Skip to content

MuseumsWealthy widow in England's biggest witch trial remembered Witch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost stories Witch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries ago Stage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All Time CharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different Meanings FestivalsWho Is La Catrina? Meet the Iconic Skeleton of Mexico’s Day of the Dead Witch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for Halloween CharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faith Stage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his death Witch-huntsConnecticut's forgotten witch trial past MuseumsWealthy widow in England's biggest witch trial remembered Witch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost stories Witch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries ago Stage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All Time CharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different Meanings FestivalsWho Is La Catrina? Meet the Iconic Skeleton of Mexico’s Day of the Dead Witch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for Halloween CharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faith Stage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his death Witch-huntsConnecticut's forgotten witch trial past

EveryJaadu

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

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMojo bag A flannel pouch holding charms for protection and luck in African American Hoodoo traditionCharm · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 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 States and 4 moreRainmaking Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.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

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇦 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 StatesHex sign Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 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 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 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition marking a specific calendar date as unlucky.Belief · Luck and prosperity 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

🇮🇪 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 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 moreRainmaking rites Ceremonies performed to call rain through prayer, dance, or symbolic actsRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇸 United StatesBloody Mary A mirror ritual to summon a spirit that reveals the future or brings harmBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarnstar A painted or carved star used to decorate barns in parts of the United States and Canada.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition · Healing · Change and initiation Living 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreJinx A curse or attribute believed to attract bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United StatesFeri Tradition An American ecstatic witchcraft tradition founded on the West Coast in the mid-twentieth century.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition marking a specific calendar date as unluckyBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United StatesLemon pig A carved fruit figure made for amusement and later linked to New Year luckCharm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇸 United StatesOinomancy A divination method that reads the future in wine patterns and sedimentOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreTheatrical superstitions Beliefs and rituals among actors to avoid bad luck and ward off spiritsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

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

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition that a specific calendar alignment brings misfortuneBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreTooth fairy A childhood figure who exchanges lost baby teeth for gifts or coins.Figure · Luck and prosperity Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreBlack Hebrew Israelites A religious movement claiming African Americans are descendants of ancient IsraelitesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSpiritualist church A worship service led by a medium to communicate with the deceasedTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 more11:11 A clock time believed to signal spiritual alignment or synchronicity in numerology and New Age thoughtBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United StatesMarmot Day An Alaskan holiday celebrating local marmots and frontier culture, replacing Groundhog Day.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇲🇽 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.

Barnstar: Una Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lemon pig: GenesisNZ, CC0, source
Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
Ring shout: Attributed to John Rose, Public domain, source
Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
Black Hebrew Israelites: Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Tooth fairy: Eden, CC BY 2.0, source
Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
Marmot Day: Colin Canterbury/USFWS, Public domain, source
God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Fortune-telling: Taras Shevchenko, Public domain, source
The Gray Man: Phoebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Groundhog Day: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
Rainmaking rites: SJasminum, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source
New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source
Mojo bag: Liza Khomenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.