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

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreTelekinesis A purported psychic ability to move objects with the mind aloneBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreRemote viewing A claimed psychic ability to perceive distant targets without using the sensesBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayTycho Brahe daysTycho Brahes-dage Scandinavian folklore dates believed to be unlucky for magic and businessBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇸 IcelandDjákninn á Myrká An Icelandic ghost story about a dead deacon who returns for his bride on Christmas EveFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAgathos Daimonἀγαθὸς δαίμων A noble spirit and serpent deity of Greek and Egyptian traditionBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreEctoplasm A substance said to be excreted by mediums during séances, later exposed as common household materials.Substance · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptEgyptian days Medieval calendar days believed to bring bad luck for new ventures and medical proceduresBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and 5 moreZemi A Taíno deity or ancestral spirit housed in a carved object used for worship and protectionBeing · Protection · Healing Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreBooks of secrets Early modern European compilations of recipes and formulae framed as hidden knowledgeText · Power and authority Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesKa-Bala A 1967 talking board game that claims to tell the future with a spinning marble and tarot cards.Illusion · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGargoylegargouille A carved stone waterspout shaped like a creature, used on Gothic buildings to shed rainwaterCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenSaleby Runestone A Swedish memorial stone raised by a husband for his wife, featuring an ancient curse.Text · Protection Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesStamping A childhood gesture believed to capture luck from specific animals or objectsBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaPill of Immortality仙丹 A legendary substance sought by Chinese alchemists to grant eternal lifeSubstance · Power and authority Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical 🇬🇳 Guinea and 2 moreTaboo on rulers Restrictions placed on kings and priests to manage fear and hostilityBelief · Protection Historical 🇯🇵 JapanTosa Obake Zōshi土佐お化け草紙 An Edo-period illustrated scroll of yōkai tales from Tosa ProvinceText · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesJewett City vampires A 19th-century New England family's belief in undead plague and their violent response to it.Belief · Protection Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇦🇺 AustraliaTjurunga Sacred objects of the Arrernte people, embodying ancestral power and clan identity.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYosuzume夜雀 A Japanese mountain spirit that appears as a bird or butterfly and signals the presence of wolves.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreBerkanan A runic letter representing the birch tree across Germanic writing systems.Text Historical

🇵🇭 PhilippinesTigmamanukan A pre-colonial Tagalog omen bird believed to guide journeys and aid creationBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇫🇷 FrancePetit AlbertSecrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert An 18th-century French grimoire of natural and cabalistic magic sold to rural householdsText · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDream questionShe'elat Halom A Jewish divination practice seeking prophetic answers through dreamsOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHephaestusἭφαιστος The Greek smith god who forged divine weapons and crafted automata for the gods.Being · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreFiredrakeognennyi zmei A European dragon myth born from sightings of shooting stars and will-o'-the-wispsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 3 moreThe Swan Queen A Lithuanian fairy tale about a bird maiden who becomes human and returns to the skyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesZelph A figure identified by Joseph Smith as a buried warrior in IllinoisFigure · Power and authority Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreThe Teachings of Don Juan A 1968 book presenting an apprenticeship with a Mexican sorcerer as anthropological fieldwork.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaMien shiang面相 A Chinese practice of reading character and fate through facial featuresBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaReligion of the Shang dynasty The spiritual system of ancient China's second dynasty, centred on ancestor worship and oracle bone divination.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenStentoften Runestone A seventh-century Swedish stone inscribed with a curse and harvest blessings in Proto-NorseText · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity 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 🇺🇸 United StatesDreaming the Dark A 1982 book by Starhawk linking magic, sex, and politicsText · Power and authority 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 🇨🇦 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 🇪🇷 Eritrea and 1 moreBeher A pre-Christian Aksumite deity of the sea and agricultural fertilityBeing · Luck and prosperity · Healing Historical 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan and 3 moreCurse of TimurПроклятие Тамерлана A rumor that disturbing the conqueror's tomb brings invasion and calamity.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreFairy path An invisible route used by fairies, often straight and connecting sacred sitesBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomCaoineag A Highland spirit whose night cries signal impending death for a specific family lineBeing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Fairy path: Aviddoghug at English Wikipedia ( Original text: David Gough ), Public domain, 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
Zelph: HotWheels53, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Telekinesis: Strobridge Lithographing Co., Public domain, source
Djákninn á Myrká: Théodore Meyer-Heine / Jules Worms, Public domain, source
Agathos Daimon: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Egyptian days: Unknown Unknown (Paris scriptorium), Public domain, source
Zemi: Unknown author, CC0, source
Gargoyle: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Saleby Runestone: Berig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
Tjurunga: No machine-readable author provided. Sepu~commonswiki assumed (based o, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Tigmamanukan: Illustrator and uploader Dragonbite ., CC BY-SA 1.0, source
Petit Albert: Albertus Parvus Lucius, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hephaestus: Foundry Painter (name vase), Public domain, source
Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
Firedrake: Ramesh Kumar R, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Religion of the Shang dynasty: Unknown author, CC0, source
Stentoften Runestone: Sendelbach ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Historical practices

Photo credits on this page

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