12 Strange Magical Beliefs from the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

""Have you done what some women are wont to do? They take a man's skull, burn it, and give the ashes to their husbands to drink for health.""

""Have you ever done what certain women are said to have done? If they have a child which dies unbaptised, they take the corpse and put it in a secret place, and place a stake through the tiny body, saying that if they do not, then the little child will rise up and cause them much damage.""

""Have you done as certain women are said to do? They take a live fish and place it in their private parts until it is dead, then serve it boiled or roasted to their husbands. They do this in order to increase the husband's ardour for them.""

""Have you believed, or ever fallen into the perfidy of thinking that those conjurors who claim to be able to raise storms may indeed be able to conjure up storms or demons by incantation, or that they may be able to affect the minds of men?""

In the Middle Ages, magic was intertwined with daily life and spirituality. Practices such as burning skulls for health, secret burials to prevent harm from unbaptized children, and using fish to enhance marital desire were common. People believed in the power of conjurors to raise storms and demons, and the collection of herbs often involved chanting spells. These beliefs reflected the anxieties and imaginations of the medieval world, revealing a complex relationship with the supernatural and pagan traditions.

Read at Medievalists.net