Speaking with spirits and the dead
Mediumship, ancestor rites, possession and the offerings made to the unseen.
Speaking with spirits and the dead is the aim of mediumship, ancestor rites, possession and necromancy. It runs from the spirit mediums of Korea and Brazil to Vodou possession, Chinese ancestor offerings, the Mexican Day of the Dead, Victorian spiritualism and the Witch of Endor of the Bible. It is a central practice in some living religions and a frequent target of fraud in others. This page covers who speaks to the dead and how they are judged.
Ways of contact
Methods differ. In possession, a spirit or deity is said to speak through the body of a medium, as in Vodou, Candomblé, Haitian and Brazilian rites, and in Korean gut. In trance or dream, a shaman travels to the spirit world. In offerings and festivals, families feed and talk to ancestors, as in the Hungry Ghost month in China and the ofrenda in Mexico. Spiritualism added the seance and the table-rapping of the 1840s.
Who may
In many societies, women lead: Korean mudang, Okinawan yuta, Brazilian mães de santo and the Western spiritualist mediums of the nineteenth century, who found in mediumship a public role denied elsewhere. Elsewhere, the role is for elders and ancestors' descendants. Some traditions require initiation, and some say contact with the dead is not for outsiders to attempt. Spirits and ancestors are not always friendly: mediums report angry, hungry or lost beings, and rites exist for settling them, such as offerings for neglected ancestors in China and Vietnam.
Authority and fear
Religions disagree. Christianity, Judaism and Islam each forbid certain contact with the dead while honouring prayer for them. Spiritist movements around Kardec in Brazil and France treat communication as a doctrine. Colonial authorities banned possession cults in many places, often labelling them devil worship, and some Pentecostal churches today condemn them in the same terms. The rites are widely found in Africa too, where ancestors are consulted at the family shrine and are held to watch over the living.
Fraud, grief and study
Grieving people are vulnerable. Fraudulent mediums, from the Fox sisters, who confessed in 1888, to modern cold readers, have taken money by exploiting loss. Researchers point to cold reading and to the ideomotor effect behind the Ouija board. Many bereaved people also report real comfort from rites that keep a bond with the dead, and counsellors acknowledge that continuing bonds are common. Doctors and psychologists note that a grief reaction can include hearing or sensing the dead, which is common and not in itself a sign of illness.
Speaking with spirits and the dead on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇲🇾 MalaysiaBobohizan
A high priestess and spirit medium in the traditional rituals of the Kadazan-Dusun people of Sabah.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading
🇭🇹 HaitiChristian-Vodou
The blending of Haitian Vodou and Roman Catholicism into a single spiritual practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇲🇽 MexicoVelada
A Mazatec healing ceremony using sacred plants to commune with the divineRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreHaitian Vodou and homosexuality
The place of LGBTQ people in Hait Vodou practice and beliefTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇿 AlgeriaTassili Mushroom Figure
Neolithic cave art in Algeria interpreted by some as depicting psychedelic mushroom use.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇭🇹 Haiti and 3 moreNago lwa
A Haitian Vodou nation of masculine spirits rooted in Yoruba traditionsBeing · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAstral body
A subtle vehicle of emotion and dream said to travel beyond the physical formBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇾🇪 Yemen and 1 moreSimthud Durarسمط الدّرر
A poem praising the Prophet Muhammad, recited in ritual gatherings across the Indian Ocean.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇼 TaiwanYin miao陰廟
Temples for wandering spirits in Taiwanese folk religionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePardesפרד״ס
A four-level method for interpreting Jewish scriptureText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptHermanubisἙρμανοῦβις
A Graeco-Egyptian god who guides the souls of the dead to the underworld.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesChepi
A spirit of the dead in Narragansett belief, called upon for vengeance.Being · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreSuperstitions in Muslim societies
Beliefs in supernatural forces and charms found across the Islamic worldTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇲 Jamaica and 1 moreNine-Night
A nine-day Caribbean wake rooted in Akan tradition to celebrate the deceased and guide their spirit home.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreInsufflation
A ritual breath used in Christian rites to drive out evil or invite the spirit.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇴 ColombiaMohan
A forest spirit and ancestor soul in Colombian Indigenous folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMahanam Sampradayaমহানাম সম্প্রদায়
A Bengali Krishnaite monastic order focused on chanting and humanitarian serviceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstral projection
An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇾 Guyana and 1 moreBaccoo
A half-wood spirit from Guyanese and Surinamese folklore that serves as a mercenary or a haunting presence.Being · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum
A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 JapanKabura-ya鏑矢
A Japanese arrow with a whistling tip used in ritual archery and Shinto ritesSubstance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen
A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBook of Magical Charms
A seventeenth-century English manuscript of spells and medical remedies held in Chicago.Text · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇷🇴 RomaniaTanacu exorcism
A 2005 Romanian Orthodox ritual that ended in a nun's death and a murder convictionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 1 moreJailangkung
An Indonesian séance using a straw effigy to communicate with spirits of the dead.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 IndiaWater (classical element)
A classical substance linked to emotion and intuition in Greek, Indian, and Western esoteric traditions.Substance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTermaགཏེར་མ
Hidden teachings in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, revealed by tertöns when the time is right.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMuut
A Cahuilla spirit who guides souls, often shown as an owlBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomBarddas
A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreOsirian Egyptian OrderOrdine Osirideo Egizio
An Italian esoteric society tracing its roots to 18th-century Naples and ancient Hermetic traditions.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות
A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 1 moreTrinidadian Vodunu
A West African Vodun tradition practiced in Trinidad and Tobago with Catholic elementsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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
🇬🇱 GreenlandAnguta
A Greenlandic Inuit figure who guides the dead and fathered the sea goddess SednaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesShamanism among Alaska Natives
Traditional spiritual practices of Indigenous peoples in AlaskaTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Fading
🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوَزِيعَة
A Kabyle custom of communal slaughter and meat sharing for social solidarityRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomUwaisiأُوَيْس
A Sufi method of spiritual transmission between master and disciple without physical contact.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreOngon
Ancestor spirits in Mongolian shamanism, represented by consecrated idols and talismansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇱 IsraelShekhinahשְׁכִינָה
The divine presence of God dwelling among people in Jewish and Islamic thoughtBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreBanjhakri and Banjhakrini
Forest shamans of the Kirati people in Nepal and eastern IndiaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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
🇳🇵 Nepal and 3 moreGurung ShamanismTamu Cho
The ancient shamanic beliefs and rituals of the Gurung people in NepalTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion
Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreYom Hillulaיום הילולא
A joyous death anniversary for a saint in Jewish traditionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇷🇺 RussiaAiyАйыы (Ayıı)
Benevolent spirits of the Upper World in Yakut mythologyBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mohan: Sanjuan, Public domain, source
- Mahanam Sampradaya: Neehar Haldar, CC0, source
- Astral projection: Hereward Carrington, Sylvan Muldoon., Public domain, source
- Kabura-ya: urasimaru, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Book of Magical Charms: Robert Ashley, died 1641, Public domain, source
- Sunda Wiwitan: Greenland4, Public domain, source
- Ongon: Vyacheslav Kirillin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Banjhakri and Banjhakrini: RajashreeTalukdar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yhyakh: Humano92, Public domain, source
- Yom Hillula: Jonathan Stein, Public domain, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bobohizan: Ricardo Unto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tassili Mushroom Figure: I redrawn the rock art written by ancient people., Public domain, source
- Astral body: Rad el Baluvar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- Seder hishtalshelus: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Superstitions in Muslim societies: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Shamanism among Alaska Natives: Balkanian`s word, Public domain, source
- Yin miao: Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hermanubis: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, source