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Living traditionsMexican principal questions progressive and shamanic content in public school materialsStage magicMaster illusionist Leon Etienne is bringing his Magic Rocks! show to The Grand at UW-OshkoshFestivalsElgin's Day of the Dead walk is more than just a 5KMuseumsHans Baldung GrienLiving traditions‘Mystical shaman’ plans Wānaka templeFestivalsWhere to celebrate Day of the Dead in San AntonioFestivalsSIPA to hold Samhain at Gaia House on Oct. 24Living traditions5 ancient bathing rituals across the worldFestivalsMidtown venue hosts Day of the Dead dinnerWitchcraftPaul Carus’ *The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil* (1899)Living traditionsMexican principal questions progressive and shamanic content in public school materialsStage magicMaster illusionist Leon Etienne is bringing his Magic Rocks! show to The Grand at UW-OshkoshFestivalsElgin's Day of the Dead walk is more than just a 5KMuseumsHans Baldung GrienLiving traditions‘Mystical shaman’ plans Wānaka templeFestivalsWhere to celebrate Day of the Dead in San AntonioFestivalsSIPA to hold Samhain at Gaia House on Oct. 24Living traditions5 ancient bathing rituals across the worldFestivalsMidtown venue hosts Day of the Dead dinnerWitchcraftPaul Carus’ *The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil* (1899)
EveryJaadu

Buddhist: magic in this belief world

Protective chants and amulets, Tibetan ritual, and the spirit cults that live beside Buddhism.

Buddhism teaches liberation, yet in practice nearly every Buddhist land has protective chants, blessed threads, amulets, tattoos and rites for the dead. Thai monks bless sacred tattoos, Tibetan lamas perform protection rituals, Japanese temples sell omamori, and Sri Lankan monks recite paritta. This page looks at how Buddhism has met spirit cults and magical practice, and the debates over what counts as the teaching. Practice differs between Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, and across countries.

Protection and blessing

Many Buddhist communities use chants believed to protect, such as the paritta of Theravada lands. Monks bless water and thread, and lay people wear amulets of famous monks in Thailand. Tibetan Buddhism includes elaborate rites with mandalas, mantras and deity visualisation. Practitioners explain these as work with merit and compassion, and not as forcing events. Tibetan lamas and Mongolian monasteries keep protective deities and rites for the dead, and ordinary people ask for blessings, divination and long-life ceremonies.

Spirit cults beside the faith

Buddhism often lives alongside older spirit worship. Thai homes keep spirit houses, Burmese people honour the 37 nats, Sri Lankans make offerings to local deities, and Japanese temples sit beside Shinto shrines. Scholars debate whether to call this syncretism or a division of labour in which spirits deal with this life and the Buddha with the next. Some of these spirits are said to have been bound by Buddhist teachers in the past, so Buddhism takes credit for ordering the unseen, which is a historical claim scholars view as a theme in the faith's spread.

Lay, monastic and gender

Authority sits with ordained monks and lamas, and ordination for women is limited or disputed in several traditions. Monks who sell amulets or claim miracles have been criticised, and Buddhist teachers who promise supernatural results have been caught in scandals. In Thailand, authorities have acted on fraudulent monks. Women's roles are mixed: female mediums and nuns are active in many Buddhist lands, while institutional authority is largely male. Thai police and the Sangha Supreme Council have disciplined monks for fraud, which shows the limits that Buddhist institutions put on claims of power.

State, history and the West

Buddhism has been suppressed, as in Tibet after 1950 and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and promoted by states for national identity. In the West, mindfulness has been separated from ritual, while Tibetan and Zen institutions face their own questions about abuse. Reformers such as Buddhist modernists have long argued that magic is a corruption of the teaching. Debate continues over whether such practice belongs to the religion, and many Buddhists in the West, in Japan and in Sri Lanka explain it as cultural habit and a form of kindness.

Buddhist on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
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
OccasionWeddings and betrothalFestivalsBirth and childhoodDeath and remembranceHarvest, farming and weatherNew yearInitiation and coming of ageIllness and misfortuneJourneys and voyagesEveryday use
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreMakaraमकर A legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology and a symbol of water and thresholdsBeing · Protection · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKinnaraकिन्नर (Sanskrit) A half-human, half-bird creature from Hindu and Buddhist myth, known for music and devotion.Being · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇳 IndiaSnow Lionགངས་སེང་གེ་ A celestial mountain guardian of Tibet embodying fearlessness, bliss, and the DharmaBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living 🇹🇭 Thailand and 1 moreNang Taniนางตานี A female spirit said to inhabit wild banana trees in Southeast Asian folklore.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇲🇲 Myanmar and 5 moreChintheခြင်္သေ့ A stylized lion statue that guards Buddhist temples in Myanmar and across Asia.Being · Protection Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMogwai魔鬼 A Chinese term for demons and evil spirits, borrowed from Sanskrit lore through Buddhism.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanAkuma悪魔（あくま） An evil spirit in Japanese folklore, later used for Satan in ChristianityBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇯🇵 JapanTesso鉄鼠 A Japanese yōkai born from a monk’s curse and the destructive power of ratsBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaDenglong蹬龙 A Chinese mythical beast with mixed animal traits, often guarding imperial sites.Being · Protection · Power and authority Legendary 🇲🇲 MyanmarMythical creatures in Burmese folklore A collection of spirits, beasts and hybrids from Myanmar's stories and playsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇯🇵 JapanKiyohime清姫 A Japanese folktale about a woman who becomes a serpent after being rejected by a monkFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanDatsue-ba奪衣婆 A Japanese underworld figure who strips clothes from spirits at the river of deathBeing · Cursing and harm 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 🇳🇵 Nepal and 3 moreGurung ShamanismTamu Cho The ancient shamanic beliefs and rituals of the Gurung people in NepalTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 5 moreMythic humanoids Creatures that blend human and animal traits across global folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇮🇳 IndiaEtheric body A subtle energy layer said to sustain the physical form and connect it to higher states.Being · Power and authority Historical 🇹🇭 ThailandSihuhataแมงสี่หูห้าตา A legendary creature from northern Thai folklore associated with wealth and divine testingBeing · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDeity yoga A Vajrayana meditation on embodying a chosen Buddha figure to realize emptinessTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living 🇲🇲 MyanmarYadayaယတြာ Rituals in Myanmar to avert misfortune using astrology and numerologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇧🇹 BhutanVajravarahiརྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ། (Dorje Pakmo) A wrathful female buddha in Tibetan Buddhism, depicted with a sow head and dancing posture.Being · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇹🇭 ThailandPla taphianปลาตะเพียนสาน A woven palm leaf fish mobile hung as a blessing for health and plentyCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaAbhijñāअभिज्ञा A set of special insights and powers in Buddhist meditation.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreSanni Yakumaසන්නි යකුම A traditional Sinhalese exorcism ritual featuring eighteen masked dances to banish illness-causing demons.Rite · Healing · Cursing and harm Living 🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTermaགཏེར་མ Hidden teachings in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, revealed by tertöns when the time is right.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNavaratnaनवरत्न A nine-gem talisman set in gold or silver, linked to Hindu astrology and planetary worshipCharm · Protection · Healing Living 🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreYellow shamanismШар бөө A Mongolian and Siberian shamanic tradition blended with Buddhist ritualsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Historical 🇯🇵 JapanHannya般若 A Noh theater mask depicting a jealous female spirit or demonessText · Cursing and harm Living
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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