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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie
A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreOvooовоо
A stone or branch cairn used as a shrine and boundary marker in Mongolic folk practice.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 morePrayer flagLung ta
Cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the windCharm · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreDzi beadགཟི། (gzi)
An agate amulet worn in the Himalayas for protection against the evil eye.Charm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreWind Horseརླུང་རྟ་
An East and Central Asian symbol of the soul, luck, and vital energyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreOpon IfáỌpọ́n Ifá
A carved wooden tray used by Yoruba diviners to read signs and consult spirits.Charm · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
A Kongo spirit, and the object a spirit is held to live inBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 3 moreSak Yantសាក់យ័ន្ត
Sacred geometric tattoos from Southeast Asia believed to grant protection and powerTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm · Protection · Healing Living
🇰🇪 KenyaFingo
A protective talisman of the Mijikenda people in KenyaCharm · Protection Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreOngon
Ancestor spirits in Mongolian shamanism, represented by consecrated idols and talismansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 1 moreManaia
A composite guardian spirit in Māori art and beliefBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇩 IndonesiaTaiganja
A bronze amulet of Central Sulawesi shaped like a keyhole, worn for status and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉
A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇱 Greenland and 1 moreTupilaqᑐᐱᓚᒃ
A carved monster from Inuit tradition, made to seek out and destroy an enemy.Being · Cursing and harm Living
🇲🇱 MaliBoli
A charged fetish object of the Bambara people of MaliCharm · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 1 moreSandung
A house-shaped ossuary for the bones of the deceased among Dayak peoples in Borneo.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGod's eyeOjo de Dios
A woven yarn cross believed to grant spiritual sight and protectionCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Espiritismo: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dzi bead: Benjwong, Public domain, source
- Ongon: Vyacheslav Kirillin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Manaia: Sarang, Public domain, source
- Taiganja: sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Sak Yant: Mikhailovich, CC BY 3.0, source
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Tupilaq: Louis Chemnitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sandung: Wibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wind Horse: Clemensmarabu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Opon Ifá: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
- God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source