Rites

87 rites, charms and ceremonies, each told in outline as a custom: a ring of what goes into it, coloured by role, and a drawn frame for every step. Cleanse, gather, circle, speak, light, offer, bind, bury, cast, read, rest, close.

Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.

RegionAll South Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

Protective rites

Rites that ward a person, house or journey: thresholds, salt, red thread, blessings against the evil eye.

🇮🇳 🇵🇰 🇳🇵 Protective ritesNimbu-mirchi and nazar utarnaThe lemon and green chillies on a thread over a shop door, and the wave of chillies and salt that takes off the evil eye.🇮🇳 🇵🇰 🇧🇩 Protective ritesThe kajal dot on a childA small black mark of kohl on the cheek, brow or foot, said to turn the evil eye away from a baby.🇮🇳 🇱🇰 Protective ritesKolam at the thresholdThe rice-flour pattern drawn at the door each dawn, said to welcome prosperity and to feed small creatures.

Initiation and passage

Rites by which a person enters a priesthood, a society or a new stage of life.

🇮🇳 🇳🇵 🇱🇰 Initiation and passageConsecrating a yantraThe rite by which a drawn or engraved yantra is believed to be given life and made the seat of a deity.

Counter-magic and uncrossing

Rites against curses, envy and harm: the answer to what people fear.

🇮🇳 🇳🇵 Counter-magic and uncrossingNavagraha shantiA pacifying rite to the nine planetary powers of Hindu astrology, done when a horoscope is read as difficult.

Spirit work

Mediumship, possession, trance and journeying: rites for meeting the unseen.

🇮🇳 Spirit workTheyyamA north Kerala ritual in which a dancer, painted and crowned, is believed to become a deity before the village.🇮🇳 Spirit workBhuta KolaThe night-long Tulu spirit worship of coastal Karnataka, in which a dancer is believed to carry a guardian spirit.