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
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy
Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jiaobei: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fuji: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Podomancy: Eyefive45, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Moon blocks: Hsiung/d6478coke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
- Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source