All entries
1,216 entries so far, best known first. 4,906 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
🇮🇳 IndiaNechung Oracleགནས་ཆུང་ཏ་བླ་མ
The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreCleromancy
A divination method that uses random chance to reveal divine willOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇪🇬 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng)
A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreIfá
A Yoruba divination system using palm nuts to access spiritual guidanceTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy
Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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 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
🇬🇷 GreeceAornumἌορνον
A Greek cave oracle said to be a gateway to the underworldOracle · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fuji: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Ifá: Toluaye, Public domain, source
- Jiaobei: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos, CC BY 2.0, source
- Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cleromancy: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source