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
🇵🇸 PalestineHekhalot literatureספרות ההיכלות והמרכבה
Jewish visionary texts describing ascents to heavenly palaces and chariotsText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreChild sacrifice
The ritual killing of children to appease deities or restore cosmic order in ancient culturesRite · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 morePsychopomp
A spirit or creature that guides the dead to the afterlifeBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreBiblical numerology
A system of interpreting numbers in sacred texts as carrying symbolic meaning beyond their mathematical valueBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
- Child sacrifice: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
- Hekhalot literature: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Urim and Thummim: Rijksmuseum, CC0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- Psychopomp: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source