Magic - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

177 Items Tagged

Magic

Share
Saint Andrews, Scotland

Saint Salvator's Unlucky PH

Every St. Andrews student knows to avoid this inscription for fear of a martyr's curse.
Fairy circles are found in Namibia.
science

Scientists Have a New Idea About the Origins of Namibia's Fairy Circles

Two competing theories could both be true: Termites and plants both contribute to the circles' creation.
Sarah Laskow January 18, 2017
Plucking mandrake at a distance with the aid of string.
witchcraft

Mesmerizing Depictions of Magic and Witchcraft Throughout History

How the occult has been depicted in art, from mandrakes to palmistry.
Anika Burgess January 5, 2017
To transform an old man into a youth...
ancient

Defy Age Using a 3,600-Year-Old Face Cream Recipe With a Deadly Ingredient

The ancient Egyptians were far ahead of their time.
Sarah Laskow December 16, 2016
"The Great Alvantee, King of the Slanting Wire".
victorian

Circuses, Magic and Hypnotism: Welcome to the World of Victorian Entertainment

See what the Victorians did for fun.
Anika Burgess December 7, 2016
Queen Elizabeth with Lord Burleigh and Sir Francis Walsingham.
magic

Queen Elizabeth I’s Vast Spy Network Was The First Surveillance State

One of her spies signed his reports with a familiar moniker: "007."
Natalie Zarrelli December 7, 2016
Copper wire on fire.
magic

Found: A River Humans Started Polluting 7,000 Years Ago

Playing with metal and fire led to unusual concentrations of copper on a streambank.
Sarah Laskow December 5, 2016
Path leading up to the Pyramid
Rapa, Poland

Rapa Pyramid

A peculiar family mausoleum built by a German nobleman captivated by the occult.
Minority women in southern China were accused of poisoning northern men with a special poison made of venomous creatures.
poison

The Legendary Chinese Poison Made by Forcing Snakes, Scorpions, and Centipedes to Fight

"Gu" was a mythological substance born from fear, with a dramatic backstory.
Lauren Young November 11, 2016
A stone labyrinth on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island.
Solovetskiy, Russia

Bolshoi Zayatsky Island

No one knows why ancient labyrinths were built on this tiny northern island.
31 days of halloween

In 1926, Houdini Spent 4 Days Shaming Congress for Being in Thrall to Fortune-Tellers

The congressional hearings on the supernatural were very theatrical.
Atlas Obscura October 11, 2016
Central display at the Garden of Oz
Los Angeles, California

Garden of Oz

Hidden in the hills of Hollywood, this secluded Oz-themed garden is dotted with dozens of thrones.
black magic

6 Dark Places Aleister Crowley Performed His Particular Brand of Magick

A guide to traveling with "the wickedest man in the world."
Molly McBride Jacobson September 22, 2016
Scarecrow in Mayong
Mayang, India

Mayong - The Land of Black Magic

The Indian capital of black magic and witchcraft.
Dijon, France

The Magic Owl of Dijon

For over 300 years this little carving has been the city’s good luck charm.
The Santa Claus schoolhouse.
libraries

9 Bizarre Schools That We Promise Actually Exist

School is in session for gladiators, dead bodies, and Santas.
Oliver Hong September 8, 2016
music

Watch A '60s Magician Play The Mellotron

It's a musical computer for your home.
Atlas Obscura September 1, 2016
Permanently Closed
Hot Springs, Arkansas

Maxwell Blade’s Odditorium and Curiosities Museum

An ever-growing collection of rare and strange objects owned by local Arkansas illusionist Maxwell Blade.