Festivals: practices that mark them

Samhain, Nowruz fire, Day of the Dead, Walpurgis night and the other days of the magic calendar.

Festivals are the days when a community performs its magic in public. Samhain and Halloween, Walpurgis night, Midsummer, Beltane, Day of the Dead, Nowruz fire-jumping, Diwali, Chinese Ghost Festival, Obon in Japan, Songkran, Carnival and the Burning Man gathering all combine religion, play and custom. This page asks what they do for communities and how they have changed. Many of them are tied to the moon or the sun, and they set the shared calendar of a village or a nation.

Fire, the dead and the season

Festivals cluster around turning points of the year. Fire is common: bonfires on Midsummer in Europe, Chaharshanbe Suri in Iran, Holika in India. The dead return in many: Samhain in Ireland, Obon in Japan, the Day of the Dead in Mexico, the Hungry Ghost Festival in China. In each, offerings of food, light and welcome are set out. Many involve masks, drums, processions and a shared meal, so that rites for protection and fertility become collective events open to the whole village.

Order and inversion

Many festivals allow a licensed breach of the rules. Carnival turns social order upside down, and masquerades in West Africa, such as Egungun among the Yoruba, bring ancestors to the village in cloth. Anthropologists see this as a way to renew order. Some, such as Holi, blur class lines for a day, though real divisions often persist. Within each festival there is usually a night when the dead or the spirits are thought to be close, and a day of celebration after it.

Church and state

Authorities have banned, absorbed and taxed festivals. The Church placed All Saints on the first of November and recast older rites. Puritan England banned Christmas for a time. Communist states discouraged ancestor and spirit festivals, while modern governments often list them as cultural heritage and promote them for tourism. Mexico's Day of the Dead was inscribed by UNESCO in 2008. Many are marked by a day of rest, a shared meal and the lighting of lamps or fires, and children often take a lively role.

Spectacle and respect

Large festivals bring crowds, risk and commerce. Halloween is now a global market, and parts of the Day of the Dead have been staged for visitors and film. Communities often ask guests to behave as guests, especially at rites for the dead or at sacred sites. Safety around fire, crowds and costume deserves care. Anthropologists observe that festivals teach each new generation what the community values, and that changes in a festival often show changes in the community.

Festivals 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

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreSpiritual Baptist An Afro-Caribbean Christian faith blending African traditions with Baptist worshipTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇳🇿 New ZealandKarakia Māori recitations used for spiritual guidance, protection, and formal greetingsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇦🇺 AustraliaSmoking ceremony A ritual using herbal smoke for cleansing and welcoming among Aboriginal AustraliansRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreOrishaÒrìṣà Divine spirits of the Yoruba religion and their diasporic descendants in the Americas.Being · Protection · Healing Living

🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreAncestor veneration Rituals of respect and offerings for the dead across many culturesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreApu Sacred mountain spirits in Andean tradition that protect communities and control natural resourcesBeing · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake worship Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreSanto Daime A Brazilian syncretic religion using ayahuasca for spiritual work and healingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇽 MexicoAztec religion The polytheistic and monistic belief system of the Aztec Empire in central MexicoTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreChuseok추석 (Chuseok), 한가위 (Hangawi) A Korean autumn harvest festival marked by ancestral rites and feasting on the full moon.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreSerer religionA ƭat Roog The traditional faith of the Serer people, centred on the supreme deity Roog and ancestral veneration.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreOvooовоо A stone or branch cairn used as a shrine and boundary marker in Mongolic folk practice.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaSarnaism A tribal faith centered on nature worship and sacred groves in eastern IndiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAncestor worship Rites of respect for the dead that maintain family bonds and seek spiritual guidanceTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain A Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest and the start of winter, observed on November 1st.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePachamama The Andean mother goddess of space-time and the earthBeing · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesHopi mythology The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 1 moreLithuanian mythologyLietuvių mitologija The ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Baltic people, preserved in folklore and early chroniclesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇩 IndonesiaSanghyangᬲᬂᬳ᭄ᬬᬂ (Tari Sanghyang) A Balinese sacred dance where performers enter trance to host spiritual entitiesIllusion · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreWild rueاسپند A desert plant whose seeds hold psychoactive alkaloids and serve as incense in the Middle East.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇲🇱 MaliDogon religion The traditional spiritual beliefs of the Dogon people of MaliTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 5 moreKava culture A shared ritual across Oceania where a root brew marks ceremony, respect, and social gathering.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇦🇺 AustraliaWelcome to Country A ceremony performed by Aboriginal elders to welcome visitors to their landRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreQuyllurit'iQoyllur Rit'i A syncretic Andean pilgrimage celebrating the Pleiades and the Lord of Star SnowTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇲🇲 MyanmarNatနတ် Spirits venerated in Myanmar alongside Buddhism, including deified humans and nature guardians.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMedicine wheel Circular stone formations built by Indigenous peoples of North America for ceremony and astronomy.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 IndiaSanamahismꯁꯅꯥꯃꯍꯤ ꯂꯥꯏꯅꯤꯡ The polytheistic ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur, IndiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

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

🇷🇺 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 🇷🇺 RussiaAiyАйыы (Ayıı) Benevolent spirits of the Upper World in Yakut mythologyBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇿🇼 ZimbabweMhande A Shona song and dance performance tied to rain rituals and ancestral communicationIllusion · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity 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

🇭🇹 HaitiChristian-Vodou The blending of Haitian Vodou and Roman Catholicism into a single spiritual practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوَزِيعَة A Kabyle custom of communal slaughter and meat sharing for social solidarityRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity 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

Photo credits on this page

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

Serer religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sanamahism: Kayia N, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Yhyakh: Humano92, Public domain, source
Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sarnaism: বুদ্ধি, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pachamama: Penarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
Lithuanian mythology: Prussian historian Christophorus Hartknoch (1644-1687), Public domain, source
Sanghyang: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Jesa: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Wild rue: Yuriy75, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dogon religion: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
Kava culture: Jaejay77, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Welcome to Country: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0 au, source
Quyllurit'i: AgainErick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Nat: Emily Khine, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
Medicine wheel: U.S. Forest Service Photo, Public domain, source
Smoking ceremony: Shillings1005, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Orisha: Turismo Bahia, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Ancestor veneration: Thang Nguyen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Apu: Cecilia Sacsa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Aztec religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Spiritual Baptist: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, source