Priests and ritual specialists
Officiants of a religion who perform rites, blessings and exorcisms within it.
Priests and ritual specialists are the officiants of an organised religion who perform its blessings, protective rites and exorcisms. Many religions keep a place for what looks like magic inside the faith, such as the Hindu pandit's fire offering, the Catholic exorcist, the Tibetan lama's protection rites, the Shinto kannushi's purification, the Jewish ba'al shem and the Muslim imam reciting ruqyah. This page looks at how institutions handle power they regard as legitimate.
Rite and authority
Priestly rites are defined by tradition and lineage. A Hindu priest is born into or trained in a ritual line, a Catholic priest is ordained, a Shinto priest is trained at a recognised school. The authority comes from the institution and not from a personal gift. Priests commonly describe their work as worship and prayer, and not as magic, a distinction scholars say is often contested. The line is not the same everywhere: a rite that one tradition calls a blessing, another may call a spell.
Magic or religion
Scholars once drew a line: religion asks and magic compels. Later writers dropped the line as unworkable, since prayer, sacrifice and compulsion overlap in most traditions. The Catholic Church has a formal rite of exorcism, revised in 1999 and carried out by authorised priests, and a long tradition of blessings. Medieval Christians believed sacramental items such as holy water had power, which Protestants later rejected as superstition. They also keep records, calendars and texts, and in many societies priests were the first literate class.
Gender and exclusion
Priesthood is male in many traditions, including the Catholic and Orthodox churches and most Brahmin ritual. Women lead rites in Shinto, in Vodou and Candomblé, in Korean shaman practice, and in several Buddhist and Protestant settings. Class also shapes access: temple priests may refuse low-caste worshippers, and caste discrimination in temple access has been challenged in Indian courts. Within Christianity, the Catholic Church has had both a line of exorcists and a series of rules against selling blessings for money.
Misuse and reform
Priests have been accused of abuse in the name of deliverance, of exploiting the vulnerable for payment, and of staging miracles. Reform movements, such as the Protestant Reformation and the Arya Samaj in India, attacked priestly ritual. In many countries today, pastors in Pentecostal churches lead deliverance services that some scholars compare with older exorcism, with benefits for some and harm for others. Protestant, Salafi and modernist critics have often opposed ritual specialists as intermediaries who stand between a person and God.
Priests and ritual specialists on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇹 ItalyJupiterIuppiter
The Roman sky father and king of the gods, associated with thunder and oathsBeing · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇸🇪 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 3 moreOracle
A person or site believed to channel divine insight and predict the future.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion
Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 3 moreAncient Mesopotamian religion
The polytheistic beliefs and practices of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia from 6000 BC to 500 ADTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaPashupata Shaivismपाशुपत
An early Hindu ascetic school focused on liberation through ritual and devotion to ShivaTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreSaturnSāturnus
Roman god of time and agriculture, linked to the Saturnalia festivalBeing · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAnimal sacrifice
The ritual killing of livestock or wild animals as an offering to deitiesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreBaetyl
A sacred stone, often a meteorite, believed to house a deity in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean traditions.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreSomaसोम
A sacred ritual drink of the ancient Vedic religion and its Iranian counterpartSubstance · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremonywpt-r (Egyptian)
An ancient Egyptian rite to restore a deceased person's senses for the afterlifeRite · 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
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSuryaसूर्य
The sun as a Hindu deity and the source of light and knowledgeBeing · Power and authority · Healing Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptHekaḥkꜣw
The ancient Egyptian deification of magic, medicine, and primordial creative powerBeing · Healing · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptDjedḏd
An ancient Egyptian pillar symbol representing stability and resurrectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇶 IraqBabylonian astrology
The first organized system of celestial divination in the ancient Near EastTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreIsisꜣst (Egyptian)
Egyptian goddess of magic, mourning and kingship, mother of HorusBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇨🇳 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
🇬🇷 GreeceOmphalosὀμφαλός
A sacred stone marking the center of the world in Greek myth and oracle practiceCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAmunjmn (Old/Middle Egyptian); Amoun (Coptic)
The hidden creator god of ancient Egypt, later fused with the sun deity Ra.Being · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreUraeusjꜥrt
An ancient Egyptian rearing cobra emblem of royal power and divine protectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreYazata𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀
A Zoroastrian term for divine beings worthy of worship and venerationBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇹🇷 TurkeyHittite sun disk
An ancient Anatolian bronze symbol used in Hattian and Hittite religious ceremoniesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇲🇽 MexicoEntheogenics and the Maya
Hallucinogenic substances used by the Maya for spiritual rituals and healingTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaRisalah Maktubaatرساله مکتوبات
A collection of Persian letters guiding disciples and rulers on spiritual and moral matters.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 3 moreUmayyad tradition of cursing Ali
A state policy to denounce Ali during communal prayers under the Umayyad CaliphateRite · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyŚuri𐌑𐌖𐌛 (Etruscan)
An ancient Etruscan deity of volcanic fire, the underworld, and healingBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Śuri: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Soma: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Greco-Roman mysteries: Varrese Painter, Public domain, source
- Surya: Ravi Varma Press, Public domain, source
- Djed: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Isis: Ägyptischer Maler um 1360 v. Chr., Public domain, source
- Feng Shan: Rolf Müller ( User:Rolfmueller ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Omphalos: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Amun: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Temple at Uppsala: Olaus Magnus, Public domain, source
- Uraeus: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oracle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali: Anwar Rizvi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hittite sun disk: Noumenon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saturn: Robert Lowe, CC BY 2.0, source
- Animal sacrifice: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Baetyl: Jusepe de Ribera, Public domain, source
- Jupiter: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source