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

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWitch bottle A container filled with personal items and sharp objects to trap harmful magicCharm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing 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

🇮🇸 IcelandGaldergaldr A Germanic incantation and the written charms derived from itText · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreMugwortчорнобиль (chornóbyl') An aromatic herb used in folk medicine, cooking, and magical protection across Eurasia.Substance · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · Healing · Protection Historical 🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreSixth and Seventh Books of Moses A grimoire claiming to reveal the hidden spells of Moses for controlling spirits and natureText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection 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

🇮🇹 ItalySegnature An Italian folk healing rite using gestures and prayers to cure illness and remove cursesRite · Healing · Protection Living

🇫🇮 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.

Bald's Leechbook: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Unicorn horn: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Galder: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Segnature: SeAnstapa, CC0, source
Mugwort: Prahlad balaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tietäjä: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Public domain, source
Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Witch bottle: British Museum, Daniel Pett, 2004-10-25 15:27:22, CC BY-SA 2.0, source