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

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean shamanismKorean shamanism (Korean: Korean shamanism) A traditional practice of ritual specialists who mediate between the human and spirit worlds.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanShinto shrine神社 (jinja) A structure housing kami deities within the Shinto tradition of JapanTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance and offeringsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇰🇷 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

🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた (七夕) A Japanese celebration of star-crossed lovers and written wishesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇯🇵 JapanKami神 Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女 A Shinto shrine priestess and traditional female medium in JapanTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道 A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 A Korean ancestral memorial rite involving food offerings and ritual bowsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇯🇵 JapanKagura神楽 A Shinto ritual dance where performers embody deities to purify and welcome spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教 Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreRusalkaрусалка A water spirit of Slavic folklore, often linked to drowned women and seasonal ritesBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFeng Shan封禪 An imperial rite performed at Mount Tai to honor heaven and earth and confirm the mandate of rule.Rite · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇯🇵 JapanItakoイタコ Blind women in Japan who train to channel spirits and communicate with the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Fading

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQilin麒麟 A legendary chimerical creature from Chinese mythology that signals the arrival or death of a sage.Being · Power and authority Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreDiyu地獄 The underworld realm of trial, atonement, and rebirth in Chinese mythologyBelief · Cleansing and purification · Change and initiation Living

🇯🇵 JapanOni鬼（おに） A horned demon of Japanese folklore known for strength and evil deedsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreSky lantern天燈 A paper hot air balloon lifted by flame to carry wishes and blessingsRite · Luck and prosperity · Protection 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

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 Paper burned as money and goods for ancestors, gods and the deadCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGhost FestivalZhongyuan Festival; Yulanpen Festival A festival to feed wandering spirits and guide them home during the seventh lunar month.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreQingming Festival清明节 A spring day for sweeping graves, feeding the dead and honouring ancestorsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreKitchen God灶君 The Chinese hearth deity who reports domestic conduct to the Jade EmperorBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇹🇼 Taiwan and 1 moreOng Yah王爺 (Ông-iâ) Royal Lord deities of Fujian and Taiwan who tour the land, driving out diseaseBeing · Protection · Healing Living 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJapanese numismatic charm絵銭 Coin-shaped charms from Japan used for protection, luck, and blessings.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 (yuètù) A mythical figure seen in lunar markings, pounding elixirs or rice cakes across Asia and the Americas.Being · Wonder and entertainment Living

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

🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Shinto shrine: No machine-readable author provided. Fg2 assumed (based on copyright c, Public domain, source
Obon: Batholith, Public domain, source
Ong Yah: Suzuki1314 at Chinese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Miko: Chris Gladis, Flickr user MShades, CC BY 2.0, source
Shugendō: 唐山健志郎 (Kenshiro Karayama), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Jesa: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Kagura: Elstner Hilton, Public domain, source
Ancestor veneration in China: Three huntings, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Rusalka: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
Feng Shan: Rolf Müller ( User:Rolfmueller ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Itako: User Geomr~commonswiki self upload, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Qilin: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Moon rabbit: An artist, Public domain, source
Benzhuism: G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sky lantern: Richy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dongyue Dadi: H2v5o68z, CC0, source
Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ghost Festival: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Qingming Festival: Jacklee ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Korean shamanism: Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (申潤福: 1758-early 19th century) (혜원 신윤복 (申潤福: 1758-, Public domain, source
Oni: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849), Public domain, source
Diyu: ScribblingGeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Superstition in China: Gary Todd, CC0, source