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
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkuthwasa
A spiritual calling and initiation process for traditional healers in Southern Africa.Rite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreOgunÒgún
A West African deity of iron, war and metalworking found in Yoruba and diaspora traditionsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor
A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreBoriBòòríí
A traditional Hausa spirit possession system and healing practice in West AfricaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇫 Central African Republic and 5 moreWitchcraft in Africa
Beliefs about supernatural harm and the social responses to accusations across the continentBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreMurder for body parts
The killing of people to harvest body parts for traditional medicine or the illegal organ trade.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreTraditional healers of Southern Africa
Practitioners who blend herbal medicine with ancestral divination in Southern AfricaTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار
A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 4 moreBudaቡዳ
An Ethiopian and Eritrean belief in the evil eye and hyena transformationBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreMutiumuthi
Traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa using plants, animals and mineralsTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇧🇯 Benin and 5 moreVodun art
Religious sculpture and temple painting from West African Vodun traditionsTradition · Protection · 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
🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreKongo religionBukongo
The animistic beliefs and ancestor veneration of the Bakongo people in Central AfricaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇬🇭 GhanaWitchcraft in Ghana
Beliefs in harmful magic and the social violence that follows accusations in GhanaBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the CongoKindoki
A belief in spirit possession that leads to abuse and abandonment in the Congo regionBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaAfa
A divining art of the Igbo, cast by a dibia to name the cause of troubleOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇸🇩 SudanWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
A foundational anthropological study of Azande witchcraft, oracles, and magic in southern Sudan.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇬 NigeriaOsanyinỌsanyin
The Yoruba orisha of herbal knowledge, healing magic and wild plantsBeing · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa
Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇬🇭 Ghana and 4 moreSpirit children
A Ghanaian belief that disabled children are harmful spirits requiring ritual treatment or deathBelief · Cursing and harm Fading
🇨🇲 CameroonJengu
Water spirits of Cameroon's coastal peoples, linked to healing and fateBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaDivination bonesditaola (Sotho-Tswana), amathambo (isiZulu)
Bones and carved objects used by traditional healers in South Africa to foresee the futureSeeing and foretelling · 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.
- Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Ogun: Chado07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- Osanyin: TiagoLubiana, CC0, source
- Espiritismo: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Buda: Aberdeen Bestiary, Public domain, source
- Muti: Nicholas Roux, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vodun art: Fraipont, Gustave (1849-1923), Public domain, source
- Witchcraft in Ghana: SALTN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch doctor: Lucjan Wędrychowski, Public domain, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source
- Divination bones: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Traditional healers of Southern Africa: Wizzy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ukuthwasa: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source