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
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreRelic
An object or body part kept to honor a holy person and mark their connection to the divineCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 5 moreIslamic exorcismرقية
A rite to expel spirits through Quranic recitation and negotiationRite · Healing · Cleansing and purification Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreMaraboutmurābiṭ
A Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, often linked to Sufi brotherhoods.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha
A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marabout: Jan Broekhuijse, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sufi whirling: myself, Public domain, source
- Relic: MathieuGuy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source
- Sacred dance: Jorge Barrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dhikr: Eugène Baugnies, Public domain, source
- Islamic exorcism: Unknown Calligrapher, Public domain, source
- Roshni Mela: FatherofGod, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zawiya: Schneders, CC BY-SA 4.0, source