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. 181 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 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 StatesPukwudgie A short forest spirit from Algonquian lore, known for mischief and danger.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇨🇦 CanadaNanabozhoᓇᓇᐳᔓ A shapeshifting spirit and trickster in Anishinaabe storytelling from North AmericaBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNight hag A supernatural being believed to sit on sleepers and cause paralysisBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesDeliverance ministry A Christian practice to remove evil spirits believed to cause personal afflictionRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification 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 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

🇭🇹 HaitiBaron Samedi A Haitian Vodou spirit of the dead who also controls healing and resurrection.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm 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 StatesBloody Mary A mirror ritual to summon a spirit that reveals the future or brings harmBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of Tippecanoe An urban legend linking US presidential deaths to election years ending in zero.Belief · Cursing and harm Fading

🇺🇸 United StatesKennedy curse A pattern of tragedies linked to the American Kennedy familyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRougarou A lycanthrope legend from French-speaking communities in North AmericaBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreJinx A curse or attribute believed to attract bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition marking a specific calendar date as unluckyBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇨🇦 CanadaWechuge A man-eating spirit from Athabaskan legend born of taboo and excessive powerBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition that a specific calendar alignment brings misfortuneBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreHiisi A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesGoatman A goat-human hybrid blamed for dog deaths in Maryland woodsBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesSnallygaster A bird-reptile chimera from Maryland folklore, once used to frighten children and later the subject of newspaper hoaxes.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇲🇽 MexicoTlahuelpuchi A shape-shifting vampire witch from Tlaxcalan Nahua folklore that drains infants.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesBall-tailed cat A North American fearsome critter with a heavy ball on its tail for striking preyBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesKushtakaKóoshdaa káa A shape-shifting creature from Tlingit mythology that can appear as an otter or human.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇨🇦 CanadaQallupilluitᖃᓪᓗᐱᓪᓗᐃᑦ (Qalupalik) An Inuit water spirit said to snatch children near Arctic iceBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreChain letterFukou no Tegami A message that demands copying and forwarding to avoid bad luck or gain fortuneBelief · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of the Boulder Valley A legend attributed to Chief Niwot about the valley's beauty and its futureBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesPele's Curse A belief that taking Hawaiian sand or rock brings bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFlying Africans A legend of enslaved people returning to Africa by magic flightFigure · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesHail Satan A Satanic exclamation used as ritual greeting, rebel cry, and pop-culture punchlineBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United StatesChristian views on magic A spectrum of Christian beliefs about magical practices, ranging from strict condemnation to esoteric integration.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSuperman curse An urban legend linking misfortunes to actors and creators in Superman adaptationsBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreHoop snake A legendary rolling serpent found in North American and Australian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesPlastic shaman A label for imposters who sell fake Indigenous spiritual practices for profitBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United StatesWoman in Black A spectral figure from Appalachian folklore said to punish men for moral failingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesChepi A spirit of the dead in Narragansett belief, called upon for vengeance.Being · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesBelled buzzard A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesBlack-eyed children A modern American urban legend about pale children with dark eyes who seek entry into homes.Figure · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesMoll Dyer A Maryland folktale about a woman accused of witchcraft and her cursed stoneFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesTsul 'KaluᏧᏓᎦᎳ A Cherokee hunting deity and legendary giant of the Appalachian mountainsFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇬🇱 GreenlandIdlirvirissong A sky spirit who tests the dead with a dance and punishes laughter by disembowelling them.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesBell Witch A Tennessee legend of a shapeshifting spirit that tormented the Bell family in the early nineteenth century.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

Photo credits on this page

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

Kennedy curse: Walt Cisco, Dallas Morning News, Public domain, source
Flying Africans: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Curse of Tippecanoe: Albert Gallatin Hoit, Public domain, source
Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
Nanabozho: D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Night hag: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
Hail Satan: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, source
Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
Baron Samedi: markbenecke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Christian views on magic: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Goatman: Jack Boucher, Public domain, source
Snallygaster: Tripodero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ball-tailed cat: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
Hoop snake: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
Black-eyed children: Megamoto85, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Moll Dyer: Dougtone, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Rougarou: XxxJohnDoExxxx, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Bell Witch: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source

Magic in North America

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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