All entries

2,158 entries so far, best known first. 3,227 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

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAzazelעזאזל A desert place and fallen angel linked to the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritualFigure · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyWitches of Benevento A medieval Italian legend of witches gathering under a walnut treeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreJiang Ziya姜子牙 A historical strategist and war god who helped establish the Zhou dynastyFigure · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreEdward Kelley An English occultist and scryer who worked with John Dee to contact angels and practice alchemy.Figure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 JapanKamo no Yasunori賀茂保憲 A Heian-era onmyōji and teacher of Abe no Seimei in Japanese esoteric artsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYoginiयोगिनी A female master of yoga and tantra, or a fierce goddess aspect in Indian temples.Tradition · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesCotton Mather A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreJabir ibn Hayyanجابِر بِن حَيّان A legendary Islamic alchemist and philosopher whose writings shaped medieval magic and chemistryText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreShimon bar Yochaiשמעון בר יוחאי A second-century sage of the Land of Israel and a central figure in Kabbalistic tradition.Figure · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomGiles Corey An English-born farmer pressed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trialsFigure Historical 🇪🇸 SpainMaslama al-Majritiأبو القاسم مسلمة بن أحمد المجريطي A tenth-century scholar of alchemy and astronomy in Islamic Spain.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCount of St. GermainComte de Saint Germain An 18th-century European adventurer known for alchemy, music, and claims of immortality.Figure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreJannes and Jambresיניס וימבריס Named Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in biblical traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomMatthew Hopkins The English witch-hunter who led the deadliest wave of executions in Britain.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 morePietro d'Abano A medieval physician and astrologer accused of heresy and magic.Text · Healing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyJohannes Junius Mayor of Bamberg executed in the witch trials, known for a letter to his daughterFigure Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers British occultist and co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden DawnFigure Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaChen Tuan陳摶 A Chinese Taoist sage known for internal arts and sleep cultivation methodsFigure · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomWilliam Lilly A seventeenth-century English astrologer and author who shaped Western tradition.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptImhotepỉỉ-m-ḥtp An ancient Egyptian architect deified as a god of healing and wisdomBeing · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptKhaemwesetḫꜥ m wꜣst A prince and priest remembered for restoring ancient Egyptian monuments.Figure Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaNaropa An Indian Buddhist master whose teachings shaped Tibetan Vajrayana practiceFigure · Change and initiation Historical

🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 moreApollonius of TyanaἈπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς A first-century philosopher and miracle worker whose life became a legend of divine power.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 JapanEn no Gyōja役小角 A legendary Japanese ascetic and founder of Shugendō mountain practiceFigure · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 1 moreZoroasterZarathushtra Spitama Spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism and composer of the GathasFigure Historical 🇮🇪 IrelandBodach A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreTilopa A tenth-century Buddhist tantric master who transmitted Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa.Figure · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaBamakhepaবামাখ্যাপা A Bengali Hindu saint known for his devotion to Goddess Tara and meditation in cremation grounds.Figure · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇵🇰 Pakistan and 4 moreLal Shahbaz Qalandarلعل شهباز قلندر A Sufi saint and poet revered in South Asia, especially among the Sindhi people.Figure · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreSampo A magical mill or world pillar in Finnish and Estonian mythology that produces wealth.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Historical

🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 morePig-faced women A European legend of a woman with the face of a pig, and the charms used to break her curseFigure · Change and initiation Historical

🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇦 UkraineGhost of KyivПривид Києва A wartime legend of a mythical fighter pilot who rallied Ukrainian morale.Figure · Power and authority Historical 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreKalevaKalev A primordial giant and ancestral figure in the mythologies of Estonia and FinlandBeing · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreDietrich von Bern A legendary Germanic hero based on the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the GreatFigure · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreFairy Queen A female ruler of fairies found in folklore, literature, and witchcraft trials across Europe.Figure · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 JapanAosaginohi青鷺火 A Japanese will-o'-the-wisp attributed to the glowing flight of herons at nightBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesHodag A fabricated American cryptid from Wisconsin folklore and tall talesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇷🇺 RussiaTriple-headed eagle A heraldic and mythological bird with three heads, appearing in Russian symbolism and European manuscripts.Being · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCola Pesce An Italian merman legend about a boy cursed by his mother to live in the seaFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreFearsome critters Tall tale animals from North American logging camps used to jest and explain the wild.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaSeolmundae Halmang설문대할망 A giant creator figure from Jeju Island who shaped the land and its volcanoes.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesZelph A figure identified by Joseph Smith as a buried warrior in IllinoisFigure · Power and authority Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Sampo: Väinö Blomstedt, Public domain, source
Pig-faced women: DubhEire, CC0, source
Aosaginohi: Koikawa Harumachi ja:恋川春町 (1744-1789), Public domain, source
Hodag: Gourami Watcher, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Matthew Hopkins: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Zelph: HotWheels53, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
William Lilly: Simon Harriyott, CC BY 2.0, source
Imhotep: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
Khaemweset: No machine-readable author provided. Neithsabes assumed (based on copy, Public domain, source
Naropa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Apollonius of Tyana: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fairy: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
En no Gyōja: Wmpearl, CC0, source
Zoroaster: 19th century in Mumbai according to 青木健 The original uploader was Aria, Public domain, source
Tilopa: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Bamakhepa: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar: Fassifarooq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Dietrich von Bern: Workshop of Diebolt Lauber, Hagenau 1444-1448, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Fearsome critters: Coert Du Bois, Public domain, source
Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Azazel: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pietro d'Abano: Marco Chemello (Wikimedia Italia), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jannes and Jambres: Gerard Hoet, Public domain, source
Shimon bar Yochai: איתי פרץ, Attribution, source
Jabir ibn Hayyan: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
Yogini: Soumendra Barik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Edward Kelley: Thomas Pennant, Public domain, source
Jiang Ziya: Wang Qi, Public domain, source
Ghost of Kyiv: Андрій Данкович / Andriy Dankovych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
Triple-headed eagle: Неизвестный автор. (фото обложки сборника: Александр Храмов), Public domain, source

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Photo credits on this page

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