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.

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 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

🇪🇸 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

🇮🇪 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 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

🇮🇹 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 Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing 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

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreMichael Scot A medieval scholar and astrologer who became a legendary magician in folklore.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇬🇧 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

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus A French astrologer and physician known for his book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Healing 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

🇷🇺 RussiaAlkonostАлконост A woman-faced bird of Russian folklore whose song makes listeners forget everythingBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Legendary

🇬🇧 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

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandA Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other SpiritsEx Libro de Nymphis, Sylvanis, Pygmaeis, Salamandris et Gigantibus, etc Paracelsus's late treatise on the spirits of the four classical elementsText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreWitchwiċċe The English word for a magic-worker, from Old English wiċċe to WiccaFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇮🇹 ItalyWitchcraft in Italy Inquisition trials, a fertility cult and love magic in early modern ItalyTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreLutzelfrau A German Alpine witch who brings fruit or punishes childrenFigure · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

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
Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits: A.Hirschvogel, Public domain, source
Alkonost: Viktor Vasnetsov, Public domain, source
Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Lutzelfrau: Karel Rozum, Public domain, source
John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Michael Scot: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source

All entries

Photo credits on this page

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