All entries
2,682 entries so far, best known first. 2,206 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
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic harvest festival marking the beginning of the grain gathering seasonTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreVotive offering
Objects left in sacred places to honor a deity or fulfill a vow, never to be recovered.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore)
A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 12 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries
An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation 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
- Kongo cosmogram: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Gardnerian Wicca: Midnightblueowl ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Druidry: TheJaySpearing, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wheel of the Year: Sunblade1500, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dianic Wicca: Jean-Baptiste Tuby I (Italy, active France, Paris and Versailles, 1635, Public domain, source
- Votive offering: Walter J. Pilsak, Waldsassen ( W.J.Pilsak at de.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source