A free world guide to magic
Every kind of magic, from every culture.
Folk and ritual magic, charms and amulets, divination, spirit work, myth and the stage conjurer's art: what people believe and do, who does it, how alive it is, and how scholars and sceptics read it. Described, never endorsed, and never as a how-to.
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- 87
- rites, drawn
- 115
- places of magic
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Jean Eugène Robert-HoudinEvil eye bead (sample)BakuGrootslangOnmyōdōWild rueWitch trials in FinlandSalem Witch TrialsSiddhiAshtamangalaMatthew HopkinsMatsyendranathWerewolfCaulExcaliburQiWitch trials in the Holy Roman EmpireWitch trials in PolandWitchcraft in Latin AmericaAmuletFuluMoon blocksCurse of the pharaohsChild sacrificeNyepiCurseBhuta KolaCorn dollySak YantFuathHamsa (sample)KolamAmethystBaguaOgoh-ogohSilver bulletLibationNkisiGrimoire (sample)Trial by combatÉliphas LéviCotton MatherBaba Yaga (sample)Azande witchcraftAncestor veneration in ChinaCalifornian white sageTaniwhaWitch trials in Latvia and EstoniaSetsubunSeiðrNavagrahaBlack magicRangoliWitch trials in DenmarkYoginiValais witch trialsEnochian magicKapalikaTraucoRelicSanteríaAmritaHaitian VodouPrecious coralSpirit houseGroundhog DayWitchcraft in GhanaCernunnosRangdaTrial by ordealJean Eugène Robert-HoudinEvil eye bead (sample)BakuGrootslangOnmyōdōWild rueWitch trials in FinlandSalem Witch TrialsSiddhiAshtamangalaMatthew HopkinsMatsyendranathWerewolfCaulExcaliburQiWitch trials in the Holy Roman EmpireWitch trials in PolandWitchcraft in Latin AmericaAmuletFuluMoon blocksCurse of the pharaohsChild sacrificeNyepiCurseBhuta KolaCorn dollySak YantFuathHamsa (sample)KolamAmethystBaguaOgoh-ogohSilver bulletLibationNkisiGrimoire (sample)Trial by combatÉliphas LéviCotton MatherBaba Yaga (sample)Azande witchcraftAncestor veneration in ChinaCalifornian white sageTaniwhaWitch trials in Latvia and EstoniaSetsubunSeiðrNavagrahaBlack magicRangoliWitch trials in DenmarkYoginiValais witch trialsEnochian magicKapalikaTraucoRelicSanteríaAmritaHaitian VodouPrecious coralSpirit houseGroundhog DayWitchcraft in GhanaCernunnosRangdaTrial by ordeal
On now and next
Days on the magic calendar
Festivals, solstices, days of the dead and days held lucky or unlucky, with the entries tied to each. Today is also Monday.
On now, about 26 Sept to 10 Oct 2026Pitru PakshaThe fortnight of the ancestors, when water, sesame and rice balls are offered to the dead of the family.
On now, 1 to 31 Oct 2026Salem in OctoberThe Massachusetts town of the 1692 witch trials fills each October with a month of Halloween events, tours and memorials.
In 6 days, 11 to 19 Oct 2026Navratri, the nine nightsNine nights for the goddess in her forms, with fasting, dance and the worship of young girls.
In 8 days, 13 Oct 2026Tuesday the 13thIn Greece, Cyprus and Spain, Tuesday rather than Friday is the unlucky day, and Tuesday the 13th the worst.By kind of thing
Traditions, rites, charms, oracles, substances, beings, figures, texts, stage illusions and beliefs.
Traditions and systemsWhole bodies of practice: Vodou, shamanism, hoodoo, Wicca, onmyodo, Ifa and the rest.63Rites, spells and ceremoniesThings done in a set way: cleansings, offerings, blessings, binding and unbinding, initiations.20Charms, amulets and talismansMade and worn things: the nazar, the hamsa, the omamori, the mojo bag and the witch bottle.30Divination and oraclesWays of asking and answering: tarot, the I Ching, bones, runes, tea leaves, the oracle of Delphi.10Plants, stones and substancesMandrake, frankincense, salt, iron, crystals and the materials a practice works with.20Spirits, creatures and beingsDjinn, fairies, orisha, golems and the other powers that magic deals with.25Magicians, witches and legendary figuresThe wise woman, the sorcerer, the legendary mage: Merlin, Baba Yaga, Circe and their kin.20Books and textsGrimoires, magical papyri, Kabbalistic and Hermetic works and the manuals of cunning folk.11Stage magic and illusionThe art of the conjurer: sleight of hand, the great illusions and the history of the stage.4Beliefs, omens and superstitionsLuck and unluck, the evil eye, knocking on wood and the small customs people keep without asking why.58
By region
Eleven regions of the world, from Siberian shamans and Haitian Vodou to the cunning folk of England and the Dreaming of Australia.
South AsiaMantra, yantra and tantra, the lemon and chillies hung against the evil eye, astrology, and temple healers and exorcists.32 entriesSoutheast AsiaSpirit houses and the animist layer beneath Buddhism and Islam: protective tattoos, bomoh and pawang, nat and phi.9 entriesEast AsiaTaoist talismans, the I Ching and feng shui, onmyodo and the omamori, and the mudang of Korea.25 entriesCentral Asia and the CaucasusSteppe shamanism and Tengri, the bakhshi and the baksy, and the amulets and fire customs of the Caucasus.3 entriesMiddle EastThe evil-eye bead, the djinn, ruqyah and the talisman, Kabbalah and Jewish amulets, and the ancient Babylonian and Persian arts.15 entriesNorth AfricaThe hand of Fatima, Amazigh and Gnawa healing, Egyptian heka and Hermetic lore, and the Maghrebi books of magic.6 entriesSub-Saharan AfricaIfa divination and the orisha, sangomas and inyangas, nkisi figures, masquerades, spirit possession and the fear of witchcraft.9 entriesEuropeCunning folk and grimoires, alchemy, runes and seidr, the fairy faith, the witch trials, and the folk calendar of fire and fertility.72 entriesNorth AmericaHoodoo and conjure, Appalachian folk magic, Indigenous ceremony (some of it closed to outsiders), modern Paganism and the stage magic of Houdini to Las Vegas.11 entriesLatin America and the CaribbeanVodou, Santeria, Candomblé and Obeah, curanderismo and brujeria, Andean offerings to the earth, and Amazonian plant healing.15 entriesOceaniaMana and tapu, tohunga and kahuna, the Dreaming and its restricted knowledge, and sorcery beliefs across Melanesia.3 entries
See a few
A different handful every few minutes.
🇺🇸 United StatesCotton Mather
A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreSilver bullet
A folk weapon for monsters and a metaphor for simple solutionsCharm · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍
A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMatthew Hopkins
The English witch-hunter who led the deadliest wave of executions in Britain.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceKykeonκυκεών
An Ancient Greek ritual drink linked to the Eleusinian Mysteries and peasant lifeSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇷 GreeceBaba Yaga (sample)Баба-яга
A witch of Slavic tales who lives in a hut on legs.Figure · Change and initiation Legendary
Rites, drawn step by step
Each rite is an outline of a custom: a ring of what goes into it, coloured by role, and a drawn frame for each step. Described as belief and practice, never as instruction.
🇮🇳 🇱🇰 Protective ritesKolam at the thresholdThe rice-flour pattern drawn at the door each dawn, said to welcome prosperity and to feed small creatures.🇭🇰 🇹🇼 🇨🇳 Rites of divinationKau cim and jiaobeiShaking numbered sticks from a cylinder in a temple, and tossing two crescent blocks to ask a question.🇮🇷 🇦🇫 🇹🇯 Protective ritesEsfand, the wild rue smokeSeeds of wild rue crackle on hot coals and the smoke is carried around a person, said to turn the evil eye away.🇲🇦 🇩🇿 🇹🇳 Protective ritesAmazigh protective tattoosThe dots, lines and crosses once tattooed on the faces and hands of Amazigh women, said to protect and to mark belonging.🇳🇪 🇳🇬 Spirit workBori possessionHausa spirit-possession cult, with named spirits, music and a priesthood, that survives beside Islam.🇷🇺 🇺🇦 🇧🇾 Healing ritesZagovor, the spoken charmRussian and Slavic spoken charms, recited over water, thread or a person, and often joined to Orthodox prayer.🇺🇸 Protective ritesHoodoo mojo bagA small cloth bag carried for luck or protection, central to African American conjure and hoodoo.🇵🇪 🇧🇴 🇦🇷 Offerings and feeding the unseenAndean despacho and pago a la PachamamaA bundle of leaves, grains and sweets prepared for the mountains and Mother Earth, and burned or buried by a specialist.
What it is for
Protection, healing, foretelling, luck, love, cursing, cleansing and more.
ProtectionWarding off the evil eye, spirits, illness and bad luck: amulets, wards and thresholds.80HealingFolk and spiritual healing, said as tradition and never as medical advice.34Seeing and foretellingDivination, omens and oracles: asking what is hidden or still to come.28Luck and prosperityCharms for fortune, success, a good harvest and a safe journey.54Love and attractionCharms and rites for love, marriage, fertility and desire.7Cursing and harmCurses, hexes and sorcery as people describe and fear them, with the counter-magic against them.66
How alive is it?
Living, revived, fading, historical, legendary or performed.
LivingPractised today by communities who hold it as their own.110RevivedLost or suppressed, then taken up again, often in a new form.4FadingKnown and still practised, but with fewer practitioners each generation.2HistoricalDocumented in the past; no continuous living tradition today.60LegendaryKnown from myth, story and legend rather than from recorded practice.23PerformedAn art of entertainment: everyone present knows it is a trick.1
Belief worlds and occasions
Where a practice sits, and when in a life or a year it is done.
Hindu and Tantric 48Buddhist 26Jain 3Muslim and Sufi 10Jewish 8Christian 30Sikh 4Zoroastrian 2Shinto and Taoist 20Indigenous and shamanic 48African and Afro-diasporic 6Pagan and Neopagan 8Esoteric and occult 13Folk and village custom 59Secular and stage 1Other traditions 2
Weddings and betrothal 11Festivals 32Birth and childhood 8Death and remembrance 16Harvest, farming and weather 2New year 10Initiation and coming of age 6Illness and misfortune 23Journeys and voyages 8Everyday use 61
The words
239 terms in plain language.
News
- Day of the Dead FestivalWSPA 7News, Festivals
- "Divining with the Elements: A Conversation about Astrology" with KL Mays and Alice Sparkly KatThe Santa Barbara Independent, Divination
- What Was Halloween Like 100 Years Ago?Mental Floss, Stage magic
- The GPT Oracle: 1 in 10 Americans are reviving the pagan practice of prophecyFortune, Divination
- Voodoo and the School System in Haitilenouvelliste.com, Living traditions
- Four Delightful Children’s Books About Día de los Muertos/Day of the DeadSchool Library Journal, Festivals
- Casa de México in Madrid unveils 2026 Day of the Dead altar inspired by Michoacán and Agustín LaraEuronews.com, Festivals
Places of magic
Oracles, sacred sites, magic markets, trial memorials, schools and museums, marked on the world.
Newly added
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreWild rueاسپند
A desert plant whose seeds hold psychoactive alkaloids and serve as incense in the Middle East.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Carved stones inscribed with Buddhist mantras, placed as offerings along paths in the Himalayas.Charm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम्
A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKundaliniकुण्डलिनी
A dormant energy in Hinduism believed to rise through the spine for spiritual liberationBelief Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Wild rue: Yuriy75, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Matthew Hopkins: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kykeon: Marsyas, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
- Silver bullet: Smithsonian Institution, CC0, source
- Kundalini: Pierjasi at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navratri Nine Nights: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pitru Paksha: Firoz Shakir, CC BY-SA 3.0, source