All entries

2,635 entries so far, best known first. 2,304 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

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

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAmritaअमृत (Sanskrit) A Sanskrit concept of immortality and the nectar that grants it across Indian religionsBelief · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreHomaहोम A fire ritual found across Asian religions where offerings are burned as a votive exchange with the divine.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreKataragama templeකතරගම / கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில் A Sri Lankan shrine shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and VeddasTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreMandalaमण्डल A sacred geometric design used in Indian religions for meditation and spiritual mapping.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreYantraयन्त्र A geometric diagram from Indian traditions used for worship and meditationCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत A suffering spirit of insatiable hunger found in Asian religious traditionsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBhairavaभैरव A fierce manifestation of Shiva and a Buddhist protector deity worshipped across South and East Asia.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAshtamangalaअष्टमङ्गल (Aṣṭamaṅgala) A set of eight sacred symbols used in Indian religions to mark auspicious occasions and teach spiritual truths.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreYakshiniयक्षिणी Some guard, some haunt: female nature spirits of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain loreBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDiyaदीया A small oil lamp used in prayers and festivals across the Indian subcontinentTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTantraतन्त्र Esoteric Hindu and Buddhist paths of mantra, ritual and yoga from first-millennium IndiaTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 2 moreParittaපිරිත් (Sinhala), ปริตร (Thai), ပရိတ် (Burmese) Pali verses recited in Theravada Buddhism for protection and blessingsText · Protection · Healing Living

🇳🇵 NepalTaleju𑐟𑐮𑐾𑐖𑐸 (Newar) / तलेजु (Devanagari) A royal goddess of the Kathmandu Valley, worshipped as Durga and Tara.Being · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKalachakraདུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། A Tibetan Buddhist tantric deity and system of yogic time cyclesTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaNechung Oracleགནས་ཆུང་ཏ་བླ་མ The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम् A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 IndiaTormaགཏོར་མ Sculpted offerings of flour and butter used in Tibetan Buddhist ritualsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇳🇵 Nepal and 3 moreGurung ShamanismTamu Cho The ancient shamanic beliefs and rituals of the Gurung people in NepalTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Homa: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
Kataragama temple: Ghostface Buddha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Mandala: Marion Golsteijn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source
Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
Bhairava: Saankav, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ashtamangala: Redtigerxyz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yakshini: Brihaspati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Diya: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tantra: Ms Sarah Welch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Taleju: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kalachakra: Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Torma: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source
Amrita: http://picasaweb.google.com/injamaven, CC BY 3.0, source

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Photo credits on this page

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