All entries
1,216 entries so far, best known first. 4,906 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire eating
A performance art of extinguishing flames in the mouthIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreBrocken spectreBrockengespenst
A giant shadow cast by an observer onto clouds, often surrounded by a rainbow halo.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreGreen Man
A carved face made of leaves, used as a decorative motif in architecture and art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇮🇩 IndonesiaSanghyangᬲᬂᬳ᭄ᬬᬂ (Tari Sanghyang)
A Balinese sacred dance where performers enter trance to host spiritual entitiesIllusion · 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 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHoward Thurston
A stage magician who built the largest traveling magic show in historyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaPili Yesaಪಿಲಿವೇಷ
A coastal Karnataka folk dance where performers paint themselves as tigers to honour the Goddess DurgaIllusion · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreShell game
A street swindle using covered containers to hide a marker while taking betsIllusion · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreStage magic
A performing art of tricks and illusions that entertain audiences using natural meansIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesPenn & Teller
A long-running American magic duo known for comedy acts and skeptical advocacyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇳🇴 NorwaySteilneset Memorial
A 2011 monument in Norway marking the 1621 Vardø witch trials and their victims.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin
A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMetamorphosis
A stage illusion where a magician and assistant instantly swap places inside a locked container.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian rope trick
A legendary stage illusion involving a levitating rope and a disappearing boy assistantIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreJean Eugène Robert-HoudinJean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
A French clockmaker who elevated stage magic into a refined theatrical art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGarba
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a central symbol during NavaratriIllusion · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCard throwing
The performance art of launching playing cards with speed and precision as stage magic.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇦🇺 Australia and 5 moreSword swallowing
A dangerous stage skill where a performer guides a blade down the throat into the stomachIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePhantasmagoria
A horror theatre using magic lanterns to project frightening images in the darkIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 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 StatesSociety of American Magicians
A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomEgyptian Hall
A London exhibition hall known for magic shows and Egyptian-style architecture, demolished in 1905.Illusion · 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
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreBuatier De Kolta
A French stage magician known for mechanical illusions and the vanishing chair.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇧🇪 BelgiumServais Le Roy
A Belgian magician who designed classic illusions and performed in a famous trio act.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇳 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomIsaac Fawkes
An English conjurer who moved magic from the fairground to fashionable London society.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreEusapia Palladino
An Italian medium whose séances were investigated by leading scientists and magicians in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreHarry Kellar
An American illusionist known for large-scale stage magic and mechanical tricks.Illusion · 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomJohn Nevil Maskelyne
A Victorian magician who exposed fraud and invented the pay toiletIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomDavid Devant
English magician and early film exhibitor known for witty stage presentationIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack in the Green
A foliate figure worn in English May Day processions to celebrate summerIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake charming
A street performance using a gourd flute to make snakes swayIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Fading
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreHobby horse
A costumed character made from wood or cloth used in seasonal folk customs and processions.Illusion · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMentalism
A stage art that mimics psychic powers using psychology and sleight of handIllusion · 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
🇮🇳 IndiaStreet magic
Public performance of illusions for passersby, from traditional busking to impromptu guerrilla tricksIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreCups and balls
A classic stage illusion where objects vanish and reappear under inverted coversIllusion · 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 StatesBed of nails
A wooden platform studded with nails used in magic acts and physics demonstrationsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreGuillotine (magic trick)
A stage illusion where a blade passes through a neck or finger without harmIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Brocken spectre: Draceane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Green Man: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Guillotine (magic trick): Reginald Scott, Public domain, source
- Levitation: Godot13, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indian rope trick: Anonymous Unknown author, CC0, source
- Bed of nails: Herbert Ponting, Public domain, source
- Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: Carcharoth (Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Misdirection: Hieronymus Bosch and workshop / Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch / After H, Public domain, source
- Fire eating: Arvind Jain, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sword swallowing: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Phantasmagoria: Alphonse de Neuville or A. Jahandier, Public domain, source
- Sawing a woman in half: Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, source
- Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Egyptian Hall: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Isaac Fawkes: William Hogarth, Public domain, source
- Eusapia Palladino: Baldi., Public domain, source
- Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Alexander Herrmann: Photographer unidentified, Public domain, source
- John Nevil Maskelyne: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- David Devant: Simon Edwards Esq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jack in the Green: SiGarb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Snake charming: Paris75000, Public domain, source
- Hobby horse: Timkevan at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Sanghyang: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pili Yesa: Premnath Kudva, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shell game: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Penn & Teller: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, source
- Steilneset Memorial: Stylegar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pepper's ghost: The original uploader was Wapcaplet at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mentalism: The U.S. Printing Co., Russell-Morgan Print, Cincinnati & New York., Public domain, source
- Bullet catch: Dave Fayram, CC BY 2.0, source