The British Museum and the Magical Revival – Walking Tour

Caroline Wise leads an enchanting tour of the world-famous institution that inspired the modern occult revival.

The British Museum is an iconic centre of magic, providing creative inspiration and the collaborative meeting place for history's most famous occultists.

In her acclaimed tour, Caroline Wise leads a 2.5-hour walking journey through the beloved institution's magical past. Expect to learn about how, from the 1880s on, magicians met in the reading room, studied and translated seminal texts, saw pagan deities in the galleries, and were stirred by the newly discovered artefacts from Ancient Egypt. Inspired by manuscripts and finds from around the world, they created systems of magic that flourished and grew.

Who were the pagan deities that inspired the people at the heart of the occult, witchcraft and Druid revivals? Guests explore selected exhibits from prehistoric Britain, Assyria, Ancient Egypt, the Roman World, Anglo-Saxon and Elizabethan England, as Caroline recounts tales of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Dion Fortune, Florence Farr, Madame Blavatsky and John Dee. Recommended for all with an enthusiasm for occultism, London's history and magical culture.

Please arrive no later than 5:00pm at the back entrance to Museum (North Entrance), in Montague Place, just outside the walkway to the security tent. Caroline will be wearing a blue scarf and holding a sign with 'Treadwell's British Museum Tour'. The tour leaves at 5pm precisely and ends at 7:30pm. The nearest tube stations are Tottenham Court Road – approx. 5 minutes walk (Northern Line), Russell Square – approx. 7 mins walk (Picadilly Line), and Holborn – approx. 7 mins walk (Central Line).

Please make sure you arrive in good time. We're never able to wait for latecomers and it won't be possible for you to catch up with the tour once it's started. Photos may be taken, but recording of the tour is not permitted.

Tour duration: 2.5 hours. Please bring plenty of water, a notebook and pen (if you wish), and comfy shoes. There will be max. 12 people to ensure an intimate, small-group experience.

Important: Please note that items of luggage weighing more than 8kg and larger than 40x40x50cm (including all wheeled suitcases) are not permitted. Sharp items are also not permitted.

Caroline Wise is a longstanding London esotericist whose speciality is the mythic London landscape. She started out in the late 1970s in the burgeoning earth mysteries movement. Then in the 1990s, with the ‘landscape as grimoire’, she hosted the Wildwood conferences on English pagan folklore. The former owner of the Atlantis Bookshop, she has contributed to a large number of books and journals, including the co-editing of the acclaimed Secret Lore of London. She lectures all over the world on goddesses, the women pioneers of the occult revival and the capital’s mythic history.