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 KingdomGiles Corey An English-born farmer pressed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trialsFigure Historical

🇺🇸 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 StatesThe Kybalion A 1908 book presenting seven principles of mental philosophy as ancient Hermetic wisdomText · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 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 StatesCotton Mather A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical

🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreEstonian mythologyeesti mütoloogia The pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Estonian peopleTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

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

🇨🇦 CanadaSpoon bending A magic trick and paranormal claim involving the deformation of metal cutleryBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCurse of 1940 A superstition explaining a long championship drought for the New York RangersBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇫🇮 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 StatesGreenbrier Ghost A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesHodag A fabricated American cryptid from Wisconsin folklore and tall talesFigure · Wonder and entertainment 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 🇫🇮 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

🇨🇦 CanadaOak Island mystery A centuries-old legend of buried treasure and unexplained engineering on a Canadian island.Belief · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

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

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

🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 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 States and 1 moreRemote viewing A claimed psychic ability to perceive distant targets without using the sensesBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇺🇸 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 🇺🇸 United StatesDreaming the Dark A 1982 book by Starhawk linking magic, sex, and politicsText · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesSecond-term curse A belief that U.S. presidents face greater trouble in their second term than their first.Belief Historical 🇬🇱 GreenlandAnguta A Greenlandic Inuit figure who guides the dead and fathered the sea goddess SednaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesThe Occult: A History A 1971 survey of occult figures and latent human powers by Colin WilsonText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

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
Spoon bending: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hodag: Gourami Watcher, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Zelph: HotWheels53, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
The Kybalion: American Libraries, Public domain, source
Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
Estonian mythology: Jeannette Berkowitz (illustrator), Public domain, source
Curse of 1940: Trophy: Unknown Photo: Alexey Chernyadyev Derivative work: J . delanoy, CC BY 3.0, source
Väinämöinen: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Public domain, source
Fearsome critters: Coert Du Bois, Public domain, source
Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
Second-term curse: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, source
Oak Island mystery: Unknown author, 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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