Healing

Folk and spiritual healing, said as tradition and never as medical advice.

Traditional healing joins remedy, ritual and relationship. Healers of many kinds are said to treat the body, the family and the spirit together: the curandero in Mexico and the Andes, the sangoma in southern Africa, the hakim in the Islamic world, the Ayurvedic vaidya, the Korean mudang and the Siberian shaman. This page describes these as traditions, not as medical advice. Illness needs real medical care. Healing is also the intent most often exploited, so the page states its limits plainly.

How tradition frames illness

Many traditions treat illness as a matter of balance, relationship or disturbance, not only of the body. A sickness may be linked to an offended ancestor, a broken taboo, soul loss, envy, or a spirit. Treatment therefore includes consultation, confession, offerings, cleansing and a family gathering. Healers describe the aim as restoring a person's place in the community. Examples include the sweating, singing and plant rites of the Americas, the chanting and massage of Southeast Asia, and the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of South Asia, each with its own theory and texts.

Healers and training

Healers are called, apprenticed or hereditary. A sangoma is described as called by ancestors, often after an illness, and trained under a senior. In many places, healers are women, midwives and elders, whose standing does not come from a licensed degree. Governments have set up registers: South Africa recognised traditional health practitioners by law in 2007, and India supports Ayurveda through its AYUSH ministry. The ritual side is often described as being as important as the remedy, since attention, ceremony and support from family are part of the experience.

Working with medicine

Many people use traditional and clinical care side by side. Some healers refer patients to clinics and some campaigns in Africa have trained them to do so. Problems arise when ritual replaces treatment: delayed care for serious illness, harmful substances, and bans on medicine have cost lives. The World Health Organization supports research on traditional medicine while insisting on evidence for safety and effect. Patients also say the healer sat with them for hours, gave time and attention, and spoke the local language, which busy clinics may not manage.

Fraud and abuse

Fake healers exist everywhere: sellers of miracle cures, practitioners who charge to remove a curse, and exorcists who beat or starve people with mental illness. In several countries the courts have prosecuted deaths during exorcism. Scholars separate what communities value in healing, such as attention and meaning, from claims about cure, which should be tested. None of this removes the need to see a doctor for serious or lasting symptoms, and people should not stop prescribed treatment because of a ritual or a remedy.

Healing 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

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

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

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

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMedical astrology An ancient practice linking planetary movements to the human body and diseaseTradition · Healing Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition · Healing · Change and initiation Living

🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 IndiaNadi astrologynāḍi jyotiṣa A Tamil astrological tradition using palm leaves to read past lives and future pathsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual practice adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekersTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAsian witchcraft A broad overview of magical practices and persecution across Asian culturesTradition · Cursing and harm · Protection Living 🇮🇹 ItalyIatromathematics A seventeenth-century Italian school that applied mechanics and astrology to medicineTradition · Healing Historical

🇹🇳 TunisiaStambeli A Tunisian music and possession rite practiced by Black communities of slave descentTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇷🇺 RussiaReindeer in Siberian shamanism The role of reindeer as spirit helpers, ritual tools, and burial vehicles in the shamanic traditions of Northern AsiaTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNeopagan witchcraft Modern pagan traditions that practice magic and draw on historical witch beliefs.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreRegional forms of shamanism A global overview of indigenous spirit-interaction practices across Asia and the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇯🇵 JapanChinkon kishin鎮魂帰神 A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreShamanism in the Qing dynasty State-managed rituals of the Manchu rulers and their shamansTradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFalun Gong法轮功 A Chinese cultivation practice blending meditative exercises with moral principlesTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 ChinaBenzhuism本主教 The indigenous patron worship of the Bai people in Yunnan, ChinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSpiritualist church A worship service led by a medium to communicate with the deceasedTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreLegio Maria A Kenyan church blending Catholic rites with beliefs in a Black Christ and visionary apparitionsTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇿 Mozambique and 1 moreNdau witchcraft and sorcery A system of spirit belief and traditional healing among the Ndau people of Mozambique and ZimbabweTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreSuperstitions in Muslim societies Beliefs in supernatural forces and charms found across the Islamic worldTradition · Protection · Healing 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

🇲🇽 MexicoMercado de Sonora A Mexico City market known for herbal medicine and occult goodsTradition · Protection · Love and attraction Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFolk practices in Punjab Indigenous beliefs and rituals of the Punjabi people across India and PakistanTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇨🇳 ChinaMien shiang面相 A Chinese practice of reading character and fate through facial featuresBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇵🇭 PhilippinesTagalog religion The pre-colonial spiritual system of the Tagalog people in the Philippines.Tradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇵🇭 PhilippinesMananambal A Filipino folk healer who treats illness with herbs, prayers, and sorceryTradition · Healing · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇹 ItalySegnature An Italian folk healing rite using gestures and prayers to cure illness and remove cursesRite · Healing · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United StatesShamanism among Alaska Natives Traditional spiritual practices of Indigenous peoples in AlaskaTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Fading

🇺🇸 United StatesMedicine man A traditional healer and spiritual leader within Indigenous communities of the Americas.Tradition · Healing · 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

🇩🇿 Algeria and 5 moreZawiyaزاوية A Sufi building and institution for worship, education, and community life in the Islamic world.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇲🇽 MexicoMazatec shamanism A Mazatec healing tradition centered on visionary plant ceremonies called veladasTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇾 MalaysiaBobohizan A high priestess and spirit medium in the traditional rituals of the Kadazan-Dusun people of Sabah.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇳🇵 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

🇲🇽 MexicoEntheogenics and the Maya Hallucinogenic substances used by the Maya for spiritual rituals and healingTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Bald's Leechbook: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
Tagalog religion: The original uploader was Rodsan18 at English Wikipedia . ( Original t, CC BY 2.5, source
Chinkon kishin: Tomokiyo Yoshisane (友清歓真), also known as Tomokiyo Kyūgo (友清九吾), Public domain, source
Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nadi astrology: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " ARTiFACTS ", CC BY-SA 2.5, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Stambeli: Youssefbensaad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Shamanism in the Qing dynasty: A nineteenth-century team of editors., Public domain, source
Mananambal: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Falun Gong: longtrekhome, CC BY 3.0, source
Segnature: SeAnstapa, CC0, source
Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
Benzhuism: G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bobohizan: Ricardo Unto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Legio Maria: Comondi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Superstitions in Muslim societies: Unknown author, CC0, source
Asian witchcraft: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Public domain, source
Reindeer in Siberian shamanism: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Regional forms of shamanism: Man Sing, Public domain, source
Shamanism among Alaska Natives: Balkanian`s word, Public domain, source
Fengshui woodland: 猫猫的日记本 (Cat's diary), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Medicine man: Smallbones, Public domain, source
Zawiya: Schneders, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Ndau witchcraft and sorcery: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mercado de Sonora: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source
New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source
Medical astrology: Unknown author, Public domain, 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