The Clarke Charm Collection: Of Witch Bottles, Witch Cakes and Hag Stones
Clarke’s charm collection reveals a range of uses, including cures for sore throats, the protection of seafarers from drowning, and good luck charms.
Fighting Magic With Magic in Italy: The Good Walkers
The Benandanti were a surprising third party in the fight of good versus evil in Medieval Italy; one that not even the Holy Inquisition could make sense of.
Dark Folklore: The Hand of Glory in Folk Magic
We’ve all heard of the infamous hand of glory, the hand of a dead man, hanged for his crimes, and it’s often said that it could be used to open any lock.
Getting Even in Roman Britain: The Curse Tablets from Bath (Aquae Sulis)
For many residents of ancient Britain, curses involved invoking a god to influence a particular individual according to their wishes
From the Gorgon to the Gift Shop: A Brief Archaeology of the Evil Eye
The matiasma is an apotropaic amulet designed to ward off the evil eye in Greek folklore.