Anonymous asked:
Any good resources for things that hurt someone with magic or remove someone's magic? I want to know these things for fictional purposes and was hoping that I could allude to things that were thought to actually work in old folklore. I know that iron is often thought of as a magic suppressant, but I couldn't find much about other ways people believed they could stop someone from using magic. (and not just dark/evil magic, just magic in general, including good/white magic)
Hey anon!
First, I want to address a terminology thing. The idea that dark=bad and white=good comes from racist ideas, and is in general something to be avoided. Evil/malevolent and good/benevolent are much better terms to use.
That being said, iron and silver are big big ones in folklore! Witches in some European folklore share “can only be killed by a silver bullet” with werewolves, and iron/iron filings are very commonly said to stop witches from doing magic. Iron horseshoes also have this distinction.
Running fresh water is also an issue for witches in some folklore. Like vampires, it was believed in some areas that witches can’t cross running water, or that pure water will do them harm. Some also believed that a witch’s magic can’t cross running water.
Depending on how old you want, there are some really interesting American superstitions about witches as well! Knots of horsehair were said to ward of witches in some parts of Appalachia, and a New England superstition tells us witches can’t stand milk and are repulsed by it.
I hope this helps, happy writing!
~Mod T