Results for "illness"
42 entries found.
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomPaisley witches
A 1697 Scottish witch trial ending in mass execution after a child's illness sparked local panic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spirit containers and power figures from the Congo Basin used for justice and healingCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs
A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇵🇭 PhilippinesAlbularyo
A Filipino folk healer who uses herbs, massage, and prayer to treat illnessTradition · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreFountain of Youth
A legendary spring said to reverse aging and cure illness, appearing in myths across the world.Belief · Healing · Change and initiation Legendary
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean shamanismKorean shamanism (Korean: Korean shamanism)
A traditional practice of ritual specialists who mediate between the human and spirit worlds.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار
A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanKuda-gitsune管狐 (kuda-gitsune)
A small spirit kept in a tube or sleeve to aid fortune-telling and cursing in Japanese folklore.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor
A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇨🇳 ChinaChen Tuan陳摶
A Chinese Taoist sage known for internal arts and sleep cultivation methodsFigure · Healing · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreTamamo-no-Mae玉藻前
A nine-tailed fox spirit from Japanese legend who possessed emperors and concubines across Asia.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesBraucherei
A Pennsylvania German folk healing tradition using prayers and gestures to cure illness and remove curses.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading
🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreAitu
A Polynesian term for spirits, ghosts, or calamityBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreMachi
Mapuche spiritual authorities and healers who bridge herbal knowledge and spirit realmsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreHmong folk religionKev Dab Qhuas
The ethnic religion of the Miao and Hmong peoples, centered on spirit worship and shamanic healing.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreBoriBòòríí
A traditional Hausa spirit possession system and healing practice in West AfricaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreMugwortчорнобиль (chornóbyl')
An aromatic herb used in folk medicine, cooking, and magical protection across Eurasia.Substance · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 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
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaWitch-hunts in Papua New Guinea
Violent attacks on people accused of sorcery, mainly women and girlsBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇪🇬 EgyptDemon
A supernatural entity believed to cause harm or possess humansBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMedical astrology
An ancient practice linking planetary movements to the human body and diseaseTradition · Healing Historical
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreVedmakвядзьмак
A Slavic male warlock or witch with shamanic roots and shape-shifting powersBeing · Healing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanUshi no toki mairi丑の時参り
A Japanese ritual of cursing performed at a shrine during the early morning hours.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesExorcism of Roland Doe
A 1940s American case of alleged demonic possession and the exorcisms performed on the boyRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇹🇳 TunisiaStambeli
A Tunisian music and possession rite practiced by Black communities of slave descentTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇸🇾 SyriaLilulilû (Akkadian), lilu (Sumerian)
A class of Mesopotamian spirits linked to unfulfilled lives and illnessBeing · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical
🇯🇵 JapanOsaki尾先
A mountain spirit in Japanese folklore that brings wealth or possession.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaApeswari sabha
An Assamese healing rite where village women invoke a goddess to cure illnessRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇦🇿 AzerbaijanBastyBasdı
A group of evil spirits and goblins from Turkic folklore in Anatolia.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanMisaki御先
Japanese spirit-like entities that serve gods or possess humans with illness and calamityBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy
Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇰🇷 South KoreaDongti동티
Divine punishment in Korean mythology, often manifesting as sudden illness or death.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき)
A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFalun Gong法轮功
A Chinese cultivation practice blending meditative exercises with moral principlesTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKōshin庚申信仰
A Japanese folk belief involving vigils to prevent internal spirits from reporting human deeds to heavenBelief · Protection · Healing Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreLikhoradkaЛихорадка
A fever spirit in Slavic myth who brings illness and sicknessBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇵🇭 Philippines and 1 moreTaotao Monataotaomo'na
Ancestral spirits of the Mariana Islands who guard wild places and influence daily lifeBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇭🇺 HungaryLidérc
A shape-shifting spirit from Hungarian folklore that brings wealth or illness.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇨🇱 Chile and 3 moreGualichu
An evil spirit feared in Mapuche and Tehuelche traditions, and a word for bad luckBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇴 RomaniaSântoaderi
Supernatural beings in Romanian folklore known for causing illness through music and danceBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Medical astrology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fountain of Youth: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Public domain, source
- Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Korean shamanism: Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (申潤福: 1758-early 19th century) (혜원 신윤복 (申潤福: 1758-, Public domain, source
- Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch doctor: Lucjan Wędrychowski, Public domain, source
- Tamamo-no-Mae: ウィキ太郎 Wiki Taro, Public domain, source
- Stambeli: Youssefbensaad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Machi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Hmong folk religion: Thomas Riccio, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source
- Mugwort: Prahlad balaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
- Falun Gong: longtrekhome, CC BY 3.0, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Witch-hunts in Papua New Guinea: The original uploader was Dr. Blofeld at English Wikipedia ., Attribution, source