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. 830 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

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreCeltic mythology The mythic traditions of the Celtic peoples, preserved in Irish and Welsh textsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 3 morePyromancy Divination by reading flames, smoke, or fire-heated objectsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceKykeonκυκεών An Ancient Greek ritual drink linked to the Eleusinian Mysteries and peasant lifeSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCernunnos An antlered Celtic deity associated with nature and fertilityBeing · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇪 IrelandLia Fáil A standing stone at the Hill of Tara used for royal inaugurations in Irish legendCharm · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreUpiórупіор A demonic spirit from Slavic and Turkic folklore that is believed to return from the dead to feed on the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇷🇺 RussiaOssetian mythologyИрон мифологи The beliefs and supernatural beings of the Ossetian people in the Caucasus.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 1 moreLithuanian mythologyLietuvių mitologija The ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Baltic people, preserved in folklore and early chroniclesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreBasque mythology The ancient beliefs of the Basque people, preserved through legends and place names.Tradition Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreRunesᚱᚢᚾᛟ An ancient Germanic script used for writing and magical signs.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority 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

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreNoaidi A Sámi spiritual leader who mediated between the living and the spirit world using a drum.Being · Healing · Protection Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenTemple at Uppsala A Norse religious centre described in medieval texts and debated by modern scholarsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreMjölnirMjǫllnir The hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor, used as a weapon and for blessingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇪🇸 SpainSorginak Mythical beings and historical figures associated with Basque witchcraft and the goddess Mari.Figure · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDruiddruides A learned priestly class of the ancient Celts in Gaul and BritainTradition · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreOracle A person or site believed to channel divine insight and predict the future.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyLiver of Piacenza A bronze sheep's liver inscribed with Etruscan deity names, used for divination.Substance · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreSoul flight A trance practice where the spirit leaves the body to visit other realmsRite · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreDomovoyДомовой A household spirit in Slavic folklore that guards the family and home.Being · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreWelsh mythologyY Chwedlau The ancient legends of Wales and the Celtic Britons, preserved in medieval manuscripts.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAnimal sacrifice The ritual killing of livestock or wild animals as an offering to deitiesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreNorse mythology The mythic tales of the North Germanic peoples and their ancient gods.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreSoul dualism A belief that a person contains two or more distinct kinds of soulsBelief · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇳🇴 NorwaySami religion The animist and polytheistic beliefs of the Sámi people across northern ScandinaviaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇪🇪 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 🇬🇷 GreecePeleiadesΠελειάδες Sacred women of the Oracle at Dodona, linked to doves and ZeusBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇷 FranceLarzac tablet A lead curse tablet from southern France invoking a goddess against a group of womenText · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceChamalières tabletPlomb de Chamalières A Gaulish lead tablet from a French spa, read as either a curse or a healing prayer.Text · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical 🇫🇮 FinlandVäki A supernatural power in Finnish mythology found in nature and objectsBelief · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical 🇬🇷 GreeceIamidai An ancient Greek family of seers at Olympia who interpreted burnt offeringsTradition · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇮🇪 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 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreStrichaСтріча A Slavic goddess who spins the golden thread of human destiny and good fortuneBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreHippomancy Divination through the movements, sounds, and tracks of horsesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇫🇷 FranceCurse of Vibia A damaged Oscan lead tablet invoking underworld forces against a named man and his kinCharm · Cursing and harm Historical 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreKalevaKalev A primordial giant and ancestral figure in the mythologies of Estonia and FinlandBeing · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreLaumaLaumė A Baltic fairy-like spirit of the sky, weather, and newborn children.Being · Protection · Healing Historical

🇵🇱 PolandBoginka Female spirits of wild nature in Polish pagan mythologyBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreNekyiaνέκυια An ancient Greek rite for summoning and questioning the deadRite · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSwastika (Germanic Iron Age) A four-armed symbol found on Germanic artefacts from the Migration to Viking periods.Belief · Power and authority 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

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇬🇷 GreeceTrophoniusΤροφώνιος A Greek hero turned subterranean oracle god at LebadeaFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇪🇸 SpainHuman sacrifice in the ancient Iberian Peninsula Ancient ritual killings by Lusitanian and Vetton peoples for divination and warRite · Seeing and foretelling · 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.

Curse of Vibia: Franz Bücheler, Public domain, source
Orphism: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Kykeon: Marsyas, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Cernunnos: Nationalmuseet, Roberto Fortuna og Kira Ursem, Public domain, source
Lia Fáil: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0, source
Larzac tablet: Pankratos, Public domain, source
Upiór: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Chamalières tablet: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lithuanian mythology: Prussian historian Christophorus Hartknoch (1644-1687), Public domain, source
Basque mythology: No machine-readable author provided. Asp. assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Runes: Bengt Olof ÅRADSSON, CC BY 1.0, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Noaidi: O. H. von Lode, Public domain, source
Temple at Uppsala: Olaus Magnus, Public domain, source
Hippomancy: Wer?Du?!, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Irish folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Boginka: Walery Eljasz Radzikowski, Public domain, source
Mjölnir: Mårten Eskil Winge, Public domain, source
Sorginak: Errazking, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sámi drum: Zouavman Le Zouave, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Druid: Bernard de Montfaucon, Public domain, source
Oracle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Liver of Piacenza: Piacenza_Bronzeleber.jpg : Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
Soul flight: Published by James Wasserman; facsimile made by E. A. Wallis Budge; or, Public domain, source
Lauma: Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, source
Domovoy: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Celtic mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Animal sacrifice: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Nekyia: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Swastika (Germanic Iron Age): No machine-readable author provided. Bloodofox~commonswiki assumed (ba, Public domain, source
Norse mythology: Lorenz Frølich, Public domain, source
Soul dualism: 尹真人, Public domain, source
Human sacrifice in the ancient Iberian Peninsula: Manuel Parada López de Corselas User:Manuel de Corselas ARS SUMMUM, Ce, Public domain, source