A wizard and his accomplice performing incantations in a forest during a full moon. Etching by S. Palmer and A.H. Palmer.

An incantatory ceremony in a village watched by men with spears. Watercolour by E. Alec-Tweedie, ca. 1920.

A Romany fortune-teller is reading the palm of a young woman suffering unrequited love; two other Romany women are leaning over a fence and children are sitting around a fire. Etching by P.W. Tomkins after H.W. Bunbury, 1791.

A conjurer casting spells with his wand and fire surrounded by a kneeling man and demons within the magic circle. Engraving by J. Brown after W.M. Craig, 1813.

Witches putting a creature in a boiling cauldron. Lithograph after Biard.

Witches meeting and performing spell. Etching by J.A.A. Pastelot.

Men with spears walking past tree with figures sitting in the shade. Watercolour by E. Alec-Tweedie, c. 1920.

An old wizard sitting within a magic circle at his desk visited by a nobleman. Engraving by T. Engleheart after A. Fraser the elder.

A Saadi, or Egyptian shaman using snakes and incantations to cure a sick man. Engraving by T. Wallis, 1806, after W.M. Craig.

Two Australian aborigines performing a ceremony with a magical stick to make another person ill. Halftone.

A witch casting spells over a steaming cauldron. Engraving by H.S. Thomassin after Demaretz.

1 drawing : watercolour ; image 15.2 x 34.7 cm

xxix, 193 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, portrait ; 24 cm.

Ritual of the Bacabs / translated and edited by Ralph L. Roys.

Šà.zi.ga, ancient Mesopotamian potency incantations / by Robert D. Biggs.

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Shop

Café

It's not possible to book tickets for events at present due to a problem with the ticketing system. We're working to fix it. You can still search and check information about events but please try again later if you want to book a ticket.

We're running paid user research studies to improve Wellcome Collection online

Take part in research

The archives landing page, archive category pages, and the 'Browse archives' link on the archive card list.

A 'Browse other types of archives' section.

Archive browsing

Archive collection level pages, plus the archive collection treatment on the work page and in search results.

The catalogue API's shortDescription is shown on the archive collection hero and in search results.

Archive collection

Clicking an image opens its details in a sidebar instead of a modal, with the selected image highlighted in the grid.

Updated image results grid and a re-sizable viewing pane.

Larger thumbnail, plus key information and onward journey in the sidebar.

Image sidebar preview

The three thematic browsing category pages (subjects, people & organisations, types & techniques) become accessible.

Subject sub-category pages become accessible, and the subjects category page gains a sub-category menu.

Incantations

Images from the collections

Images referencing Incantations

Works from the collections

A conjurer casting spells with his wand and fire surrounded by a kneeling man and demons within the magic circle. Engraving by J. Brown after W.M. Craig, 1813.

An old wizard sitting within a magic circle at his desk visited by a nobleman. Engraving by T. Engleheart after A. Fraser the elder.

An incantatory ceremony in a village watched by men with spears. Watercolour by E. Alec-Tweedie, ca. 1920.

Ritual of the Bacabs / translated and edited by Ralph L. Roys.

Šà.zi.ga, ancient Mesopotamian potency incantations / by Robert D. Biggs.

Incantations

Images from the collections

Images referencing Incantations

Works from the collections

A conjurer casting spells with his wand and fire surrounded by a kneeling man and demons within the magic circle. Engraving by J. Brown after W.M. Craig, 1813.

An old wizard sitting within a magic circle at his desk visited by a nobleman. Engraving by T. Engleheart after A. Fraser the elder.

An incantatory ceremony in a village watched by men with spears. Watercolour by E. Alec-Tweedie, ca. 1920.

Ritual of the Bacabs / translated and edited by Ralph L. Roys.

Šà.zi.ga, ancient Mesopotamian potency incantations / by Robert D. Biggs.

Related topics