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. 187 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

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

🇮🇪 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 StatesFolk healer An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreRainmaking Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesHex sign Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 United StatesThe Gray Man A coastal ghost from South Carolina said to warn of hurricanesBeing · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesJewett City vampires A 19th-century New England family's belief in undead plague and their violent response to it.Belief · Protection Historical

🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGod's eyeOjo de Dios A woven yarn cross believed to grant spiritual sight and protectionCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
The Gray Man: Phoebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source

Magic in North America

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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