All entries
2,680 entries so far, best known first. 2,210 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
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreWerewolf
A figure in folklore who transforms into a wolf or hybrid beastFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇷 GreeceTiresiasΤειρεσίας
A blind Greek seer who lived as both man and woman and spoke to the dead.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇬🇷 GreeceMedeaΜήδεια
A sorceress and princess of Colchis who aids Jason and uses magic for revenge.Figure · Cursing and harm · Healing Legendary
🇮🇶 IraqWinged genie
Winged guardians of Assyrian palace walls, read as the apkallu sagesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreGiant
Mythic humanoids of immense size and strength found in global folklore and ancient textsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Midas: The Midas Painter, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Horkos: Furienmeister, Public domain, source
- Prometheus: No machine-readable author provided. Atoma assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
- Orpheus: Franz Caucig, Public domain, source
- Medea: Frederick Sandys, Public domain, source
- Cassandra: George Romney, Public domain, source
- Seiðr: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Sebile: tony_57, CC BY 3.0, source
- Giant: Attributed to Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
- Pasiphaë: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Werewolf: Mont Sudbury, Public domain, source
- Winged genie: James Spurrier, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chimera: Lampas Group, Public domain, source
- Witege: Max Koch, (1859–1930), Public domain, source
- Branchus: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tiresias: Pietro della Vecchia, Public domain, source
- Boann: Yvonne Ní Mhuiregán, CC BY-SA 4.0, source