Historical practices

Documented in the past; no continuous living tradition today.

Living
Revived
Fading
Historical
Legendary
Performed

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

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇪🇬 EgyptCurse A spoken wish for misfortune to befall a person or placeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍 A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreCaul A birth membrane kept as a talisman for luck and protection from drowningCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenMora witch trial A 1669 Swedish mass execution driven by child testimony and European hysteriaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreBaetyl A sacred stone, often a meteorite, believed to house a deity in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean traditions.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyAlp A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreWitch trials in Finland A historical record of legal persecution for magic in a region where men were common targets.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇭🇹 HaitiBois Caïman The sacred site where enslaved Africans planned the Haitian Revolution through a Vodou ceremony.Rite · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyEtruscan religion The polytheistic beliefs and divination practices of the ancient Etruscans of ItalyTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇫🇷 FrancePlanchette A wooden device for automatic writing used in Victorian spiritualist séancesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 3 morePyromancy Divination by reading flames, smoke, or fire-heated objectsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇷🇺 RussiaBlack magic Magic traditionally defined by malevolent intent and selfish purposesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomTaghairm A Scottish Gaelic divination rite using sensory deprivation and animal skins to summon spirits.Rite · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreÉliphas Lévi A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomMatthew Hopkins The English witch-hunter who led the deadliest wave of executions in Britain.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊 A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYoginiयोगिनी A female master of yoga and tantra, or a fierce goddess aspect in Indian temples.Tradition · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptUshabtiwšbtj Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines believed to work for the dead in the afterlifeCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇯🇵 JapanGazu Hyakki Yagyō画図百鬼夜行 A 1776 Japanese woodblock book of yōkai illustrations by Toriyama SekienText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling 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

🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreMaya mythology The reconstructed tales of the Maya people about gods, heroes, and the creation of the world.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical 🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreNart sagaНарты кадджытæ A collection of epic tales from the North Caucasus about a legendary group of heroes.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇵🇱 PolandWitch trials in Poland A historical record of sorcery prosecutions and executions in Poland from the 15th to the 19th century.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇱 IsraelNumber of the beastἈριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου A biblical number linked to a prophetic figure and interpreted through ancient letter values.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomSamlesbury witches Three Lancashire women acquitted in a 1612 trial linked to anti-Catholic propagandaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAnimal sacrifice The ritual killing of livestock or wild animals as an offering to deitiesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyLectisternium An ancient Roman ritual where couches were draped and meals served to gods.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreRabisu A wind spirit in Akkadian myth sent to correct human transgressionsBeing · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm 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 🇬🇧 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

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreTrial by ordeal An ancient judicial test where guilt or innocence was decided by surviving a painful physical trial.Rite · Cursing and harm 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomGiles Corey An English-born farmer pressed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trialsFigure Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorace Goldin A stage magician known for his fast style and the sawing illusion.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesFolk healer An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical 🇮🇶 IraqKispu An ancient Mesopotamian ritual to feed and honour the dead ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Etruscan religion: sailko, CC BY 2.5, source
Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Animal sacrifice: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Lectisternium: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG), Inc., www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
Fortuna: Charles Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
Samlesbury witches: Tom Oates, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ushabti: Unknown author, CC0, source
Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
Yogini: Soumendra Barik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Trial by ordeal: James Sibree, Public domain, 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
Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Matthew Hopkins: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Amniomancy: JC Brand, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mora witch trial: Unknown author Unknown author contemporary artist, Public domain, source
Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Baetyl: Jusepe de Ribera, Public domain, source
Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source

Historical practices

Photo credits on this page

The weekly digest