Magic in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ifa divination and the orisha, sangomas and inyangas, nkisi figures, masquerades, spirit possession and the fear of witchcraft. 99 entries on EveryJaadu so far.
Places of magic
Gambaga 2Kukuo 2Matopo Hills 2Osogbo 2Ajido 1Akodessawa 1Akwa Ibom State 1Aného 1Bonyasi 1Clarens 1Cross River State 1Dar es Salaam 1Ficksburg 1Fouriesberg 1Ghanzi 1Gnani 1Harar 1Harper 1Hogsback 1Horn of Africa 1Ile-Ife 1Khartoum 1Khetlhakone 1Kingdom of Dahomey 1Kinshasa 1Kpatinga 1KwaZulu-Natal 1Land of Frankincense 1Matatane 1Mautse 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
🇦🇴 Angola 7🇧🇯 Benin 19🇧🇼 Botswana 3🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 2🇧🇮 Burundi 1🇨🇲 Cameroon 6🇨🇻 Cape Verde 1🇨🇫 Central African Republic 3🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo 6🇪🇷 Eritrea 5🇸🇿 Eswatini 2🇪🇹 Ethiopia 25🇬🇦 Gabon 4🇬🇲 Gambia 5🇬🇭 Ghana 21🇬🇳 Guinea 2🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 2🇰🇪 Kenya 9🇱🇸 Lesotho 3🇱🇷 Liberia 2🇲🇬 Madagascar 11🇲🇼 Malawi 1🇲🇱 Mali 15🇲🇷 Mauritania 1🇲🇿 Mozambique 3🇳🇦 Namibia🇳🇪 Niger 5🇳🇬 Nigeria 34🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo 4🇷🇼 Rwanda 1🇸🇳 Senegal 8🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 6🇸🇴 Somalia 4🇿🇦 South Africa 29🇸🇸 South Sudan 3🇹🇿 Tanzania 9🇹🇬 Togo 8🇺🇬 Uganda 4🇿🇲 Zambia 2🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 8
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
🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreSerer religionA ƭat Roog
The traditional faith of the Serer people, centred on the supreme deity Roog and ancestral veneration.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spirit containers and power figures from the Congo Basin used for justice and healingCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic
A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkuthwasa
A spiritual calling and initiation process for traditional healers in Southern Africa.Rite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 3 moreYemọjaYemoja
A mother spirit of rivers and oceans worshipped across Yoruba and diaspora traditionsBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreObatalaỌbatalá
The Yoruba king of white cloth who is believed to have created humanity and presides over purity.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreBoriBòòríí
A traditional Hausa spirit possession system and healing practice in West AfricaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreDinka religion
The traditional animist and creator-based faith of the Dinka people of South SudanTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake worship
Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor
A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreJuju
A West African spiritual belief system involving charms and ritualsTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇭 Ghana and 1 moreAkan religionAkom
Traditional beliefs of the Akan people, centered on a distant creator and nature spirits.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreTraditional healers of Southern Africa
Practitioners who blend herbal medicine with ancestral divination in Southern AfricaTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreMutiumuthi
Traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa using plants, animals and mineralsTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe and 2 moreMwari
The supreme creator deity of Shona and Venda traditional religionBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇹🇬 TogoAkodessawa Fetish MarketMarché des Féticheurs
A market in Togo selling ritual objects for Vodún practiceTradition · Power and authority · Healing Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 3 moreOshunỌ̀ṣun
A Yoruba water spirit linked to love, wealth, and the Osun River in Nigeria.Being · Love and attraction · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreOrishaÒrìṣà
Divine spirits of the Yoruba religion and their diasporic descendants in the Americas.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار
A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreMami Wata
A water spirit of beauty and wealth in African folklore and the Atlantic diasporaBeing · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaIfa divination (sample)Ifá
A system of verses and divining chains.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAfrican divination
Methods used across the continent to understand present realities and predict future events.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreLegio Maria
A Kenyan church blending Catholic rites with beliefs in a Black Christ and visionary apparitionsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho
Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇪🇷 Eritrea and 1 moreBeher
A pre-Christian Aksumite deity of the sea and agricultural fertilityBeing · Luck and prosperity · Healing Historical
🇲🇱 Mali and 1 moreSandobele
A Senufo woman diviner who mediates between the village and bush spirits.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇲🇿 Mozambique and 1 moreNdau witchcraft and sorcery
A system of spirit belief and traditional healing among the Ndau people of Mozambique and ZimbabweTradition · Healing · Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Serer religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
- Ukuthwasa: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yemọja: Samuel Tobbytex007, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Obatala: Isha, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source
- Muti: Nicholas Roux, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akodessawa Fetish Market: Alexander Sarlay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oshun: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " Department_of_Trife ", CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Orisha: Turismo Bahia, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mami Wata: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- African divination: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Legio Maria: Comondi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch doctor: Lucjan Wędrychowski, Public domain, source
- Juju: ILN Staff, after special artist correspondent Mr Harries F.R.G.S., Public domain, source
- Traditional healers of Southern Africa: Wizzy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ndau witchcraft and sorcery: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source