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.
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreBirthing girdle
A medieval charm worn during pregnancy to ensure a safe deliveryCharm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcr忙ft
Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 1 morePalladium螤伪位位维未喂慰谓 (Palladion)
A wooden statue of Athena said to protect cities, stolen from Troy and brought to Rome.Charm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceTitivillus
A medieval demon who collects scribal errors and liturgical mistakes in a sack.Being 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceGello螕蔚位位蠋
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceDictionnaire Infernal
A French demonology book cataloguing spirits and their hierarchies with engravings.Text 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreDusios
A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreGargoylegargouille
A carved stone waterspout shaped like a creature, used on Gothic buildings to shed rainwaterCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 3 morePalladium
A sacred image or object believed to guarantee the safety of a city or nationCharm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FrancePetit AlbertSecrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert
An 18th-century French grimoire of natural and cabalistic magic sold to rural householdsText 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚚馃嚟 SwitzerlandArbatel de magia veterum
A 1575 Swiss grimoire focused on celestial spirits and Christian ethicsText 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi
A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin
A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 3 moreCruentation
A medieval judicial test where a suspect touched a victim's body to see if it bled.Rite 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚪馃嚧 RomaniaTanacu exorcism
A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 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 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceTempestarii
Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 5 moreYellow badgeJudenstern
A marked garment worn by Jews under laws of distinction and humiliation across centuries.Charm 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomSaducismus Triumphatus
A 1681 English book defending witchcraft beliefs and attacking skepticsText 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyTredesin de Mars
A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚠馃嚫 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil
A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚚馃嚟 SwitzerlandSegen
A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 2 moreTiet盲j盲
A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure 路 Healing 路 Protection Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des poss茅d茅es de Loudun
A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚫馃嚲 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation
A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Birthing girdle: Sarah Fiddyment , Natalie J. Goodison , Elma Brenner , Stefania Signor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saducismus Triumphatus: unknown engraver of the 17th century, Public domain, source
- Bald's Leechbook: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
- Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Dictionnaire Infernal: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
- Tiet盲j盲: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Public domain, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Petit Albert: Albertus Parvus Lucius, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Yellow badge: Edited version of original photo by Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source