🇺🇸 Magic in the United States
255 entries from the United States, best known first, across 80 places of magic.
Hoodoo is a spiritual system shaped by West and Central African traditions, Indigenous plant knowledge, and European written guides. Practitioners view it as a companion to established faiths rather than a standalone religion. It weaves ancestor reverence, herbal healing, and protective charms into daily life alongside Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim beliefs.
- First English record of the term appeared in eighteen seventy.
- Practitioners mix Kongo star charts with local plant gathering.
- Hidden gatherings used overturned pots to muffle prayer sounds.
- Cemetery soil was packed into cloth bags for ancestral aid.
Overview
This tradition blends African cosmologies with local plant lore and European occult manuals. Enslaved communities merged Kongo star charts, water spirit veneration, and sacred bundles with Native American herb gathering. The practice centers on honoring departed relatives, seeking fairness, and using botanical preparations for wellness and safety. While some researchers classify it as its own faith, most followers treat it as a flexible layer added to Christianity, Islam, or traditional African paths. Neighboring Caribbean and Southern folk systems share similar charm making and spirit communication methods, though each community adapted the techniques to local plants and colonial pressures.
Practices and beliefs
Followers rely on small cloth pouches filled with roots, stones, and cemetery soil to draw ancestral strength. These containers are called mojo bags or gris-gris, a Mande term for protective charms. Specialists offer fortune telling and advice based on observed signs. Water spirits known as Simbi, believed to guard freshwater sources, are asked for guidance near rivers and springs. Herbal teas and ointments prepared from local leaves serve as everyday remedies. Protective symbols are drawn on doorframes or carried in pockets to ward off harm and attract good fortune.
Rites and charms
Gatherings often occur in hidden forest clearings or private rooms to avoid outside attention. Participants move around a central vessel while chanting low voices. Offerings include food and animal remains placed near household thresholds. Anointing rituals involve rubbing prepared oils onto skin or clothing before travel or difficult tasks. Quiet prayers are sometimes whispered beneath overturned clay pots to muffle sound. These customs focus on maintaining balance between the living and those who have passed, ensuring community safety and personal resilience.
Who practises
Specialists use titles such as rootworker or conjure doctor. They typically earn their role through apprenticeship, dream visions, or family lineage rather than formal schooling. Communities seek them out for healing, conflict resolution, and protection against unfair treatment. White and Black patrons alike visited these experts for fortune telling and charm crafting. Their knowledge was viewed as powerful enough to shift social hierarchies, which made them targets for suspicion and legal scrutiny under strict colonial rules.
Regions and communities
Coastal island groups maintained open practice due to relative isolation and preserved older African rhythms. River valley communities operated in tight secrecy because harsh assembly laws forced gatherings underground. Northern cities saw practitioners offer public services to diverse clients across racial lines. Plantation districts relied on discreet home rituals and quiet woodland meetings. Each area adjusted ingredient lists and ritual pacing to match local flora, weather patterns, and the specific pressures imposed by nearby authorities.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Hoodoo (spirituality)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. EveryJaadu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Places of magic in the United States
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreHarry Kellar
An American illusionist known for large-scale stage magic and mechanical tricks.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesPenn & Teller
A long-running American magic duo known for comedy acts and skeptical advocacyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil
A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCount of St. GermainComte de Saint Germain
An 18th-century European adventurer known for alchemy, music, and claims of immortality.Figure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreDavenport brothers
A pair of American stage magicians who performed spirit cabinet illusions in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇰🇮 Kiribati and 4 moreMicronesian mythology
The traditional belief systems and legends of the island peoples in the southwest Pacific.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta
A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreStage magic
A performing art of tricks and illusions that entertain audiences using natural meansIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreRéveillon
A long Christmas or New Year's Eve dinner held to stay awake until morningTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesHoward Thurston
A stage magician who built the largest traveling magic show in historyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreMay Day
A European spring festival marking the start of summer with flowers, poles and fire.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChung Ling Soo程連蘇
An American stage magician who performed as a Chinese man and died during a bullet catch illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn
A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreInternational Brotherhood of Magicians
A global organization for professional and amateur magicians founded in 1922.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin
A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesSociety of American Magicians
A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChing Ling Foo金陵福 (Jīn Língfú)
A Chinese stage magician who toured the United States and Europe in the late nineteenth centuryIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreAlexander Herrmann
A 19th-century magician known for sleight of hand and card throwingIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween
A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSawing a woman in half
A stage illusion where an assistant appears to be cut into pieces inside a box or on a tableIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting
A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreAlebrije
Brightly painted Mexican sculptures of fantastical creatures, made from paper or woodTradition · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLeprechaunlucharachán / leipreachán / luchorpán
A solitary Irish fairy known for mischief and shoe-makingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern
A hollowed vegetable carved with a face and lit from within, worn as a Halloween symbolCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreTrick-or-treating
A Halloween custom where costumed visitors ask for treats from homesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesMenehune
A legendary race of tiny builders in Hawaiian folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHex sign
Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 morePepper's ghost
A stage illusion using angled glass to project hidden actors as visible ghostsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreBullet catch
A stage illusion where a magician appears to catch a fired bullet in their mouth or handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesSawing a lady in half (sample)
A famous stage effect, described without its method.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇺🇸 United StatesJersey Devil
A legendary creature from South Jersey folklore said to inhabit the Pine Barrens.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarnstar
A painted or carved star used to decorate barns in parts of the United States and Canada.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism
A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition · Healing · Change and initiation Living
🇺🇸 United StatesBed of nails
A wooden platform studded with nails used in magic acts and physics demonstrationsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇺🇸 United StatesRed Ghost
A legendary red camel with a skeleton rider from Arizona frontier folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesHot foil trick
A stage illusion where foil heats and burns in a volunteer's handIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesDavid Copperfield's laser illusion
A stage trick where a magician appears to be sliced by a beam of light and reassembled.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBigfoot
A large, hairy humanoid creature of North American folklore and cryptozoologyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesSkunk ape
A large, hairy humanoid cryptid said to live in Florida swamps and forestsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesLoveland frog
A legendary humanoid creature sighted in Ohio, often linked to urban folklore and local tourism.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesSquonk
A fictional creature from American folklore known for weeping and dissolving in its own tears.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesHodag
A fabricated American cryptid from Wisconsin folklore and tall talesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreFur-bearing troutLoðsilungur
A legendary fish with a coat of fur, found in North American and Icelandic tall tales.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesChessie
A sea monster of American folklore said to inhabit the Chesapeake Bay.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreFearsome critters
Tall tale animals from North American logging camps used to jest and explain the wild.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreLady in Red
A female ghost in a scarlet dress, often linked to tragic or violent deaths.Being · Wonder and entertainment Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jersey Devil: Dystopiamatt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Barnstar: Una Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Levitation: Godot13, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Skunk ape: MikesMegapixels, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bigfoot: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, Public domain, source
- Hodag: Gourami Watcher, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pepper's ghost: The original uploader was Wapcaplet at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bed of nails: Herbert Ponting, Public domain, source
- Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
- Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Alebrije: Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Leprechaun: Unknown author, FAL, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Menehune: D. Howard Hitchcock, Public domain, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
- Penn & Teller: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bullet catch: Dave Fayram, CC BY 2.0, source
- Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Loveland frog: Tim Bertelink, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Squonk: Coert Du Bois and by William T. Cox;, Public domain, source
- Fur-bearing trout: Samantha Marx, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fearsome critters: Coert Du Bois, Public domain, source
- Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
The weekly digest
Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.