All entries
2,161 entries so far, best known first. 3,219 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
🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to reveal luck and life adviceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy
Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoon blocks筊杯
Two crescent blocks thrown to a deity for a yes or noOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤
A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese fortune telling算命 (Suànmìng)
Reading faces, palms, birth hours and places to map a person's luck through lifeTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數
A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling 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
🇨🇳 ChinaI Ching divination
A Chinese oracle using hexagrams derived from yarrow stalks or coinsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 ChinaPodomancy
A divination method that reads the lines and shapes of the soles to reveal character and fateOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaFlying Star Feng Shui
A Chinese feng shui school that charts a building's nine squares for good and bad qiTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanFutomani太占
A Shinto divination method using heated deer shoulder blades to read future patternsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 JapanTōkyūjutsu淘宮術
A Japanese fortune-telling system based on birth date and facial featuresOracle · Seeing and foretelling · 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.
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Moon blocks: Hsiung/d6478coke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
- I Ching divination: A.Davey, CC BY 2.0, source
- Jiaobei: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos, CC BY 2.0, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Podomancy: Eyefive45, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source
- Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fuji: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Futomani: Miura Hiroyuki, Public domain, source
- Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Flying Star Feng Shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source