Magic

Top: Society: Folklore: Magic:

See also:

The alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ - Frequently asked questions from the APSHM usenet newsgroup containing introductory information on folk-magic and spell-casting.
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.
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.
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.
Dragon Spells - Information on spell workings and how magic works.
The Evil Eye - Article in the e-zine Azerbaijan International, by Jean Patterson and Arzu Aghayeva describing the belief and available protection.
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.
Gemstones and Crystals - Alphabetical list of stones used for magic and healing, with scientific description, variants, and associated magical properties.
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.
Lost Secrets - Information on various mystical secrets including Wicca, Druidism, channeling, ghost dancing, dream walking, spirit healing and shape shifting.
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.
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.
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.
Symbolic Healing in Hungarian Ethnomedicine - Describes rituals involved in curing illness believed to be caused by magic. Includes examples and references.

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