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

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 IndiaMahakaleshwar JyotirlingaMahākāleśvara A sacred Shiva shrine in Ujjain, India, known for its south-facing idol and ancient origins.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAshtamangalaअष्टमङ्गल A set of eight sacred symbols used in Indian religions to mark auspicious occasions and teach spiritual truths.Tradition · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇧🇯 Benin and 5 moreVodun art Religious sculpture and temple painting from West African Vodun traditionsTradition · 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

🇧🇴 Bolivia and 1 moreEkekoIqiqu An Andean deity of abundance and prosperity, central to the Alasitas festival.Being · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDongyue Dadi東嶽大帝 The Chinese mountain god of Mount Tai who rules lifespans and underworld recordsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreSacred dance Movement used in worship to honour deities, heal communities, or connect with the spirit world.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesDianic Wicca A female-only pagan tradition honoring the Goddess and women's experienceTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇩 IndonesiaPenjorᬧᬾᬜ᭄ᚚᚚᭀᬃ A curved bamboo pole marking prosperity in Balinese Hindu ceremonyTradition · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living 🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreRain Queen A hereditary queen of the Balobedu people believed to control rainfall in South AfricaTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇬🇹 GuatemalaMaximónRi Laj Mam A Maya folk saint and trickster deity venerated in the Guatemalan HighlandsBeing · 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 🇬🇷 GreeceAncient Greek folklore The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreGreco-Roman mysteriesμυστήρια Secret religious schools of the ancient Mediterranean for initiates onlyTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇻🇺 VanuatuJohn Frum A Melanesian cargo cult figure on Tanna Island who promises wealth and the return of American supplies.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道 A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAlexandrian Wicca A British Neopagan tradition founded in the 1960s by Alex and Maxine SandersTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇮🇩 IndonesiaNyepiᬜᬾᬧᬶ A Balinese day of total silence, fasting, and self-reflection to mark the new year.Rite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreMaraboutmurābiṭ A Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, often linked to Sufi brotherhoods.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreKataragama templeකතරගම / கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில் A Sri Lankan shrine shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and VeddasTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇸🇪 SwedenTemple at Uppsala A Norse religious centre described in medieval texts and debated by modern scholarsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreThelema A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living 🇭🇹 HaitiFèy A Haitian Vodou folk song used as a political anthem during military ruleTradition · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChurch of Satan An atheistic religious body founded in 1966 that practices ritual magicTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation 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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇪 IrelandTailteann GamesÁenach Tailteann Ancient Irish funeral games and assemblies held in County Meath to honor the dead.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomGorsedd stonesCerrig yr Orsedd Stone circles built for the National Eisteddfod of Wales to host druidic ceremonies.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawsimموسم Annual Maghrebi festival blending Sufi veneration with social and economic gatheringTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity 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.

Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga: Ashverse, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ashtamangala: Redtigerxyz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Church of Satan: Palnu ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Maximón: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
Greco-Roman mysteries: Varrese Painter, Public domain, source
Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
John Frum: Tim Ross, CC BY 3.0, source
Shugendō: 唐山健志郎 (Kenshiro Karayama), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Nyepi: Matt Croxson, Public domain, source
Marabout: Jan Broekhuijse, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kataragama temple: Ghostface Buddha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Temple at Uppsala: Olaus Magnus, Public domain, source
Vodun art: Fraipont, Gustave (1849-1923), Public domain, source
Medicine wheel: U.S. Forest Service Photo, Public domain, source
Ekeko: Ciudades, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tailteann Games: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Gorsedd stones: Robin Drayton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Dongyue Dadi: H2v5o68z, CC0, source
Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
Sacred dance: Jorge Barrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dianic Wicca: Jean-Baptiste Tuby I (Italy, active France, Paris and Versailles, 1635, Public domain, source
Wheel of the Year: Sunblade1500, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Penjor: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Zawiya: Schneders, CC BY-SA 4.0, source