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

🇬🇷 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

🇬🇷 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

🇩🇪 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

🇩🇪 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomCharmer English folk healers who used gifts or verses to treat natural ailments without chargeTradition · Healing Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomSpectral evidence Court testimony based on visions of spirits during historical witch trialsBelief · 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

🇮🇪 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

🇫🇷 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

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

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 morePalladiumΠαλλάδιον (Palladion) A wooden statue of Athena said to protect cities, stolen from Troy and brought to Rome.Charm · Protection Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreCruentation A medieval judicial test where a suspect touched a victim's body to see if it bled.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇷 FranceAix-en-Provence possessions 17th-century French convent cases of alleged demonic possessionBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇮 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 🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇵🇹 Portugal and 5 moreWilgefortisVilgeforte A bearded female martyr folk saint known for relieving women from unwanted marriages and tribulationsFigure · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreExorcist A religious specialist who performs rites to remove alleged demonic possession from people or places.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living

🇮🇹 ItalySegnature An Italian folk healing rite using gestures and prayers to cure illness and remove cursesRite · Healing · Protection Living 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText · Protection · Healing Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomCorsned An Anglo-Saxon trial by ordeal using a consecrated piece of bread and cheese to determine guilt.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 3 morePalladium A sacred image or object believed to guarantee the safety of a city or nationCharm · Protection Historical 🇮🇹 ItalyWitchcraft in Italy Inquisition trials, a fertility cult and love magic in early modern ItalyTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇷🇴 RomaniaTanacu exorcism A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

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
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Segnature: SeAnstapa, CC0, source
Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ex-voto: JTSH26, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wilgefortis: Hieronymus Bosch, Public domain, source
Exorcist: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, 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

All entries

Photo credits on this page

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