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1,912 entries so far, best known first. 3,719 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

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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

PeopleJewish (remove)

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLilithלִילִית A feminine figure from Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, often depicted as a night demon or spirit.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇫🇮 Finland and 5 moreMolybdomancy A divination method using molten metal poured into water to read omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreBelialבְּלִיַּעַל A Hebrew term for worthlessness that evolved into a demon of darkness in Jewish and Christian texts.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreRahabרַהַב A Hebrew mythic sea monster and symbol of chaos, later used as a poetic name for Egypt.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary 🇮🇱 IsraelAgrat bat Mahlatאגרת בת מחלת A demon in Jewish tradition who rules over destructive spirits and night hours.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇱 IsraelMessiah ben Josephמָשִׁיחַ בֶּן־יוֹסֵף A Jewish eschatological figure who wages war and dies before the final age of peaceFigure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreMahalathמָחֲלַת A queen of demons in Jewish mysticism and the mother of AgratBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇱 IsraelQlippothקְלִיפּוֹת Impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, opposites of the holy sefirotBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSe'irimשעירים Demons of Hebrew tradition linked to wild goats and ruined placesBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Molybdomancy: Micha L. Rieser, Attribution, source
Lilith: Photographs by Ardon Bar Hama, author of original document is unknown., Public domain, source

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