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

Rites of the region

Midsummer and St John's Eve herbs and fires Walpurgis Night and May Day fires Samhain and Halloween divination games First-footing at Hogmanay Witch bottle Knocking on wood and horseshoe customs The Sator square Icelandic galdrastafir Malocchio removal with oil and water Matiasma and ftou ftou

Countries

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

🇫🇷 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

🇮🇹 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

🇫🇷 FranceTitivillus A medieval demon who collects scribal errors and liturgical mistakes in a sack.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇫🇷 FranceDictionnaire Infernal A French demonology book cataloguing spirits and their hierarchies with engravings.Text · Power and authority Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomSaducismus Triumphatus A 1681 English book defending witchcraft beliefs and attacking skepticsText · Cursing and harm Historical

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

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreYellow badgeJudenstern A marked garment worn by Jews under laws of distinction and humiliation across centuries.Charm · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children Historical and modern persecution of children blamed for witchcraftBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreReligious aspects of Nazism The study of how Nazi ideology borrowed religious forms and esoteric beliefs to build a political movement.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreCruentation A medieval judicial test where a suspect touched a victim's body to see if it bled.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · 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.

Saducismus Triumphatus: unknown engraver of the 17th century, Public domain, source
Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witchcraft accusations against children: Radbot, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Dictionnaire Infernal: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
Yellow badge: Edited version of original photo by Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0, source