A group of witches offering wax effigies to the Devil in a 17th-century woodcut.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
Only five witches were executed in Wales, while thousands were sentenced to death in Scotland and England.
An ‘onmyoji,’ an expert on yin and yang, performs divination with counting rods in an Edo-period illustration.
Kyoto University Library/Wikimedia
In medieval Japan, healing might mean taking medicine, undergoing an exorcism or sidestepping harm in the first place by avoiding inauspicious days.
Isaac Newton was a man of many talents, including alchemy.
Wellcome Images
Is magic all about spells and hocus pocus, or is it simply another way of looking at how the universe works?
Vera Petruk via Shutterstock
In medieval England using magic was a bit like drug use today: against the law and seen as immoral, but still widespread across society.
Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald.
Jaap Buitendijk, photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
The latest film from the wizarding world JK Rowling echoes ancient themes of covens and devil worship.
Miniature of the duke of true love and his companions entertaining ladies.
The Book of the Queen, c. 1410–1414, France (Paris), Harley 4431, f. 145 (Creative Commons)
A scholar of medieval magic discusses the hope in magical techniques for finding love.