All entries

2,683 entries so far, best known first. 2,203 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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreSibylline Oracles A mixed collection of ancient prophecies attributed to pagan prophetesses but shaped by Jewish and Christian writers.Text · Seeing and foretelling 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

🇬🇧 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

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

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

🇮🇹 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 🇮🇪 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 🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreLots of the ApostlesSortes Apostolorum A Christian divination text based on casting lots to seek guidance from the apostles.Text · 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 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

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
A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits: A.Hirschvogel, 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
John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Georgian mythology: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sibylline Oracles: Domenichino, Public domain, source

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Photo credits on this page

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