All entries
2,212 entries so far, best known first. 3,117 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
🇬🇱 GreenlandAnguta
A Greenlandic Inuit figure who guides the dead and fathered the sea goddess SednaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of the Boulder Valley
A legend attributed to Chief Niwot about the valley's beauty and its futureBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesThe Occult: A History
A 1971 survey of occult figures and latent human powers by Colin WilsonText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion
Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇦 CanadaOak Island mystery
A centuries-old legend of buried treasure and unexplained engineering on a Canadian island.Belief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreKyöpelinvuori
A Finnish mountain where dead women are said to gather after deathBelief Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic
A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing 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
🇺🇸 United StatesBelled buzzard
A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey
A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment 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
🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of Rocky Colavito
A baseball superstition linking a 1960 player trade to decades of team failureBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreChain letterFukou no Tegami
A message that demands copying and forwarding to avoid bad luck or gain fortuneBelief · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇦 CanadaOak Island mystery
A centuries-old legend of buried treasure and unexplained engineering on a Canadian island.Belief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreKyöpelinvuori
A Finnish mountain where dead women are said to gather after deathBelief Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic
A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing 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
🇺🇸 United StatesBelled buzzard
A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey
A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment 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
🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of Rocky Colavito
A baseball superstition linking a 1960 player trade to decades of team failureBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreChain letterFukou no Tegami
A message that demands copying and forwarding to avoid bad luck or gain fortuneBelief · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
- Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Oak Island mystery: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source