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 StatesSquonk A fictional creature from American folklore known for weeping and dissolving in its own tears.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesHodag A fabricated American cryptid from Wisconsin folklore and tall talesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreFur-bearing troutLoðsilungur A legendary fish with a coat of fur, found in North American and Icelandic tall tales.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇱 GreenlandAdlet A half-human, half-canine race from Inuit mythology of the ArcticBeing Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreWhite House Ghost A spirit said to walk the White House and former Illinois homes of the sixteenth president.Belief Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreFearsome critters Tall tale animals from North American logging camps used to jest and explain the wild.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesChessie A sea monster of American folklore said to inhabit the Chesapeake Bay.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇺🇸 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

🇺🇸 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 🇲🇽 MexicoTlahuelpuchi A shape-shifting vampire witch from Tlaxcalan Nahua folklore that drains infants.Being · 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 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia and 1 moreKélé An Afro-Saint Lucian faith rooted in Yoruba traditions and secret practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreHaltija A supernatural guardian of a specific place or animal species in Finnish and Baltic Finnic mythologyBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreLady in Red A female ghost in a scarlet dress, often linked to tragic or violent deaths.Being · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 United StatesBall-tailed cat A North American fearsome critter with a heavy ball on its tail for striking preyBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇦 CanadaQallupilluitᖃᓪᓗᐱᓪᓗᐃᑦ (Qalupalik) An Inuit water spirit said to snatch children near Arctic iceBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesLava bear A small bear from Oregon's lava beds once thought to be a unique speciesFigure Historical 🇬🇱 Greenland and 2 moreThe Goose Wife A circumpolar myth of a hunter and a woman who sheds her bird skinFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇨🇦 CanadaSt. Louis Light A bright beam of light seen moving along an abandoned railway in Saskatchewan.Belief Fading

🇺🇸 United StatesSecond-term curse A belief that U.S. presidents face greater trouble in their second term than their first.Belief Historical

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

🇺🇸 United StatesShamanism among Alaska Natives Traditional spiritual practices of Indigenous peoples in AlaskaTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Fading 🇺🇸 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 StatesNew England vampire panic A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreOrigami (magic trick) A stage illusion where a person vanishes into and reappears from a folding paper boxIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Performed

🇺🇸 United StatesBaseball superstition Rituals and beliefs held by players and fans to influence game outcomesBelief · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United StatesMedicine man A traditional healer and spiritual leader within Indigenous communities of the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇬🇱 GreenlandAnguta A Greenlandic Inuit figure who guides the dead and fathered the sea goddess SednaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇺🇸 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 StatesThe Occult: A History A 1971 survey of occult figures and latent human powers by Colin WilsonText · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇺🇸 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

🇨🇦 CanadaChasse-galerieLa Chasse-galerie A French-Canadian folktale about lumberjacks who fly a canoe to visit lovers on New Year's EveFigure · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesThe Michael Teachings A channeled New Age system for self-understanding and personality analysisTradition · Love and attraction · Change and initiation 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 States and 3 moreFortune telling fraud A confidence trick where a grifter invents a curse to extract money from a vulnerable client.Belief · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChurch of Satan An atheistic religious body founded in 1966 that practices ritual magicTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living 🇺🇸 United StatesChurch of Light An esoteric organization teaching astrology, alchemy, and magic as a way of life.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation 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

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreVäinämöinen An ancient Finnish demigod and master singer from the Kalevala epicBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDianism A 19th-century American practice of sexual contact without ejaculationTradition · Power and authority Historical 🇲🇽 MexicoOtomitl A giant son of Aztec myth who settled the land after a great flood.Being Legendary 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreVanishing hitchhiker An urban legend where a motorist picks up a passenger who vanishes, often leaving behind proof of their death.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreZombie walk A public gathering where people dress as zombies to walk through city streets for entertainment or charityIllusion · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity 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

Photo credits on this page

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

Hodag: Gourami Watcher, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Church of Satan: Palnu ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Baseball superstition: Johnmaxmena2, CC BY 4.0, source
Christian views on magic: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Väinämöinen: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Public domain, source
Dianism: Guillaume Seignac, Public domain, source
Squonk: Coert Du Bois and by William T. Cox;, Public domain, source
Lava bear: Guy M. Ingram, Public domain, source
Fur-bearing trout: Samantha Marx, CC BY 2.0, source
Fearsome critters: Coert Du Bois, Public domain, source
Ball-tailed cat: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
Zombie walk: tangi bertin, CC BY 2.0, source
Hoop snake: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
Second-term curse: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, source
Hail Satan: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, source
Snallygaster: Tripodero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Shamanism among Alaska Natives: Balkanian`s word, Public domain, source
New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source
Fortune telling fraud: Simon Vouet, Public domain, source
Medicine man: Smallbones, Public domain, source
White House Ghost: Alexander Gardner, Public domain, source
Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Chasse-galerie: Henri Julien, Public domain, source
Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source

Magic in North America

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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