African and Afro-diasporic: magic in this belief world

Vodou, Santeria, Candomblé, Obeah, Hoodoo and the African religions they grew from.

African and Afro-diasporic religions include Ifa and Orisha worship in West Africa, Vodou in Haiti, Santeria or Regla de Ocha in Cuba, Candomblé and Umbanda in Brazil, Obeah in Jamaica and the Caribbean, Hoodoo and conjure in the American South, and Palo and Kongo-derived practices. They were created by enslaved Africans and their descendants and are living religions. This page uses the communities' own names, and explains why outsiders' words did harm. They are among the largest religious families of the Americas, with millions of practitioners.

Origins and forms

These religions grew from the beliefs of Yoruba, Fon, Kongo and other peoples carried by the Atlantic slave trade. They honour spirits or gods, such as orisha, lwa and nkisi, as well as ancestors, and use initiation, drumming, offerings and possession. Under slavery, many took the faces of Catholic saints. Hoodoo is a set of folk practices and not an organised church. Ifa in Yoruba land and in Cuba is a system of verses and divination, and its priests, the babalawo, are trained for years.

Naming and stereotype

Voodoo, as a horror film and doll image, is a distortion of Vodou. Missionary and colonial writers called these religions fetishism, witchcraft and devil worship. Practitioners prefer Vodou, Santeria or Lucumi, and Candomblé. The stereotype of the voodoo doll comes largely from European folk magic and fiction, and has little to do with Vodou practice. Initiation brings a new name, a guiding orisha or lwa, and a place in a religious family, and many initiations include seclusion, dressing in white and the learning of songs and rules.

Persecution and recognition

Slave owners and later governments banned or raided these religions. Haiti's Vodou was prosecuted under anti-superstition campaigns in the 1940s and recognised as a religion in 2003. Brazil's Candomblé houses were once raided by police. The US Supreme Court in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah (1993) protected Santeria animal sacrifice as religious practice, which sacrifice remains controversial to some. Animal sacrifice is part of some of these religions, as in many others around the world, and is performed according to rules of its own and by trained people, with the food shared among the community.

Today and the market

Practice has spread through migration to New York, Miami, London and Paris, and many Black practitioners see the religions as a return to heritage. They face commercial use of sacred names, appropriation by outsiders, and ongoing prejudice from some churches. Some initiatory knowledge is closed, and entries here stay with what communities openly share. Recent years have brought scholarship, museums and festivals that celebrate the religions, as well as new tensions with evangelical churches that call them demonic and have attacked temples in parts of Brazil.

African and Afro-diasporic on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

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

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

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇧🇯 Benin and 2 morePapa Legba A loa who stands at the crossroads and opens the gate between people and spiritsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore) A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living 🇧🇷 BrazilPomba Gira An Afro-Brazilian spirit of love and desire worshipped in Umbanda and QuimbandaBeing · Love and attraction · Power and authority Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreManbo A female priestess in Haitian Vodou who leads rituals and healing workTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreBokorbòkò A Haitian Vodou practitioner said to serve spirits for both protection and harmTradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreOpon IfáỌpọ́n Ifá A carved wooden tray used by Yoruba diviners to read signs and consult spirits.Charm · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreOungan A male priest in Haitian Vodou who leads rituals and serves as a medium for spirits.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇨🇺 Cuba and 5 morePalo An Afro-Cuban religion centered on spirit vessels and ancestral powerTradition · Healing · Cursing and harm Living 🇧🇷 BrazilMacumba A term for Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices, often carrying negative connotations of sorceryBelief · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇧🇷 Brazil and 3 moreBatuque An Afro-Brazilian religion with spirit possession and a pantheon of Orixás and encantadosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 HaitiBaron Samedi A Haitian Vodou spirit of the dead who also controls healing and resurrection.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMarie Laveau A New Orleans priestess and herbalist who led Louisiana Voodoo in the nineteenth centuryTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇹🇬 TogoAkodessawa Fetish MarketMarché des Féticheurs A market in Togo selling ritual objects for Vodún practiceTradition · Power and authority · Healing Living

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreOrishaÒrìṣà Divine spirits of the Yoruba religion and their diasporic descendants in the Americas.Being · Protection · Healing Living

🇭🇹 HaitiErzulieÈzili A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou representing love, beauty, and protective fury.Being · Protection · Love and attraction Living

🇭🇹 HaitiGedeGuédé A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou who guard the dead and grant fertility.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreHoodoo A spiritual tradition of the African diaspora in the American South using herbs and charms for protection and justice.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇭🇹 HaitiBois Caïman The sacred site where enslaved Africans planned the Haitian Revolution through a Vodou ceremony.Rite · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreWitchcraft in Latin AmericaBrujería A syncretic blend of Indigenous, African, and European magical practices across Latin AmericaTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇺 Cuba and 2 moreAbakuá A male-only Cuban religious fraternity with West African roots and strict secrecyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreEzili DantorÈzili Dantò A fierce mother spirit in Haitian Vodou who protects the marginalized and demands loyalty.Being · Protection · Love and attraction Living 🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreQuimbanda An Afro-Brazilian religion focused on male and female street spirits for worldly mattersTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreCandomblé An Afro-Brazilian religion blending West African spirits with Catholic imageryTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreSanto Daime A Brazilian syncretic religion using ayahuasca for spiritual work and healingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 1 moreMyal An Afro-Jamaican healing tradition rooted in Arawak and Akan spiritualityTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreEleguaÈṣù-Ẹlẹ́gbára A Yoruba deity of crossroads and messenger who opens all spiritual pathsBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇳🇬 NigeriaIfa divination (sample)Ifá A system of verses and divining chains.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living 🇭🇹 HaitiVodou veve (sample)Vèvè Ground drawings that call the lwa.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇧🇯 BeninMawu-Lisa A dual creator spirit of the Gbe peoples, uniting sun and moon in one agender beingBeing · Power and authority Living

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and 1 moreDominican VudúVudú Dominicano A syncretic Afro-Caribbean religion on Hispaniola with its own spirit lineages and titles.Tradition · Protection · Love and attraction Living

🇨🇺 Cuba and 1 moreHaitian Vodou in CubaVodú Haitiano A Caribbean religious tradition brought by migrants and maintained in eastern CubaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia and 1 moreKélé An Afro-Saint Lucian faith rooted in Yoruba traditions and secret practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreHaitian Vodou and homosexuality The place of LGBTQ people in Hait Vodou practice and beliefTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval A major Caribbean festival of music, dance, and satire leading to Mardi Gras in HaitiTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living

🇩🇲 DominicaBelie Belcan A loa of justice and protection in Dominican Vudú, linked to Saint Michael.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇭🇹 Haiti and 3 moreNago lwa A Haitian Vodou nation of masculine spirits rooted in Yoruba traditionsBeing · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 1 moreTrinidadian Vodunu A West African Vodun tradition practiced in Trinidad and Tobago with Catholic elementsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇭🇹 HaitiBoum'ba Maza A family of water spirits in Haitian Vodou ritesBeing · Luck and prosperity · Healing Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 morePetwo A family of hot and volatile spirits in Haitian VodouBeing · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living

🇭🇹 HaitiRada lwa A family of cool-tempered spirits in Haitian VodouBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇧🇧 Barbados and 2 moreObeah and Wanga A Caribbean folk magic tradition and a Haitian charm packet, referenced in Western occult texts.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living 🇭🇹 HaitiBizango Haitian secret societies linked to Vodou and social controlTradition · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Crossroads (folklore): MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Abakuá: M. Puente, Public domain, source
Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ezili Dantor: Oficinalis, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Candomblé: André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Elegua: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
Manbo: Aliceba, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bokor: Hector Hyppolite, Public domain, source
Opon Ifá: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
Oungan: Anthony Karen, CC BY 4.0, source
Palo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Haitian Vodou in Cuba: Dr. Anthony R. Picciolo, NOAA NODC, Public domain, source
Baron Samedi: markbenecke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
Marie Laveau: E. W. Kemble, Public domain, source
Akodessawa Fetish Market: Alexander Sarlay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Belie Belcan: Domfranciscorodrigues, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Orisha: Turismo Bahia, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Erzulie: anonymous, Public domain, source
Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source