All entries

2,682 entries so far, best known first. 2,205 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

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling 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 🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreWitch trials in the early modern period A wave of prosecutions across Europe and British America from the 1400s to the late 1700s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandValais witch trials The first systematic European witch-hunt, beginning in the Valais region of Switzerland in 1428.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇪 Georgia and 2 moreGeorgian mythologyქართული მითოლოგია The pre-Christian beliefs of the Kartvelian peoples in the South CaucasusTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMarie Laveau A New Orleans priestess and herbalist who led Louisiana Voodoo in the nineteenth centuryTradition · Healing · Protection 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomCharmer English folk healers who used gifts or verses to treat natural ailments without chargeTradition · Healing Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇮🇪 IrelandEarly Irish astrology The study of celestial cycles in early Ireland, blending native observation with Christian and continental learning.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyTredesin de Mars A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreReligious aspects of Nazism The study of how Nazi ideology borrowed religious forms and esoteric beliefs to build a political movement.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇹 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.

Candomblé Jeje: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Magic in Anglo-Saxon England: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Phallic saint: No machine-readable author provided. Manproc assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
Marie Laveau: E. W. Kemble, Public domain, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Witch trials in the early modern period: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Valais witch trials: Dagalia2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Love magic: Kölner Meister [ 1 ] The artist is an unknown lower Rhenish artist. [, Public domain, source
Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source
Georgian mythology: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

All entries

Photo credits on this page

The weekly digest