Legendary practices
Known from myth, story and legend rather than from recorded practice.
- 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 States and 5 moreNight hag
A supernatural being believed to sit on sleepers and cause paralysisBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesPukwudgie
A short forest spirit from Algonquian lore, known for mischief and danger.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreFountain of Youth
A legendary spring said to reverse aging and cure illness, appearing in myths across the world.Belief · Healing · Change and initiation Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesJersey Devil
A legendary creature from South Jersey folklore said to inhabit the Pine Barrens.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRougarou
A lycanthrope legend from French-speaking communities in North AmericaBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesRed Ghost
A legendary red camel with a skeleton rider from Arizona frontier folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇦 CanadaWechuge
A man-eating spirit from Athabaskan legend born of taboo and excessive powerBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBigfoot
A large, hairy humanoid creature of North American folklore and cryptozoologyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesSkunk ape
A large, hairy humanoid cryptid said to live in Florida swamps and forestsFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesGoatman
A goat-human hybrid blamed for dog deaths in Maryland woodsBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesLoveland frog
A legendary humanoid creature sighted in Ohio, often linked to urban folklore and local tourism.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesSquonk
A fictional creature from American folklore known for weeping and dissolving in its own tears.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreFur-bearing troutLoðsilungur
A legendary fish with a coat of fur, found in North American and Icelandic tall tales.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇱 GreenlandAdlet
A half-human, half-canine race from Inuit mythology of the ArcticBeing Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesChessie
A sea monster of American folklore said to inhabit the Chesapeake Bay.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesSnallygaster
A bird-reptile chimera from Maryland folklore, once used to frighten children and later the subject of newspaper hoaxes.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇲🇽 MexicoTlahuelpuchi
A shape-shifting vampire witch from Tlaxcalan Nahua folklore that drains infants.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesBall-tailed cat
A North American fearsome critter with a heavy ball on its tail for striking preyBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesKushtakaKóoshdaa káa
A shape-shifting creature from Tlingit mythology that can appear as an otter or human.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇨🇦 CanadaQallupilluitᖃᓪᓗᐱᓪᓗᐃᑦ (Qalupalik)
An Inuit water spirit said to snatch children near Arctic iceBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreHoop snake
A legendary rolling serpent found in North American and Australian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesWoman in Black
A spectral figure from Appalachian folklore said to punish men for moral failingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesGonakadet
A mythical sea creature of the Pacific Northwest believed to bring wealth and luck.Being · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesBlack-eyed children
A modern American urban legend about pale children with dark eyes who seek entry into homes.Figure · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesMoll Dyer
A Maryland folktale about a woman accused of witchcraft and her cursed stoneFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesTsul 'KaluᏧᏓᎦᎳ
A Cherokee hunting deity and legendary giant of the Appalachian mountainsFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesAlfred Bulltop Stormalong
A giant sailor from New England tall tales and sea shantiesFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇲🇽 MexicoTlanchana
A water spirit of the Matlatzinca people, born from an Otomi goddess.Being · Seeing and foretelling Legendary
🇬🇱 GreenlandIdlirvirissong
A sky spirit who tests the dead with a dance and punishes laughter by disembowelling them.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesBell Witch
A Tennessee legend of a shapeshifting spirit that tormented the Bell family in the early nineteenth century.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇨🇦 CanadaChasse-galerieLa Chasse-galerie
A French-Canadian folktale about lumberjacks who fly a canoe to visit lovers on New Year's EveFigure · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFlying Africans
A legend of enslaved people returning to Africa by magic flightFigure · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇺🇸 United StatesBeaman Monster
A Missouri cryptid said to be a giant ape or wolf-like creature from the early 1900sBeing Legendary
🇫🇮 FinlandAntero Vipunen
A buried giant in Finnish mythology who holds the magic words needed to build a boatFigure · Power and authority Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMuut
A Cahuilla spirit who guides souls, often shown as an owlBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇬🇱 Greenland and 2 moreThe Goose Wife
A circumpolar myth of a hunter and a woman who sheds her bird skinFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇲🇽 MexicoOtomitl
A giant son of Aztec myth who settled the land after a great flood.Being Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jersey Devil: Dystopiamatt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Skunk ape: MikesMegapixels, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bigfoot: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, Public domain, source
- Antero Vipunen: Schulllz, CC0, source
- Flying Africans: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fountain of Youth: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Public domain, source
- Night hag: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Goatman: Jack Boucher, Public domain, source
- Loveland frog: Tim Bertelink, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Squonk: Coert Du Bois and by William T. Cox;, Public domain, source
- Fur-bearing trout: Samantha Marx, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ball-tailed cat: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
- Hoop snake: Fearsome Critters, Written by Henry H. Tryon • Illustrated by Margaret, CC0, source
- Black-eyed children: Megamoto85, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Moll Dyer: Dougtone, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rougarou: XxxJohnDoExxxx, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bell Witch: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Snallygaster: Tripodero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chasse-galerie: Henri Julien, Public domain, source