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
🇬🇧 United KingdomBuccabocka
A Cornish sea-spirit and mine-dweller who receives fish offerings from coastal communities.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreUr (rune)
A runic character representing the aurochs or cold rain in Germanic alphabetsText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelMelchom
A demon of hell and former Ammonite idol described in the Dictionnaire InfernalBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 3 moreUmayyad tradition of cursing Ali
A state policy to denounce Ali during communal prayers under the Umayyad CaliphateRite · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical
🇦🇷 ArgentinaLegendary creatures of the Argentine Northwest region
Myths and spirits from the Andean highlands of ArgentinaBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇩 SudanWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
A foundational anthropological study of Azande witchcraft, oracles, and magic in southern Sudan.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyFeldgeist
German folk creatures tied to crops, weather and harvest ritualsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaEtheric body
A subtle energy layer said to sustain the physical form and connect it to higher states.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇹🇭 Thailand and 2 moreSang Thongสังข์ทอง
A Southeast Asian folktale about a prince born in a shell who gains golden skin and magical powers.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Historical
🇻🇳 VietnamNghêNghê (猊)
A mythical guardian creature in Vietnamese architecture and art, blending lion and dog traitsFigure · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreVerliokaВерлиока
A cross-eyed monster from East Slavic folk talesFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu
A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanShinigami死神
A Japanese spirit or deity associated with inviting humans toward deathBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyMazapégul
A mischievous elf of Romagna with a red cap that steals sleep and braids horse manesBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi
A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandArbatel de magia veterum
A 1575 Swiss grimoire focused on celestial spirits and Christian ethicsText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇸🇴 Somalia and 2 moreSalihiyyaالصالحية
A Somali Sufi order founded by Sayyid Muhammad Salih, known for its strict stance against saint intercession and anti-coTradition · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇦 CanadaPinga
An Inuit goddess of the hunt and medicine who oversees caribou herds and souls.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanUmi zatō海座頭
A sea yōkai depicted as a giant blind musician that threatens shipsBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution
Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesSecond-term curse
A belief that U.S. presidents face greater trouble in their second term than their first.Belief Historical
🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreShatiqatu𐎌𐎓𐎚𐎖𐎚 (šʿtqt)
A Ugaritic healing figure created from clay to cure the king KirtaBeing · Healing Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreAramaic Uruk incantation
A Seleucid-era magical tablet written in Aramaic using cuneiform signsText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇹🇷 TurkeyHittite sun disk
An ancient Anatolian bronze symbol used in Hattian and Hittite religious ceremoniesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇷 IranBalaibalanباليبلن
An early constructed language from the Islamic world, likely created for sacred or poetic purposes.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaRisalah Maktubaatرساله مکتوبات
A collection of Persian letters guiding disciples and rulers on spiritual and moral matters.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone
A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandSowilo
The s-rune representing the sun in Germanic writing systemsText · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen
Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese creation myths
A collection of ancient Chinese stories explaining how the universe and humanity beganBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceMinoan sealstones
Carved gemstones and amulets from Bronze Age Crete used for identification and ritualCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlgiz
A runic letter representing a terminal sound and later symbols of life and deathText Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAlchemy in the medieval Islamic world
The study of matter and spirit by scholars in the early Islamic CaliphateTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanYamajijii山爺
A one-eyed mountain spirit from Shikoku folklore known for its thunderous voice and unpredictable nature.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptPrima materia
The formless base of all matter in alchemyText · Change and initiation Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreQayyumقیوم
A supreme spiritual rank in the Naqshbandi Sufi orderTradition · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇸 SpainLiber Ignium
A medieval Latin manuscript containing recipes for incendiary weapons and chemicals.Text · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyDe Umbris Idearum
A 1582 treatise by Giordano Bruno on memory, magic and philosophyText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSpring-heeled Jack
A Victorian phantom known for leaping over walls and breathing fire.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 FranceMagonia
A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇲🇽 MexicoEntheogenics and the Maya
Hallucinogenic substances used by the Maya for spiritual rituals and healingTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreOsirian Egyptian OrderOrdine Osirideo Egizio
An Italian esoteric society tracing its roots to 18th-century Naples and ancient Hermetic traditions.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTaka-Onna高女
A Japanese yokai of a tall woman said to spy on brothels from above.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect
A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelNumber of the beastἈριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου
A biblical number linked to a prophetic figure and interpreted through ancient numerologyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomHobgoblin
A household spirit from English folklore known for chores and mischiefBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇵🇭 Philippines and 3 moreMy Way killings
Fatal disputes in the Philippines sparked by singing Frank Sinatra's song at karaoke barsBelief · 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.
- Glemminge stone: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
- Shatiqatu: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Shinigami: 日: Jnn, CC BY 2.1 jp, source
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Nghê: Phương Huy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sang Thong: Narisara Nuwattiwong, Public domain, source
- Hobgoblin: Herbert Railton, Public domain, source
- Spring-heeled Jack: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Feldgeist: Zwoelefant, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Melchom: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Bucca: Frederick Whymper, Public domain, source
- Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali: Anwar Rizvi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Salihiyya: Douglas James Jardine (1888-1946), Public domain, source
- Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
- Second-term curse: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, source
- Hittite sun disk: Noumenon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
- Minoan sealstones: Andree Stephan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Algiz: Arolsen Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world: An Islamic artist 739H/1339, probably in Baghdad, Public domain, source