All entries

2,097 entries so far, best known first. 3,343 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikrذِكْر Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLibanomancy Divination by reading the smoke and ash of burning frankincenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇾 SyriaMetoposcopy A divination method that reads personality and fate from forehead linesOracle · 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

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOmen A sign believed to foretell the future and signal coming changeBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇾 SyriaAlectryomancy Divination using a rooster to select letters from grainOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreBibliomancy Divination by opening a book at random and reading the first passage foundOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇲🇬 Madagascar and 4 moreGeomancy A cross-cultural system of divination using earth, sand, and landforms to read the future or align spaces.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreCleromancy A divination method that uses random chance to reveal divine willOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Bibliomancy: Albert Robida, Public domain, source
Libanomancy: 4174332, CC0, source
Metoposcopy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Omen: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Alectryomancy: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
Geomancy: Jacopo188, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cleromancy: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
Dhikr: Eugène Baugnies, Public domain, source

All entries

Photo credits on this page

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