Traditions and systems
Whole bodies of practice: Vodou, shamanism, hoodoo, Wicca, onmyodo, Ifa and the rest.
A tradition is a whole body of magical practice with its own teachers, vocabulary and rules, as distinct from a single charm or rite. Ifa in West Africa, Vodou in Haiti, Tibetan Buddhist ritual, Wicca in Britain and America, and Siberian shamanism are all traditions in this sense. Some are living religions, some are modern inventions, and some survive only in fragments. This page looks at how they differ and what each label hides. Each is described here in its own terms wherever the community has chosen to share them.
Who holds them
A tradition has keepers. In Ifa, a babalawo trains for years and memorises the verses of Odu. In Haitian Vodou, a houngan or mambo is initiated within a house and a lineage. Wicca, by contrast, grew from the writings of Gerald Gardner in the 1950s and spreads by books and covens. Access varies: some traditions are open, some require initiation, and some are closed to outsiders by the community's own rule.
Names that mislead
Outsiders have often given traditions names their keepers did not choose. Colonial officials and missionaries called African and Indigenous religions fetishism, witchcraft or devil worship. The word voodoo, borrowed from the Haitian religion, became a stock horror image, while practitioners say Vodou. Many people also reject the word magic for what they see as plain religion, worship of ancestors or medicine of the land. Some are written down in long poems or scriptures, while others are carried only in memory, song and apprenticeship, which affects how outsiders can study them.
How states treat them
Treatment ranges from protection to prohibition. Haiti recognised Vodou as a religion in 2003. Britain repealed its Witchcraft Act only in 1951. Several African and Pacific states still prosecute witchcraft accusations, and Saudi Arabia has executed people for sorcery. Many traditions were absorbed rather than banned: Santeria wore the faces of Catholic saints, and Taoist ritual was licensed by Chinese emperors. Recognition on paper does not end prejudice: a faith can be legal under a constitution and still be mocked, taxed or policed at local level.
Scholars and sceptics
Anthropologists such as Evans-Pritchard, who studied the Azande in the 1930s, described magic as a coherent system of explanation, not stupidity. Historians stress that boundaries between religion, magic and science were drawn by particular people for particular reasons. Sceptics point out that tests of efficacy have found no effect beyond expectation. Many tradition-bearers answer that the question misses what the practice is for. Folklorists add that traditions are always changing, with no pure original to return to, and that revival is itself a form of change.
Tradition on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇻🇳 Vietnam and 5 moreTếtTết Nguyên Đán
The Vietnamese lunisolar new year and the most important annual celebration in VietnamTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore)
A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇩 IndonesiaOgoh-ogohᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ ᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ
Balinese sculptures paraded and burned to cleanse the environment before NyepiTradition · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 7 moreMakar Sankrantiमकरसङ्क्रान्ति
A solar festival marking the sun's northward shift and the winter harvest across South Asia.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇩 IndonesiaNyepiᬜᬾᬧᬶ
A Balinese day of total silence, fasting, and self-reflection to mark the new year.Rite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFirst-footciad-chuairt
The first visitor on New Year's Day, believed to set the household's fortune for the year aheadTradition · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇷 South KoreaGut굿
Rites performed by Korean shamans to commune with spirits and ensure community welfare.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreRéveillon
A long Christmas or New Year's Eve dinner held to stay awake until morningTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log
A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар
A Mongol lunisolar new year marked by white clothes and dairy feastsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanSetsubun節分
A Japanese seasonal rite to drive away bad luck and welcome spring with roasted beansRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreChaharshanbe Suriچهارشنبهسوری
An Iranian fire festival marking the transition from winter to springTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 7 moreNowruzنوروز
A spring equinox festival marking the new year across Persianate culturesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Cleansing and purification Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreMenshen門神
Guardian figures pasted to doors in Chinese folk religion to protect homes from evil.Belief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름
A Korean lunar holiday marking the first full moon with nut-cracking and field firesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇹🇭 ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by water rituals and sand pagodasTradition · Cleansing and purification · Luck and prosperity Living
🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇭 Ghana and 1 moreAkan religionAkom
Traditional beliefs of the Akan people, centered on a distant creator and nature spirits.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore
The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ
Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKukeriкукери
A costumed ritual in Bulgaria to chase away evil spirits and welcome springRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreShamanism in the Qing dynasty
State-managed rituals of the Manchu rulers and their shamansTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇦🇲 Armenia and 3 moreNardoqanНартуған
A Turkic winter solstice celebration marking the birth of the sunTradition · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇷🇺 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
🇮🇩 IndonesiaSunda Wiwitanᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ ᮝᮤᮝᮤᮒᮔ᮪
A folk religion of the Sundanese people in western Java, IndonesiaTradition · 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
🇳🇵 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
🇭🇹 HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval
A major Caribbean festival of music, dance, and satire leading to Mardi Gras in HaitiTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
- Crossroads (folklore): MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ogoh-ogoh: Simondodit, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sunda Wiwitan: Greenland4, Public domain, source
- Nardoqan: Ollios, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yhyakh: Humano92, Public domain, source
- Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Quviasukvik: Jodie Wilson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Setsubun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chaharshanbe Suri: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nowruz: Katzenfee50, CC0, source
- Menshen: Taiwankengo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daeboreum: hojusaram, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Songkran: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY 3.0, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Czech folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Makar Sankranti: Saloni Desai, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Nyepi: Matt Croxson, Public domain, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shamanism in the Qing dynasty: A nineteenth-century team of editors., Public domain, source
- Kiratism: TheDreamSky ( talk ), CC BY 3.0, source
- Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tết: vi:Lưu Ly, Public domain, source