Folk Magick

NamesJanicot, Woden, Odin, Gwyn ap Nudd, Arawn, Iuan, Krampus, Hod, Hob, Basajaun, Lucibello, Iu-Hu, Old Nick, Misrule, Pan, Baphomet, Scratch, Puck, Buccos Station of the WheelNorthwest, Yule, Decemb...

In Irish legend, 12 horned women,all witches, who take over the household of a rich womanand bewitch her and her sleeping family. No reason forthe bewitching is given in the story—perhaps, in timespas...

In French folklore, wandering sprites whoattach themselves to households and both help andplague the residents. Goblins live in grottoes but areattracted to homes that have beautiful children and lots...

Bells Repellers of witches and evil spirits. Bells areassociated with the divine: their sound is symbolic ofcreative power, their shape a symbol of the female forceand the celestial vault. The sound v...

Folklorists believe that the first festivals arose because of the anxieties of early peoples who did not understand the forces of nature and wished to placate them. The people noted the times and seas...

AniseRomans paid taxes with anise, and it was used in cough drops. BasilPrecious to lovers in Italy and considered sacred in India. Many years ago, Italian men wore a sprig of basil to indicate their ...

A phosphorescent light seen in marsh and swamp areas, which in folklore is either the manifestation of a malicious lost soul or a death omen. Jacko’-lantern is known by various names, including will-o...

The majority of people who are new to spell working will acknowledge that for them common sense backed up by practical action is normally more productive than theoretical or mystical thinking. In magi...

The broom is one of those tools that most people have in their home – whether they’re a witch or not! In many rural cultures, the broom has become a source of legend and folklore. Here are just a few ...

In Russian folklore, a female witch who loved to roast and eat people, preferably children. She was as likely to pop a niece in the oven as she was a stranger. She lived in a little hut beyond a river...

Ways of dealing with problems within the community, which used a blend of Christian and pagan rituals, was partly a product of the interaction between Christianity and paganism. Pagan belief demanded ...

Archetypal wizard of Arthurian lore. Merlin is a Latinized version of the Welsh Myrddin. His exact origins are lost in myth; he may have been a god, perhaps a version of Mabon or Maponos, the British ...

In English folklore, the BerkeleyWitch was a wealthy woman who lived during the timeof the Norman Conquest in the town of Berkeley in England’sheartland. She was wealthy and well liked, andlived luxur...

You Will Need Two small handfuls of corn stalks Green and yellow wool or cotton Trailing greenery (ivy or grape vine are ideal) Appropriately colored ribbons for the ritual (red or orange for Lammas) ...

If the Moon is feminine in nature, how did we ever come up with the “man in the Moon?” Even though this idea is often thought of as strictly an American invention, such is not the case. The Sanskrit w...

Befana  is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5). A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italia...

Whether you are casting a simple spell, using items from your kitchen cupboard, or performing acomplicated group ceremony, the source of the power behind it is the same. Every spell or ritualinvolves ...

Apples, cultivated in Britain as early as 3000 b.c.e., have had a long association with magic, witches, and goddesses. Magic apple lands, whose fruit gave eternal life, were cultivated by various West...

A 15th-century English witch and seer who supposedly prophesied scientific inventions, new technology, wars and politics through several centuries, all written in crude rhymes. The books of her “proph...

An old technique of magical healingby wise women and men, wizards and witches involvingthe measuring of the patient’s girdle or belt. Changes ingirth revealed the presence of evil spirits or fairies w...

It is the duty of the banshee or ‘woman of the fairies’ to foretell the death of an individual. Banshees are attached to particular families and their cry is only heard when a family member is about t...

Spells designed to bring about a difference in bodily appearance in order to dissolve mischievous enchantments by the fairy folk or frequenters of the lower world were legion in most cultures. In Celt...

Participants in the lingering remnants of an ancient agrarian cult in northern Italy, which came to the attention of the Inquisition in the late 16th century because of the cult’s nocturnal battles wi...

A name applied to English ale-wives, wise women and witches. It was also given to familiar animals. One Mother Redcap was an elderly woman who lived in a village about 14 miles from Cambridge, England...

Bellarmine jugs, bottles, and drinking-mugs were produced by the potteries of the Rhineland area, from the sixteenth centuryonwards. They were exported in large numbers to this country, where they bec...

Lucius Apuleius is best known to us as the author of The Golden Ass, one of the most famous romances in the world, containing as it does the story of Cupid and Psyche. His importance to the study of w...