Call for Papers: "Performing Magic in the Pre-Modern North"

Abstract submissions are invited for the fifth conference on Performing Magic in the Pre-Modern North, which will take place on 13–14 November 2025, online via Zoom.

This year’s conference will focus on the lived, communal, and practical expressions of folk magic. Rather than elite or learned magical traditions, discussions will center on the everyday magical practices embedded in vernacular culture.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• The roles of cunning folk, healers, midwives, and local magical practitioners
• Household and agricultural magic, charms, and protective rites
• The use of spoken spells, songs, and folk incantations in practical magic
• Magical objects, amulets, and everyday ritual tools in folk traditions
• The transmission and evolution of folk magical knowledge across generations

Abstracts related to the broader theme of magic in the pre-modern North are also welcome. Interdisciplinary approaches and methodologies are particularly encouraged.

The conference will be held in English and conducted entirely online to ensure accessibility. Papers should not exceed 20 minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion and Q&A session.

Students, early career researchers, established scholars, and independent researchers are all encouraged to participate. To submit a proposal, please send an abstract of 250–300 words along with a short personal biography (including pronouns, name, area of study, and institutional affiliation, if applicable) to performingmagicinthenorth@gmail.com by 1, September 2025.