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
🇫🇷 FranceHoly GrailSaint Graal
A cup or stone from Arthurian legend with miraculous powersFigure · Healing · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square
A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyMarsilio Ficino
A Renaissance priest and philosopher who revived Plato and blended astrology with Christian theology.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreRelic
An object or body part kept to honor a holy person and mark their connection to the divineCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn
A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · 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
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇪 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreEx-voto
A gift left in a shrine to mark a vow kept or a miracle receivedCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇹 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
🇬🇷 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
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreLaying on of handsסמיכה
A physical gesture used across religions to convey authority, healing, or spiritual presence.Rite · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for his book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇫🇷 FranceThree Books of Occult PhilosophyDe occulta philosophia libri III
A Renaissance treatise on elemental, celestial and divine magicText · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft
Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society
A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇹 ItalyDoñas de fuera
Sicilian fairies said to carry chosen women by night to a field at BeneventoBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomLying-in
A period of bed rest and care for new mothers in European traditionRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreBibiBibijako Dive
A Romani holiday honoring a protective aunt figure for family and children's healthRite · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreSaint Valentine's Key
A metal key charm from Padua used for healing epilepsy and as a romantic tokenCharm · Healing · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇹 ItalySegnature
An Italian folk healing rite using gestures and prayers to cure illness and remove cursesRite · Healing · Protection Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreTietäjä
A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure · Healing · Protection Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin
A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaAlkonostАлконост
A woman-faced bird of Russian folklore whose song makes listeners forget everythingBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Legendary
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer
A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇹 ItalyWitchcraft in Italy
Inquisition trials, a fertility cult and love magic in early modern ItalyTradition · Protection · Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Laying on of hands: User:Lipsio, CC BY 3.0, source
- Magic in Anglo-Saxon England: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
- Alkonost: Viktor Vasnetsov, Public domain, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
- Lying-in: Francesco di Michele, Public domain, source
- Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marsilio Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
- Relic: MathieuGuy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Segnature: SeAnstapa, CC0, source
- Holy Grail: Photographed by the National Library of Wales, CC0, source
- Unicorn horn: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
- Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ex-voto: JTSH26, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Bibi: Andrija12345678, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tietäjä: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Public domain, source
- Votive offering: Walter J. Pilsak, Waldsassen ( W.J.Pilsak at de.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source