Saint Cyprian of Antioch

A third-century bishop of Antioch who, according to his legend, was a magician before his conversion and burned his books when he became a Christian. He is not the same person as Cyprian of Carthage, the theologian and martyr. His Acts are legendary in their detail; the conversion from magic is the core the tradition remembers.

The patron of magicians and occultists in Catholic folk magic, especially in Spain, Portugal, Latin America and the Caribbean. His prayer book is used as a protection and as a licence for the work; the corpus records the devotion without treating him as a spirit to be commanded.