Illness and misfortune: practices that mark them

What people do when someone falls ill or luck turns: consult, cleanse, ward.

Illness and misfortune are the moments when people most often turn to magic. When someone falls ill, a business fails, a child is lost or luck turns, families ask why, and consult a healer, diviner, priest or mediums. Examples include the Mexican limpia, the African consultation of a diviner, the Islamic ruqyah, the Hindu or Buddhist temple rites, the Korean gut and the Catholic blessing of the sick. This page covers the pattern and its risks. It is not medical advice, and illness needs real medical care.

Why and who

Many traditions ask two questions: how did this happen, and why to me? A medical account answers the first. Traditional systems often address the second, linking misfortune to relationships, envy, taboo or spirits. A consultation then names a cause and a remedy, which may involve cleansing, offerings, protective objects or a ceremony. A diviner may be consulted, a healer called, a priest asked to pray or a shrine visited, and in many households several of these happen at once.

Help and hope

Rites of crisis bring people together, give a role to the family and offer hope when treatment is limited. Researchers have documented comfort and reduced distress after ritual. Many people use medicine and ritual together, and many healers support that. The pattern becomes dangerous only when ritual displaces treatment. Many practitioners also give practical advice about rest, diet and family conflict, and some of this advice is sound and some is not.

Blame and exploitation

Crisis also creates a market for fear. Fraudulent healers tell clients they are cursed and sell expensive cleansing. Accusations of witchcraft often follow illness, with violence against the accused. Exorcism of people with mental illness has caused injuries and deaths, including documented cases in churches in several countries. In some societies, a bad event is the signal for a ritual of the whole community, with confession, reconciliation and shared offerings.

Care and context

Public health programmes now involve community healers in work on issues such as HIV, maternal health and mental health, since many people consult them first. Scholars of medical anthropology call this a plural system of care. The sensible approach is to seek qualified medical help promptly and treat other support as company. Public health bodies urge anyone with a serious illness or injury to seek a clinician at once, and to treat traditional help as complementary to that care and never as a replacement for it.

Illness and misfortune 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

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

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

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreSlavic religion The pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples before their conversion to Christianity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Revived

🇺🇸 United StatesFolk healer An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreSanta MuerteNuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte A female skeletal folk saint in Mexico and the Americas, worshipped for protection, healing, and safe passage.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesRing shout A sacred circle dance of African American origin using rhythmic movement and call-and-response singingRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical

🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤 A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreRainmaking Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreNeed-fireNotfeuer A ritual fire lit by friction to protect livestock and people from disease and witchcraftRite · Protection · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSpodomancy Divination by reading omens in ashes, soot, and cindersOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living

🇯🇵 JapanKodama木霊 A tree spirit in Japanese folklore that brings misfortune if the host tree is harmedBeing · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreBibliomancy Divination by opening a book at random and reading the first passage foundOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 morePazuzu𒀭𒅆𒊒𒍪𒍪 (pà.zu.zu) A Mesopotamian wind demon and protective amulet against child-harming spiritsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch bottle (sample) A stoppered bottle set out against curses.Charm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇦🇱 Albania and 5 moreDodolaДодoла / Перперуна A Balkan rainmaking rite performed by youths in greenery to invoke summer showersRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

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

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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesThe Gray Man A coastal ghost from South Carolina said to warn of hurricanesBeing · Protection Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living 🇮🇳 IndiaApeswari sabha An Assamese healing rite where village women invoke a goddess to cure illnessRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇵🇱 Poland and 3 moreStrzyga A female demon in Polish folklore, linked to owls and vampiric traitsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇹🇭 ThailandMae Nak Phra Khanongแม่นากพระโขนง A Thai ghost of a woman who died in childbirth and her shrine for protection and fertilityBeing · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 ChinaBenzhuism本主教 The indigenous patron worship of the Bai people in Yunnan, ChinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇹🇭 Thailand and 1 moreHae Nang Maewแห่นางแมว (Thai); ពិធីហែនាងម៉ែវ (Khmer) A rainmaking ritual where a cat is paraded through villages to end droughtRite · Luck and prosperity Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreCash方孔錢 A round copper coin with a square hole used in China and East Asia for two millennia.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayTycho Brahe daysTycho Brahes-dage Scandinavian folklore dates believed to be unlucky for magic and businessBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreCaloian A Romanian clay effigy ritual for rain and fertility, featuring a mock funeralRite · Luck and prosperity Fading

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
Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
Need-fire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Spodomancy: Tim1965, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bibliomancy: Albert Robida, Public domain, source
Stambeli: Youssefbensaad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Santa Muerte: Not home, Public domain, source
Ring shout: Attributed to John Rose, Public domain, source
Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
Strzyga: Filip Gutowski, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Mae Nak Phra Khanong: Xufanc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Benzhuism: G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
Caloian: Costică Acsinte Archive, No restrictions, source
Cash: User 冷玉 on zh.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
The Gray Man: Phoebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Love magic: Kölner Meister [ 1 ] The artist is an unknown lower Rhenish artist. [, Public domain, source
New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source
Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
Slavic religion: Alphonse Mucha, Public domain, source
Dodola: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source