All entries
2,000 entries so far, best known first. 3,529 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreSaturnSāturnus
Roman god of time and agriculture, linked to the Saturnalia festivalBeing · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreEight Immortals八仙
Eight legendary Taoist figures of China, each with a power and a vesselFigure · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreYakshiniयक्षिणी
Some guard, some haunt: female nature spirits of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain loreBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanKami神
Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreEleguaÈṣù-Ẹlẹ́gbára
A Yoruba deity of crossroads and messenger who opens all spiritual pathsBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreEshuÈṣù
A Yoruba spirit of crossroads, messengers and the balance between joy and sorrowBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanŌkuninushi大国主神
A Japanese kami of the earth, nation-building, and protective magic.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 3 moreYemọjaYemoja
A mother spirit of rivers and oceans worshipped across Yoruba and diaspora traditionsBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 3 moreOshunỌ̀ṣun
A Yoruba water spirit linked to love, wealth, and the Osun River in Nigeria.Being · Love and attraction · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna
The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇭🇹 HaitiBoum'ba Maza
A family of water spirits in Haitian Vodou ritesBeing · Luck and prosperity · Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Fortuna: Charles Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eight Immortals: Fanghong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yakshini: Brihaspati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Elegua: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Eshu: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ōkuninushi: Yashima Gakutei, CC0, source
- Yemọja: Samuel Tobbytex007, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oshun: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " Department_of_Trife ", CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Saturn: Robert Lowe, CC BY 2.0, source