All entries
2,660 entries so far, best known first. 2,247 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomWiccan Rede
A moral guideline for Wiccans stating that actions should cause no harm.Text · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession
A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority 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
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreTriquetra
A three-arc knot used in medieval art and modern pop culturePower and authority Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain
A Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest and the start of winter, observed on November 1st.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well
A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇬🇷 GreeceTriple Goddess
A Neopagan deity representing three female life stages and lunar phasesBeing · Power and authority Living
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreValknut
A symbol of three interlocked triangles found on Germanic artifacts and used in modern Heathenry.Belief · Power and authority Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNeopagan witchcraft
Modern pagan traditions that practice magic and draw on historical witch beliefs.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 moreArmanen runes
An invented runic system created by Guido von List in the early twentieth centuryText · Power and authority Living
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreOdyssean Wicca
A Canadian Wiccan tradition focused on public priesthood and rigorous training.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreReligious discrimination against modern pagans
Persecution and bias faced by contemporary pagan communities across multiple nationsBelief Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe White Goddess
Robert Graves's 1948 essay on one moon goddess behind many namesText Living
🇬🇷 GreeceLabrysλάβρυς
A double-headed axe from ancient Crete, now a symbol of lesbian feminism and neo-paganismCharm · Power and authority · Protection 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
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇬🇷 GreeceTriple Goddess
A Neopagan deity representing three female life stages and lunar phasesBeing · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe White Goddess
Robert Graves's 1948 essay on one moon goddess behind many namesText 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
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, 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
- Apollo: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Triquetra: Wiglaf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
- Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Triple Goddess: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Valknut: Sacrificial_scene_on_Hammars_(I).JPG : Berig derivative work: The Man, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Armanen runes: Jugydmort, CC BY-SA 4.0, source