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. 824 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

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

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

🇬🇷 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

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMedieval European magic A broad category of ritual and natural practices in the Middle Ages, blending healing, divination, and religious belief.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living 🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreWitch trials in the early modern period A wave of prosecutions across Europe and British America from the 1400s to the late 1700s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇪 IrelandIrish folklorebéaloideas The oral traditions, myths and customs of IrelandTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇷🇺 RussiaSlavic folklore The traditional beliefs and stories of the Slavic peoplesTradition Living

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

🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreMichael SendivogiusMichał Sędziwój A Polish alchemist who discovered oxygen and wrote on the 'food of life'Text · Power and authority · Change and initiation Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomHermetic Order of the Golden DawnOrdo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae A late-19th-century British magical order that shaped modern Western occultismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreNatural magic A historical tradition exploring hidden forces in the physical worldTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living

🇮🇪 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

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKabbalahקַבָּלָה An esoteric school of thought within Judaism focused on the hidden meanings of scripture and the divine.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandValais witch trials The first systematic European witch-hunt, beginning in the Valais region of Switzerland in 1428.Tradition · 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

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

🇷🇸 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

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

🇬🇧 United KingdomHarry Price A British psychic researcher and conjurer who investigated paranormal claims and exposed fraudulent mediums.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain A Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest and the start of winter, observed on November 1st.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNicholas Culpeper An English herbalist and astrologer who translated medical texts into English for the poor.Text · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇸🇪 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

🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇱🇹 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 🇬🇧 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 🇬🇷 GreeceAncient Greek folklore The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇸 SpainFolklore of Spain The oral traditions, legends, and folktales of the Iberian PeninsulaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreAnthroposophy A spiritual movement founded by Rudolf Steiner to explore the intellectual side of the unseen worldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMedical astrology An ancient practice linking planetary movements to the human body and diseaseTradition · Healing Historical 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandPsychological astrology A system that maps horoscopes to psychological theories and archetypesTradition · Change and initiation Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreThelema A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living

🇮🇹 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 🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreLocational astrology A branch of astrology that maps planetary influences to specific places on Earth.Tradition · Power and authority 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

Photo credits on this page

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

Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
Anthroposophy: Wladyslaw, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Orphism: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
Harry Price: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
Emanuel Swedenborg: Carl Frederik von Breda, Public domain, source
Jiangshi: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
Lithuanian mythology: Prussian historian Christophorus Hartknoch (1644-1687), Public domain, source
Folklore of Spain: Mikipons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cornish mythology: waterborough, Public domain, source
Basque mythology: No machine-readable author provided. Asp. assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the early modern period: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Irish folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Druid: Bernard de Montfaucon, Public domain, source
Michael Sendivogius: Łuszczkiewicz, Public domain, source
Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
Celtic mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kabbalah: Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla, Paulus Riccius, Leonhard Beck, Public domain, source
Valais witch trials: Dagalia2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Norse mythology: Lorenz Frølich, Public domain, source
Serbian folklore: Uroš Predić, Public domain, source
Medical astrology: Unknown author, Public domain, source