Living practices
Practised today by communities who hold it as their own.
- Living
- Revived
- Fading
- Historical
- Legendary
- Performed
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
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
馃嚫馃嚘 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikr匕賽賰賿乇
Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths
Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomEnochian magic
A Renaissance system of ceremonial magic based on angelic revelations recorded by John Dee and Edward Kelley.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreChaos magic
A modern magical system that treats belief as a flexible tool rather than a fixed truth.Tradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚫馃嚦 Senegal and 5 morePentagram蟺蔚谓蟿维纬蟻伪渭渭慰谓
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm 路 Protection 路 Binding and oaths Living
馃嚠馃嚤 IsraelBanishing
Ceremonial magic rites used to clear a space of spiritual influences before other workings.Rite 路 Cleansing and purification Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 4 moreThelema
A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries
An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreChurch of Satan
An atheistic religious body founded in 1966 that practices ritual magicTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTyphonian Order
A British Thelemic esoteric body working with dark occultism, kalas, and cosmic mythTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesHail Satan
A Satanic exclamation used as ritual greeting, rebel cry, and pop-culture punchlineBelief 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 3 moreAstral projection
An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astral projection: Hereward Carrington, Sylvan Muldoon., Public domain, source
- Occult: The .:X, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Church of Satan: Palnu ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Hail Satan: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dhikr: Eug猫ne Baugnies, Public domain, source
- Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source