Diviners and readers: who they are and what they do

Diviners and readers are the people who interpret signs: the Ifa babalawo, the sangoma with her bones, the astrologer, the tarot reader, the palm reader, the Chinese fortune-teller and the oracle priestess. They answer questions about marriage, business, illness and loss. This page looks at how they are trained, who they serve, how they are paid, and the line between guidance and fraud. Their trade is as old as writing.

Training and tools

Training varies. A babalawo studies for years and memorises thousands of verses. An astrologer in India may study classical texts or inherit a practice. A tarot reader may learn from books and a community. Tools include cowries, bones, cards, charts, shells, tea leaves and the lines of the hand. Most readers say their tools open a conversation, and some say a spirit speaks through them. Many keep a strict code of confidentiality, as a priest or counsellor would.

Clients and trust

Clients tend to come at moments of uncertainty. In India, astrologers are consulted for weddings and for names, and in West Africa Ifa is consulted for naming a child. Diviners often act as counsellors, hearing family stories and framing a decision. Some are trusted for decades, while others are strangers in a street, and the difference matters for how fraud is spotted. Fees range from a coin or a chicken to several hundred pounds, and a reading may be offered in a shop, a temple, a market stall or an app.

Regulation and religion

Rules vary widely. Some religious authorities forbid divination, and some states license or tax readers. Fortune-tellers have been prosecuted for fraud in the United States, the United Kingdom, India and elsewhere, particularly in cases that involve large payments to lift a curse. Others practise within religion and are protected, such as Ifa within Yoruba religion. Diviners often keep close to the dominant religion, and many Ifa and Vodou diviners are also baptised Christians.

How scholars read it

Psychologists describe cold reading, in which a reader draws on small cues. Anthropologists describe divination as a social process that can break deadlocks and share responsibility. Many diviners deny they predict the future and speak instead of showing possibilities. Advice on health, law or money from a reader is no replacement for qualified advice. Many say they are paid for their time and skill, as a counsellor might be, and not for any guarantee.

Diviners and readers 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

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

🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical

🇨🇳 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

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFortune-telling A practice of predicting future events or personal details through various methods and tools.Rite · 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

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreBagua八卦 A set of eight trigram symbols from China used in divination, cosmology, and feng shui.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

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

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

🇷🇺 RussiaCarromancy A divination method that reads the future from molten wax or candle flamesOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇨🇳 ChinaChronomancy A divination method to find lucky days and the best times for action.Oracle · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

Diviners and readers