Magic in North America
Hoodoo and conjure, Appalachian folk magic, Indigenous ceremony (some of it closed to outsiders), modern Paganism and the stage magic of Houdini to Las Vegas. 74 entries on EveryJaadu so far.
Places of magic
New Orleans 6Salem 3Boston 2Alberta 1Alexian Brothers Hospital 1Berks County 1Big Horn County 1Buffalo 1Columbus 1Cottage City 1Eagle Creek 1Georgetown University Hospital 1Gobbler's Knob 1Grand Canyon 1Hermitage plantation 1Hollywood 1Hydesville 1Lancaster County 1Las Vegas 1Leeds Point 1Lehigh County 1Liverpool 1Lower Manhattan 1Mason Valley 1Miami Beach 1Minnesota 1Mississippi River valley 1Montreal 1Nashville 1New Jersey Pine Barrens 1
Rites of the region
Pennsylvania German powwowAppalachian charm for stopping bloodHoodoo mojo bagHoodoo floor washingCasting a Wiccan circleSpiritualist seanceThe Ouija boardSmudging, and who may do itNavajo sandpainting
Countries
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern
A hollowed vegetable carved with a face and lit from within, worn as a Halloween symbolCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFortune-telling
A practice of predicting future events or personal details through various methods and tools.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreAinu religion
The animist spiritual beliefs and ritual practices of the Ainu people of Japan and RussiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreOjibwe religion
The traditional spiritual practices of the Ojibwe people of North AmericaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇽 MexicoAztec religion
The polytheistic and monistic belief system of the Aztec Empire in central MexicoTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHopi mythology
The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United StatesGhost DanceNanissaanah
A circular movement seeking spiritual renewal and reunion with ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSatanism
A modern set of beliefs using the figure of Satan as a symbol or deity.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreEstonian mythologyeesti mütoloogia
The pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Estonian peopleTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesDianic Wicca
A female-only pagan tradition honoring the Goddess and women's experienceTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreInternational Brotherhood of Magicians
A global organization for professional and amateur magicians founded in 1922.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChung Ling Soo程連蘇
An American stage magician who performed as a Chinese man and died during a bullet catch illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnish mythology
The pre-Christian folklore and cosmology of the Finns and KareliansTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Revived
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRabbit's foot
A charm carried for luck, often linked to graveyards and strict folk rulesCharm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHoward Thurston
A stage magician who built the largest traveling magic show in historyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreTotemdoodem
A spirit or symbol linking a group to nature, from Ojibwe clan systems to Australian kinshipBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesFox sisters
Three sisters from New York who launched the Spiritualism movement with spirit rapping séancesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreRainmaking rites
Ceremonies performed to call rain through prayer, dance, or symbolic actsRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United StatesHex sign
Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United StatesPenn & Teller
A long-running American magic duo known for comedy acts and skeptical advocacyIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇭🇹 HaitiBaron Samedi
A Haitian Vodou spirit of the dead who also controls healing and resurrection.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMarie Laveau
A New Orleans priestess and herbalist who led Louisiana Voodoo in the nineteenth centuryTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesRing shout
A sacred circle dance of African American origin using rhythmic movement and call-and-response singingRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesFolk healer
An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomGiles Corey
An English-born farmer pressed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trialsFigure Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMedicine wheel
Circular stone formations built by Indigenous peoples of North America for ceremony and astronomy.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesDeliverance ministry
A Christian practice to remove evil spirits believed to cause personal afflictionRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇺🇸 United StatesPukwudgie
A short forest spirit from Algonquian lore, known for mischief and danger.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin
A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo
An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil
A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMojo bag
A cloth pouch holding charms for protection, luck, or love in the Hoodoo tradition.Charm · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United StatesSalem Witch Trials
A colonial legal crisis where over two hundred people faced accusations of sorcery in Massachusetts.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreGroundhog DayGrund'sau dåk
A North American custom using a burrowing rodent to forecast the end of winterTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th
A Western superstition marking a specific calendar date as unlucky.Belief · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreFountain of Youth
A legendary spring said to reverse aging and cure illness, appearing in myths across the world.Belief · Healing · Change and initiation Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreMediumship
The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United StatesCotton Mather
A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCalifornian white sage
A California shrub used by Indigenous peoples for food, healing, and ritual cleansingSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United States and 7 moreSatanic panic
A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesSociety of American Magicians
A global professional group for magicians that preserves the art and ethics of stage illusionIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreDavenport brothers
A pair of American stage magicians who performed spirit cabinet illusions in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesThe Kybalion
A 1908 book presenting seven principles of mental philosophy as ancient Hermetic wisdomText · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreRainmaking
Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreHarry Kellar
An American illusionist known for large-scale stage magic and mechanical tricks.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesBraucherei
A Pennsylvania German folk healing tradition using prayers and gestures to cure illness and remove curses.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreHoodoo
A spiritual tradition of the African diaspora in the American South using herbs and charms for protection and justice.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Medicine wheel: U.S. Forest Service Photo, Public domain, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mojo bag: Liza Khomenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
- Groundhog Day: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
- Fountain of Youth: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Public domain, source
- Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
- Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
- Californian white sage: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
- Society of American Magicians: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Davenport brothers: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- The Kybalion: American Libraries, Public domain, source
- Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
- Harry Kellar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fortune-telling: Taras Shevchenko, Public domain, source
- Ainu religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ojibwe religion: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aztec religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ghost Dance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
- Estonian mythology: Jeannette Berkowitz (illustrator), Public domain, source
- Dianic Wicca: Jean-Baptiste Tuby I (Italy, active France, Paris and Versailles, 1635, Public domain, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Finnish mythology: Väinö Blomstedt, Public domain, source
- Rabbit's foot: Sobebunny, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Howard Thurston: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fox sisters: N. Currier (Firm), Public domain, source
- Rainmaking rites: SJasminum, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
- Penn & Teller: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, source
- Baron Samedi: markbenecke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marie Laveau: E. W. Kemble, Public domain, source
- Ring shout: Attributed to John Rose, Public domain, source