” Lally said. “People just want answers and want help in their lives.”
In addition to tarot, the exhibit has an emphasis on folk magic and spells, featuring black books from Sweden that represent occultism and the Swedish Black Arts. Combining spells and tarot, a display case is dedicated to the work of local book artist and teacher of “Art of the Book” at Pacific Lutheran University, Mare Blocker, who provides contemporary twists on mystic card decks.
Lally was also intent on featuring more contemporary elements within the exhibit, displaying tarot cards created by AI and “The Book on Antimony,” a modern-day finished work of 20th-century alchemist Frater Albertus.
The influence of science is also a key concept — despite the exhibit’s major themes of spiritualism and the occult, Lally finds it important to highlight how work in scientific fields actually gave rise to these practices. A prime example is through the “Cabinet of Magical Curiosities” section: a glass case featuring different scientific instruments that are emblematic of the split when alchemy started to branch away from chemistry and become more of an occult practice.
Other scientific fields like botany are explored by showing “earth magic,” through natural elements like mushroom pamphlets and leaves, and astronomy, through star and constellation maps. Lally explained that the symbolism we see present in magic mimics the symbolism in science and our everyday life.
“It so informs our daily lives in ways that I don’t think we really understand,” Lally said. “Symbols are used everywhere.”
Most of the items within the “Magick and Mystery” exhibit come directly from within the Special Collections. These items were originally collected through a mix of donation from former faculty, private collectors, and local donors, as well as through purchase with endowments or funds.
Lally shared that putting together this exhibit was the most fun she had in her 30-year career as a librarian, having not much exhibit curator experience and opportunities to work in this setting.
“I got to go into the stacks and pull books off the shelf and see if they were good for the exhibit,” Lally said. “This is going to sound weird, but librarians don’t really deal with books much anymore … they don’t actually get to go into the stacks and touch things, and that was actually the most fun I had, just being able to sit and look at books — the things I became a librarian for.”
The Special Collections team regularly runs exhibits, hosting their “Invisible Cities” exhibit at the end of last school year and closing this month with their “Breaking Bread: Foodways and Cuisine in Print” exhibit.
“There’s so much that libraries have that people don’t know about,” Lally said. “That’s what was so exciting to me.”
The “Magick and Mystery” exhibit runs until March 8 and is located in the basement of the Allen Library South. Schedule an appointment by visiting Special Collections’ website to view the exhibit and learn more.
Reach writer Anjali Singh at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @anjali_singh35
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