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.
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptCurse
A spoken wish for misfortune to befall a person or placeBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚟馃嚬 HaitiBois Ca茂man
The sacred site where enslaved Africans planned the Haitian Revolution through a Vodou ceremony.Rite 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚘馃嚭 AustraliaKurdaitchakwertatye
A ritual executioner and feathered shoes of the Arrernte people in Central Australia.Tradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 1 moreNoaidi
A S谩mi spiritual leader who mediated between the living and the spirit world using a drum.Being 路 Healing 路 Protection Historical
馃嚚馃嚦 ChinaOracle bone鐢查
Divination using heated ox bones and turtle shells in ancient ChinaRite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreOmen
A sign believed to foretell the future and signal coming changeBelief 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenTemple at Uppsala
A Norse religious centre described in medieval texts and debated by modern scholarsTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚨馃嚟 PhilippinesBabaylan
Spiritual leaders of pre-colonial Philippines who mediated with the unseen world.Tradition 路 Healing 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreDruiddruides
A learned priestly class of the ancient Celts in Gaul and BritainTradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 2 moreChild sacrifice
The ritual killing of children to appease deities or restore cosmic order in ancient culturesRite 路 Cursing and harm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world
Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 4 moreAnimal sacrifice
The ritual killing of livestock or wild animals as an offering to deitiesRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreHippomancy
Divination through the movements, sounds, and tracks of horsesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 1 moreShamanism in the Qing dynasty
State-managed rituals of the Manchu rulers and their shamansTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion
Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition 路 Healing 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚥馃嚱 MexicoEntheogenics and the Maya
Hallucinogenic substances used by the Maya for spiritual rituals and healingTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Historical
馃嚞馃嚘 Gabon and 2 moreMbulu Ngulu
Wood and metal figures guarding ancestor relics in GabonCharm 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚫 SpainHuman sacrifice in the ancient Iberian Peninsula
Ancient ritual killings by Lusitanian and Vetton peoples for divination and warRite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚠馃嚛 IndonesiaTunggal panaluan
A carved magic staff of the Batak shamans in North SumatraCharm 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚛馃嚧 Dominican Republic and 5 moreZemi
A Ta铆no deity or ancestral spirit housed in a carved object used for worship and protectionBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚬馃嚦 TunisiaOmek Tannou
A Tunisian rainmaking ritual using a sculpted head or stick to call for water during droughts.Rite 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceTrophonius韦蟻慰蠁蠋谓喂慰蟼
A Greek hero turned subterranean oracle god at LebadeaFigure 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Human sacrifice in the ancient Iberian Peninsula: Manuel Parada L贸pez de Corselas User:Manuel de Corselas ARS SUMMUM, Ce, Public domain, source
- Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Kurdaitcha: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Noaidi: O. H. von Lode, Public domain, source
- Oracle bone: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Omen: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Temple at Uppsala: Olaus Magnus, Public domain, source
- Hippomancy: Wer?Du?!, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shamanism in the Qing dynasty: A nineteenth-century team of editors., Public domain, source
- Druid: Bernard de Montfaucon, Public domain, source
- Zemi: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Child sacrifice: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
- Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mbulu Ngulu: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Animal sacrifice: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Tunggal panaluan: Tropenmuseum, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Babaylan: Hptina24, CC BY-SA 4.0, source