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

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGargoylegargouille A carved stone waterspout shaped like a creature, used on Gothic buildings to shed rainwaterCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText · Wonder and entertainment 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 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 3 moreThe Swan Queen A Lithuanian fairy tale about a bird maiden who becomes human and returns to the skyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreUr (rune) A runic character representing the aurochs or cold rain in Germanic alphabetsText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇪🇬 EgyptEnochian chess A four-player chess variant used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for divination and playTradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source