All entries
2,158 entries so far, best known first. 3,227 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
🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊
A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKitsunetsuki狐憑き
A Japanese folk belief in which a fox spirit enters and controls a human host.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 4 moreLal Shahbaz Qalandarلعل شهباز قلندر
A Sufi saint and poet revered in South Asia, especially among the Sindhi people.Figure · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer
A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHecateἙκάτη
A Greek goddess of magic, crossroads, and the moon, often shown in three forms.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLamassu𒀭𒆗 (dlamma)
A Mesopotamian guardian spirit, a winged bull with a human head, set to watch the gatesBeing · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreFoundation deposit
Ritual burial of objects under buildings to protect them from ruinRite · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 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 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
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo
An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremonywpt-r (Egyptian)
An ancient Egyptian rite to restore a deceased person's senses for the afterlifeRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn
A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · Healing · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptWadjetwꜢḏyt
The green cobra goddess who protected Lower Egypt and the pharaohs.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch ball
A glass sphere hung in windows to trap spirits and ward off evilCharm · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 JapanEn no Gyōja役小角
A legendary Japanese ascetic and founder of Shugendō mountain practiceFigure · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά
A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptUshabtiwšbtj
Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines believed to work for the dead in the afterlifeCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇱🇾 Libya and 4 moreTraditional Berber religionAmazigh religion
Ancient beliefs of Northwest Africa centered on celestial bodies, caves, and ancestors.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLibanomancy
Divination by reading the smoke and ash of burning frankincenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelUrim and Thummimהָאוּרִים וְהַתֻּמִּים
Sacred lots used by the ancient Israelite High Priest to reveal divine judgment.Charm · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇸🇾 SyriaMetoposcopy
A divination method that reads personality and fate from forehead linesOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy
Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAeromancy
Divination by reading the sky, wind, and cloudsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy
Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaOssetian mythologyИрон мифологи
The beliefs and supernatural beings of the Ossetian people in the Caucasus.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇪 Georgia and 2 moreGeorgian mythologyქართული მითოლოგია
The pre-Christian beliefs of the Kartvelian peoples in the South CaucasusTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials
A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaKurdaitchakwertatye
A ritual executioner and feathered shoes of the Arrernte people in Central Australia.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreBook of Thoth
A collection of ancient Egyptian texts attributed to the god of writing and knowledge.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos
A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlp
A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 1 moreLithuanian mythologyLietuvių mitologija
The ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Baltic people, preserved in folklore and early chroniclesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAncient Greek folklore
The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology
The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreGreco-Roman mysteriesμυστήρια
Secret religious schools of the ancient Mediterranean for initiates onlyTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceEleusinian MysteriesἘλευσίνια Μυστήρια
Ancient Greek secret initiation rites honouring Demeter and Persephone at EleusisTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreEstonian mythologyeesti mütoloogia
The pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Estonian peopleTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreBasque mythology
The ancient beliefs of the Basque people, preserved through legends and place names.Tradition Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreRunesᚱᚢᚾᛟ
An ancient Germanic script used for writing and magical signs.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah
A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 4 moreLal Shahbaz Qalandarلعل شهباز قلندر
A Sufi saint and poet revered in South Asia, especially among the Sindhi people.Figure · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer
A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHecateἙκάτη
A Greek goddess of magic, crossroads, and the moon, often shown in three forms.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLamassu𒀭𒆗 (dlamma)
A Mesopotamian guardian spirit, a winged bull with a human head, set to watch the gatesBeing · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreFoundation deposit
Ritual burial of objects under buildings to protect them from ruinRite · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 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 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
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo
An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremonywpt-r (Egyptian)
An ancient Egyptian rite to restore a deceased person's senses for the afterlifeRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn
A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · Healing · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptWadjetwꜢḏyt
The green cobra goddess who protected Lower Egypt and the pharaohs.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch ball
A glass sphere hung in windows to trap spirits and ward off evilCharm · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 JapanEn no Gyōja役小角
A legendary Japanese ascetic and founder of Shugendō mountain practiceFigure · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά
A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptUshabtiwšbtj
Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines believed to work for the dead in the afterlifeCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇱🇾 Libya and 4 moreTraditional Berber religionAmazigh religion
Ancient beliefs of Northwest Africa centered on celestial bodies, caves, and ancestors.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLibanomancy
Divination by reading the smoke and ash of burning frankincenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelUrim and Thummimהָאוּרִים וְהַתֻּמִּים
Sacred lots used by the ancient Israelite High Priest to reveal divine judgment.Charm · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇸🇾 SyriaMetoposcopy
A divination method that reads personality and fate from forehead linesOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy
Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAeromancy
Divination by reading the sky, wind, and cloudsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy
Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaOssetian mythologyИрон мифологи
The beliefs and supernatural beings of the Ossetian people in the Caucasus.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇪 Georgia and 2 moreGeorgian mythologyქართული მითოლოგია
The pre-Christian beliefs of the Kartvelian peoples in the South CaucasusTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials
A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaKurdaitchakwertatye
A ritual executioner and feathered shoes of the Arrernte people in Central Australia.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreBook of Thoth
A collection of ancient Egyptian texts attributed to the god of writing and knowledge.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos
A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlp
A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 1 moreLithuanian mythologyLietuvių mitologija
The ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Baltic people, preserved in folklore and early chroniclesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAncient Greek folklore
The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology
The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreGreco-Roman mysteriesμυστήρια
Secret religious schools of the ancient Mediterranean for initiates onlyTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceEleusinian MysteriesἘλευσίνια Μυστήρια
Ancient Greek secret initiation rites honouring Demeter and Persephone at EleusisTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreEstonian mythologyeesti mütoloogia
The pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Estonian peopleTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreBasque mythology
The ancient beliefs of the Basque people, preserved through legends and place names.Tradition Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreRunesᚱᚢᚾᛟ
An ancient Germanic script used for writing and magical signs.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah
A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Ushabti: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Orphism: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Traditional Berber religion: Potymkin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Dakini: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
- Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- Hecate: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Lamassu: Daderot, CC0, source
- Foundation deposit: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
- Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Unicorn horn: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Wadjet: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
- Ankh: Soutekh67, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch ball: John W. Schulze, CC BY 2.0, source
- En no Gyōja: Wmpearl, CC0, source
- Ogham: Runologe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Libanomancy: 4174332, CC0, source
- Urim and Thummim: Rijksmuseum, CC0, source
- Metoposcopy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hydromancy: Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aeromancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Georgian mythology: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
- Kurdaitcha: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Lithuanian mythology: Prussian historian Christophorus Hartknoch (1644-1687), Public domain, source
- Cornish mythology: waterborough, Public domain, source
- Greco-Roman mysteries: Varrese Painter, Public domain, source
- Eleusinian Mysteries: No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyrig, Public domain, source
- Estonian mythology: Jeannette Berkowitz (illustrator), Public domain, source
- Basque mythology: No machine-readable author provided. Asp. assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Runes: Bengt Olof ÅRADSSON, CC BY 1.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tilopa: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Lal Shahbaz Qalandar: Fassifarooq, CC BY-SA 4.0, source