Every house once held a small collection of magical objects.
A mirror covered after death. A bell rung against a storm. A shoe hidden inside a chimney wall. A line of salt across a threshold. An egg passed over the body of a sick child. A key kept to lock away more than a door.
The Witch's Cabinet explores the hidden history of the ordinary objects that shaped centuries of folk magic, superstition, and domestic ritual. Long before elaborate grimoires and ceremonial tools, people relied on the things they already had around them. Mirrors, bells, eggs, bones, salt, thread, apples, shoes, pins, bottles, candles, and countless other everyday items were believed to hold remarkable powers.
Drawing on British, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and wider European traditions, this book uncovers the beliefs that surrounded these objects and the roles they played in healing, protection, divination, cursing, luck, and the unseen world. It explores the practices of cunning folk, household magic, church customs, witch beliefs, ritual deposits hidden within old buildings, and the strange ways ancient traditions survived into the modern age.
Inside you will discover:
• Why mirrors were covered when someone died.
• How bells were believed to scatter storms and drive away spirits.
• The magical uses of eggs in healing and divination.
• Why bones, salt, keys, thread, apples, and shoes became powerful charms.
• The hidden objects archaeologists continue to uncover inside old houses.
• The fascinating meeting point between folklore, religion, and everyday life.
Richly researched and deeply atmospheric, The Witch's Cabinet reveals a world where the simplest household object could become a source of protection, hope, fear, or wonder.
