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
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptUshabtiw拧btj
Ancient Egyptian funerary figurines believed to work for the dead in the afterlifeCharm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreEye of Horusw岣応湥t
A stylized eye symbol in ancient Egypt representing healing and cosmic orderCharm 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚤馃嚲 Libya and 4 moreTraditional Berber religionAmazigh religion
Ancient beliefs of Northwest Africa centered on celestial bodies, caves, and ancestors.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptScarab
A carved beetle amulet and seal used in ancient Egypt for protection, identity, and ritual.Charm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptAncient Egyptian afterlife beliefs
A system of rituals and texts guiding the soul through the underworld to eternal rebirthTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptImhotep峄夅粔-m-岣p
An ancient Egyptian architect deified as a god of healing and wisdomBeing 路 Healing 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptKhaemweset岣湧 m w隃t
A prince and priest remembered for restoring ancient Egyptian monuments.Figure Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreFoundation deposit
Ritual burial of objects under buildings to protect them from ruinRite 路 Protection Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremonywpt-r (Egyptian)
An ancient Egyptian rite to restore a deceased person's senses for the afterlifeRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptAnubis饟噵饟垨饟姫饟儯
The jackal-headed god who guides souls and oversees mummification in ancient Egypt.Being 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreDendera zodiac
A carved Egyptian sky map now held in a Paris museumText 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreShen ring
An ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal protection, shaped like a rope looped around a stick.Charm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptDemon
A supernatural entity believed to cause harm or possess humansBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptBirth tusk
Ivory rods inscribed with protective figures for childbirth and infant safety in ancient Egypt.Charm 路 Protection Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptPlummet amulet
An Ancient Egyptian charm shaped like a plumb bob to ensure balance in the afterlifeCharm Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptSet animalsha
A mysterious creature from ancient Egypt, linked to the god Set and chaos.Being 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptAkhty
A rarely attested ancient Egyptian deity linked to the ibis and the evening horizon.Being 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptMenatmnj.t
A beaded necklace and rattle linked to Hathor for protection and luck in ancient EgyptCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚛馃嚳 AlgeriaWezeea賵賻夭賽賷毓賻丞
A Kabyle custom of communal slaughter and meat sharing for social solidarityRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Living
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
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptUnlucky Mummy
A painted wooden coffin lid from ancient Egypt that became famous for myths of misfortune.Charm 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptScatomancy
A divination method that reads fortunes by examining bodily excrement or animal waste.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptHermanubis峒櫹佄嘉蔽轿酷喀尾喂蟼
A Graeco-Egyptian god who guides the souls of the dead to the underworld.Being 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.
- Plummet amulet: The Art Institute of Chicago, CC0, source
- Ushabti: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Traditional Berber religion: Potymkin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scarab: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Imhotep: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
- Khaemweset: No machine-readable author provided. Neithsabes assumed (based on copy, Public domain, source
- Foundation deposit: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Ankh: Soutekh67, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Birth tusk: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
- Menat: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0, source
- Anubis: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Akhty: R茅mih, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shen ring: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, source
- Dendera zodiac: Shonagon, CC0, source
- Hermanubis: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Unlucky Mummy: amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, source
- Eye of Horus: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Set animal: Unknown author, Public domain, source