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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

PeopleJapanese (remove)

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇨🇳 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

🇹🇼 Taiwan and 1 moreAuspicious train ticket吉祥語車票 Train tickets with station names that form lucky phrases through wordplay.Charm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanŌnyūdō大僧正 A giant monk spirit in Japanese folklore, ranging from helpful helpers to menacing shadows.Being · Cursing and harm · Healing 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

🇯🇵 JapanHitotsume-nyūdō独眼僧 A one-eyed Japanese monk spirit from folklore and legendBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanTosa Obake Zōshi土佐お化け草紙 An Edo-period illustrated scroll of yōkai tales from Tosa ProvinceText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇯🇵 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

🇯🇵 JapanSuzu鈴 A hollow Japanese bell with inner pellets, used in Shinto rites and shrines.Charm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇯🇵 JapanLooking taboo A mythic rule forbidding a gaze that would bring disasterBelief · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanNyūdō-bōzu入道坊主 A Japanese yokai that grows taller when stared at and can kill or vanish depending on the responseBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanTaka-Onna高女 A Japanese yokai of a tall woman said to spy on brothels from above.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇯🇵 JapanShidaidaka次第高 A tall spirit in Japan that grows when you look up and shrinks when you look down.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanKuzunoha葛の葉 A kitsune spirit and mother of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei in Japanese folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇯🇵 Japan and 1 morePower spotパワースポット A Japanese term for places believed to hold strong earth energy and healing power.Belief · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇯🇵 JapanAkabeko赤べこ A bobbing papier-mâché toy from Japan believed to ward off illnessCharm · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOx-Head and Horse-Face牛頭馬面 Guardians of the underworld who escort souls to judgment in East Asian myth.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreFortune telling fraud A confidence trick where a grifter invents a curse to extract money from a vulnerable client.Belief · Cursing and harm Living

🇯🇵 JapanGoryō御霊 A Japanese belief in appeasing vengeful spirits through Shinto shrinesBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYakudoshi厄年 Traditional Japanese ages believed to bring bad luck and the rituals used to ward them offBelief · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanHoshi Matsuri星まつり A Buddhist ritual to honor stars and pray for protection from disasterRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreKṣitigarbhaक्षितिगर्भ A bodhisattva vowed to empty the hells and guard children, shown with a staff and jewel.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
Cash: User 冷玉 on zh.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Auspicious train ticket: SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bake-danuki: Poposhka at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Hitotsume-nyūdō: Kashiwa Seiho (柏正甫), Public domain, source
Suzu: Unknown author, CC0, source
Looking taboo: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
Shidaidaka: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kuzunoha: Print artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) Print artist: Utagawa Hiroshige, Public domain, source
Power spot: ccfarmer, CC BY 3.0, source
Akabeko: Wdqh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ox-Head and Horse-Face: ScribblingGeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fortune telling fraud: Simon Vouet, Public domain, source
Goryō: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892), Public domain, source
Hoshi Matsuri: Anonymous ( Japan ) Unknown author, CC0, source
Kṣitigarbha: སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།, Public domain, source

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Photo credits on this page

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