All entries
2,635 entries so far, best known first. 2,304 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
🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ
Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanKitsunetsuki狐憑き
A Japanese folk belief in which a fox spirit enters and controls a human host.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaWaidan外丹
An early Chinese alchemical practice focused on compounding mineral elixirs for immortalityTradition Historical
🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女
A Shinto shrine priestess and traditional female medium in JapanTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道
A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanShikigami式神
A conjured spirit from Japanese Onmyōdō, often bound to paper or animal form.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKagura神楽
A Shinto ritual dance where performers embody deities to purify and welcome spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇯🇵 JapanChinkon kishin鎮魂帰神
A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanUkehi誓
A Japanese divination ritual using oaths and sortition to seek the will of the kamiRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき)
A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreNuo folk religion傩 (Nuó)
A Chinese exorcistic tradition using wooden masks and ancestor worship to drive away malevolent forcesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanMononoke物の怪
A Japanese term for spirits believed to cause illness and misfortune through possession or curses.Being · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFangxiangshi方相氏
An official Chinese exorcist who cleared demons from houses and tombsRite · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇯🇵 JapanFutomani太占
A Shinto divination method using heated deer shoulder blades to read future patternsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 JapanKabura-ya鏑矢
A Japanese arrow with a whistling tip used in ritual archery and Shinto ritesSubstance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanHachiman八幡神
A Japanese deity of war and the imperial family, worshipped as both kami and bodhisattva.Being · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇨🇳 ChinaWaidan外丹
An early Chinese alchemical practice focused on compounding mineral elixirs for immortalityTradition Historical
🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女
A Shinto shrine priestess and traditional female medium in JapanTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道
A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanShikigami式神
A conjured spirit from Japanese Onmyōdō, often bound to paper or animal form.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKagura神楽
A Shinto ritual dance where performers embody deities to purify and welcome spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇯🇵 JapanChinkon kishin鎮魂帰神
A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanUkehi誓
A Japanese divination ritual using oaths and sortition to seek the will of the kamiRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき)
A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreNuo folk religion傩 (Nuó)
A Chinese exorcistic tradition using wooden masks and ancestor worship to drive away malevolent forcesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanMononoke物の怪
A Japanese term for spirits believed to cause illness and misfortune through possession or curses.Being · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFangxiangshi方相氏
An official Chinese exorcist who cleared demons from houses and tombsRite · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇯🇵 JapanFutomani太占
A Shinto divination method using heated deer shoulder blades to read future patternsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 JapanKabura-ya鏑矢
A Japanese arrow with a whistling tip used in ritual archery and Shinto ritesSubstance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanHachiman八幡神
A Japanese deity of war and the imperial family, worshipped as both kami and bodhisattva.Being · Protection · Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hachiman: SLIMHANNYA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fangxiangshi: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Waidan: 尹真人, Public domain, source
- Miko: Chris Gladis, Flickr user MShades, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shugendō: 唐山健志郎 (Kenshiro Karayama), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese shamanism: No machine-readable author provided. +上帝+ assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nuo folk religion: Wikiwikiyarou, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kagura: Elstner Hilton, Public domain, source
- Chinkon kishin: Tomokiyo Yoshisane (友清歓真), also known as Tomokiyo Kyūgo (友清九吾), Public domain, source
- Futomani: Miura Hiroyuki, Public domain, source
- Kabura-ya: urasimaru, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Mononoke: Unknown author, Public domain, source