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EveryJaadu

Wonder and entertainment

Illusion, sleight of hand and the pleasure of being fooled.

Wonder and entertainment is the aim of the stage magician: to astonish an audience who knows it is being fooled. Conjuring, illusion, mentalism and street magic belong here, from the cups and balls of ancient Rome to Robert-Houdin, Houdini, Harry Kellar, P. C. Sorcar of India, Siegfried and Roy, and David Copperfield. This page covers the art, its history and its ethics, and does not reveal how any trick is done.

The art of the honest lie

A magician promises a trick and delivers astonishment. The pleasure comes from the gap between what is seen and what is known. Performers speak of misdirection, timing, patter and showmanship. Magicians also keep an informal rule not to expose methods, so that audiences can keep the pleasure and the craft keeps its livelihood. This is the most open part of the subject, in which no one is asked to believe.

Where it is performed

Magic has always had a street and a stage. In India, P. C. Sorcar Sr. (1913 to 1971) toured the world and became a national name. In China and Japan, conjuring was part of variety theatre and a distinct craft. In the Arab world and the Ottoman empire, performers worked in coffee houses and fairs. In the West, the music hall, the television special and the Las Vegas show carried the art into mass entertainment.

Who is welcome

For much of its history, the profession was dominated by men, with women as assistants, though performers such as Adelaide Herrmann broke the pattern. Racial stereotypes shaped acts: Western performers played Chinese or Indian magicians in costume, and Chung Ling Soo's disguise was a famous case. Today, magicians from many countries and women performers are widely visible. Magicians from Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Nigeria now work on global stages and in festivals, and a few have become well known beyond their borders.

Entertainers against fraud

Houdini and James Randi spent years exposing mediums and faith healers who claimed real powers, arguing that honest conjurers protect the public. Scholars of the mind use magic to study attention, memory and belief. The boundary matters: claiming genuine supernatural power for a trick and charging for it is fraud, not entertainment. As the code puts it, the trick can be admired and enjoyed without the secret being known, and children and adults alike keep that pleasure.

Wonder and entertainment 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

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

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

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

🇷🇴 RomaniaZână A Romanian woodland spirit linked to Diana that guides travelers and blesses children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇮🇹 ItalyLariosauro A lake monster legend from Lake Como, Italy, born from newspaper hoaxes and misidentified animals.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreBevis of HamptonПовесть о Бове-королевиче A medieval chivalric romance about a hero's exile and return across Europe and the Near EastText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreChuvash dragonВӗрӗҫӗлен A mythological serpent from Chuvash legends that can fly and breathe fire.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇹 ItalySquasc A small, tawny creature from Eastern Lombardy folklore that frightens children and plays jokes on young girlsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomTrow Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreLemminkäinen A shaman-hero of Finnish and Karelian myth who dies and is resurrected by his motherFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreSea Swine A mythical sea creature depicted with dragon feet and a navel eye in early mapsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomPearlin Jean A Scottish ghost said to haunt the ruins of Allanbank estate in BerwickshireBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 3 moreThe Swan Queen A Lithuanian fairy tale about a bird maiden who becomes human and returns to the skyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇪🇬 EgyptEnochian chess A four-player chess variant used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for divination and playTradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreAirship of Clonmacnoise A medieval Irish legend of a ship in the sky and its anchorBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇳🇴 NorwayTroll A Nordic creature of folklore and myth, ranging from mountain dwellers to modern fantasy icons.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenVardøger A spirit double that precedes a person in time and spaceBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇪 IrelandTír na nÓg An island realm in Irish myth where time stands still and youth never fadesBelief · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇹 ItalyDe Umbris Idearum A 1582 treatise by Giordano Bruno on memory, magic and philosophyText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFiddler's Green A maritime afterlife of endless music and rest for veteran sailorsBelief · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie A foundational treatise on ritual magic by Éliphas Lévi, structured around the tarot.Text · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceHarpyἅρπυια (hárpyia) Half-human, half-bird creatures from Greek and Roman myth, often seen as storm winds or snatchers of food.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreKuma LisaКума Лиса A trickster fox from Slavic folklore who outwits other animalsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism) Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreBožićБожић A Slavic figure linked to the new year and spring, whose name now marks ChristmasFigure · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomTom Thumb A tiny English folk hero who outwits giants and serves King ArthurFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇦🇹 AustriaMagic Club of ViennaMagischer Klub Wien Austrian association for stage magicians founded in 1908Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇹 ItalyAlchemical DoorPorta Alchemica A Roman gate covered in alchemical symbols and legends of transmutationCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyMagic Circle of the German Democratic RepublicMagischer Zirkel der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik A national association for stage magicians in East Germany from 1956 to 1990.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyGli ExperimentiGli Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.r Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux.mo S.r Giouanni de Medici A 16th-century manuscript of alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes by Caterina SforzaText · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇸🇮 SloveniaGiantess of Crngrobajdovska deklica A Slovene giantess who helped build a church and left a rib as an omenFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇪 IrelandChildren of LirOidheadh chloinne Lir An Irish myth about four siblings transformed into swans by a jealous stepmotherFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇹 ItalySatyress A female mythological creature with a human upper body and goat lower half, invented by later artists.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreLiving statue A street performer who poses motionless as a painted statue or mannequin.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreStreet performance Public entertainment offered for voluntary tips in open spacesIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇮🇹 ItalyBologna bottle A glass vessel that withstands hammer blows but shatters from an internal scratchCharm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomPiers Shonks A legendary knight who slew a dragon and cheated the Devil in HertfordshireFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇦🇹 AustriaHaymon A legendary giant of Tyrol who founded a monastery and defeated local spiritsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreTelekinesis A purported psychic ability to move objects with the mind aloneBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreChapeaugraphy A novelty act using a single ring of felt to form different hatsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGargoylegargouille A carved stone waterspout shaped like a creature, used on Gothic buildings to shed rainwaterCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Giantess of Crngrob: Vid Pogacnik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Children of Lir: John Duncan, Public domain, source
Satyress: art_traveller, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, source
Living statue: Another one of my pictures: This photograph was taken by Medium69 (Wil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Street performance: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Bevis of Hampton: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Sea Swine: Jacob van Maerlant, Public domain, source
Classical elements: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
Troll: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Tír na nÓg: Arthur Rackham, Public domain, source
Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
Harpy: Unknown, near the Tyrrhenian Group?, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Tom Thumb: Leutemann or Offterdinger , photo by Harke, Public domain, source
Alchemical Door: Sailko, CC BY 2.5, source
Gli Experimenti: Mattman723, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Airship of Clonmacnoise: Joseph Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Piers Shonks: William Blyth Gerish, Public domain, source
Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Telekinesis: Strobridge Lithographing Co., Public domain, source
Chapeaugraphy: Penny Pictorial Magazine, Public domain, source
Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
Haymon: Hafelekar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lemminkäinen: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 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.