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 Britain repealed its Witchcraft Act only in 1951.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.
馃嚠馃嚩 Iraq and 3 moreAncient Mesopotamian religion
The polytheistic beliefs and practices of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia from 6000 BC to 500 ADTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚩 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic
Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition 路 Love and attraction 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚠馃嚩 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition 路 Protection 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 4 moreAstrology in the medieval Islamic world毓賱賲 丕賱賳噩賵賲 (Ilm an-Nuj奴m)
The study of celestial influences on earthly affairs within the medieval Islamic traditionTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 1 moreMundane astrology
A branch of astrology that reads the horoscopes of nations and governments instead of individuals.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 3 moreAstrology
A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptIslam and astrology
The historical study of stars in the Islamic world and the religious debate over its permissibility.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 4 moreAlchemy in the medieval Islamic world
The study of matter and spirit by scholars in the early Islamic CaliphateTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚲馃嚜 Yemen and 1 moreDor Daim讚讜专 讚注讛
A Yemenite Jewish movement promoting rational theology and opposing Kabbalistic mysticismTradition Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceAstrology and astronomy
Two disciplines that shared a history before splitting into science and divinationTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority 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
- Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Love magic: K枚lner Meister [ 1 ] The artist is an unknown lower Rhenish artist. [, Public domain, source
- Mundane astrology: Andreas Cellarius, Public domain, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalb茅ra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world: An Islamic artist 739H/1339, probably in Baghdad, Public domain, source
- Astrology and astronomy: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Islam and astrology: Ahmad Ibn Musa Ibn Shakir, Public domain, source