All entries
1,483 entries so far, best known first. 4,564 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
🇦🇺 AustraliaRainbow Serpent
A creator spirit of water and land in Aboriginal Australian mythologyBeing · Healing · Cursing and harm Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 morePishtacoñañaq; kharisiri
An Andean bogeyman said to steal human fat for oil and medicineBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreTilopa
A tenth-century Buddhist tantric master who transmitted Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa.Figure · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreThe Fool
A tarot card of unique status, depicting a wanderer or madman outside the numbered sequence.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreLady MiddayPoludnitsa
A Slavic noon spirit who watches over fields and punishes those who work during the hottest hours.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWill-o'-the-wisp
A ghostly light in folklore that guides or misleads travellers over marshes and bogs.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreNornsnornir
Fate-weaving figures from Norse myth who shape human destiny and tend the world tree.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChurch grim
A guardian spirit of Christian churchyards, often appearing as a black dog or lamb.Being · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBoggart
A malevolent household spirit from northern English folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇰🇷 South KoreaJeoseung Saja저승사자
A Korean psychopomp who escorts the dead to the afterlife.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFairy ring
A natural ring of mushrooms surrounded by folklore about dancing spirits and witches.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreKey of SolomonClavicula Salomonis
A Renaissance grimoire attributed to King Solomon, detailing ritual preparations and invocations.Text · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLodestone
A naturally magnetized mineral used for early navigation and divinationSubstance · Healing Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神
Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇿 New ZealandTohunga Suppression Act 1907
A New Zealand law banning traditional Māori healers and faith practitionersText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 5 moreWitch hunt
A campaign to find and punish people accused of using magic for harmBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreYakshaयक्ष (Sanskrit), ยักษ์ (Thai)
Nature spirits and guardian deities in South and Southeast Asian traditionsBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreNumerology
The belief that numbers hold hidden meanings and influence human events.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreDakiniḍākinī
A goddess figure in Hinduism and Buddhism, ranging from flesh-eating demoness to enlightened energy.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLag BaOmerלַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר
A Jewish holiday marking the end of a mourning period with bonfires and outdoor playTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreShimon bar Yochaiשמעון בר יוחאי
A second-century sage of the Land of Israel and a central figure in Kabbalistic tradition.Figure · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore
Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer
A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAzazelעזאזל
A desert place and fallen angel linked to the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritualFigure · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLeviathanלִוְיָתָן (Livyaṯān)
A primordial sea monster from ancient Near Eastern myth and biblical textBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇹🇴 Tonga and 2 moreTongan mythologytala-ē-fonua
The myths and legends of the Polynesian island nation of TongaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well
A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWitch's mark
A bodily mark believed to prove a pact with the Devil during early modern witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePlanets in astrology
Seven celestial bodies used to map human character and destinyBelief · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore
The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreShen ring
An ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal protection, shaped like a rope looped around a stick.Charm · Protection Historical
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreValknut
A symbol of three interlocked triangles found on Germanic artifacts and used in modern Heathenry.Belief · Power and authority Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇷🇺 RussiaSlavic folklore
The traditional beliefs and stories of the Slavic peoplesTradition Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTalisman
An object believed to channel specific forces for protection, healing, or influence.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreTriquetra
A three-arc knot used in medieval art and modern pop culturePower and authority Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數
A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇬🇷 GreeceCoscinomancy
A divination method using a sieve and shears to reveal guilt or answer questions.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreOgham᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋ᚜
An early medieval script of notched lines used to carve Irish names on stone monuments.Text Historical
🇫🇷 FranceEtteilla
The first professional tarot occultist who created a system for card divination.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreIfritعفريت
A class of powerful chthonic spirits in Islamic tradition and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy
Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNakshatraनक्षत्रम् (Nakṣatram)
A system of lunar mansions used in Hindu and Buddhist astrology to map the sky.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMuhurtamuhūrta
A Hindu unit of time used to select auspicious moments for rituals and daily practiceBelief · Power and authority · 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.
- Numerology: Pietro Bongo, Public domain, source
- Lotan: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- Rainbow Serpent: unknown (as drawn by an Aboriginal), Public domain, source
- The Fool: Johann Georg Rauch, Public domain, source
- Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Will-o'-the-wisp: Hermann Hendrich, Public domain, source
- Norns: file: James Steakley ; artwork: Gustav Heidenreich, Public domain, source
- Church grim: Inès Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boggart: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jeoseung Saja: National Folk Museum of Korea, CC BY 4.0, source
- Fairy ring: User:Mrs skippy, Public domain, source
- Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Witch hunt: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
- Yaksha: Gunkarta ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dakini: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
- Lag BaOmer: Yoninah, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shimon bar Yochai: איתי פרץ, Attribution, source
- Vampire folklore: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- Azazel: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
- English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shen ring: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
- Ankh: Soutekh67, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Valknut: Sacrificial_scene_on_Hammars_(I).JPG : Berig derivative work: The Man, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Talisman: Sasha India, CC BY 2.0, source
- Coscinomancy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Public domain, source
- Ogham: Runologe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nakshatra: Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ifrit: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Triquetra: Wiglaf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Planets in astrology: Jan van Loon, Public domain, source
- Lodestone: Ryan Somma, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Key of Solomon: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tilopa: Unknown author, Public domain, source