News
Witch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost storiesWitch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries agoStage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All TimeCharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different MeaningsWitch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for HalloweenCharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faithStage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his deathWitch-huntsConnecticut's forgotten witch trial pastFestivalsDay of the Dead festival resurrected at West Palm Beach arts hubStage magicIllusionist Leon Etienne brings magic to Oshkosh this monthWitch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost storiesWitch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries agoStage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All TimeCharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different MeaningsWitch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for HalloweenCharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faithStage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his deathWitch-huntsConnecticut's forgotten witch trial pastFestivalsDay of the Dead festival resurrected at West Palm Beach arts hubStage magicIllusionist Leon Etienne brings magic to Oshkosh this month
EveryJaadu

Magic in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ifa divination and the orisha, sangomas and inyangas, nkisi figures, masquerades, spirit possession and the fear of witchcraft. 102 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

Places of magic

Gambaga 2Kukuo 2Matopo Hills 2Osogbo 2Ajido 1Akodessawa 1Akwa Ibom State 1Anรฉho 1Bonyasi 1Clarens 1Cross River State 1Dar es Salaam 1Ficksburg 1Fouriesberg 1Ghanzi 1Gnani 1Harar 1Harper 1Hogsback 1Horn of Africa 1Ile-Ife 1Kaya 1Khartoum 1Khetlhakone 1Kingdom of Dahomey 1Kinshasa 1Kpatinga 1KwaZulu-Natal 1Land of Frankincense 1Matatane 1

Rites of the region

Ifa divinationEgungun masqueradeSangoma calling and bone-throwingLibation to the ancestorsNkisi nkondi power figuresMami Wata devotionBori possessionFamadihana, the turning of the bonesDebtera amulet scrollsRainmaking and the Rain Queen

Countries

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด Angola 7๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Benin 19๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswana 3๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso 2๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ Burundi 1๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroon 6๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 1๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African Republic 3๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Democratic Republic of the Congo 6๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ท Eritrea 5๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Eswatini 2๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia 26๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabon 4๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Gambia 5๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 21๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ Guinea 2๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivory Coast 2๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya 10๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ Lesotho 3๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ท Liberia 2๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Madagascar 11๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawi 1๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Mali 15๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท Mauritania 1๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ Mauritius 1๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique 3๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibia๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Niger 5๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria 35๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Republic of the Congo 4๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ Rwanda 1๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal 8๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Sierra Leone 5๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ด Somalia 4๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 30๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ South Sudan 3๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania 9๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ Togo 8๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Uganda 4๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Zambia 2๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Zimbabwe 8
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
OccasionWeddings and betrothalFestivalsBirth and childhoodDeath and remembranceHarvest, farming and weatherNew yearInitiation and coming of ageIllness and misfortuneJourneys and voyagesEveryday use
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa and 5 moreMurder for body parts The killing of people to harvest body parts for traditional medicine or the illegal organ trade.Belief ยท Cursing and harm ยท Power and authority Living ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South AfricaUkuthwasa A spiritual calling and initiation process for traditional healers in Southern Africa.Rite ยท Healing ยท Speaking with spirits and the dead Living ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal and 5 morePentagramฯ€ฮตฮฝฯ„ฮฌฮณฯฮฑฮผฮผฮฟฮฝ A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm ยท Protection ยท Binding and oaths Living ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgia and 2 moreGeorgian mythologyแƒฅแƒแƒ แƒ—แƒฃแƒšแƒ˜ แƒ›แƒ˜แƒ—แƒแƒšแƒแƒ’แƒ˜แƒ The pre-Christian beliefs of the Kartvelian peoples in the South CaucasusTradition ยท Protection ยท Seeing and foretelling Historical ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia and 4 moreBudaแ‰กแ‹ณ An Ethiopian and Eritrean belief in the evil eye and hyena transformationBelief ยท Cursing and harm ยท Protection Living ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Democratic Republic of the CongoKindoki A belief in spirit possession that leads to abuse and abandonment in the Congo regionBelief ยท Cursing and harm Living ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Benin and 3 moreZangbeto A masked night-guardian tradition among the Ogu people of West AfricaTradition ยท Protection ยท Cursing and harm Living ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African Republic and 5 moreWitchcraft in Africa Beliefs about supernatural harm and the social responses to accusations across the continentBelief ยท Cursing and harm ยท Protection Living ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ MadagascarMalagasy mythology The oral traditions and ancestral beliefs of the Malagasy people in MadagascarTradition ยท Speaking with spirits and the dead ยท Protection Living ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ GhanaWitchcraft in Ghana Beliefs in harmful magic and the social violence that follows accusations in GhanaBelief ยท Cursing and harm Living ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India and 5 moreSnake worship Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition ยท Protection ยท Healing Living ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition ยท Healing ยท Protection Living ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria and 4 moreJuju A West African spiritual belief system involving charms and ritualsTradition ยท Healing ยท Luck and prosperity Living ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso and 5 moreCosmic egg A mythological motif where the universe or a creator emerges from a primordial egg.Belief ยท Wonder and entertainment Historical ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana and 4 moreSpirit children A Ghanaian belief that disabled children are harmful spirits requiring ritual treatment or deathBelief ยท Cursing and harm Fading ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief ยท Cursing and harm Living ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ MadagascarFady Malagasy cultural taboos regulating daily life and ancestor relationsBelief ยท Protection ยท Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.