Magic in South Asia

Mantra, yantra and tantra, the lemon and chillies hung against the evil eye, astrology, and temple healers and exorcists. 218 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

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

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreCintāmaṇiचिन्तामणि A wish-fulfilling jewel from Hindu and Buddhist traditionsSubstance · Healing · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreQayyumقیوم A supreme spiritual rank in the Naqshbandi Sufi orderTradition · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDeity yoga A Vajrayana meditation on embodying a chosen Buddha figure to realize emptinessTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 IndiaEtheric body A subtle energy layer said to sustain the physical form and connect it to higher states.Being · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaAbhijñāअभिज्ञा A set of special insights and powers in Buddhist meditation.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇳 IndiaKhongjomnubi NonggarolKhongchomnupi Nongkalol A Meitei puya with two stories of transformation and ascent to the sky.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇮🇳 IndiaQutbقطب A Sufi spiritual leader who acts as the unseen axis of a cosmic hierarchy.Figure · Power and authority Historical 🇵🇰 Pakistan and 2 moreNa'atنعت Urdu and Bengali verses praising the Islamic prophet MuhammadText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaEpic cycles of incarnations in MoirangMoirang Shayon A Meitei mythic cycle tracing the repeated lives and deaths of divine lovers across generations.Figure · Love and attraction Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Cintāmaṇi: sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Deity yoga: Anonymous Unknown author, CC0, source
Abhijñā: Gryffindor, Public domain, source
Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
Epic cycles of incarnations in Moirang: Bhudro Singh (AKA. Ningthoujam Bhadra), Public domain, source

Magic in South Asia

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Countries

Photo credits on this page

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