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
🇮🇱 IsraelAdne Sadehאַדְנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה
A wild humanoid from Jewish folklore tethered to the earth by its navelBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 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
🇯🇵 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
🇨🇦 CanadaOak Island mystery
A centuries-old legend of buried treasure and unexplained engineering on a Canadian island.Belief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaFlying Star Feng Shui
A Chinese feng shui school that charts a building's nine squares for good and bad qiTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaHoroscope
A diagram of planetary positions at a specific moment, used for divination and personality analysis.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇮🇸 IcelandSelkolla
A seal-headed woman from Icelandic folklore who clashed with a medieval bishop.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyThule SocietyThule-Gesellschaft
A German occult group that sponsored the early Nazi party and promoted racial mysticism.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFlying Africans
A legend of enslaved people returning to Africa by magic flightFigure · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 morePalden Lhamoདཔལ་ལྡན་ལྷ་མོ།
A fierce Tibetan Buddhist guardian of the teaching and of the Dalai LamasBeing · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 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
🇯🇵 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
🇨🇦 CanadaOak Island mystery
A centuries-old legend of buried treasure and unexplained engineering on a Canadian island.Belief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaFlying Star Feng Shui
A Chinese feng shui school that charts a building's nine squares for good and bad qiTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaHoroscope
A diagram of planetary positions at a specific moment, used for divination and personality analysis.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇮🇸 IcelandSelkolla
A seal-headed woman from Icelandic folklore who clashed with a medieval bishop.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyThule SocietyThule-Gesellschaft
A German occult group that sponsored the early Nazi party and promoted racial mysticism.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFlying Africans
A legend of enslaved people returning to Africa by magic flightFigure · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 morePalden Lhamoདཔལ་ལྡན་ལྷ་མོ།
A fierce Tibetan Buddhist guardian of the teaching and of the Dalai LamasBeing · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Oak Island mystery: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Flying Star Feng Shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Horoscope: Peter Presslein, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Palden Lhamo: L. Austine Waddell, Public domain, source
- Shidaidaka: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Flying Africans: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, source