Hindu and Tantric: magic in this belief world

Mantra, yantra, tantra, puja and the folk goddess cults of India and Nepal.

Hindu practice holds a very large range of ritual: Vedic fire offerings, mantra and yantra, tantra, temple puja, astrology, and the village goddess cults of India and Nepal. Many Hindus would call this worship, not magic, while scholars note that charms, spells and rites of power run through the tradition from the Atharvaveda onward. This page covers the range and the tensions inside it. Hindu communities live in every continent, and their rites differ by language and household.

Mantra, yantra and tantra

A mantra is a sacred sound or phrase, a yantra a diagram, and tantra a family of ritual traditions that use both. Tantric practice is varied: some is household devotion, some is initiatory work under a guru, and some has been sensationalised abroad as sex magic, a picture most practitioners reject. Knowledge is passed through initiation, and many texts are closed to outsiders. Initiation into a mantra is usually given by a guru or family teacher, and the same sound may be said to work only when received in the right way.

Folk and village practice

Beyond the temple, villages have healers, exorcists and mediums who work with goddesses and spirits. Practices against the evil eye include the lemon and chillies, black dots and a rite of waving salt and chillies before a child. Jyotisha, Indian astrology, is consulted for weddings, names and business, and is taught in some universities, which scientists have criticised. Healers and goddess shrines, such as those of Sitala for smallpox and fever and of Bhagavati in Kerala, draw crowds who seek relief and protection.

Gender, caste and law

Access follows caste and gender. Priesthood is largely male and Brahmin, though women lead some rites, and low-caste and Dalit practitioners lead many village cults. Accusations of witchcraft, in India often called dayan or dain, have killed people in states such as Jharkhand and Assam, and several states have passed laws against witch-hunting. Maharashtra and Karnataka have anti-superstition laws. Hindu reformers have also attacked such practice: the Arya Samaj, founded in 1875, opposed idol worship and ritual excess, and rationalist groups in India campaign against godmen who claim miracles.

Diaspora and commerce

Overseas, communities keep household rites and temple worship, and pandits conduct weddings by video. Yoga and tantra are now global industries, and Western teachers have sold forms far from their roots, while Indian reformers and some Hindus object. Scholars point to centuries of overlap between Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Islamic traditions of charms and healing. Hindu temples in Britain, North America and Southeast Asia now host priests trained in India, and some rites have been adapted to the calendar of working life.

Hindu and Tantric 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

🇮🇳 IndiaChakraचक्र Meditation points in the subtle body used in Hindu and Buddhist yogaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreMandalaमण्डल A sacred geometric design used in Indian religions for meditation and spiritual mapping.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNavagrahaनवग्रह A group of nine celestial deities in Hinduism that govern fate and astrologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली Floor art made with coloured powders and flowers to welcome guests and deitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAmritaअमृत (Sanskrit) A Sanskrit concept of immortality and the nectar that grants it across Indian religionsBelief · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindiबिंदी A dot worn on the forehead to mark spiritual focus and cultural identityCharm · Protection · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 IndiaSiddhiसिद्धि Magical powers and spiritual attainments in Indian religionsBelief · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaKumkumकुङ्कुमम् A red powder made from turmeric and lime, used in Hindu markings and ritualsSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDaayanदायन A vengeful female spirit from Indian folklore, often blamed for misfortune and witchcraft accusations.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 IndiaKundaliniकुण्डलिनी A dormant energy in Hinduism believed to rise through the spine for spiritual liberationBelief Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம் A daily geometric floor drawing made with rice flour at the home entrance in South IndiaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNakshatraनक्षत्रम् (Nakṣatram) A system of lunar mansions used in Hindu and Buddhist astrology to map the sky.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaMuhurtamuhūrta A Hindu unit of time used to select auspicious moments for rituals and daily practiceBelief · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 IndiaPanchagavya A fermented mixture of five cow products used in Hindu rituals and Ayurvedic traditions.Substance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम् A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBhootभूत A restless spirit of the dead in South Asian belief and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAsian witchcraft A broad overview of magical practices and persecution across Asian culturesTradition · Cursing and harm · Protection Living 🇮🇳 IndiaMangala Dosha A Hindu astrological belief that Mars causes marital trouble and the rituals used to address itBelief · Protection Living

🇮🇳 IndiaIndrajalaइन्द्रजाल A Sanskrit term for illusion and conjuring, linking stage magic to Hindu philosophy.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBrahma Kumarisप्रजापिता ब्रह्माकुमारी ईश्वरीय विश्वविद्यालय A meditation-based spiritual movement that teaches soul identity and global peaceTradition · Cleansing and purification · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreWorld Turtle A mythic giant turtle said to support the earth or contain the world in various cultures.Being · Power and authority Legendary

🇮🇳 IndiaSuperstition in India Common beliefs and rituals across India that influence daily life and major eventsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaCausal bodyKarana-Sarira A yogic and esoteric concept describing the highest innermost body that veils the true Self.Belief · Change and initiation Living 🇮🇳 IndiaKeśin A Vedic hymn describing long-haired ascetics who travel on the wind and share a cup with Rudra.Tradition · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaShamanism in Ayyavazhi A divination practice within the Hindu denomination of Ayyavazhi in South India.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaPranaप्राण A Sanskrit concept of vital energy found in yoga and AyurvedaBelief · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire (classical element) A classical substance of heat and transformation in Greek, Indian, and Western esoteric traditionsSubstance · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 IndiaSuperstitions in Sikh societies Folk beliefs and rituals observed by some Sikhs despite theological prohibitions.Belief · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 IndiaUchchhishtaउच्छिष्ट A Hindu concept of ritual impurity linked to saliva and food remnantsBelief · Cleansing and purification Living 🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 IndiaHoroscope A diagram of planetary positions at a specific moment, used for divination and personality analysis.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
Bhoot: Anilbhardwajnoida, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Chakra: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Navagraha: Kiran891, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Amrita: http://picasaweb.google.com/injamaven, CC BY 3.0, source
Kumkum: Thamizhpparithi Maari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Indrajala: Abishekrl15156, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nakshatra: Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Shamanism in Ayyavazhi: Vaikunda Raja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Brahma Kumaris: Tamasin Ramsey, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
World Turtle: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Prana: Tamilmama, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fire (classical element): Correogsk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kundalini: Pierjasi at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mandala: Marion Golsteijn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
Superstitions in Sikh societies: jjron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Asian witchcraft: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Public domain, source
Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Uchchhishta: Ebenezergangmei, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Horoscope: Peter Presslein, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Superstition in India: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source