Spirits, creatures and beings
Djinn, fairies, orisha, golems and the other powers that magic deals with.
Beings are the powers that magic deals with: spirits, ancestors, gods, djinn, fairies, orisha, nats, kami, demons, golems, ghosts and the many kinds of household and landscape spirit. People in most cultures have described a world shared with unseen others, who may help, trouble or ask for respect. This page covers what these beings are said to be and the very different ways communities relate to them. They are always described here as what communities believe, not as established fact.
Different kinds of beings
A being can be a god with a priesthood, such as an orisha served in Yoruba religion, Cuba and Brazil. It can be an ancestor, honoured in China, Africa and Mexico. It can belong to a place, such as the kami of Shinto, the Thai phi or the Burmese nats. It can be a trouble-maker, like the djinn of Arabic and Islamic tradition, formed from smokeless fire, or the fairies of Ireland, whom people avoided naming.
Relationship, not command
In many traditions, a person does not command a being but enters a relationship with it, through offerings, promises and respect. Possession and mediumship are forms of that relationship, as in Vodou, Candomblé, Korean mudang rites and Sufi gatherings. In ceremonial magic of the European grimoires, by contrast, the magician summons spirits by name and authority, which the Church condemned as demon-raising. The same being may be loved in one household and feared in the next, and a spirit helpful to its servant can be harmful to a stranger.
Religions and renaming
Dominant religions often absorbed beings by relabelling them. Christian missionaries called many African and Indigenous spirits demons. Islam reads the djinn as real creatures, some of whom are Muslim, and Hindu and Buddhist traditions fold local deities into their own pantheons. Pagan and fairy beliefs were sometimes recast as the devil's work, which fed witch trials in Europe. Churches and mosques have sometimes divided beings into good and evil in ways the older traditions did not, so that a neutral local spirit became a demon on the day a missionary arrived.
Harm and interpretation
Belief in harmful spirits has been used to accuse people. Children in parts of West and Central Africa have been branded as witches possessed by evil spirits, and some have been abused by pastors or families in the name of deliverance. Scholars read spirit beliefs as ways to make sense of illness, loss and conflict, and many communities see them simply as neighbours. That is why accusations tied to spirit beliefs fall hardest on children and the vulnerable, and why many agencies train local leaders to challenge them.
Being on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇯🇵 JapanNoppera-bōのっぺらぼう
A faceless spirit from Japanese folklore that mimics human appearanceBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomGhillie DhuGille Dubh
A solitary Scottish fairy known for protecting forests and guiding lost childrenBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrigoi
A Romanian undead spirit linked to witchcraft and vampirismBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlp
A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandFetch
A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreKnocker
A mine spirit of Cornwall and Devon that warns of danger and plays tricks on workersBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomGwyllion
Welsh spirits that lead travellers astray and are feared in mountain folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChurch grim
A guardian spirit of Christian churchyards, often appearing as a black dog or lamb.Being · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomHob
A small household spirit of Northern England and the Anglo-Scottish border.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神
Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreMare
A spirit that sits on sleepers to cause nightmares and physical distressBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 morePazuzu𒀭𒅆𒊒𒍪𒍪 (pà.zu.zu)
A Mesopotamian wind demon and protective amulet against child-harming spiritsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪
A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanInugami犬神
A Japanese spirit of dog possession and folk sorceryBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreLady MiddayPoludnitsa
A Slavic noon spirit who watches over fields and punishes those who work during the hottest hours.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreKallikantzarosκαλικάντζαρος
A malevolent goblin that dwells underground and surfaces during the twelve days of Christmas.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreZduhaćздухаћ
A South Slavic belief in men who fight storms and hail to protect their cropsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWirry-cow
A Scottish folk figure representing a frightening object or spiritBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMadam Pigott
A White Lady ghost of Shropshire who haunts roads and rides on horsesBeing Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChortчёрт
A Slavic demon spirit with horns and hooves, known in folklore as a trickster or minor evil force.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanNurikabe塗り壁
A spirit that manifests as an invisible wall to block travelers at nightBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrixστρίξ
A classical bird of ill omen that evolved into a term for witches and vampires across Europe.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreTeraphimתרפים
Ancient Hebrew household figures linked to ancestry, property rights and divinationBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou
A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreFiery serpentsогненный змей
A pan-Slavic spirit of fire and wind, seen as a demon or a household helperBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 moreStrzyga
A female demon in Polish folklore, linked to owls and vampiric traitsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 JapanUwanうわん
A Japanese yōkai with an unknown identity and a loud voiceBeing Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaTriple-headed eagle
A heraldic and mythological bird with three heads, appearing in Russian symbolism and European manuscripts.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ
Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇵🇱 PolandTopielec
A Slavic water spirit of the drowned dead that pulls victims into lakes.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreWiedergänger
A German term for a revenant or ghost that returns to the world of the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios
A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreNight ravennattravn
A nocturnal creature of European folklore, feared as a child-stealer or seen as a ghost in bird form.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan
A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomTrow
Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean virgin ghost처녀귀신 (cheonyeo-gwisin)
A spirit of an unmarried woman who died with resentment in Korean folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical
🇫🇷 FranceMargot the fairy
Earthly fairies of Brittany known for dancing, building monuments, and testing human guests.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast
A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány
A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAyakashi妖
Water spirits and ghost lights in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇴 RomaniaUriaș
Giants in Romanian folklore, known by regional names and linked to landscape features.Being Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreDrude
A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreKarzełekСкарбник, Кладенец
A Slavic mine spirit that guards treasures and guides miners.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann
A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle
A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBiast Bhealach Odail
A shapeshifting spirit of a Scottish mountain passBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kallikantzaros: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Zduhać: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Korean virgin ghost: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr, source
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Church grim: Inès Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hob: Jo Turner, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋 暁斎), Public domain, source
- Nurikabe: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Strzyga: Filip Gutowski, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source
- Uwan: Sawaki Sūshi (佐脇嵩之, Japanase, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Wiedergänger: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Night raven: Kim Diaz Holm (den unge herr Holm), CC BY 4.0, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
- Karzełek: Krystian Hasterok, CC BY 2.5, source
- Drude: Ramessos, Public domain, source
- Noppera-bō: 芥川龍之介, Public domain, source
- Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chort: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Inugami: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
- Teraphim: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Mare: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Triple-headed eagle: Неизвестный автор. (фото обложки сборника: Александр Храмов), Public domain, source