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. 828 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

🇫🇮 FinlandFirefoxtulikettu A mythical Finnish fox whose tail sparks the northern lightsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

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

🇬🇷 GreeceCentaurideΚενταυρίδε (Kentauride) A female centaur from Greek mythology, depicted in art and literature as a hybrid of woman and horse.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇮🇹 ItalyTredesin de Mars A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreChink-a-chink A close-up coin trick where objects appear to jump between locations until gathered togetherIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇷 GreecePasiphaëΠασιφάη A Cretan queen and solar goddess cursed with lust for a bull, mother of the MinotaurFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

Photo credits on this page

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

Centauride: John La Farge, Public domain, source
Chink-a-chink: Niklaus Gerber, CC BY 3.0, source
Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
Pasiphaë: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source