All entries
2,046 entries so far, best known first. 3,433 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreEvil eye
A curse caused by an envious look and the charms used to block itBelief · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGhost FestivalZhongyuan Festival; Yulanpen Festival
A festival to feed wandering spirits and guide them home during the seventh lunar month.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
A suffering spirit of insatiable hunger found in Asian religious traditionsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇸🇩 Sudan and 5 moreIncense
Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreRelic
An object or body part kept to honor a holy person and mark their connection to the divineCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар
A Mongol lunisolar new year marked by white clothes and dairy feastsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 morePrayer flagLung ta
Cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the windCharm · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇱🇾 Libya and 4 moreTraditional Berber religionAmazigh religion
Ancient beliefs of Northwest Africa centered on celestial bodies, caves, and ancestors.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreEight Immortals八仙
Eight legendary Taoist figures of China, each with a power and a vesselFigure · Protection · Healing Living
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log
A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKavu
Sacred forest patches in South India that protect local deities and wildlifeTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 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
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGarba
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a central symbol during NavaratriIllusion · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGuanyin觀音 (Guānyīn)
The Bodhisattva of compassion, worshipped across East Asia as a listener to human sufferingBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreWell dressing
A rural English custom of decorating water sources with natural designsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMahakaleshwar JyotirlingaMahākāleśvara
A sacred Shiva shrine in Ujjain, India, known for its south-facing idol and ancient origins.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreCopal
A tree resin used as incense in Mesoamerica and varnish in EuropeSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cleansing and purification Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreKrampus
A horned Alpine figure who punishes misbehaving children on KrampusnachtFigure · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake worship
Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United StatesFolk healer
An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇲🇽 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
🇮🇳 IndiaPanchagavya
A fermented mixture of five cow products used in Hindu rituals and Ayurvedic traditions.Substance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम्
A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 morePrecious coral
A marine skeleton harvested for jewelry and worn as a protective charm in several culturesSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomUp Helly Aa
A Shetland fire festival marking the end of Yule with a torchlit procession and burning of a Viking galleyRite · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreHamsaخمسة
A palm-shaped amulet used across North Africa and the Middle East to ward off harm.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie
A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 1 moreJinnجِنّ
Supernatural beings in Islamic and pre-Islamic Arabian belief, created from smokeless fire.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreAmber
Fossilized tree resin used in jewelry and folk healing traditionsSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLibation
The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇳🇴 NorwayEsbat
A monthly Wiccan ritual held at the full or new moon for worship and community.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇩 IndonesiaOgoh-ogohᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ ᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ
Balinese sculptures paraded and burned to cleanse the environment before NyepiTradition · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFirst-footciad-chuairt
The first visitor on New Year's Day, believed to set the household's fortune for the year aheadTradition · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo
An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreSerer religionA ƭat Roog
The traditional faith of the Serer people, centred on the supreme deity Roog and ancestral veneration.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreKitchen God灶君
The Chinese hearth deity who reports domestic conduct to the Jade EmperorBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 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
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A daily geometric floor drawing made with rice flour at the home entrance in South IndiaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreHoliहोली
A Hindu spring festival marked by coloured powders and bonfires to celebrate love and virtue.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreBonfire
A large outdoor fire used in seasonal festivals and religious feasts across many culturesRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇶 IraqKispu
An ancient Mesopotamian ritual to feed and honour the dead ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptUshabtiwšbtj
Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines believed to work for the dead in the afterlifeCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇵🇸 Palestine and 1 moreRachel's TombQever Raḥel; Qabr Rāḥīl
A shared holy site near Bethlehem revered by Jews, Christians, and MuslimsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanDaruma doll達磨
A round Japanese talisman that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna
The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire
A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rachel's Tomb: Lane-Poole, Stanley, Public domain, source
- Calavera: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Holi: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Up Helly Aa: Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Guanyin: JL Cogburn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Serer religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Well dressing: User:WhaleyTim, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Crossroads (folklore): MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fortuna: Charles Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Precious coral: Géry PARENT, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ushabti: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bonfire: S Marshall, CC BY 3.0, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eight Immortals: Fanghong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Copal: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ogoh-ogoh: Simondodit, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga: Ashverse, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Amber: uploaded with permission, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Traditional Berber religion: Potymkin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hamsa: Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jinn: VenusFeuerFalle, CC0, source
- Kavu: Ashwin.appus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Relic: MathieuGuy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ghost Festival: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source