All entries
2,635 entries so far, best known first. 2,304 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
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKardecist SpiritismSpiritisme
A French spiritualist doctrine based on communication with spirits and reincarnation.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 5 moreLoogaroo
A shapeshifting vampire of Caribbean folklore, feared for its blood-drinking habits.Being · Cursing and harm Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
- Colombian folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Loogaroo: A.F.Pannemaker, Public domain, source
- Personifications of death: No machine-readable author provided. Kirtap assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
- Caribbean folklore: Biblioteca Juvenil Mayaguez ( talk · contribs ), CC BY-SA 4.0, source