Spirits, creatures and beings

Djinn, fairies, orisha, golems and the other powers that magic deals with.

A feather: used in cleansing and blessing in some traditions, worn as a sign of office, and carried as a charm.

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.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇷🇺 RussiaHabernitsa A noon demon of Slavic fields who punishes workers and causes pain.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇷🇴 RomaniaCăpcăun A Romanian ogre with a dog head known for kidnapping children and eating peopleBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇪🇸 SpainMinairó Tiny magical beings from the Pyrenees said to build stone piles and work fields.Being · Power and authority Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomTrow Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreChuvash dragonВӗрӗҫӗлен A mythological serpent from Chuvash legends that can fly and breathe fire.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇹 ItalySquasc A small, tawny creature from Eastern Lombardy folklore that frightens children and plays jokes on young girlsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇫🇷 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 KingdomLlamhigyn y Dŵr A winged frog-like creature blamed for harm to fishermen and livestock in Welsh folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenRå Guardian spirits of nature in Scandinavian folkloreBeing · Protection Legendary 🇮🇪 IrelandGancanaghgean cánach A male Irish fairy known for seducing women and tricking humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary

🇦🇲 ArmeniaVishapվիշապ A water dragon of Armenian myth linked to storms and the sunBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇵🇹 PortugalEnchanted Mouramoura encantada A supernatural maiden from Portuguese and Galician folklore who guards treasures and ancient stones.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇫🇷 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 🇸🇪 SwedenAskafroa A Scandinavian tree spirit believed to guard the ash and demand appeasement.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary

🇭🇺 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

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMinoan Genius A composite creature from Bronze Age Crete, often shown as a libation bearer or sacrificial attendant.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomPearlin Jean A Scottish ghost said to haunt the ruins of Allanbank estate in BerwickshireBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreSupernatural beings in Slavic religion Mythic entities of nature, death, and fate in Slavic folklore and belief.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCabra cabriola A fire-breathing goat bogeyman used to frighten children in Portuguese and Brazilian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Living

🇫🇷 FranceMargot the fairy Earthly fairies of Brittany known for dancing, building monuments, and testing human guests.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇪 IrelandDevil Whale A giant sea creature mistaken for an island that drags sailors to the deepBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇷 GreeceSoterΣωτήρ A Greek daimon of safety and deliverance from harmBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenVittra A forest spirit from northern Sweden linked to livestock and seductionBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary

🇮🇹 ItalyAngitia A Sabine and Roman goddess of healing and snake magic in central ItalyBeing · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism) Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceAloadaeἈλωάδαι (Aloadai) Twin giants of Thessaly who challenged the gods and built mountains to reach Olympus.Being Legendary 🇮🇪 IrelandSleih beggey Manx fairies and little people of the Isle of ManBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇺 RussiaMeduzaМедуза A Russian mythic figure with a woman's head and a serpent body, linked to trickery.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomBiast Bhealach Odail A shapeshifting spirit of a Scottish mountain passBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇷 GreecePolemosΠόλεμος A Greek spirit of war and the personification of conflictBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 1 moreAšvieniai Twin horse deities of Baltic mythology who pull the sun chariotBeing · Protection Legendary

🇬🇷 GreeceMeilichiosΜειλίχιος An ancient Greek chthonic spirit linked to Zeus and appeased through fire offerings.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceMoiraiΜοίρες Greek personifications of destiny who spin, measure, and cut the thread of life.Being · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceEurynomosΕὐρύνομος An ancient Greek underworld spirit said to strip corpses down to bone.Being Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomLazy Laurence A mischievous English pixie who makes orchard workers lazy and gives them indigestionBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇦🇱 AlbaniaLjubi A multi-headed water demon from Albanian folklore linked to storms and sacrificeBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHephaestusἭφαιστος The Greek smith god who forged divine weapons and crafted automata for the gods.Being · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomBluecap A blue flame spirit of English mines that guides miners and warns of dangerBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreFiredrakeognennyi zmei A European dragon myth born from sightings of shooting stars and will-o'-the-wispsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇷🇴 RomaniaMuma Pădurii A forest spirit in Romania who protects nature and punishes those who harm itBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇬🇷 GreeceCentaurideΚενταυρίδε (Kentauride) A female centaur from Greek mythology, depicted in art and literature as a hybrid of woman and horse.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇸 IcelandSelkolla A seal-headed woman from Icelandic folklore who clashed with a medieval bishop.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreScyllaΣκύλλα A sea monster from Greek tales who guards a perilous passage and devours sailors.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇫🇮 FinlandFirefoxtulikettu A mythical Finnish fox whose tail sparks the northern lightsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Supernatural beings in Slavic religion: Bartolomeo Giuliano, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Scylla: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Hecate: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
Centauride: John La Farge, Public domain, source
Ašvieniai: Wojsyl , 2005, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Angitia: Marica Massaro, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
Devil Whale: Edmund Dulac, Public domain, source
Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
Aloadae: No machine-readable author provided. Antars~commonswiki assumed (based, Public domain, source
Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
Meilichios: Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0, source
Moirai: John Melhuish Strudwick, Public domain, source
Hephaestus: Foundry Painter (name vase), Public domain, source
Firedrake: Ramesh Kumar R, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Minoan Genius: Zde, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Vishap: Kulttuurinavigaattori, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Enchanted Moura: Henrique José Teixeira Matos, Public domain, source