All entries
2,205 entries so far, best known first. 3,133 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
🇺🇸 United StatesPlastic shaman
A label for imposters who sell fake Indigenous spiritual practices for profitBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇾🇪 Yemen and 1 moreSimthud Durarسمط الدّرر
A poem praising the Prophet Muhammad, recited in ritual gatherings across the Indian Ocean.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇻🇳 VietnamMẫu Thượng Ngàn林宮聖母
A forest goddess in Vietnamese indigenous religion, ruler of the Forest PalaceBeing · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות
A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉
A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇲 MyanmarYadayaယတြာ
Rituals in Myanmar to avert misfortune using astrology and numerologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇧🇹 BhutanVajravarahiརྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ། (Dorje Pakmo)
A wrathful female buddha in Tibetan Buddhism, depicted with a sow head and dancing posture.Being · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreHaunted doll
A doll claimed to be haunted or possessed, often linked to film and urban legend.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇭 GhanaAmokye
Guardian of the entrance to Asamando in Akan and Ashanti beliefBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation
A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇸 IcelandYule catJólakötturinn
A giant feline from Icelandic folklore that threatens those without new Christmas clothesFigure · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair
A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 IrelandLatoon fairy bush
A whitethorn tree in County Clare saved from a motorway by folkloric warnings of misfortuneBelief · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSuperman curse
An urban legend linking misfortunes to actors and creators in Superman adaptationsBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKrotona
A historic Theosophical center and intentional community in CaliforniaTradition · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane
A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAna BeKoachאנא בכח
A medieval Jewish liturgical poem linked to the 42-letter name of GodText · Power and authority · Protection Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana
A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 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
🇯🇵 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
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreKhidrالخضر
A Qur'anic guide and saint believed to hold hidden wisdom and aid those in need.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 2 moreNa'atنعت
Urdu and Bengali verses praising the Islamic prophet MuhammadText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇿 Algeria and 5 moreZawiyaزاوية
A Sufi building and institution for worship, education, and community life in the Islamic world.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇨🇳 ChinaFish in Chinese mythology鱼 (yú)
A cultural symbol of wealth and abundance in Chinese traditionBelief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇱 IsraelBabalon
A Thelemic goddess of fertility, ecstasy, and spiritual transformation.Being · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum
A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇧🇿 Belize and 3 moreSisimito
A bipedal cryptid of Central American folklore, said to live in the mountains and caves.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇻🇳 VietnamMẫu Thượng Ngàn林宮聖母
A forest goddess in Vietnamese indigenous religion, ruler of the Forest PalaceBeing · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות
A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉
A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇲 MyanmarYadayaယတြာ
Rituals in Myanmar to avert misfortune using astrology and numerologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇧🇹 BhutanVajravarahiརྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ། (Dorje Pakmo)
A wrathful female buddha in Tibetan Buddhism, depicted with a sow head and dancing posture.Being · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreHaunted doll
A doll claimed to be haunted or possessed, often linked to film and urban legend.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇭 GhanaAmokye
Guardian of the entrance to Asamando in Akan and Ashanti beliefBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation
A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇸 IcelandYule catJólakötturinn
A giant feline from Icelandic folklore that threatens those without new Christmas clothesFigure · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair
A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 IrelandLatoon fairy bush
A whitethorn tree in County Clare saved from a motorway by folkloric warnings of misfortuneBelief · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSuperman curse
An urban legend linking misfortunes to actors and creators in Superman adaptationsBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKrotona
A historic Theosophical center and intentional community in CaliforniaTradition · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane
A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAna BeKoachאנא בכח
A medieval Jewish liturgical poem linked to the 42-letter name of GodText · Power and authority · Protection Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana
A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 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
🇯🇵 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
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreKhidrالخضر
A Qur'anic guide and saint believed to hold hidden wisdom and aid those in need.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 2 moreNa'atنعت
Urdu and Bengali verses praising the Islamic prophet MuhammadText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇿 Algeria and 5 moreZawiyaزاوية
A Sufi building and institution for worship, education, and community life in the Islamic world.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇨🇳 ChinaFish in Chinese mythology鱼 (yú)
A cultural symbol of wealth and abundance in Chinese traditionBelief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇱 IsraelBabalon
A Thelemic goddess of fertility, ecstasy, and spiritual transformation.Being · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum
A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇧🇿 Belize and 3 moreSisimito
A bipedal cryptid of Central American folklore, said to live in the mountains and caves.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mẫu Thượng Ngàn: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Seder hishtalshelus: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yadaya: Thai Government, CC BY 2.0, source
- Vajravarahi: Foto: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Haunted doll: Cayobo, CC BY 1.0, source
- Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Yule cat: Christine Rondeau, CC BY 2.0, source
- Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Magical alphabet: Francis Barrett, Public domain, source
- Ana BeKoach: Baruch Zvi Ring (c. 1872 - 1927) Details on Google Art Project, Public domain, source
- Mana: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fortune telling fraud: Simon Vouet, Public domain, source
- Kṣitigarbha: སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།, Public domain, source
- Khidr: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
- Zawiya: Schneders, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fish in Chinese mythology: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Babalon: William Blake, Public domain, source