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

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreKyöpelinvuori A Finnish mountain where dead women are said to gather after deathBelief Historical 🇺🇸 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 StatesGonakadet A mythical sea creature of the Pacific Northwest believed to bring wealth and luck.Being · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesQuviasukvikᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᕕᒃ An Arctic festival marking the new year with sunrise rituals and community gatherings.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 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 StatesLaw of attraction A New Thought belief that focused thoughts draw matching experiences into lifeBelief · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇸 United StatesTsul 'KaluᏧᏓᎦᎳ A Cherokee hunting deity and legendary giant of the Appalachian mountainsFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSolar Lodge A California-based magical order active in the 1960s, known for its A∴A∴ curriculum and legal troubles.Tradition · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesZelph A figure identified by Joseph Smith as a buried warrior in IllinoisFigure · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreHaunted doll A doll claimed to be haunted or possessed, often linked to film and urban legend.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇺🇸 United StatesAlfred Bulltop Stormalong A giant sailor from New England tall tales and sea shantiesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇲🇽 MexicoTlanchana A water spirit of the Matlatzinca people, born from an Otomi goddess.Being · Seeing and foretelling Legendary

🇺🇸 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 StatesCurse of Rocky Colavito A baseball superstition linking a 1960 player trade to decades of team failureBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesBeaman Monster A Missouri cryptid said to be a giant ape or wolf-like creature from the early 1900sBeing 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 StatesPolka-dot paint A stage magic trick and a real paint product that creates dotted patternsSubstance · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇬🇱 GreenlandIdlirvirissong A sky spirit who tests the dead with a dance and punishes laughter by disembowelling them.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

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

🇺🇸 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 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreRemote viewing A claimed psychic ability to perceive distant targets without using the sensesBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesKa-Bala A 1967 talking board game that claims to tell the future with a spinning marble and tarot cards.Illusion · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesStamping A childhood gesture believed to capture luck from specific animals or objectsBelief · Luck and prosperity 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 🇨🇦 CanadaPinga An Inuit goddess of the hunt and medicine who oversees caribou herds and souls.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇮 FinlandAntero Vipunen A buried giant in Finnish mythology who holds the magic words needed to build a boatFigure · Power and authority Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMagic A performance art using natural means to create the appearance of impossible featsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇨🇦 CanadaBalzac Billy A groundhog-costumed mascot that forecasts the weather on Groundhog Day in Alberta.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreThe Teachings of Don Juan A 1968 book presenting an apprenticeship with a Mexican sorcerer as anthropological fieldwork.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical

🇨🇦 CanadaMistapewmistâpêw (ᒥᐢᑖᐤ) A spirit-being of the Cree peoples, known as the Great Man or Bigfoot.Being · Protection · Healing Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSuperman curse An urban legend linking misfortunes to actors and creators in Superman adaptationsBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United StatesDreaming the Dark A 1982 book by Starhawk linking magic, sex, and politicsText · Power and authority Historical 🇺🇸 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 1 moreMuut A Cahuilla spirit who guides souls, often shown as an owlBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇺🇸 United StatesOpen Source Order of the Golden Dawn A modern magical order using open-source principles to adapt ceremonial ritualsTradition · Change and initiation Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesGhost shirt A sacred garment of the Ghost Dance believed to protect the wearer from bulletsCharm · Protection Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesKrotona A historic Theosophical center and intentional community in CaliforniaTradition · Power and authority Living 🇺🇸 United StatesPele's Curse A belief that taking Hawaiian sand or rock brings bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇱 Greenland and 2 moreThe Goose Wife A circumpolar myth of a hunter and a woman who sheds her bird skinFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

Photo credits on this page

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

Street magic: Hieronymus Bosch and workshop / Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch / After H, Public domain, source
Mistapew: Alarichall, CC0, source
Antero Vipunen: Schulllz, CC0, source
Flying Africans: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Zelph: HotWheels53, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Quviasukvik: Jodie Wilson, CC BY 2.0, source
Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Black-eyed children: Megamoto85, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Moll Dyer: Dougtone, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Haunted doll: Cayobo, CC BY 1.0, source
Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Marmot Day: Colin Canterbury/USFWS, Public domain, source
Bell Witch: Unknown author, Public domain, source
God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ghost shirt: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Magic in North America

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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