Magic in Latin America and the Caribbean

Vodou, Santeria, Candomblé and Obeah, curanderismo and brujeria, Andean offerings to the earth, and Amazonian plant healing. 147 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Limpia with an egg Day of the Dead ofrenda Santeria initiation (kariocha)Candomblé ebo offering Haitian Vodou service Andean despacho and pago a la Pachamama A curanderismo healing session Ayahuasca ceremony Obeah in Jamaica

Countries

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

🇭🇹 HaitiBois Caïman The sacred site where enslaved Africans planned the Haitian Revolution through a Vodou ceremony.Rite · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreQuimbanda An Afro-Brazilian religion focused on male and female street spirits for worldly mattersTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreBokorbòkò A Haitian Vodou practitioner said to serve spirits for both protection and harmTradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇨🇺 Cuba and 5 morePalo An Afro-Cuban religion centered on spirit vessels and ancestral powerTradition · Healing · Cursing and harm Living

🇩🇲 DominicaBelie Belcan A loa of justice and protection in Dominican Vudú, linked to Saint Michael.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇧🇧 Barbados and 2 moreObeah and Wanga A Caribbean folk magic tradition and a Haitian charm packet, referenced in Western occult texts.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 morePetwo A family of hot and volatile spirits in Haitian VodouBeing · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living 🇭🇹 HaitiBizango Haitian secret societies linked to Vodou and social controlTradition · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Bokor: Hector Hyppolite, Public domain, source
Palo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
Belie Belcan: Domfranciscorodrigues, CC BY-SA 3.0, source