Magic
Scotland Considers Pardon for Thousands of Accused 'Witches'
Advocates are calling on leaders to exonerate the thousands of women and men targeted in witch hunts during the 16th through 18th centuries
Ninety-Nine Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2021
The year's most exciting discoveries include a Viking "piggy bank," a lost Native American settlement and a secret passageway hidden behind a bookshelf
For Harry Houdini, Séances and Spiritualism Were Just an Illusion
The magician spent years campaigning against fraudulent psychics, even lobbying Congress to ban fortune-telling in D.C.
Reckoning With—and Reclaiming—the Salem Witch Trials
A new exhibition unites 17th-century artifacts with contemporary artists' responses to the mass hysteria event
3,500-Year-Old Babylonian Tablet May Contain Earliest Known Depiction of a Ghost
A curator at the British Museum details the spooky find in a new book
Obsidian 'Spirit Mirror' Used by Elizabeth I's Court Astrologer Has Aztec Origins
Tudor polymath John Dee used the artifact in his attempts to communicate with angels and apparitions
Rediscovered Medieval Manuscript Offers New Twist on Arthurian Legend
The 13th-century pages, found by chance at a British library, show a different side of Merlin, the magician who advised Camelot's king
This Eighth-Grade Class Wants to Clear the Name of an Accused Salem 'Witch'
Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was sentenced to death in 1693 but escaped execution after receiving a reprieve from Massachusetts' governor
Mysterious Iron Age Burial May Hold Remains of Elite Nonbinary Person
The Finnish grave's occupant likely had Klinefelter syndrome, meaning they were born with an extra copy of the X chromosome
Ancient Athenians Used a Jar Filled With Chicken Bones to Curse Their Enemies
The object's owners inscribed the names of at least 55 intended victims on its surface
From Books Bound in Human Skin to Occult Texts, These Are Literature's Most Macabre, Surprising and Curious Creations
A new tome takes readers into collector Edward Brooke-Hitching's "madman's library"
The Little-Known Story of 16th- to 18th-Century Nordic Witch Trials
An art exhibition in Copenhagen and a museum in Ribe revisit witchcraft's legacy in Denmark and neighboring countries
How Harry Houdini and David Copperfield's Jewish Heritage Shaped Their Craft
The illusionists join Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Steven Spielberg in the National Museum of American Jewish History's hall of fame
Eerie Witches' Marks Found Among Ruins of Medieval English Church
Archaeologists in Stoke Mandeville found carvings probably designed to ward off evil spirits
Hear Daniel Radcliffe Read the First Chapter of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'
The actor is one of 17 celebrities slated to participate in newly announced read-alongs of the series' first book
The Amazing Poster Art From the 'Golden Age' of Magic
An exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario shows how magicians enticed audiences with advertisements of levitations, decapitations and other deceptions
Suspected 'Witch Bottle' Full of Nails Found in Virginia
Archaeologists unearthed the blue glass bottle near the hearth of a small fort used during the Civil War
See Surreal Tarot Cards Designed by Salvador Dalí for a James Bond Movie
The spooky deck features images of classic art and Christian symbolism with a signature Dalí twist
'Witch Bottle' Filled With Teeth, Pins and Mysterious Liquid Discovered in English Chimney
The charms were designed to ward off witches, but new research suggests they had medical uses as well
Archaeologists Find Shot Glass Shards, Anti-Witch Carving at Centuries-Old Scottish Pub
At the time of its construction, the Wilkhouse Inn was considered a "statement of modernity and affluence"
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