Entries beginning with C
41 entries under C.
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn
A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇽 MexicoCalavera
A sugar or clay skull used in Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCalifornian white sage
A California shrub used by Indigenous peoples for food, healing, and ritual cleansingSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreCandomblé
An Afro-Brazilian religion blending West African spirits with Catholic imageryTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇨🇳 ChinaCao Guojiu曹國舅
A Taoist immortal who abandoned his court career to help the poor and learn magic.Figure · Power and authority Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCard throwing
The performance art of launching playing cards with speed and precision as stage magic.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇫🇷 FranceCartomancy
Divination using playing cards or tarot decks to foresee the futureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 GreeceCassandraΚασσάνδρα
A Trojan priestess cursed to speak truth that no one acceptsFigure · Seeing and foretelling Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomCat-sìth
A spectral feline from Celtic lore that haunts the Scottish Highlands and guards the dead.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreCaul
A birth membrane kept as a talisman for luck and protection from drowningCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCeridwenCerridwen
A Welsh enchantress and modern goddess of poetic inspiration and transformation.Being · Change and initiation Revived
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCernunnos
An antlered Celtic deity depicted with torcs and serpents, known from Roman-era Gaul.Being · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreChaharshanbe Suriچهارشنبهسوری
An Iranian fire festival marking the transition from winter to springTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 IndiaChakraचक्र
Meditation points in the subtle body used in Hindu and Buddhist yogaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇲🇽 MexicoChaneque
Mexican folklore sprites that guard nature and homesBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomCharmer
English folk healers who used gifts or verses to treat natural ailments without chargeTradition · Healing Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChen Tuan陳摶
A Chinese Taoist sage known for internal arts and sleep cultivation methodsFigure · Healing · Power and authority Historical
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreChild sacrifice
The ritual killing of children to appease deities or restore cosmic order in ancient culturesRite · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese alchemy煉丹術
A Taoist pursuit of longevity through elixirs and internal cultivationTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍
A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChing Ling Foo金陵福 (Jīn Língfú)
A Chinese stage magician who toured the United States and Europe in the late nineteenth centuryIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreChullachaqui
A one-footed forest spirit of the Amazon that lures or challenges humansBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChung Ling Soo程連蘇
An American stage magician who performed as a Chinese man and died during a bullet catch illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico and 5 moreChupacabrachupacabras
A legendary creature said to drain livestock of blood, emerging from Puerto Rico in the mid-1990sBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChurch grim
A guardian spirit of Christian churchyards, often appearing as a black dog or lamb.Being · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459
An allegorical romance and Rosicrucian manifesto detailing a seven-day alchemical initiation.Text · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceCirceΚίρκη
A Greek goddess and witch known for turning men into beasts with her potionsBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇵🇹 Portugal and 5 moreCocoCoca
A monster used to frighten children into obedience across the Iberian world and Latin America.Figure · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCorn dolly
A woven straw figure made from the last sheaf of a European harvest to house the crop spirit.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Revived
🇮🇹 ItalyCornicello
A twisted horn charm worn in Italy to ward off the evil eye and invite luck.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCorpus Hermeticum
A collection of Greek writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus that shaped Western esoteric thoughtText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesCotton Mather
A Puritan minister and writer known for his role in the Salem witch trials and promotion of smallpox inoculationFigure Historical
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCount of St. GermainComte de Saint Germain
An 18th-century European adventurer known for alchemy, music, and claims of immortality.Figure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore)
A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇹 ItalyCumaean SibylSibylla Cumana
The priestess of the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, famous in Roman legend for her prophetic books and underworld guidance.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk
European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇲🇽 Mexico and 3 moreCurandero
A folk healer in Latin America and the United States who blends indigenous and Catholic traditions.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇪🇬 EgyptCurse
A spoken wish for misfortune to befall a person or placeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs
A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreCurupira
A backwards-footed forest guardian from Brazilian indigenous myth who punishes loggers and misleads travelers.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomCŵn Annwn
Spectral hounds of the Welsh otherworld that hunt souls and signal deathBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cornicello: Antonio Cavallo, Public domain, source
- Calavera: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Crossroads (folklore): MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chakra: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Cumaean Sibyl: Elihu Vedder, Public domain, source
- Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Chinese alchemy: 尹真人, Public domain, source
- Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Corn dolly: Renata ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Caul: JC Brand, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cernunnos: Nationalmuseet, Roberto Fortuna og Kira Ursem, Public domain, source
- Cotton Mather: Peter Pelham, Public domain, source
- Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Child sacrifice: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
- Californian white sage: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chullachaqui: LLs, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chaharshanbe Suri: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
- Card throwing: Felbify, CC BY 3.0, source
- Corpus Hermeticum: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
- Chung Ling Soo: AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cao Guojiu: Zhang Lu, Public domain, source
- Ceridwen: Chris Denny, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cassandra: George Romney, Public domain, source
- Circe: Wright Barker, Public domain, source
- Cartomancy: Alma Erdmann, Public domain, source
- Chupacabra: Dick Langer, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Curupira: Sturm, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chaneque: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Coco: Francisco de Goya, CC0, source
- Candomblé: André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cat-sìth: John D. Batten, Public domain, source
- Church grim: Inès Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source