Magic
Magic Links
- Symbolic Healing in Hungarian Ethnomedicine Describes rituals involved in curing illness believed to be caused by magic. Includes examples and references.
- Issues in Ethnicity: The Demory Site Skull Christopher Fennell, a University of Virginia anthropologist, describes a small X-marked clay skull, an article of malevolent conjuration buried beneath a Virginia farm house between 1780 and 1860, raising significant issues in ethnic studies, folk magic, anthropology, and historical archaeology.
- Gambler's Luck Illustrated archive of folkloric lucky charms and amulets carried and worn by gamblers in Europe and the Americas.
- Conference Abstract: Texts as Actions, Actions as Texts Abstract of a paper by Pieter Plas of the University of Ghent examining ritual-symbolic actions undertaken to magically subdue or chase off wolves in Serbian and Croatian folk customs.
- Chinese Fortune Cookies How their divinatory, aphoristic, and lucky-number message-content has changed over time.
- Arabic Folk Medicine and Magic: 20th Century Amulets from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology History, photos, cures and traditions surrounding curative amulets of the Middle East.
- Money Spells and Amulets A collection of links to amulets, charms, and folkloric spells used in various cultures to attract wealth, maintain a steady income, or force the return of borrowed money.
- The alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ Frequently asked questions from the APSHM usenet newsgroup containing introductory information on folk-magic and spell-casting.
- Evil Eye by Catherine Yronwode An essay examining evil eye folklore in the Middle East, Europe, India, and the Americas, with links to many further pages illustrating apotropaic evil eye amulets from Israel, Mexico, Turkey, Greece, and Egypt.
- Fortune Telling with Turkish Coffee History and instructions on looking for omens from the shape of the coffee residue. Includes list of symbols defined.
- Black Cats and the Black Cat Bone Essay contrasts fear of black cats in European-American folklore with African-American belief that a black cat bone acquired and prepared with proper ceremony can grant the bearer invisibility or force the return of an ex-lover.
- Spells, Saints and Streghe: Witchcraft, Folk Magic and Healing in Italy Article by Sabina Magliocco of California State University, Northridge on Italian-American witchcraft, the impact of Catholicism, and the context of traditional Italian folk magic. Includes references.
- Thai Penis Amulets: Palad Khiks Illustrated gallery of contemporary penis amulets from Thailand; most depict a realistic animal (monkey, tiger, lizard, etc.) clutching or riding a human penis; they are worn for protection, luck, business success, and immunity to injury.
- Lucky Mojo Spells Archive A very large collection of folk-magic spells from various cultures contributed by hundreds of usenet posters since 1995, sub-divided by spell type, not by originating tradition; on-site search engine helps users locate information.
- Hoodoo Candle Magic The history and practice of ritual candle-burning in the African-American community; symbolic significance of candle colours; illustrations of special-use figural candles.
- What is an Amulet? Brief description of amulets and their origins.
- Hoyt's Cologne An article on the belief in the African-American community that Hoyt's Cologne, a cheap brand of perfume created in 1868, attracts money to the wearer and can be used as a powerful good-luck "rub" for gamblers.
- Folk Magic in Britain The archaeology and history of counter-witchcraft in Britain from 1200 to the present, exemplified by objects hidden within the walls and under the floors of old buildings, including witch-bottles, dried cats, written charms, horse skulls, shoes, and ritual marks.
- Salt in Folk Magic How people from various cultural traditions use common table salt in magical charms for protection and cleansing, with examples collected from African-Americans in Illinois by Harry M. Hyatt during the 1930s.
- Protection Spells and Amulets Apotropaic and protective charms and amulets from a variety of cultural traditions; includes extracts from Harry M. Hyatt's 1935 spell-collection "Folklore of Adams County Illinois."
- Maneki Neko - The Beckoning Cat Legends of the Japanese lucky cat and why statues of it are used by shop-keepers to draw in customers.
- Magic Bibliographies by John-Gabriel Bodard Scholarly bibliographies of books on folk magic. Topics include: Witches or Magic Users in Greek Literature; Necromancy; Cursing; Anthropological and General Theories of Magic, Papyri Graecae Magicae; and Magic and Religion in Egyptian, Coptic, Jewish, Syrian, Anatolian, Hittite, and Mesopotamian Cultures.
- Slavic Magick and Folk Medicine Outlines spells, divinations, remedies and superstitions of the Slavic culture.
- Gardnerian Wicca and American Folk Magic Article examining the connections between white witchcraft and Southern Appalachian and Pennsylvania Dutch practices.
- The Evil Eye Article in the e-zine Azerbaijan International, by Jean Patterson and Arzu Aghayeva describing the belief and available protection.
- Lady Godiva Herbs Traditional meanings of herbs and alphabetized list of herbs for remedies and earth magick rituals.
- The Janic Tradition: Folk Magic Spells and rituals for day-to-day life, including protective spells for the home, car and office.
- Pow-Wows or The Long-Lost Friend John George Hohman's 1820 German-American magical receipt-book: its continuing influence on Appalachian and African-American herb and root doctors, examples of spells from the text, and an extensive bibliographic publishing history.
- Folkoric Love Spells and Amulets Illustrated collection of traditional folk magic spells and amulets used for love, fertility, and reconciliation in European, African-American, Native American, Latin American, and other cultures.
- Gemstones and Crystals Alphabetical list of stones used for magic and healing, with scientific description, variants, and associated magical properties.
- Evil Eyes by Alev Bir An essay on the blue glass "Nazar Boncugu" or "Eye Bead" worn for protection in Turkey, Cyprus, the Central Asian Turkic Republics, and among the Uigur Turks of China.
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