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
馃嚚馃嚭 Cuba and 2 moreSanter铆aRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba beliefs with Catholicism and SpiritismTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚫馃嚫 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion
Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world
Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚥馃嚞 MadagascarSikidy
An algebraic geomancy practiced by Malagasy peoples using seeds to read fate and prescribe remediesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Living
馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun
A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition 路 Healing 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
馃嚦馃嚞 Nigeria and 5 moreIf谩
A Yoruba divination system using palm nuts to access spiritual guidanceTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚚馃嚤 Chile and 1 moreMachi
Mapuche spiritual authorities and healers who bridge herbal knowledge and spirit realmsTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚚馃嚝 Central African Republic and 5 moreWitchcraft in Africa
Beliefs about supernatural harm and the social responses to accusations across the continentBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Living
馃嚚馃嚛 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition 路 Healing 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaNechung Oracle嘟傕綋嘟︵紜嘟嗋酱嘟勦紜嘟忇紜嘟栢境嗉嬥綐
The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk
European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚞馃嚬 Guatemala and 3 moreMaya religion
The living spiritual practices of the Maya peoples, shaped by centuries of contact with Catholicism.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreOomancy
Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreAfrican divination
Methods used across the continent to understand present realities and predict future events.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy艢uri饜寫饜寲饜寷饜墿 (Etruscan)
An ancient Etruscan deity of volcanic fire, the underworld, and healingBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚥馃嚤 Mali and 1 moreSandobele
A Senufo woman diviner who mediates between the village and bush spirits.Being 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚳馃嚘 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho
Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dukun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- 艢uri: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- If谩: Toluaye, Public domain, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Machi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- African divination: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sikidy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Santer铆a: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source