Indigenous and shamanic: magic in this belief world

Ceremony, healing and spirit knowledge of Indigenous peoples; some of it closed to outsiders and described here only as far as its people share it.

Indigenous and shamanic traditions are the ceremony, healing and spirit knowledge of peoples from the Arctic to the Amazon, Australia, the Pacific and Africa. They are not one religion, and each community has its own names, laws and stories. Some knowledge is closed to outsiders by the community's own rule, and this guide describes it only as far as the people concerned share it. Terms such as Indigenous and shamanic can hide great variety, so the guide gives each people its own entry wherever it can.

Many peoples, many practices

Examples include the Sami noaidi, Mongolian and Siberian shamans, the Navajo and Lakota ceremonial systems, Amazonian plant healers, Andean offerings to Pachamama, Maori tohunga, Hawaiian kahuna and Aboriginal Dreaming law. Each is rooted in land, kinship and responsibility. Many peoples hold that knowledge belongs to the people and place it came from, and cannot be taken or sold. Elders say that these practices were given to a community and cannot be separated from its language, land and obligations, so that they function differently in the hands of outsiders.

Closed and open knowledge

A great deal is restricted by gender, age, initiation or clan. Some Aboriginal ceremonies, parts of Pueblo and Hopi religion, and many African initiation societies are not for outsiders, and describing them in detail would break the community's law. Visitors should ask before attending, photographing or recording, and accept a refusal. Where this guide is silent on a detail, that is deliberate. In many communities, healers and ceremonial leaders are chosen by calling, family and long training, and they do not advertise.

Suppression and recovery

Colonisers banned ceremonies, as in the United States, where the Plains Sun Dance and the Pacific Northwest potlatch were outlawed. Canada banned the potlatch from 1885 to 1951. Missionaries called practice devil worship and removed children to boarding schools. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 recognised rights in US law, and revival and language movements continue. Colonial law in Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil and elsewhere sought to end such practice, and some communities lost part of their ceremonial knowledge as a result.

Appropriation and respect

Sweat lodges run by outsiders have caused deaths, notably in Arizona in 2009. Sacred plants are sold as products, and costume and names are taken for branding. Indigenous leaders ask for consent, credit and benefit-sharing. Some Indigenous writers prefer to speak of religion, law or medicine, not magic, and this guide follows their lead where it can. Ask first and give back: those are the rules most communities state, and the guide asks readers to follow them.

Indigenous and shamanic 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

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍 A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptAnubis𓇋𓈖𓊪𓃣 The jackal-headed god who guides souls and oversees mummification in ancient Egypt.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCernunnos An antlered Celtic deity depicted with torcs and serpents, known from Roman-era Gaul.Being · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇳 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

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreUpiórупіор A demonic spirit from Slavic and Turkic folklore that is believed to return from the dead to feed on the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptImhotepỉỉ-m-ḥtp An ancient Egyptian architect deified as a god of healing and wisdomBeing · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇦 CanadaNanabozhoᓇᓇᐳᔓ A shapeshifting spirit and trickster in Anishinaabe storytelling from North AmericaBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇦🇺 AustraliaRainbow Serpent A creator spirit of water and land in Aboriginal Australian mythologyBeing · Healing · Cursing and harm Living 🇵🇪 Peru and 1 morePishtacoñañaq; kharisiri An Andean bogeyman said to steal human fat for oil and medicineBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreViracochaWiraqucha The supreme creator deity of the Andes, associated with the sea and civilization.Being · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇨🇱 ChileMoaimoꞌai Monolithic ancestor statues of Rapa Nui, carved from volcanic stone between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.Being · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreRabisu A wind spirit in Akkadian myth sent to correct human transgressionsBeing · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreMjölnirMjǫllnir The hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor, used as a weapon and for blessingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇰🇷 South KoreaJeoseung Saja저승사자 A Korean psychopomp who escorts the dead to the afterlife.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇪🇬 EgyptDemon A supernatural entity believed to cause harm or possess humansBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreSpirit An invisible force or soul found in many cultures, linked to gods, humans, and nature.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇸🇾 SyriaLilulilû (Akkadian), lilu (Sumerian) A class of Mesopotamian spirits linked to unfulfilled lives and illnessBeing · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreStrichaСтріча A Slavic goddess who spins the golden thread of human destiny and good fortuneBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreTutelary deity A guardian spirit or god assigned to protect a specific place, person, or group.Being · Protection Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 (yuètù) A mythical figure seen in lunar markings, pounding elixirs or rice cakes across Asia and the Americas.Being · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreKalevaKalev A primordial giant and ancestral figure in the mythologies of Estonia and FinlandBeing · Power and authority Historical 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreHiisi A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreLaumaLaumė A Baltic fairy-like spirit of the sky, weather, and newborn children.Being · Protection · Healing Historical

🇮🇩 IndonesiaAntabogaꦄꦤ꧀ꦠꦨꦺꦴꦒ A serpent deity of Javanism and Sundanism who created the world turtle and rice goddessBeing · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptSet animalsha A mysterious creature from ancient Egypt, linked to the god Set and chaos.Being · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaKhunu Leimaꯈꯨꯅꯨꯔꯩꯃ (Khunu Leima) A Meitei goddess who rules over pigeons and doves in the religion of Manipur.Being Historical 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 2 moreAyaz AtaАяз Ата A Turkic winter spirit who brings snow and gifts during the cold seasonBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 2 moreHaltija A supernatural guardian of a specific place or animal species in Finnish and Baltic Finnic mythologyBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇭 GhanaAmokye Guardian of the entrance to Asamando in Akan and Ashanti beliefBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptAkhty A rarely attested ancient Egyptian deity linked to the ibis and the evening horizon.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHephaestusἭφαιστος The Greek smith god who forged divine weapons and crafted automata for the gods.Being · Power and authority Historical

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreVäinämöinen An ancient Finnish demigod and master singer from the Kalevala epicBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living 🇪🇷 Eritrea and 1 moreBeher A pre-Christian Aksumite deity of the sea and agricultural fertilityBeing · Luck and prosperity · Healing Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreShatiqatu𐎌𐎓𐎚𐎖𐎚 (šʿtqt) A Ugaritic healing figure created from clay to cure the king KirtaBeing · Healing Historical

🇨🇦 CanadaMistapewmistâpêw (ᒥᐢᑖᐤ) A spirit-being of the Cree peoples, known as the Great Man or Bigfoot.Being · Protection · Healing Living

🇻🇳 VietnamMẫu Thượng Ngàn林宮聖母 A forest goddess in Vietnamese indigenous religion, ruler of the Forest PalaceBeing · Power and authority Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇦🇷 ArgentinaLegendary creatures of the Argentine Northwest region Myths and spirits from the Andean highlands of ArgentinaBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
Antaboga: fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 20D + Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, GFDL 1.2, source
Mistapew: Alarichall, CC0, source
Shatiqatu: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Cernunnos: Nationalmuseet, Roberto Fortuna og Kira Ursem, Public domain, source
Upiór: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Imhotep: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
Nanabozho: D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rainbow Serpent: unknown (as drawn by an Aboriginal), Public domain, source
Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Viracocha: Pattych ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
Väinämöinen: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Public domain, source
Moon rabbit: An artist, Public domain, source
Set animal: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Khunu Leima: Author: DALL-E; prompted by Haoreima, Public domain, source
Mjölnir: Mårten Eskil Winge, Public domain, source
Mẫu Thượng Ngàn: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Anubis: Hunefer, Public domain, source
Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
Akhty: Rémih, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hephaestus: Foundry Painter (name vase), Public domain, source
Moai: Rivi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source
Lauma: Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, source
Spirit: Jastrow, Public domain, source
Jeoseung Saja: National Folk Museum of Korea, CC BY 4.0, source
Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source