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. 817 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

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreKing ArthurBrenin Arthur A legendary British king and folk hero of medieval literature and Welsh mythologyFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomGreen Children of Woolpit A medieval English legend about two green-skinned siblings who appeared in a Suffolk village.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreChangeling A substitute left by supernatural beings in place of a stolen human child or adultBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBaphomet A name from medieval trials and a symbol of occult equilibriumFigure · Power and authority Legendary

🇩🇪 GermanyPied Piper of Hamelinder Rattenfänger von Hameln A medieval legend about a piper who leads children away from the town of HamelinFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSibylΣίβυλλα (Sibylla) Ancient Greek prophetesses who spoke divine counsel at holy shrinesFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomBarghest A mythical black dog from Northern England that foretells death and haunts the countryside.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMelusineMélusine A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Legendary 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreIriyВырай A mythical Slavic realm where souls and birds gather for the winterBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary

🇪🇪 EstoniaVanapaganVanatühi A giant farmer and underworld figure from Estonian folklore who is often outwitted.Figure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFiddler's Green A maritime afterlife of endless music and rest for veteran sailorsBelief · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇪 IrelandDeath coachcóiste bodhar A spectral carriage that signals an unavoidable death in European folkloreBelief · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVampire pumpkins and watermelons A Balkan folk tale about ground fruit that turns into vampires.Belief · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇮🇪 IrelandTír na nÓg An island realm in Irish myth where time stands still and youth never fadesBelief · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇩🇪 GermanyVril Society A fictional secret society from conspiracy theories about Nazi Germany and occult energy.Belief · Power and authority Legendary

🇬🇷 GreeceBranchusΒράγχος A mortal lover of Apollo who became a prophet and founded an oracle cult in ancient Greece.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreSwan maiden A folk motif where a man steals a bird-woman's feather cloak to force marriage.Figure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanLooking taboo A mythic rule forbidding a gaze that would bring disasterBelief · Cursing and harm Legendary

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
Pied Piper of Hamelin: Edmund Evans, Public domain, source
Sibyl: Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), Public domain, source
Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Vanapagan: Kristjan Raud, Public domain, source
Tír na nÓg: Arthur Rackham, Public domain, source
Vampire pumpkins and watermelons: The original uploader was Ke4roh at English Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
Looking taboo: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Vril Society: John Martin, Public domain, source
Branchus: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Swan maiden: Walter Crane, Public domain, source
King Arthur: William Morris, Public domain, source