SuperstitionsMap.com is an independent reference project dedicated to documenting superstitions, folk beliefs, omens, taboos, rituals, lucky objects, protective customs, and related traditions from around the world.
The site brings together two connected layers of material: country-based cultural guides and a structured global folklore dataset. Together, they are intended to make traditional beliefs easier to compare, trace, and understand in context.
What the Project Covers
SuperstitionsMap documents beliefs linked to luck, protection, danger, illness, death, marriage, pregnancy, children, animals, dreams, travel, money, weather, household customs, food, colors, numbers, and other recurring themes in everyday folklore.
These traditions do not belong to every person in a country in the same way. Many are regional, community-based, generational, religious, familial, or historical in scope. Country pages should therefore be read as records of documented belief traditions, not as descriptions of entire populations.
Country Guides and the Global Dataset
The project includes country guides that describe individual customs and beliefs, along with a global dataset covering 179 countries.
The country guides and the dataset serve different purposes.
Country guides focus on description and context. They may explain what a belief means, where it is reported, how it is practiced, and how it fits into local tradition.
The dataset is more limited in scope. It records countries for which a sufficiently clear, countable, and traceable folklore corpus has been identified. When suitable evidence exists, a country may be assigned a documented corpus figure and a dataset rank. When no comparable numerical corpus has been established, the country remains Unranked.
What a Dataset Figure Means
A dataset figure on SuperstitionsMap is a documented corpus count. It reflects the size of a source corpus selected for that country under the project methodology.
It does not mean that the country has exactly that many superstitions. It also does not indicate how superstitious the population is.
Dataset figures may be based on folk-belief records, superstition entries, legends, memorates, proverbs, ethnographic records, archival narratives, or another clearly defined folklore collection, depending on what is available for that country.
Because folklore archives and research traditions are not standardized globally, these figures should be read as documented corpus indicators rather than as perfectly identical statistical units.
Why Some Countries Are Unranked
An Unranked country is not a country without folklore. In many cases, substantial traditions and scholarship exist, but no source has yet been identified that supports a defensible numerical corpus figure under the project’s methodology.
SuperstitionsMap leaves such countries Unranked rather than assigning unsupported totals.
Research Approach
Country guides may draw on folklore studies, ethnographic research, academic publications, museums, universities, archives, historical collections, heritage resources, and other sources suited to the tradition being described.
Some beliefs survive mainly through oral tradition, local custom, or family memory. Where such material appears, it is presented as cultural tradition rather than as scientific proof.
Dataset entries are evaluated separately. A source may be useful for explaining a belief on a country page without being suitable for assigning that country a numerical dataset value.
Updates and Revisions
Folklore documentation changes over time. Archives are expanded, catalogues are digitized, sources become easier to verify, and better evidence may replace earlier material. For that reason, country pages and dataset entries may be revised when stronger documentation becomes available.
Reader Contributions
Readers may send local traditions, regional terminology, family customs, source suggestions, or corrections to support@superstitionsmap.com.
Reader contributions can help improve a country guide or point to useful evidence, but they are not automatically added to the numerical dataset. Dataset figures must still meet the standards described in the Data Methodology.
Editorial Position
SuperstitionsMap treats folklore as cultural material. The site records what people have believed, practiced, feared, avoided, or repeated in specific settings. It does not present supernatural claims as scientific fact.
The aim is to document traditional beliefs carefully and respectfully, without ridicule and without overstating what the evidence can show.
Independent Project
SuperstitionsMap.com is an independent cultural reference and data project. It is not a government body, academic institution, museum, or religious authority unless a specific relationship is explicitly stated on the site.
External institutions are cited because their archives, publications, or research contribute evidence relevant to the traditions being documented.
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Contact
Questions, corrections, source suggestions, and collaboration inquiries can be sent to support@superstitionsmap.com.