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
🇯🇵 JapanOfudaお札/御札 (ofuda)
Paper and wooden talismans from Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist templesCharm · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreMisogi禊
A Shinto rite of full-body purification using cold waterRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFalun Gong法轮功
A Chinese cultivation practice blending meditative exercises with moral principlesTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanGohei御幣
A wooden wand with two paper streamers, used by Shinto priests to purify and blessCharm · Cleansing and purification · Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Misogi: Ds13 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ōnusa: 教派研究, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fangxiangshi: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Ong Yah: Suzuki1314 at Chinese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Ofuda: 教派研究 (Sectarian research), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Falun Gong: longtrekhome, CC BY 3.0, source
- Diyu: ScribblingGeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source