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
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreViracochaWiraqucha
The supreme creator deity of the Andes, associated with the sea and civilization.Being · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaAtharvavedaअथर्ववेद
The fourth Veda of Hinduism, containing spells, healing rites, and domestic rituals.Text · Protection · Healing Historical
🇵🇭 PhilippinesBabaylan
Spiritual leaders of pre-colonial Philippines who mediated with the unseen world.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWild Hunt
A spectral chase across Europe led by a mythic figure and ghostly riders.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇧🇷 BrazilMacumba
A term for Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices, often carrying negative connotations of sorceryBelief · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSuryaसूर्य
The sun as a Hindu deity and the source of light and knowledgeBeing · Power and authority · Healing Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark
A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.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
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreWitches' Sabbath
A legendary gathering of witches described in early modern trial records and folkloreBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreCaul
A birth membrane kept as a talisman for luck and protection from drowningCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch trials in England
A historical period of legal persecution for alleged sorcery in England from the 15th to the 18th centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreJet
A black gemstone carved into amulets and mourning jewellery for centuriesCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaOracle bone甲骨
Divination using heated ox bones and turtle shells in ancient ChinaRite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic
A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world
Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 1 moreZoroasterZarathushtra Spitama
Spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism and composer of the GathasFigure Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandBodach
A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 morePazuzu𒀭𒅆𒊒𒍪𒍪 (pà.zu.zu)
A Mesopotamian wind demon and protective amulet against child-harming spiritsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptHekaḥkꜣw
The ancient Egyptian deification of magic, medicine, and primordial creative powerBeing · Healing · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreNaming taboo避諱
A cultural rule against speaking or writing the names of rulers and ancestors in East AsiaBelief · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreIfritعفريت
A class of powerful chthonic spirits in Islamic tradition and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyBasil ValentineBasilius Valentinus
A pseudonymous alchemist whose chemical writings shaped early modern chemistry and hermetic tradition.Text · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRabbit's foot
A charm carried for luck, often linked to graveyards and strict folk rulesCharm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreJoseph Pinetti
An eighteenth-century magician who brought illusion to the theatre and pioneered stage advertising.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyJohannes Junius
Mayor of Bamberg executed in the witch trials, known for a letter to his daughterFigure Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLodestone
A naturally magnetized mineral used for early navigation and divinationSubstance · Healing Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptDjedḏd
An ancient Egyptian pillar symbol representing stability and resurrectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreTilopa
A tenth-century Buddhist tantric master who transmitted Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa.Figure · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptTheurgyθεουργία
A Neoplatonic ritual path to unite the soul with the divine through sacred actsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square
A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope
A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪
A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇹 EthiopiaPlanetary hours
A system assigning celestial rulers to each hour of the day and weekTradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreĒostre
An Anglo-Saxon goddess linked to spring and the dawn, whose name became Easter.Being · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton
An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇮🇶 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOmen
A sign believed to foretell the future and signal coming changeBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex
A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreIsisꜣst (Egyptian)
Egyptian goddess of magic, mourning and kingship, mother of HorusBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇸🇾 SyriaAlectryomancy
Divination using a rooster to select letters from grainOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKūkai空海
Founder of Shingon Buddhism who brought Vajrayana esoteric practices from China to Japan.Text · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomGiles Corey
An English-born farmer pressed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trialsFigure Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreSaturnalia
An ancient Roman winter festival of role reversal and feasting in honor of SaturnTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Witch-cult hypothesis: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
- Amniomancy: JC Brand, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Witch trials in England: Totnesmartin, Public domain, source
- Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
- Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Viracocha: Pattych ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Atharvaveda: William Dwight Whitney / Charles Rockwell Lanman, Public domain, source
- Babaylan: Hptina24, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wild Hunt: Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain, source
- Surya: Ravi Varma Press, Public domain, source
- Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oracle bone: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Zoroaster: 19th century in Mumbai according to 青木健 The original uploader was Aria, Public domain, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Naming taboo: Haruno Akiha, Public domain, source
- Ifrit: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabbit's foot: Sobebunny, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lodestone: Ryan Somma, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Djed: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tilopa: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋 暁斎), Public domain, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Omen: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Isis: Ägyptischer Maler um 1360 v. Chr., Public domain, source
- Alectryomancy: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
- Kūkai: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Ēostre: Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921), Public domain, source
- Jet: Thmsfrst, Public domain, source
- Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Basil Valentine: TomKidd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source