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.
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
🇫🇷 FranceÉliphas Lévi
A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Figure · Power and authority · Change and initiation Historical
🇪🇹 EthiopiaPlanetary hours
A system assigning celestial rulers to each hour of the day and weekTradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459
An allegorical romance and Rosicrucian manifesto detailing a seven-day alchemical initiation.Text · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptTheurgyθεουργία
A Neoplatonic ritual path to unite the soul with the divine through sacred actsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇫🇷 FranceEtteilla
The first professional tarot occultist who created a system for card divination.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire
A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreNumerology
The belief that numbers hold hidden meanings and influence human events.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreHermetica
A collection of ancient texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, covering magic, alchemy and philosophy.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Change and initiation Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCorpus Hermeticum
A collection of Greek writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus that shaped Western esoteric thoughtText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers
British occultist and co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden DawnFigure 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 KingdomHermetic Order of the Golden DawnOrdo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae
A late-19th-century British magical order that shaped modern Western occultismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreThe Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
A 1982 book proposing Jesus had a bloodline protected by a secret societyText · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesThe Kybalion
A 1908 book presenting seven principles of mental philosophy as ancient Hermetic wisdomText · Power and authority 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
🇪🇬 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇩🇪 GermanyBasil ValentineBasilius Valentinus
A pseudonymous alchemist whose chemical writings shaped early modern chemistry and hermetic tradition.Text · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptAbraxasἈβράξας
A Gnostic archon and the name on ancient protective gemstonesBeing · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreThe Fool
A tarot card of unique status, depicting a wanderer or madman outside the numbered sequence.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 morePicatrixغاية الحكيم
A medieval Arabic handbook of talismanic magic and astrologyText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTalisman
An object believed to channel specific forces for protection, healing, or influence.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 moreApollonius of TyanaἈπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς
A first-century philosopher and miracle worker whose life became a legend of divine power.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreDaeva𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀
A Zoroastrian entity that evolved from rejected gods to personifications of evil.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomGrimoire (sample)
A handbook of rites and names.Text · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaElemental
Mythic beings linked to earth, water, air, and fire in Renaissance occultism.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism
The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 1 moreMundane astrology
A branch of astrology that reads the horoscopes of nations and governments instead of individuals.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇻🇳 Vietnam and 2 moreVietnamese numismatic charmsBùa Việt Nam
Coin-shaped charms used for protection, luck, and ritual in Vietnamese cultureCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreAstaroth
An arch-demon in Western occultism, derived from the ancient goddess Astarte.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreOrder of the Solar TempleOrdre du Temple solaire
A neo-Templar new religious movement responsible for mass deaths in the 1990s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptAeonαἰών
Emanations of the divine source in Gnostic cosmologyBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAllocer
A duke of demons in grimoires who teaches sciences and commands legionsBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou
A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesDreaming the Dark
A 1982 book by Starhawk linking magic, sex, and politicsText · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie
A foundational treatise on ritual magic by Éliphas Lévi, structured around the tarot.Text · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelQlippothקְלִיפּוֹת
Impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, opposites of the holy sefirotBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyTransitus Fluvii
A 22-letter occult script built from Hebrew, set down by Agrippa in 1533Text Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptEnochian chess
A four-player chess variant used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for divination and playTradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaWater (classical element)
A classical substance linked to emotion and intuition in Greek, Indian, and Western esoteric traditions.Substance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος
An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyGli ExperimentiGli Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.r Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux.mo S.r Giouanni de Medici
A 16th-century manuscript of alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes by Caterina SforzaText · Healing · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements
Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAstrology and astronomy
Two disciplines that shared a history before splitting into science and divinationTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanSenji Ryakketsu占事略決
A Heian-era divination text attributed to Abe no Seimei, detailing shikigami-based fortune-telling.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaEtheric body
A subtle energy layer said to sustain the physical form and connect it to higher states.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreOsirian Egyptian OrderOrdine Osirideo Egizio
An Italian esoteric society tracing its roots to 18th-century Naples and ancient Hermetic traditions.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Daeva: Unknown Calligrapher, Public domain, source
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
- Elemental: No machine-readable author provided. Ragesoss assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Gli Experimenti: Mattman723, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Abraxas: Louis Breton, M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
- Marsilio Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
- The Fool: Johann Georg Rauch, Public domain, source
- Allocer: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Vietnamese numismatic charms: Jean-Michel Moullec, CC BY 2.0, source
- Talisman: Sasha India, CC BY 2.0, source
- Astaroth: M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
- Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Apollonius of Tyana: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Order of the Solar Temple: George Stock derivative work: thumperward ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Picatrix: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
- Aeon: Jacques Matter, Public domain, source
- Basil Valentine: TomKidd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Classical elements: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astrology and astronomy: anonymous, Public domain, source
- The Kybalion: American Libraries, Public domain, source
- Numerology: Pietro Bongo, Public domain, source
- Mundane astrology: Andreas Cellarius, Public domain, source
- Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source