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

🇨🇳 ChinaPixiu貔貅 A winged lion-like creature from Chinese lore that guards wealth and wards off evil spirits.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇷🇺 RussiaAiyАйыы (Ayıı) Benevolent spirits of the Upper World in Yakut mythologyBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇿🇦 South AfricaAmadlozi Ancestors of the Nguni people who guide and protect their descendantsBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United StatesQuviasukvikᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᕕᒃ An Arctic festival marking the new year with sunrise rituals and community gatherings.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇿🇼 ZimbabweMhande A Shona song and dance performance tied to rain rituals and ancestral communicationIllusion · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇳🇿 New Zealand and 1 moreManaia A composite guardian spirit in Māori art and beliefBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇭🇹 HaitiChristian-Vodou The blending of Haitian Vodou and Roman Catholicism into a single spiritual practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇲🇱 MaliBinouba-binu A secret Dogon order honoring ancestors through totemic animals and ritual sacrifice in Mali.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉 A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreReligious restrictions on the consumption of pork A dietary rule found in several faiths that bars people from eating pig meat.Belief · Cleansing and purification Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFolk practices in Punjab Indigenous beliefs and rituals of the Punjabi people across India and PakistanTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوَزِيعَة A Kabyle custom of communal slaughter and meat sharing for social solidarityRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreFengshui woodland風水林 A protected grove in East Asia believed to shape the local environment and bring luck to nearby communities.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇻🇳 VietnamThe Four ImmortalsTứ bất tử Four chief spirits of the Vietnamese Red River Delta pantheonBeing · Power and authority Living 🇧🇿 BelizeTata DuendeNukuch Tat A thumbless forest spirit of Belizean folklore that protects animals and warns children.Being · Protection · 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

🇲🇬 MadagascarFady Malagasy cultural taboos regulating daily life and ancestor relationsBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGod's eyeOjo de Dios A woven yarn cross believed to grant spiritual sight and protectionCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreKiratism The indigenous animist and shamanic religion of the Kirati peoples in Nepal and IndiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇸 United StatesPele's Curse A belief that taking Hawaiian sand or rock brings bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇩 Indonesia and 1 moreSandung A house-shaped ossuary for the bones of the deceased among Dayak peoples in Borneo.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇩 IndonesiaMarapu Ancestral religion of Sumba and Flores in IndonesiaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living 🇩🇴 Dominican RepublicAnaisa Pye A Dominican loa of love and wealth, linked to Saint Anne.Being · Love and attraction · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇩 IndonesiaSunda Wiwitanᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ ᮝᮤᮝᮤᮒᮔ᮪ A folk religion of the Sundanese people in western Java, IndonesiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 IndiaTribal religions in India Indigenous spiritual practices of India's Scheduled Tribes, often grouped under Hinduism in official records.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇷🇺 RussiaYhyakhЫһыах A summer solstice festival of the Sakha people marking the new year and nature's returnTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Sandung: Wibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sunda Wiwitan: Greenland4, Public domain, source
Yhyakh: Humano92, Public domain, source
Quviasukvik: Jodie Wilson, CC BY 2.0, source
Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
Kiratism: TheDreamSky ( talk ), CC BY 3.0, source
Marapu: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pixiu: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Manaia: Sarang, Public domain, source
Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Religious restrictions on the consumption of pork: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Fady: Robin Taylor, CC BY 2.0, source
Fengshui woodland: 猫猫的日记本 (Cat's diary), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Folk practices in Punjab: Veer jindal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
The Four Immortals: Vietnamese artist, Public domain, source