All entries
2,242 entries so far, best known first. 3,068 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 3 morePalladium
A sacred image or object believed to guarantee the safety of a city or nationCharm · Protection Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese sorcery scares
A series of moral panics in Imperial China driven by fears of magical harm and hair cuttingBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreKyöpelinvuori
A Finnish mountain where dead women are said to gather after deathBelief Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie
A foundational treatise on ritual magic by Éliphas Lévi, structured around the tarot.Text · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelEisheth Zenunimאֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים
A demonic epithet for Lilith in Kabbalah and Western esotericismFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇭 GhanaWitch camp
Settlements in Ghana where women accused of witchcraft seek refuge from violence and persecution.Tradition · Protection Historical
🇵🇱 PolandFrankenstein town gravediggers scandal
A 1606 witchcraft trial in Silesia that may have inspired Mary Shelley's novelBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann
A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelMessiah ben Josephמָשִׁיחַ בֶּן־יוֹסֵף
A Jewish eschatological figure who wages war and dies before the final age of peaceFigure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePardesפרד״ס
A four-level method for interpreting Jewish scriptureText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreKarzełekСкарбник, Кладенец
A Slavic mine spirit that guards treasures and guides miners.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesChepi
A spirit of the dead in Narragansett belief, called upon for vengeance.Being · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreMagical motto
A chosen name used by occultists to separate their spiritual identity from their everyday life.Belief · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation
A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇯🇵 JapanDaigensuihō大元帥法
An Esoteric Shingon Buddhist rite for military defense and cursing enemiesRite · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesBelled buzzard
A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreTietäjä
A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure · Healing · Protection Historical
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak
A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇵🇦 PanamaPanama Creature
A decomposing sloth carcass mistaken for a monster in PanamaBeing Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey
A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyOmen (ancient Rome)omen
A sign in ancient Rome believed to reveal the future, good or bad.Belief · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreDrude
A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCain bairns
A Scottish folk belief that witches took children as a tax to the DevilBelief Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil
A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMadgy Figgy's Chair
A granite rock in Cornwall linked to a legendary witch and her storm conjuringFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇩🇪 GermanySuhl card reader case
A 1956 East German trial of a psychic for favorable forecasts about leaving the countryBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAyakashi妖
Water spirits and ghost lights in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyUR Group
An Italian esoteric circle studying magic and traditional philosophy in the late 1920s.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSolar Lodge
A California-based magical order active in the 1960s, known for its A∴A∴ curriculum and legal troubles.Tradition · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKyōka Hyaku Monogatari狂歌百物語
An 1853 Japanese picture book pairing yōkai illustrations with humorous kyōka poetryText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇴 RomaniaUriaș
Giants in Romanian folklore, known by regional names and linked to landscape features.Being Historical
🇱🇷 LiberiaMaryland ritual killings
A 1970s Liberian case of ritual murders and the public executions that followedBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceNymphνύμφη
A nature spirit from Greek myth, tied to specific places like springs or trees, often seen as a maiden.Being · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism)
Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreBožićБожић
A Slavic figure linked to the new year and spring, whose name now marks ChristmasFigure · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCurse of Scotland
A nickname for a playing card linked to bad luck and Scottish historyBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇾🇪 YemenʿAnāqأناق بنت آدم
A monstrous daughter of Adam in Islamic extra-Quranic traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCurse of BraganzaMaldição dos Braganças
A historical myth about premature deaths in the Portuguese and Brazilian royal housesBelief Historical
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBlack Orlov
A black diamond linked to a legend of theft and tragic deathsCharm · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGold of Tolosa
A legendary treasure hoard seized by Rome and lost to historyBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων
A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptAkhty
A rarely attested ancient Egyptian deity linked to the ibis and the evening horizon.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreGrim Reaper
A hooded skeleton with a scythe, representing death in Western art and story.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun
A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyAlchemical DoorPorta Alchemica
A Roman gate covered in alchemical symbols and legends of transmutationCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyMagic Circle of the German Democratic RepublicMagischer Zirkel der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
A national association for stage magicians in East Germany from 1956 to 1990.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBiast Bhealach Odail
A shapeshifting spirit of a Scottish mountain passBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyShe-wolf (Roman mythology)lupa
The mythical wolf that nursed Rome's founders and became the city's enduring symbolFigure · Power and authority Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
- Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Witch camp: Hasslaebetch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Frankenstein town gravediggers scandal: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
- Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- Karzełek: Krystian Hasterok, CC BY 2.5, source
- Daigensuihō: Kamakura-period artist; photo by Kudo Risaburo (工藤利三郎), Public domain, source
- Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
- Tietäjä: Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Public domain, source
- Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panama Creature: Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl, CC BY 2.5, source
- Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Drude: Ramessos, Public domain, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Madgy Figgy's Chair: Jim Champion, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- UR Group: Gruppo di Ur, Public domain, source
- Maryland ritual killings: Fred van der Kraaij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nymph: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Curse of Scotland: James Gillray (died 1815), Public domain, source
- Curse of Braganza: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gold of Tolosa: AchilleT, Public domain, source
- Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
- Akhty: Rémih, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Grim Reaper: Jaroslav A. Polák, CC BY 4.0, source
- Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Alchemical Door: Sailko, CC BY 2.5, source