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
🇰🇮 Kiribati and 4 moreMicronesian mythology
The traditional belief systems and legends of the island peoples in the southwest Pacific.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreAitu
A Polynesian term for spirits, ghosts, or calamityBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming
A worldview of ancestral creation and eternal law in Australian Aboriginal cultureTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaWitch-hunts in Papua New Guinea
Mob attacks on people, mostly women, accused of sanguma sorcery in Papua New GuineaBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇹🇴 Tonga and 5 moreTabootapu
A cultural prohibition that marks something as forbidden or sacredBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇫🇯 FijiFijian mythology
The traditional beliefs and stories of the indigenous people of FijiTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreTapu
A Polynesian concept of sacred restriction and spiritual prohibitionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana
A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living
🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma
Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak
A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming
A worldview of ancestral creation and eternal law in Australian Aboriginal cultureTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaWitch-hunts in Papua New Guinea
Mob attacks on people, mostly women, accused of sanguma sorcery in Papua New GuineaBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana
A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living
🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma
Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mana: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- The Dreaming: September 1985, Public domain, source
- Witch-hunts in Papua New Guinea: The original uploader was Dr. Blofeld at English Wikipedia ., Attribution, source
- Taboo: Jonathan McIntosh, CC BY 2.0, source