All entries
2,105 entries so far, best known first. 3,329 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
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreDay of the DeadDía de los Muertos
A Mexican holiday honoring the dead with altars, food, and humor during Allhallowtide.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教
Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreTilopa
A tenth-century Buddhist tantric master who transmitted Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa.Figure · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptTheurgyθεουργία
A Neoplatonic ritual path to unite the soul with the divine through sacred actsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇹🇭 ThailandYi Pengยี่เป็ง
A northern Thai festival of lights featuring sky lanterns and Buddhist merit-makingTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreSilver bullet
A folk weapon for monsters and a metaphor for simple solutionsCharm · Cursing and harm Historical
🇧🇷 BrazilBoitatá
A fiery serpent of Brazilian folklore that guards forests or frightens childrenBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreUpanayanaउपनयन
A Hindu rite of passage marking a student's initiation into formal education and spiritual discipline.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇲🇽 MexicoNagualnāhualli
A Mesoamerican belief in humans who shapeshift into animal counterparts.Belief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇹 ItalyThe MagicianLe Bateleur
A tarot trump symbolizing power and the link between spirit and matterText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇹🇭 Thailand and 7 moreSpirit house
A small roofed shrine that shelters a place's protective spiritCharm · Protection Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square
A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreTotemdoodem
A spirit or symbol linking a group to nature, from Ojibwe clan systems to Australian kinshipBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreMaraboutmurābiṭ
A Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, often linked to Sufi brotherhoods.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪
A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇲🇽 MexicoOfrenda
A Mexican home altar built to welcome the souls of the dead during Día de los MuertosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇦🇺 AustraliaWelcome to Country
A ceremony performed by Aboriginal elders to welcome visitors to their landRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic
The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇪🇹 EthiopiaPlanetary hours
A system assigning celestial rulers to each hour of the day and weekTradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreMaha Shivaratriमहाशिवरात्रि
A Hindu night of fasting and vigil dedicated to the deity ShivaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton
An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaKamakhya Templekamakhya mondir
A Hindu temple in Assam known for its yoni shrine and the Ambubachi Mela festivalTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇶 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOmen
A sign believed to foretell the future and signal coming changeBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex
A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaPili Yesaಪಿಲಿವೇಷ
A coastal Karnataka folk dance where performers paint themselves as tigers to honour the Goddess DurgaIllusion · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreKongo religionBukongo
The animistic beliefs and ancestor veneration of the Bakongo people in Central AfricaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇮🇩 IndonesiaRangdaᬭᬗ᭄ᬤ
A Balinese demon queen who leads witches in an eternal battle against good.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreIsisꜣst (Egyptian)
Egyptian goddess of magic, mourning and kingship, mother of HorusBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り
Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreShell game
A street swindle using covered containers to hide a marker while taking betsIllusion · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇾 SyriaAlectryomancy
Divination using a rooster to select letters from grainOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKūkai空海
Founder of Shingon Buddhism who brought Vajrayana esoteric practices from China to Japan.Text · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇨🇴 ColombiaColombian folklore
Beliefs and legends passed down through generations in ColombiaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreSaturnalia
An ancient Roman winter festival of role reversal and feasting in honor of SaturnTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptAbraxasἈβράξας
A Gnostic archon and the name on ancient protective gemstonesBeing · Protection Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreTyrTýr
A Germanic deity of war and oaths, known for sacrificing his hand to a wolfBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreĒostre
An Anglo-Saxon goddess linked to spring and the dawn, whose name became Easter.Being · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 6 moreBurning of Judas
An Easter rite where an effigy of the betrayer is destroyed by fire or other meansRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreQuyllurit'iQoyllur Rit'i
A syncretic Andean pilgrimage celebrating the Pleiades and the Lord of Star SnowTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇧🇴 Bolivia and 2 moreYatiri
A lightning-struck healer in Aymara communities who restores balance with nature and ancestorsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreMapuche religion
The traditional spiritual practice of the Mapuche people of Chile and ArgentinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower
A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreFaust
A German legend of a scholar who trades his soul for knowledge and pleasureFigure · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ancestor veneration in China: Three huntings, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tilopa: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yi Peng: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Silver bullet: Smithsonian Institution, CC0, source
- Boitatá: The ponta cabeça, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Upanayana: vinodbahal, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nagual: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- The Magician: Pamela Colman Smith, Public domain, source
- Spirit house: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marabout: Jan Broekhuijse, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋 暁斎), Public domain, source
- Ofrenda: Eneas de Troya, CC BY 2.0, source
- Welcome to Country: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0 au, source
- Maha Shivaratri: Navneesh Ramessur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kamakhya Temple: JyotiPN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omen: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Pili Yesa: Premnath Kudva, CC BY 3.0, source
- Rangda: Boy Lawson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Isis: Ägyptischer Maler um 1360 v. Chr., Public domain, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Shell game: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Alectryomancy: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
- Kūkai: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Colombian folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Abraxas: Louis Breton, M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
- Tyr: Gunnar Creutz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burning of Judas: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ēostre: Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921), Public domain, source
- Quyllurit'i: AgainErick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yatiri: EEJCC, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mapuche religion: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
- Faust: Earthsphere, CC BY-SA 4.0, source