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FestivalsHalloween and Day of the Dead come together at Salinas’ Paper Tacos.FestivalsCelebrate Day of the Dead at Alebrijes in Downtown Las Vegas FestivalsDay of the Dead Festival FestivalsDay Of The Dead Festival Hispanic Heritage Divination"Divining with the Elements: A Conversation about Astrology" with KL Mays and Alice Sparkly Kat Stage magicWhat Was Halloween Like 100 Years Ago?DivinationThe GPT Oracle: 1 in 10 Americans are reviving the pagan practice of prophecy Living traditionsVoodoo and the School System in Haiti FestivalsFour Delightful Children’s Books About Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead FestivalsCasa de México in Madrid unveils 2026 Day of the Dead altar inspired by Michoacán and Agustín Lara FestivalsHalloween and Day of the Dead come together at Salinas’ Paper Tacos.FestivalsCelebrate Day of the Dead at Alebrijes in Downtown Las Vegas FestivalsDay of the Dead Festival FestivalsDay Of The Dead Festival Hispanic Heritage Divination"Divining with the Elements: A Conversation about Astrology" with KL Mays and Alice Sparkly Kat Stage magicWhat Was Halloween Like 100 Years Ago?DivinationThe GPT Oracle: 1 in 10 Americans are reviving the pagan practice of prophecy Living traditionsVoodoo and the School System in Haiti FestivalsFour Delightful Children’s Books About Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead FestivalsCasa de México in Madrid unveils 2026 Day of the Dead altar inspired by Michoacán and Agustín Lara

EveryJaadu

Living practices

Practised today by communities who hold it as their own.

Living
Revived
Fading
Historical
Legendary
Performed

RegionSouth 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

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

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi Spirit containers and power figures from the Congo Basin used for justice and healingCharm · Protection · Healing Living

🇵🇹 Portugal and 5 moreCocoCoca A monster used to frighten children into obedience across the Iberian world and Latin America.Figure · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreJuju A West African spiritual belief system involving charms and ritualsTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇱🇰 Sri LankaMara A Buddhist figure representing the forces that block spiritual awakening and keep beings trapped in rebirth.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Coco: Francisco de Goya, CC0, source
Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
Juju: ILN Staff, after special artist correspondent Mr Harries F.R.G.S., Public domain, source
Mara: Under the Bo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

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.