All entries
2,266 entries so far, best known first. 3,044 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
🇯🇵 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
🇺🇸 United StatesPolka-dot paint
A stage magic trick and a real paint product that creates dotted patternsSubstance · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyBologna bottle
A glass vessel that withstands hammer blows but shatters from an internal scratchCharm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaPortal (magic trick)
A stage illusion where the magician and a volunteer vanish to appear in a distant location.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇱 GreenlandIdlirvirissong
A sky spirit who tests the dead with a dance and punishes laughter by disembowelling them.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomChained Oak
A Staffordshire oak bound in chains by a local legend of a curse and an earl.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesBell Witch
A Tennessee legend of a shapeshifting spirit that tormented the Bell family in the early nineteenth century.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇷 GreeceMeilichiosΜειλίχιος
An ancient Greek chthonic spirit linked to Zeus and appeased through fire offerings.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceMoiraiΜοίρες
Greek personifications of destiny who spin, measure, and cut the thread of life.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaKhongjomnubi NonggarolKhongchomnupi Nongkalol
A Meitei puya with two stories of transformation and ascent to the sky.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇯🇵 JapanHashihime橋姫
A Japanese bridge spirit linked to jealousy and demonic transformation in folklore and Noh theatre.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids
Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇷 GreeceEurynomosΕὐρύνομος
An ancient Greek underworld spirit said to strip corpses down to bone.Being Legendary
🇹🇳 TunisiaOmek Tannou
A Tunisian rainmaking ritual using a sculpted head or stick to call for water during droughts.Rite · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSailors' superstitions
A global collection of omens, charms and taboos used by mariners to manage the risks of life at seaBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern
An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇧🇿 BelizeTata DuendeNukuch Tat
A thumbless forest spirit of Belizean folklore that protects animals and warns children.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇷🇴 RomaniaSântoaderi
Supernatural beings in Romanian folklore known for causing illness through music and danceBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreThoughtography念写
A claimed psychic ability to imprint mental images directly onto photographic film.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaMusok eumak무속 음악
Traditional Korean shamanistic music performed during gut rituals to induce tranceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreTelekinesis
A purported psychic ability to move objects with the mind aloneBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreCash方孔錢
A round copper coin with a square hole used in China and East Asia for two millennia.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoney tree搖錢樹
A mythical tree of fortune and a Chinese New Year custom for wealthFigure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreRemote viewing
A claimed psychic ability to perceive distant targets without using the sensesBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayTycho Brahe daysTycho Brahes-dage
Scandinavian folklore dates believed to be unlucky for magic and businessBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandDjákninn á Myrká
An Icelandic ghost story about a dead deacon who returns for his bride on Christmas EveFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAgathos Daimonἀγαθὸς δαίμων
A noble spirit and serpent deity of Greek and Egyptian traditionBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreEctoplasm
A substance said to be excreted by mediums during séances, later exposed as common household materials.Substance · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression
A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesKa-Bala
A 1967 talking board game that claims to tell the future with a spinning marble and tarot cards.Illusion · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and 5 moreZemi
A Taíno deity or ancestral spirit housed in a carved object used for worship and protectionBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇦🇱 AlbaniaXhindi
Invisible spirits in Albanian mythology that appear at night and may help or harm.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreChapeaugraphy
A novelty act using a single ring of felt to form different hatsIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGargoylegargouille
A carved stone waterspout shaped like a creature, used on Gothic buildings to shed rainwaterCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenSaleby Runestone
A Swedish memorial stone raised by a husband for his wife, featuring an ancient curse.Text · Protection Historical
🇨🇾 CyprusPyraustaπυραλλίς
A Cypriot mythic insect said to live within fire itselfBeing Legendary
🇨🇳 ChinaPill of Immortality仙丹
A legendary substance sought by Chinese alchemists to grant eternal lifeSubstance · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandLatoon fairy bush
A whitethorn tree in County Clare saved from a motorway by folkloric warnings of misfortuneBelief · Protection Living
🇨🇳 ChinaHuodou祸斗
A fire-spitting dog from southern Chinese folklore that signals disasterBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaNine-Eared Hound九耳犬
A legendary dog from Leizhou Peninsula mythology that predicts prey and discovers the Thunder GodBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanMakuragaeshi枕返し
A Japanese spirit that flips pillows and turns sleepers upside downBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanAzukibabaaあずきばばあ
A Japanese yōkai that mimics the sound of red beans to lure or frighten peopleBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇳 Guinea and 2 moreTaboo on rulers
Restrictions placed on kings and priests to manage fear and hostilityBelief · Protection Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean dragon용/룡; 미르
A benevolent water spirit and royal symbol in Korean mythology and folkloreBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanHitotsume-nyūdō独眼僧
A one-eyed Japanese monk spirit from folklore and legendBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBake-danuki化け狸
A shape-shifting raccoon dog spirit from Japanese folklore known for pranks and illusions.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
- Hecate: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chained Oak: Gary Rogers, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bell Witch: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Meilichios: Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0, source
- Moirai: John Melhuish Strudwick, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Sailors' superstitions: Siren Painter (eponymous vase), Public domain, source
- Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Telekinesis: Strobridge Lithographing Co., Public domain, source
- Cash: User 冷玉 on zh.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Money tree: Pratyeka, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Djákninn á Myrká: Théodore Meyer-Heine / Jules Worms, Public domain, source
- Agathos Daimon: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Zemi: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Chapeaugraphy: Penny Pictorial Magazine, Public domain, source
- Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saleby Runestone: Berig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nine-Eared Hound: User:Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hitotsume-nyūdō: Kashiwa Seiho (柏正甫), Public domain, source
- Bake-danuki: Poposhka at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Korean dragon: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source