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Witch-hunts12 of the Creepiest Places Where History Meets Folklore Stage magicLegendary master magician Lance Burton to bring tricks to Fox Cities PAC Witch-huntsWitching Hour in Salem and Beyond—The 12 Scariest Things to Do on Halloween Night MuseumsThis Week in Moab: Magic for Seekhaven and a New Museum Show, October 19–25 DivinationThe Secret Romani History of Tarot Living traditionsMalou Beauvoir Introduces OUR VODOU Book 2, Celebrating Haiti's Heritage Through Children's Storytelling DivinationInside Seattle's witchy side: Tarot, crystals and a little local magic FestivalsMoreno family’s Day of the Dead celebration returns to the Village Green Nov. 1 Stage magicThe Houdini Séance, once a Petaluma tradition, rises from the grave HistoryThe more archaeologists examine this temple find, the less it looks like ritual gear: inside the Thracian bronze puzzle Witch-hunts12 of the Creepiest Places Where History Meets Folklore Stage magicLegendary master magician Lance Burton to bring tricks to Fox Cities PAC Witch-huntsWitching Hour in Salem and Beyond—The 12 Scariest Things to Do on Halloween Night MuseumsThis Week in Moab: Magic for Seekhaven and a New Museum Show, October 19–25 DivinationThe Secret Romani History of Tarot Living traditionsMalou Beauvoir Introduces OUR VODOU Book 2, Celebrating Haiti's Heritage Through Children's Storytelling DivinationInside Seattle's witchy side: Tarot, crystals and a little local magic FestivalsMoreno family’s Day of the Dead celebration returns to the Village Green Nov. 1 Stage magicThe Houdini Séance, once a Petaluma tradition, rises from the grave HistoryThe more archaeologists examine this temple find, the less it looks like ritual gear: inside the Thracian bronze puzzle

EveryJaadu

All entries

2,664 entries so far, best known first. 2,239 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

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

🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreBelialבְּלִיַּעַל A Hebrew term for worthlessness that evolved into a demon of darkness in Jewish and Christian texts.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesCotton Mather A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical

🇳🇱 NetherlandsWitch trials in the Netherlands A historical record of prosecutions and executions for sorcery in the Dutch Republic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459 An allegorical romance and Rosicrucian manifesto detailing a seven-day alchemical initiation.Text · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇷 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 🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWitch's mark A bodily mark believed to prove a pact with the Devil during early modern witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyMarsilio Ficino A Renaissance priest and philosopher who revived Plato and blended astrology with Christian theology.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical 🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTalisman An object believed to channel specific forces for protection, healing, or influence.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyWitches of Benevento A medieval Italian legend of witches gathering under a walnut treeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayWitch trials in Norway A wave of executions and legal persecution for sorcery in early modern Norway.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenTorsåker witch trials The largest mass execution of witches in Swedish history, carried out in a single day.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyMalleus Maleficarum A 15th-century manual on witchcraft written by Heinrich KramerText · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomSpectral evidence Court testimony based on visions of spirits during historical witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomPendle witches A 1612 series of English witch trials that resulted in ten executions near Pendle Hill.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBamberg witch trials A mass execution campaign in a German prince-bishopric that killed around one thousand people between 1623 and 1632.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreWitch trials in the early modern period A wave of prosecutions across Europe and British America from the 1400s to the late 1700s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical 🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreMagic and religion A study of how ritual power and sacred belief overlap or separate across culturesBelief · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandValais witch trials The first systematic European witch-hunt, beginning in the Valais region of Switzerland in 1428.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreAlonso de Salazar Frías An inquisitor who used evidence to stop witch executions in SpainBelief Historical

🇫🇷 FranceÉliphas Lévi A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Figure · Power and authority · Change and initiation Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇫🇷 FranceWitch trials in France A fragmented history of legal persecution for sorcery across French regions and centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreJannes and Jambresיניס וימבריס Named Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in biblical traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomSamlesbury witches Three Lancashire women acquitted in a 1612 trial linked to anti-Catholic propagandaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇪🇸 SpainBasque witch trials A seventeenth-century Inquisition campaign against alleged witches in the Basque Country.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyTrier witch trials A series of mass executions in the Holy Roman Empire between 1581 and 1593.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreSibylline Oracles A mixed collection of ancient prophecies attributed to pagan prophetesses but shaped by Jewish and Christian writers.Text · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇮🇹 ItalyWitch trials in Italy Historic legal proceedings against alleged witches across Italian states from the 14th to 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLeviathanלִוְיָתָן (Livyaṯān) A primordial sea monster from ancient Near Eastern myth and biblical textBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomGeoffrey of MonmouthGruffudd ap Arthur A medieval cleric whose writings shaped the King Arthur legend and British myth.Text · Power and authority Historical 🇵🇱 PolandWitch trials in Poland A historical record of sorcery prosecutions and executions in Poland from the 15th to the 19th century.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAzazelעזאזל A desert place and fallen angel linked to the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritualFigure · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesSalem Witch Trials A colonial legal crisis where over two hundred people faced accusations of sorcery in Massachusetts.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus A French astrologer and physician known for his book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇫🇷 FranceThree Books of Occult PhilosophyDe occulta philosophia libri III A Renaissance treatise on elemental, celestial and divine magicText · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWitch trials in the Holy Roman Empire A historical period of intense witchcraft persecution across Central Europe from the 15th to the 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

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

Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the Netherlands: Mathje1963, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
Azazel: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
Lotan: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Marsilio Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
Talisman: Sasha India, CC BY 2.0, source
Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
Torsåker witch trials: Y-näsmannen, CC0, source
Malleus Maleficarum: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Bamberg witch trials: Berthold Werner, Public domain, source
Pendle witches: Dr Greg, CC BY 3.0, source
Witch trials in the early modern period: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Valais witch trials: Dagalia2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Alonso de Salazar Frías: Oscar Montañés, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
Witch trials in France: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Jannes and Jambres: Gerard Hoet, Public domain, source
Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicolás Eymerich, Public domain, source
Samlesbury witches: Tom Oates, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Basque witch trials: Alberto-g-rovi, CC BY 3.0, source
Sibylline Oracles: Domenichino, Public domain, source
Geoffrey of Monmouth: Colin Cheesman, CC BY-SA 2.0, 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.