Magic in East Asia

Taoist talismans, the I Ching and feng shui, onmyodo and the omamori, and the mudang of Korea. 308 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Writing and burning a fu talisman Joss paper and the Hungry Ghost offering Kau cim and jiaobei The I Ching and the yarrow stalks Feng shui placement Setsubun bean-throwing Harai, the Shinto rite of purification Omamori and ofuda renewal Omikuji fortune slips Gut, the Korean shaman rite

Countries

🇨🇳 China 212 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 14 🇯🇵 Japan 255 🇲🇴 Macau 2 🇲🇳 Mongolia 27 🇰🇵 North Korea 3 🇰🇷 South Korea 40 🇹🇼 Taiwan 27

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

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

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍 A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKuji-in九字印 A system of nine syllables and hand gestures used for protection and spiritual alignment in Japanese esoteric traditionsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар A Mongol lunisolar new year marked by white clothes and dairy feastsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 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

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreJiang Ziya姜子牙 A historical strategist and war god who helped establish the Zhou dynastyFigure · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇰🇷 South Korea and 3 moreKorean shamanism무속 A Korean folk religion centered on ritual specialists who mediate between humans and spiritsTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreFeng shui風水 A Chinese geomantic practice for aligning structures with cosmic energyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreJangseung장승 Wooden or stone poles that guard Korean villages and temples from evil spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇰🇷 South KoreaGut굿 Rites performed by Korean shamans to commune with spirits and ensure community welfare.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇯🇵 JapanMount Osore恐山 A volcanic pilgrimage site in Japan believed to be a gateway to the underworldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection 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

🇰🇷 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

🇰🇷 South KoreaJeoseung Saja저승사자 A Korean psychopomp who escorts the dead to the afterlife.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanNoro祝女 Ryukyuan village priestesses who tend sacred hearths and utaki shrinesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Fading

🇯🇵 JapanEn no Gyōja役小角 A legendary Japanese ascetic and founder of Shugendō mountain practiceFigure · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreHmong folk religionKev Dab Qhuas The ethnic religion of the Miao and Hmong peoples, centered on spirit worship and shamanic healing.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇨🇳 ChinaOracle bone甲骨 Divination using heated ox bones and turtle shells in ancient ChinaRite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaPig dragon玉豬龍 A coiled Neolithic jade amulet from Hongshan culture, possibly an early dragon imageCharm · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaI Ching divination A Chinese oracle using hexagrams derived from yarrow stalks or coinsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreRegional forms of shamanism A global overview of indigenous spirit-interaction practices across Asia and the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaoist coin charm道教品壓生錢 Chinese and Vietnamese numismatic charms used for protection and feng shuiCharm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreShamanism in the Qing dynasty State-managed rituals of the Manchu rulers and their shamansTradition · Protection · Healing Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaDongti동티 Divine punishment in Korean mythology, often manifesting as sudden illness or death.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇳 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

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreNuo folk religion傩 (Nuó) A Chinese exorcistic tradition using wooden masks and ancestor worship to drive away malevolent forcesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaejongism대종교 A Korean faith system centred on the ancestral king Dangun and national identity.Tradition · Power and authority Living

🇨🇳 ChinaBenzhuism本主教 The indigenous patron worship of the Bai people in Yunnan, ChinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇰🇷 South KoreaSuunism수운교 A Korean ethnic religion focused on the Great Jade Emperor of Heaven and spiritual reconnection.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇨🇳 ChinaPixiu貔貅 A winged lion-like creature from Chinese lore that guards wealth and wards off evil spirits.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉 A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 ChinaKing Wen sequence文王卦序 The oldest arrangement of the sixty-four hexagrams in the I ChingText · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreFengshui woodland風水林 A protected grove in East Asia believed to shape the local environment and bring luck to nearby communities.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 ChinaShi尸 A living descendant who sat in place of a dead ancestor during ancient Chinese ritualsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLegend of the White Snake白蛇傳 A Chinese folktale about a snake spirit who becomes human to love a mortal manFigure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaMusok eumak무속 음악 Traditional Korean shamanistic music performed during gut rituals to induce tranceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese creation myths A collection of ancient Chinese stories explaining how the universe and humanity beganBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYosuzume夜雀 A Japanese mountain spirit that appears as a bird or butterfly and signals the presence of wolves.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaSeolmundae Halmang설문대할망 A giant creator figure from Jeju Island who shaped the land and its volcanoes.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaReligion of the Shang dynasty The spiritual system of ancient China's second dynasty, centred on ancestor worship and oracle bone divination.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Pig dragon: Prof. Gary Lee Todd, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Korean shamanism: Steve46814, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
I Ching divination: A.Davey, CC BY 2.0, source
En no Gyōja: Wmpearl, CC0, source
Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hmong folk religion: Thomas Riccio, CC BY 4.0, source
Oracle bone: Unknown author, CC0, source
Feng shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Jesa: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Jangseung: Yoshiaki Sano, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Taoist coin charm: Etnografiska Museet, CC BY 2.5, source
Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mount Osore: Douglas P Perkins ( Douglaspperkins ( talk )), CC BY 3.0, source
Shamanism in the Qing dynasty: A nineteenth-century team of editors., Public domain, source
Moon rabbit: An artist, Public domain, source
Nuo folk religion: Wikiwikiyarou, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Daejongism: Berghendorf, CC0, source
Benzhuism: G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Pixiu: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source
Religion of the Shang dynasty: Unknown author, CC0, source
Regional forms of shamanism: Man Sing, Public domain, source
Jeoseung Saja: National Folk Museum of Korea, CC BY 4.0, source
Korean shamanism: Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (申潤福: 1758-early 19th century) (혜원 신윤복 (申潤福: 1758-, Public domain, source
Fengshui woodland: 猫猫的日记本 (Cat's diary), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Shi: Jason Zou, Public domain, source
Jiang Ziya: Wang Qi, Public domain, source
Legend of the White Snake: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source