The concept of Segen, understood magically, was very productive in the folklore, folk religion and superstition of German-speaking Europe, studied in great detail by the German philologists and folklorists of the 19th century.
Use of such formulas was partly encouraged by the Church, as they did superficially involve an expression of piety by the invocation of God, Christ or the Virgin Mary, but at the same time their magical use was viewed with scepticism and was sometimes repressed.
[1] By the time of the Early Modern witch-hunts, the term segen had become ambiguous, and depending on context could refer to a harmless farewell, to a pious invocation of God, or to a Satanic or superstitious spell (pro incantamento et adjuratione magica Stieler 1669[clarification needed]; e.g. Wolfssegen "contra lupos").
si (landstreicher) kunnen sagen vom vinstern sternen und tuond die lüt segen lernen für den donder und den hagel they [vagabonds] know tales of dark stars and teach people spells [segen] for [to control] thunder and hail.
For German-speaking Switzerland, the Schweizerisches Idiotikon 7,444 "Sëgeⁿ" records some two dozen compounds in -sëgeⁿ, in some of which Segen takes the meaning "prayer" and in others "spell, charm".