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.
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
🇮🇳 IndiaAtharvavedaअथर्ववेद
The fourth Veda of Hinduism, containing spells, healing rites, and domestic rituals.Text · Protection · Healing Historical
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCoin-sword辟邪劍 (bì xié jiàn)
A Chinese numismatic talisman made of cash coins strung on a rod to ward off evil spiritsCharm · Protection Living
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreStrichaСтріча
A Slavic goddess who spins the golden thread of human destiny and good fortuneBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity
A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreLaumaLaumė
A Baltic fairy-like spirit of the sky, weather, and newborn children.Being · Protection · Healing Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou
A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ
Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair
A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · 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.
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Atharvaveda: William Dwight Whitney / Charles Rockwell Lanman, Public domain, source
- Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Coin-sword: Etnografiska museet, CC BY 2.5, source
- Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Lauma: Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, source
- Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source