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
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society
A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇫🇷 FranceDictionnaire Infernal
A French demonology book cataloguing spirits and their hierarchies with engravings.Text · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSaint Michael
A Christian archangel who defends the faithful and weighs soulsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇫🇷 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
🇮🇪 IrelandDevil Whale
A giant sea creature mistaken for an island that drags sailors to the deepBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreYellow badgeJudenstern
A marked garment worn by Jews under laws of distinction and humiliation across centuries.Charm · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇱 Albania and 3 moreCross necklace
A pendant bearing the Christian cross worn as a sign of faith or protection.Charm · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇸 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
🇦🇹 AustriaHaymon
A legendary giant of Tyrol who founded a monastery and defeated local spiritsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇵🇹 PortugalAngel of PortugalAnjo de Portugal
A guardian spirit of Portugal, celebrated on June 10 and linked to the Fátima visions.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreBibiBibijako Dive
A Romani holiday honoring a protective aunt figure for family and children's healthRite · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇷 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 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreExorcist
A religious specialist who performs rites to remove alleged demonic possession from people or places.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇫🇷 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
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreRobert the Devil
A medieval legend of a knight born to Satan who seeks redemptionFigure · Cursing and harm · Change and initiation Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSailors' superstitions
A global collection of omens, charms and taboos used by mariners to manage the risks of life at seaBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreHoly ChaliceSanto Cáliz
A cup believed to have held the blood of Jesus at the Last SupperCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer
A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen
A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSaducismus Triumphatus
A 1681 English book defending witchcraft beliefs and attacking skepticsText · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii
Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇷🇴 RomaniaTanacu exorcism
A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · 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
🇩🇪 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
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children
Historical and modern persecution of children blamed for witchcraftBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical
🇮🇹 ItalySegnature
An Italian folk healing rite using gestures and prayers to cure illness and remove cursesRite · Healing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids
Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇫🇷 FrancePetit AlbertSecrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert
An 18th-century French grimoire of natural and cabalistic magic sold to rural householdsText · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandArbatel de magia veterum
A 1575 Swiss grimoire focused on celestial spirits and Christian ethicsText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyTredesin de Mars
A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 3 morePalladium
A sacred image or object believed to guarantee the safety of a city or nationCharm · Protection Historical
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation
A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin
A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreTietäjä
A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure · Healing · Protection Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Robert the Devil: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- 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
- Exorcism: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
- Segnature: SeAnstapa, CC0, source
- Dictionnaire Infernal: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Devil Whale: Edmund Dulac, Public domain, source
- Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
- Tietäjä: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 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
- Sailors' superstitions: Siren Painter (eponymous vase), Public domain, source
- Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Petit Albert: Albertus Parvus Lucius, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haymon: Hafelekar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Holy Chalice: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint Michael: Francesco Botticini, 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
- Angel of Portugal: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Bibi: Andrija12345678, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source
- Cross necklace: paterm, CC BY-SA 4.0, source