All entries
2,660 entries so far, best known first. 2,250 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreAlonso de Salazar Frías
An inquisitor who used evidence to stop witch executions in SpainBelief Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWitch's mark
A bodily mark believed to prove a pact with the Devil during early modern witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceWitch trials in France
A fragmented history of legal persecution for sorcery across French regions and centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
A Christian vigil marked by bonfires and plant gathering on the summer solstice eveRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇱 NetherlandsWitch trials in the Netherlands
A historical record of prosecutions and executions for sorcery in the Dutch Republic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for his book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWitch trials in the Holy Roman Empire
A historical period of intense witchcraft persecution across Central Europe from the 15th to the 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht
A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials
A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 6 moreBurning of Judas
An Easter rite where an effigy of the betrayer is destroyed by fire or other meansRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomSamlesbury witches
Three Lancashire women acquitted in a 1612 trial linked to anti-Catholic propagandaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomPendle witches
A 1612 series of English witch trials that resulted in ten executions near Pendle Hill.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBamberg witch trials
A mass execution campaign in a German prince-bishopric that killed around one thousand people between 1623 and 1632.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials
A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well
A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde
A woven straw charm hung for protection, named after Ireland's patron saintCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇸 SpainBasque witch trials
A seventeenth-century Inquisition campaign against alleged witches in the Basque Country.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyTrier witch trials
A series of mass executions in the Holy Roman Empire between 1581 and 1593.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark
A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve
An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore
The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇹 ItalyWitch trials in Italy
Historic legal proceedings against alleged witches across Italian states from the 14th to 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos
A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 moreSaint Andrew's Day
A Christian feast day marked by national holidays in Scotland and Romania, and folk divination across Europe.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 5 morePrester JohnPresbyter Ioannes
A legendary Christian king and priest said to rule a lost kingdom in the East.Figure · Power and authority Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreFour-leaf clover
A rare plant mutation believed to bring good luck and used as a symbol of fortune.Charm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreVotive offering
Objects left in sacred places to honor a deity or fulfill a vow, never to be recovered.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba
The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇵🇱 PolandWitch trials in Poland
A historical record of sorcery prosecutions and executions in Poland from the 15th to the 19th century.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyWitches of Benevento
A medieval Italian legend of witches gathering under a walnut treeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayWitch trials in Norway
A wave of executions and legal persecution for sorcery in early modern Norway.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenTorsåker witch trials
The largest mass execution of witches in Swedish history, carried out in a single day.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMedieval European magic
A broad category of ritual and natural practices in the Middle Ages, blending healing, divination, and religious belief.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia
Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSpectral evidence
Court testimony based on visions of spirits during historical witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft
Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 FranceLouviers possessions
A seventeenth-century French convent case of mass demonic possession and witchcraft accusationsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection 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
🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun
A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWarlock
A word for a male witch, rooted in an old term for oath-breaker and devil pactsFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇫🇷 FranceOrléans heresy
A 1022 heresy trial at Orléans that ended in a mass burningBelief Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreSpiritualism
A metaphysical belief that spirits communicate with the living through mediums.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreElf
A supernatural person of Germanic lore, linked to illness, beauty and magicBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 morePhallic saint
Saints and local gods called on for fertility, shown with a penisBelief · Love and attraction Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Warlock: John Faed RSA. 1855., Public domain, source
- Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Witch trials in the Netherlands: Mathje1963, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Orléans heresy: Émile Bayard, Public domain, source
- Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
- Spiritualism: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Elf: Martin Brandenburg, Public domain, source
- Phallic saint: No machine-readable author provided. Manproc assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Burning of Judas: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Prester John: Diogo Homem, Public domain, source
- Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
- Torsåker witch trials: Y-näsmannen, CC0, source
- Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Bamberg witch trials: Berthold Werner, Public domain, source
- Pendle witches: Dr Greg, CC BY 3.0, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Alonso de Salazar Frías: Oscar Montañés, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch trials in France: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Samlesbury witches: Tom Oates, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Basque witch trials: Alberto-g-rovi, CC BY 3.0, source
- Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Four-leaf clover: Phyzome under the GFDL., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Votive offering: Walter J. Pilsak, Waldsassen ( W.J.Pilsak at de.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source