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. 856 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

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreMagical motto A chosen name used by occultists to separate their spiritual identity from their everyday life.Belief · Power and authority Historical 🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreTietäjä A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure · Healing · Protection Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomBauchan A Scottish domestic spirit known for its contradictory helpfulness and mischief.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇹 ItalyOmen (ancient Rome)omen A sign in ancient Rome believed to reveal the future, good or bad.Belief · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreDrude A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomCain bairns A Scottish folk belief that witches took children as a tax to the DevilBelief Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreVoldemort effect A social pattern where naming a fear or problem makes it seem more powerfulBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreCromniomancy Divination by onions to reveal health, love, weather and distant newsOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Love and attraction Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomMadgy Figgy's Chair A granite rock in Cornwall linked to a legendary witch and her storm conjuringFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇩🇪 GermanySuhl card reader case A 1956 East German trial of a psychic for favorable forecasts about leaving the countryBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyUR Group An Italian esoteric circle studying magic and traditional philosophy in the late 1920s.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Book of Thoth A guide to a tarot deck designed by an occultist and his collaboratorText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · Cursing and harm 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 🇷🇴 RomaniaUriaș Giants in Romanian folklore, known by regional names and linked to landscape features.Being Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyLunula A crescent-shaped amulet worn by girls in ancient Rome for protection.Charm · Protection Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceNymphνύμφη A nature spirit from Greek myth, tied to specific places like springs or trees, often seen as a maiden.Being · Healing · Seeing and foretelling 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

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreNekyiaνέκυια An ancient Greek rite for summoning and questioning the deadRite · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreDried cat A dried feline body hidden in walls to protect a home from harmCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreElder Mother A guardian spirit of elder trees in English and Scandinavian folkloreBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇪🇸 SpainGuañameñe A Guanche prophet and the highest priestly rank in pre-conquest TenerifeFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreAlpha et Omega An occult order formed from the Golden Dawn schism, active in London and Paris before World War IITradition · Power and authority Historical 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomSaducismus Triumphatus A 1681 English book defending witchcraft beliefs and attacking skepticsText · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomBook of Magical Charms A seventeenth-century English manuscript of spells and medical remedies held in Chicago.Text · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇷🇴 RomaniaTanacu exorcism A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomNine sorceressesnaw chwaer A group of nine magical women in Welsh and Arthurian legendFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyŚuri𐌑𐌖𐌛𐉩 (Etruscan) An ancient Etruscan deity of volcanic fire, the underworld, and healingBeing · Protection · Healing Historical

🇳🇴 NorwayGrógaldr An Old Norse poem about raising a dead seeress to ask for helpText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 3 moreJewish heraldry Heraldic achievements used by Jewish communities in Europe and abroadTradition · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomLying-in A period of bed rest and care for new mothers in European traditionRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreCruentation A medieval judicial test where a suspect touched a victim's body to see if it bled.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomBarddas A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomLantern man A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreOsirian Egyptian OrderOrdine Osirideo Egizio An Italian esoteric society tracing its roots to 18th-century Naples and ancient Hermetic traditions.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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

🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSwastika (Germanic Iron Age) A four-armed symbol found on Germanic artefacts from the Migration to Viking periods.Belief · Power and authority Historical 🇪🇸 SpainLiber Ignium A medieval Latin manuscript containing recipes for incendiary weapons and chemicals.Text · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomCaoineag A Highland spirit whose night cries signal impending death for a specific family lineBeing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreFairy path An invisible route used by fairies, often straight and connecting sacred sitesBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreHorse skulls Concealed horse skulls found in buildings across Europe and North AmericaCharm · Protection · 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

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreYellow badgeJudenstern A marked garment worn by Jews under laws of distinction and humiliation across centuries.Charm · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism) Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · 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.

Glemminge stone: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lunula: Anonymous ( Category:Roman Empire ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Saducismus Triumphatus: unknown engraver of the 17th century, Public domain, source
Book of Magical Charms: Robert Ashley, died 1641, Public domain, source
Śuri: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
Grógaldr: W.G. Collingwood (1854 - 1932), Public domain, source
Jewish heraldry: Consulta Araldica, 1868, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lying-in: Francesco di Michele, Public domain, source
Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Fairy path: Aviddoghug at English Wikipedia ( Original text: David Gough ), Public domain, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Tietäjä: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Public domain, source
Drude: Ramessos, Public domain, source
Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
Madgy Figgy's Chair: Jim Champion, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
UR Group: Gruppo di Ur, Public domain, source
Nymph: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Horse skulls: Dr. Karl Rothe, Ferdinand Frank, Josef Steigl, Public domain, source
Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Voldemort effect: Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nekyia: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Dried cat: The Voice of Hassocks, CC0, source
Swastika (Germanic Iron Age): No machine-readable author provided. Bloodofox~commonswiki assumed (ba, Public domain, source
Yellow badge: Edited version of original photo by Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Magic in Europe

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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