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Witch-huntsSNP councillors ignore potholes to demand apology for historic witch trials Witch-huntsSNP councillors ignore potholes to demand apology for historic witch trials FestivalsHalloween and Day of the Dead come together at Salinas’ Paper Tacos.FestivalsCelebrate Day of the Dead at Alebrijes in Downtown Las Vegas FestivalsDay of the Dead Festival FestivalsDay Of The Dead Festival Hispanic Heritage Witch-huntsThings to Do in Salem MA: 25 Best Attractions & Experiences Divination"Divining with the Elements: A Conversation about Astrology" with KL Mays and Alice Sparkly Kat FestivalsExperience Day of the Dead with culture, food and "Coco"Stage magicWhat Was Halloween Like 100 Years Ago?Witch-huntsSNP councillors ignore potholes to demand apology for historic witch trials Witch-huntsSNP councillors ignore potholes to demand apology for historic witch trials FestivalsHalloween and Day of the Dead come together at Salinas’ Paper Tacos.FestivalsCelebrate Day of the Dead at Alebrijes in Downtown Las Vegas FestivalsDay of the Dead Festival FestivalsDay Of The Dead Festival Hispanic Heritage Witch-huntsThings to Do in Salem MA: 25 Best Attractions & Experiences Divination"Divining with the Elements: A Conversation about Astrology" with KL Mays and Alice Sparkly Kat FestivalsExperience Day of the Dead with culture, food and "Coco"Stage magicWhat Was Halloween Like 100 Years Ago?

EveryJaadu

All entries

2,000 entries so far, best known first. 3,529 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

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreVampire An undead creature from folklore that feeds on the blood or life force of the livingBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreWerewolf A mythical shapeshifter that turns into a wolf, central to European witch-hunts and Gothic horror.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLilithלִילִית A feminine figure from Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, often depicted as a night demon or spirit.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇮🇪 IrelandPúca A shape-shifting spirit of Celtic folklore that brings fortune or mischiefBeing · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNight hag A supernatural being believed to sit on sleepers and cause paralysisBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomCŵn Annwn Spectral hounds of the Welsh otherworld that hunt souls and signal deathBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreLeshyлеший A forest spirit from Slavic folklore who guards the woods and misleads travelers.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreBogeyman A mythical creature used across cultures to frighten children into obedienceFigure · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomBlack dog A spectral hound from English folklore that signals death or guards the living.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreLikhoЛихо A Slavic spirit of bad luck and misfortune, often depicted as a one-eyed creature.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreHellhound A mythological canine that guards the underworld or serves demonic forces across global folkloreBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreXiezhi獬豸 A one-horned beast from East Asia that separates the guilty from the innocentBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary

🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇯🇵 JapanInugami犬神 A Japanese spirit of dog possession and folk sorceryBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyAlp A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreFuath A class of malevolent water spirits in Scottish and Irish folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWill-o'-the-wisp A ghostly light in folklore that guides or misleads travellers over marshes and bogs.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreLady MiddayPoludnitsa A Slavic noon spirit who watches over fields and punishes those who work during the hottest hours.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇵🇹 Portugal and 5 moreCocoCoca A monster used to frighten children into obedience across the Iberian world and Latin America.Figure · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living 🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreNachzehrer A German revenant believed to consume the living from beyond the graveBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreBomohبوموه A Malay shaman and traditional healer who works with spirits, herbs, and geomancy.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇮🇳 IndiaWitch-hunts in India Violent persecution of people accused of witchcraft, mostly women, in rural IndiaBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreSixth and Seventh Books of Moses A grimoire claiming to reveal the hidden spells of Moses for controlling spirits and natureText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomGlaistig A Scottish shape-shifting spirit linked to cattle, deer, and haunted castles.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 7 moreSatanic panic A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceLady of the LakeDame du Lac A water spirit who raises knights and captures wizards in Arthurian talesFigure · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomBarghest A mythical black dog from Northern England that foretells death and haunts the countryside.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreOrang Minyak A slippery ghost from Malay folklore that abducts women and is covered in black grease.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanKuda-gitsune管狐 (kuda-gitsune) A small spirit kept in a tube or sleeve to aid fortune-telling and cursing in Japanese folklore.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrigoi A Romanian undead spirit linked to witchcraft and vampirismBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇴 Colombia and 1 moreTunda A shapeshifting entity from the Pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador that lures people into the forest.Figure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanKitsunetsuki狐憑き A Japanese folk belief in which a fox spirit enters and controls a human host.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreChangeling A substitute left by supernatural beings in place of a stolen human child or adultBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomGwyllion Welsh spirits that lead travellers astray and are feared in mountain folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWitch bottle A container filled with personal items and sharp objects to trap harmful magicCharm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived

🇯🇵 JapanHyakki Yagyō百鬼夜行 A Japanese folklore concept of a night parade of supernatural creaturesBelief · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanIttan-momen一反木綿 A flying cloth yōkai from Japanese folklore that warns children to stay indoors at nightBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomBlack Shuck A ghostly black dog from East Anglia folklore, often seen as a death omen or a terrifying apparition.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇩 Indonesia and 3 moreToyoltuyul An undead infant spirit in Southeast Asian folklore, invoked for theft and fortune.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreTrial by ordeal An ancient judicial test where guilt or innocence was decided by surviving a painful physical trial.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBugbear A medieval English creature used to frighten children into obedienceFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreQuimbanda An Afro-Brazilian religion focused on male and female street spirits for worldly mattersTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇲🇾 Malaysia and 5 morePenanggalan A floating head with trailing organs from Malay folklore, said to hunt pregnant women and newborns.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreDrekavacДрекавац A South Slavic night creature born from unbaptised souls or sinnersBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊 A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Dukun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lady of the Lake: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
Werewolf: Mont Sudbury, Public domain, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Trial by ordeal: James Sibree, Public domain, source
Vampire: Edvard Munch, Public domain, source
Penanggalan: Hi I really try my best here, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
Witch-hunts in India: Granger, Public domain, source
Inugami: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
Xiezhi: Carty239 at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Hyakki Yagyō: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witch bottle: British Museum, Daniel Pett, 2004-10-25 15:27:22, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Coco: Francisco de Goya, CC0, source
Hellhound: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Night hag: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Will-o'-the-wisp: Hermann Hendrich, Public domain, source
Púca: Wirt Sikes, Public domain, source
Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Bogeyman: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
Likho: Mhapon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Leshy: Γραφέας, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lilith: Photographs by Ardon Bar Hama, author of original document is unknown., Public domain, source

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.