All entries
2,216 entries so far, best known first. 3,111 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
🇩🇪 GermanyPied Piper of Hamelinder Rattenfänger von Hameln
A medieval legend about a piper who leads children away from the town of HamelinFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnochian magic
A Renaissance system of ceremonial magic based on angelic revelations recorded by John Dee and Edward Kelley.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic festival marking the start of summer with protective bonfires and livestock ritualsTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Revived
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreKnocking on wood
A gesture of tapping wood to ward off bad luck or prevent tempting fateBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomDeath knell
A church bell rung to announce a person's death and mark the funeral.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Fading
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAlexandrian Wicca
A British Neopagan tradition founded in the 1960s by Alex and Maxine SandersTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇪 IrelandBodach
A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceTiresiasΤειρεσίας
A blind Greek seer who lived as both man and woman and spoke to the dead.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreTriquetra
A three-arc knot used in medieval art and modern pop culturePower and authority Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve
An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceNicolas Flamel
A medieval scribe turned legendary alchemist and immortal in fictionFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreCurse tabletκατάδεσμος
A lead sheet inscribed with a binding curse in the Greco-Roman worldCharm · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSibylΣίβυλλα (Sibylla)
Ancient Greek prophetesses who spoke divine counsel at holy shrinesFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLodestone
A naturally magnetized mineral used for early navigation and divinationSubstance · Healing Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreDuende
A humanoid spirit of Iberian and Latin American folklore, ranging from household pranksters to forest guardians.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇹 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
🇮🇹 ItalyThe MagicianLe Bateleur
A tarot trump symbolizing power and the link between spirit and matterText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square
A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic
The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreGreen Man
A carved face made of leaves, used as a decorative motif in architecture and art.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton
An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex
A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreSoul dualism
A belief that a person contains two or more distinct kinds of soulsBelief · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandIrish folklorebéaloideas
The oral traditions, myths and customs of IrelandTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreSaturnalia
An ancient Roman winter festival of role reversal and feasting in honor of SaturnTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreHidden-folkhuldufólk
Supernatural beings in Nordic folklore who live in a parallel world within the landscape.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 IrelandFetch
A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreĒostre
An Anglo-Saxon goddess linked to spring and the dawn, whose name became Easter.Being · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 6 moreBurning of Judas
An Easter rite where an effigy of the betrayer is destroyed by fire or other meansRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower
A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreFaust
A German legend of a scholar who trades his soul for knowledge and pleasureFigure · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic harvest festival marking the beginning of the grain gathering seasonTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreDowsing
A divination method using rods or twigs to locate hidden objects and waterBelief Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 5 moreMolybdomancy
A divination method using molten metal poured into water to read omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomPendle witches
A 1612 series of English witch trials that resulted in ten executions near Pendle Hill.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreWitch trials in the early modern period
A wave of prosecutions across Europe and British America from the 1400s to the late 1700s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomAgnes Sampson
A Scottish healer executed for witchcraft during the North Berwick trials.Figure Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandTuatha Dé Danann
A supernatural race in Irish mythology, later known as the fairy folk.Being · Power and authority Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreDruidry
A modern nature religion inspired by ancient Celtic priests and Romantic idealsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 GreeceOmphalosὀμφαλός
A sacred stone marking the center of the world in Greek myth and oracle practiceCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceDodonaΔωδώνη
The oldest Greek oracle, where wind in oak leaves revealed the will of Zeus and DioneOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreZeusΖεύς
Supreme king of the Greek gods and ruler of the sky and thunderBeing · Power and authority Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAdder stone
A naturally perforated stone used as a protective talisman in European folkloreCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMerlinMyrddin
A legendary prophet and magician from the King Arthur cycleFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary
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
- Knocking on wood: The White House, Public domain, source
- Hidden-folk: Schorle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Occult: The .:X, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pied Piper of Hamelin: Edmund Evans, Public domain, source
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Death knell: Dougsim, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Tiresias: Pietro della Vecchia, Public domain, source
- Triquetra: Wiglaf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Nicolas Flamel: Balthasar Moncornet, Public domain, source
- Sibyl: Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), Public domain, source
- Lodestone: Ryan Somma, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Duende: René Mayorga, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- The Magician: Pamela Colman Smith, Public domain, source
- Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Ēostre: Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921), Public domain, source
- Burning of Judas: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
- Faust: Earthsphere, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dowsing: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Molybdomancy: Micha L. Rieser, Attribution, source
- Pendle witches: Dr Greg, CC BY 3.0, source
- Witch trials in the early modern period: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
- Agnes Sampson: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tuatha Dé Danann: John Duncan, Public domain, source
- Druidry: TheJaySpearing, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omphalos: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dodona: Marcus Cyron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zeus: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, source
- Adder stone: Ansgar Koreng, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Merlin: Howard Pyle, Public domain, source
- Irish folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Green Man: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Curse tablet: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Soul dualism: 尹真人, Public domain, source