Christian: magic in this belief world

Blessings, saints' relics, exorcism, folk charms and the long Church argument about magic.

Christianity has had a long, tense relationship with magic. The Church blessed objects, honoured saints and relics, performed exorcisms, and also condemned sorcery and witchcraft. Folk Christianity around the world mixes prayer, charms, holy water, saints' medals and healing rites. This page covers how Christian churches have defined, absorbed and punished magic, and how the story differs across continents. Christianity includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal and independent African and Asian churches, each with its own view of magic.

Blessing and the sacramental world

Catholic and Orthodox Christianity have a rich set of blessings and sacramentals: holy water, candles, medals, icons, relics and the sign of the cross. Believers hold that these work through God and the Church, not by themselves. Protestants largely rejected this system as superstition, and Pentecostals have developed their own deliverance and healing practice. The Orthodox churches give the blessing of homes, boats and fields a central place, and Catholic practice includes pilgrimage, processions and prayer to saints for specific needs, such as St Jude for hard cases.

Exorcism, witch trials and the Church

The Church has a formal rite of exorcism, used rarely and by authorised priests. European witch trials, which involved both Catholic and Protestant courts, killed tens of thousands between about 1450 and 1750. Historians such as Brian Levack stress that most trials were run by secular authorities. Modern accusations by some churches against children in parts of Africa have led to abuse. Protestant reformers broke with this system, and from the sixteenth century the burning of witches was supported by many Protestant authorities and many Catholic ones, though other clergy and judges spoke against it.

Missions and renaming

Missionaries often labelled Indigenous religions as devil worship and fetishism, and suppressed rites. In Latin America and Africa, many practices went underground or fused with Christianity: Santeria with Catholic saints, Vodou with Catholic imagery, Andean offerings with saints' days. Independent African churches and the Brazilian Spiritists grew from these meetings. Pentecostal and charismatic churches, which have grown fast in Africa, Latin America and Asia, offer healing, prophecy and deliverance as part of their worship, and are criticised by some for demonising local traditions.

Folk practice and today

Folk Christianity includes St Anthony charms for lost items, the St Christopher medal for travel, the Orthodox Easter fire, and the Mexican cult of Santa Muerte, which the Church rejects. Prosperity preaching sells faith-linked results, and some pastors charge for miracles. Scholars note that the line between religion and magic was drawn largely by Christian writers. Historians, such as Eamon Duffy and Keith Thomas, have shown that medieval Christianity was shot through with practices that later reformers redefined as magic.

Christian on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇬🇪 Georgia and 2 moreGeorgian mythologyქართული მითოლოგია The pre-Christian beliefs of the Kartvelian peoples in the South CaucasusTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇹🇴 Tonga and 5 moreTabootapu A cultural prohibition that marks something as forbidden or sacredBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇽 Mexico and 3 moreFolk saint Unofficially recognized holy figures venerated by local communities for intercession and miraclesBelief · Protection · Healing Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSatanism A modern set of beliefs using the figure of Satan as a symbol or deity.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMedieval European magic A broad category of ritual and natural practices in the Middle Ages, blending healing, divination, and religious belief.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde A woven straw charm hung for protection, named after Ireland's patron saintCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreMagic and religion A study of how ritual power and sacred belief overlap or separate across culturesBelief · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 4 moreBudaቡዳ An Ethiopian and Eritrean belief in the evil eye and hyena transformationBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreSpirit An invisible force or soul found in many cultures, linked to gods, humans, and nature.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇫🇷 FranceLouviers possessions A seventeenth-century French convent case of mass demonic possession and witchcraft accusationsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAsian witchcraft A broad overview of magical practices and persecution across Asian culturesTradition · Cursing and harm · Protection Living 🇦🇷 Argentina and 1 moreSpiritual mapping A Christian practice of mapping locations to identify and pray against territorial demonsBelief · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreAngelמלאך A supernatural messenger or intermediary spirit found in many religious traditions.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreTerritorial spirit A belief that demons or angels rule over specific lands and nations.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreHoly ChaliceSanto Cáliz A cup believed to have held the blood of Jesus at the Last SupperCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText · Protection · Healing Living 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCurse of Ham A biblical story used to justify slavery and racial discriminationBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSailors' superstitions A global collection of omens, charms and taboos used by mariners to manage the risks of life at seaBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSerpent seed A fringe belief that Cain was the offspring of Eve and the Serpent, creating two distinct human lineages.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesChristian views on magic A spectrum of Christian beliefs about magical practices, ranging from strict condemnation to esoteric integration.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living

🇮🇱 IsraelNumber of the beastἈριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου A biblical number linked to a prophetic figure and interpreted through ancient numerologyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreReligious aspects of Nazism The study of how Nazi ideology borrowed religious forms and esoteric beliefs to build a political movement.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children Historical and modern persecution of children blamed for witchcraftBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreVanishing hitchhiker An urban legend where a motorist picks up a passenger who vanishes, often leaving behind proof of their death.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇷🇴 RomaniaTanacu exorcism A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
Witchcraft accusations against children: Radbot, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Georgian mythology: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
Taboo: Jonathan McIntosh, CC BY 2.0, source
Folk saint: Sergio Serrano, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
Buda: Aberdeen Bestiary, Public domain, source
Christian views on magic: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Angel: Unknown author, CC0, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Curse of Ham: Ксенофонтов Иван Степанович. Ksenofóntov Iván Stepánovich (1817-1875), Public domain, source
Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
Sailors' superstitions: Siren Painter (eponymous vase), Public domain, source
Asian witchcraft: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Public domain, source
Spirit: Jastrow, Public domain, source
Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
Holy Chalice: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Serpent seed: David Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source