Magic in Europe
Cunning folk and grimoires, alchemy, runes and seidr, the fairy faith, the witch trials, and the folk calendar of fire and fertility. 828 entries on EveryJaadu so far.
Places of magic
London 18Paris 18Delphi 13Athens 12Cairo 5Dodona 5Edinburgh 4Kraków 4Olympia 4Praeneste 4Prague 4Amsterdam 3Bamberg 3Capitoline Hill 3Cumae 3Dartmoor 3Egyptian Hall 3Eleusis 3Logroño 3Lyon 3Milan 3New York 3Quebec 3Santiago de Compostela 3Trier 3Val Camonica 3Veii 3Vilnius 3Würzburg 3York 3
Rites of the region
Midsummer and St John's Eve herbs and firesWalpurgis Night and May Day firesSamhain and Halloween divination gamesFirst-footing at HogmanayWitch bottleKnocking on wood and horseshoe customsThe Sator squareIcelandic galdrastafirMalocchio removal with oil and waterMatiasma and ftou ftou
Countries
🇦🇱 Albania 30🇦🇩 Andorra 1🇦🇹 Austria 33🇧🇾 Belarus 21🇧🇪 Belgium 11🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4🇧🇬 Bulgaria 37🇭🇷 Croatia 16🇨🇿 Czech Republic 14🇪🇪 Estonia 28🇫🇮 Finland 38🇫🇷 France 157🇩🇪 Germany 136🇬🇷 Greece 135🇭🇺 Hungary 14🇮🇸 Iceland 47🇮🇪 Ireland 104🇮🇹 Italy 138🇽🇰 Kosovo 5🇱🇻 Latvia 10🇱🇹 Lithuania 20🇱🇺 Luxembourg 2🇲🇹 Malta 2🇲🇩 Moldova 4🇲🇪 Montenegro 4🇳🇱 Netherlands 32🇲🇰 North Macedonia 6🇳🇴 Norway 44🇵🇱 Poland 44🇵🇹 Portugal 17🇷🇴 Romania 42🇷🇺 Russia 117🇷🇸 Serbia 37🇸🇰 Slovakia 4🇸🇮 Slovenia 7🇪🇸 Spain 76🇸🇪 Sweden 85🇨🇭 Switzerland 30🇺🇦 Ukraine 25🇬🇧 United Kingdom 231🇻🇦 Vatican City 1
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
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandValais witch trials
The first systematic European witch-hunt, beginning in the Valais region of Switzerland in 1428.Tradition · Cursing and harm 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
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreSerbian folkloreСрпски фолклор
The folk traditions and epic poetry of the Serbs, blending pre-Christian customs with Orthodox faith.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomSamlesbury witches
Three Lancashire women acquitted in a 1612 trial linked to anti-Catholic propagandaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreBonfire
A large outdoor fire used in seasonal festivals and religious feasts across many culturesRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 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
🇮🇹 ItalyWitches of Benevento
A medieval Italian legend of witches gathering under a walnut treeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity 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
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreKrampus
A horned Alpine figure who punishes misbehaving children on KrampusnachtFigure · Cursing and harm Living
🇪🇪 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
🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreÉliphas Lévi
A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials
A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark
A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreHidden-folkhuldufólk
Supernatural beings in Nordic folklore who live in a parallel world within the landscape.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇸 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum
A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJāņi; Joninės; Jaanipäev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus
A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht
A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 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
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreEmanuel Swedenborg
An 18th-century Swedish scientist who became a mystic and claimed to visit the afterlife.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇹 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
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreMichael Scot
A medieval scholar and astrologer who became a legendary magician in folklore.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log
A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇩🇪 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
🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn
A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · Healing · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore
The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials
A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore
The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba
The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreSoul cake
A spiced cake given to soulers during Allhallowtide to remember the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity 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
🇫🇷 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft
Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 FranceLouviers possessions
A seventeenth-century French convent case of mass demonic possession and witchcraft accusationsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyArcheosofica
A school of esoteric Christianity founded in Rome that teaches ascetic disciplines and magical theory.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 IrelandEarly Irish astrology
The study of celestial cycles in early Ireland, blending native observation with Christian and continental learning.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandLorica
A Hiberno-Scottish monastic prayer for protection against evilText · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft
Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇪🇸 SpainDetente bala
A cloth charm worn by Spanish soldiers to stop bullets in the name of JesusCharm · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBirthing girdle
A medieval charm worn during pregnancy to ensure a safe deliveryCharm · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny
A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 morePalladiumΠαλλάδιον (Palladion)
A wooden statue of Athena said to protect cities, stolen from Troy and brought to Rome.Charm · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreTutelary deity
A guardian spirit or god assigned to protect a specific place, person, or group.Being · Protection Living
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreBishop-fish
A legendary sea creature said to gesture like a cleric before vanishingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇫🇷 FranceTitivillus
A medieval demon who collects scribal errors and liturgical mistakes in a sack.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇸 SpainCatalina Lercaro
A ghost story from Tenerife about a woman who took her own life on her wedding dayBeing Living
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Birthing girdle: Sarah Fiddyment , Natalie J. Goodison , Elma Brenner , Stefania Signor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bald's Leechbook: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Hidden-folk: Schorle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicolás Eymerich, Public domain, source
- Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Emanuel Swedenborg: Carl Frederik von Breda, Public domain, source
- Marsilio Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
- Michael Scot: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
- Unicorn horn: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
- Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
- Ukrainian folklore: U.S. Army Europe Images, CC BY 2.0, source
- Soul cake: Samantha, CC BY 2.0, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bishop-fish: photo by Sean Linehan, NOS, NGS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin, Public domain, source
- Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
- Valais witch trials: Dagalia2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Serbian folklore: Uroš Predić, Public domain, source
- Samlesbury witches: Tom Oates, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bonfire: S Marshall, CC BY 3.0, source
- Catalina Lercaro: tivity.es, CC BY 3.0, source
- Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
- Geoffrey of Monmouth: Colin Cheesman, CC BY-SA 2.0, source