Historical practices
Documented in the past; no continuous living tradition today.
- Living
- Revived
- Fading
- Historical
- Legendary
- Performed
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
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo
An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 7 moreSatanic panic
A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesSalem Witch Trials
A colonial legal crisis where over two hundred people faced accusations of sorcery in Massachusetts.Belief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesKennedy curse
A pattern of tragedies linked to the American Kennedy familyBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 1 moreHiisi
A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost
A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesChepi
A spirit of the dead in Narragansett belief, called upon for vengeance.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesBelled buzzard
A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 1 moreChain letterFukou no Tegami
A message that demands copying and forwarding to avoid bad luck or gain fortuneBelief 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚚馃嚘 CanadaPinga
An Inuit goddess of the hunt and medicine who oversees caribou herds and souls.Being 路 Healing 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesCurse of the Boulder Valley
A legend attributed to Chief Niwot about the valley's beauty and its futureBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect
A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kennedy curse: Walt Cisco, Dallas Morning News, Public domain, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
- Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
- Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source