All entries

2,106 entries so far, best known first. 3,323 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇰🇮 Kiribati and 4 moreMicronesian mythology The traditional belief systems and legends of the island peoples in the southwest Pacific.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming A worldview of ancestral creation and eternal law in Australian Aboriginal cultureTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇫🇯 FijiFijian mythology The traditional beliefs and stories of the indigenous people of FijiTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreAitu A Polynesian term for spirits, ghosts, or calamityBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreTapu A Polynesian concept of sacred restriction and spiritual prohibitionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaWitch-hunts in Papua New Guinea Violent attacks on people accused of sorcery, mainly women and girlsBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇹🇴 Tonga and 5 moreTabootapu A cultural prohibition that marks something as forbidden or sacredBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreTattoo A permanent mark made by placing pigment under the skin to form a design.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living 🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living

🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇦🇺 Australia and 3 moreNelson (cricket) A cricket superstition about the score 111 and the leg-raising ritual to ward it offBelief · Luck and prosperity Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Taboo: Jonathan McIntosh, CC BY 2.0, source
Witch-hunts in Papua New Guinea: The original uploader was Dr. Blofeld at English Wikipedia ., Attribution, source
Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tattoo: Muyayo tattoo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
The Dreaming: September 1985, Public domain, source
Nelson (cricket): Lemuel Francis Abbott, Public domain, source
Mana: Unknown author, Public domain, source

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Photo credits on this page

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