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Witch-hunts12 of the Creepiest Places Where History Meets FolkloreStage magicLegendary master magician Lance Burton to bring tricks to Fox Cities PACWitch-huntsWitching Hour in Salem and Beyond—The 12 Scariest Things to Do on Halloween NightMuseumsThis Week in Moab: Magic for Seekhaven and a New Museum Show, October 19–25DivinationThe Secret Romani History of TarotLiving traditionsMalou Beauvoir Introduces OUR VODOU Book 2, Celebrating Haiti's Heritage Through Children's StorytellingDivinationInside Seattle's witchy side: Tarot, crystals and a little local magicFestivalsMoreno family’s Day of the Dead celebration returns to the Village Green Nov. 1Stage magicThe Houdini Séance, once a Petaluma tradition, rises from the graveHistoryThe more archaeologists examine this temple find, the less it looks like ritual gear: inside the Thracian bronze puzzleWitch-hunts12 of the Creepiest Places Where History Meets FolkloreStage magicLegendary master magician Lance Burton to bring tricks to Fox Cities PACWitch-huntsWitching Hour in Salem and Beyond—The 12 Scariest Things to Do on Halloween NightMuseumsThis Week in Moab: Magic for Seekhaven and a New Museum Show, October 19–25DivinationThe Secret Romani History of TarotLiving traditionsMalou Beauvoir Introduces OUR VODOU Book 2, Celebrating Haiti's Heritage Through Children's StorytellingDivinationInside Seattle's witchy side: Tarot, crystals and a little local magicFestivalsMoreno family’s Day of the Dead celebration returns to the Village Green Nov. 1Stage magicThe Houdini Séance, once a Petaluma tradition, rises from the graveHistoryThe more archaeologists examine this temple find, the less it looks like ritual gear: inside the Thracian bronze puzzle

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.

🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to reveal luck and life adviceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoon blocks筊杯 Two crescent blocks thrown to a deity for a yes or noOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數 A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTantraतन्त्र Esoteric Hindu and Buddhist paths of mantra, ritual and yoga from first-millennium IndiaTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreFuji扶乩 Chinese planchette writing: gods and ancestors reply through a stylus on sandRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese shamanism巫教 (Wūjiào) Spirit-mediums of China who dance and trance to carry messages between people and godsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreJiaobei筊杯 (jiǎobēi) Wooden crescent blocks thrown in pairs to ask temple deities yes or no questionsOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanFutomani太占 A Shinto divination method using heated deer shoulder blades to read future patternsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇯🇵 JapanKayu ura粥占 A Japanese Shinto divination ritual using rice or bean gruel to predict the harvest.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living

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The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.