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
🇳🇬 NigeriaIfa divination (sample)Ifá
A system of verses and divining chains.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇧🇯 BeninMawu-Lisa
A dual creator spirit of the Gbe peoples, uniting sun and moon in one agender beingBeing · Power and authority Living
🇲🇱 Mali and 3 moreGris-gris
A small pouch or charm from West Africa used for protection and luck.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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
🇨🇲 Cameroon and 2 moreNggam
A divination practice in western Cameroon using spiders and crabs to answer questionsOracle · Seeing and foretelling 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 4 moreModern witch-hunts
Contemporary violence against people accused of using magic to cause harmBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇲🇱 MaliBoli
A charged fetish object of the Bambara people of MaliCharm · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇲 CameroonNyongo society
A witch legend from Cameroon used to explain sudden wealth and unexplained deathBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa
Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief · Cursing and harm 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
🇿🇼 ZimbabweMhande
A Shona song and dance performance tied to rain rituals and ancestral communicationIllusion · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇪 KenyaFingo
A protective talisman of the Mijikenda people in KenyaCharm · Protection Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaDivination bonesditaola (Sotho-Tswana), amathambo (isiZulu)
Bones and carved objects used by traditional healers in South Africa to foresee the futureSeeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaIroke Ifáìrọ́kẹ́ Ifá
A carved staff used by Yoruba diviners to mark time and invoke spirits during ritual sessionsCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇲🇱 MaliBinouba-binu
A secret Dogon order honoring ancestors through totemic animals and ritual sacrifice in Mali.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇲🇬 MadagascarFady
Malagasy cultural taboos regulating daily life and ancestor relationsBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaAmadlozi
Ancestors of the Nguni people who guide and protect their descendantsBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇭 GhanaAmokye
Guardian of the entrance to Asamando in Akan and Ashanti beliefBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇬 Togo and 1 moreTchitcherik
A wooden statue representing the ancestors of the Moba people in Togo and Ghana.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇱 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
🇲🇱 Mali and 3 moreGris-gris
A small pouch or charm from West Africa used for protection and luck.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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
🇨🇲 Cameroon and 2 moreNggam
A divination practice in western Cameroon using spiders and crabs to answer questionsOracle · Seeing and foretelling 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 4 moreModern witch-hunts
Contemporary violence against people accused of using magic to cause harmBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇲🇱 MaliBoli
A charged fetish object of the Bambara people of MaliCharm · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇲 CameroonNyongo society
A witch legend from Cameroon used to explain sudden wealth and unexplained deathBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWitchcraft accusations against children in Africa
Violent persecution of children blamed for misfortune across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyondBelief · Cursing and harm 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
🇿🇼 ZimbabweMhande
A Shona song and dance performance tied to rain rituals and ancestral communicationIllusion · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇪 KenyaFingo
A protective talisman of the Mijikenda people in KenyaCharm · Protection Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaDivination bonesditaola (Sotho-Tswana), amathambo (isiZulu)
Bones and carved objects used by traditional healers in South Africa to foresee the futureSeeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaIroke Ifáìrọ́kẹ́ Ifá
A carved staff used by Yoruba diviners to mark time and invoke spirits during ritual sessionsCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇲🇱 MaliBinouba-binu
A secret Dogon order honoring ancestors through totemic animals and ritual sacrifice in Mali.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇲🇬 MadagascarFady
Malagasy cultural taboos regulating daily life and ancestor relationsBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaAmadlozi
Ancestors of the Nguni people who guide and protect their descendantsBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇭 GhanaAmokye
Guardian of the entrance to Asamando in Akan and Ashanti beliefBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇬 Togo and 1 moreTchitcherik
A wooden statue representing the ancestors of the Moba people in Togo and Ghana.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇱 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Divination: Amcaja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Iroke Ifá: OmoAyan, CC BY 4.0, source
- African divination: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Legio Maria: Comondi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gris-gris: Teogomez, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fady: Robin Taylor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ndau witchcraft and sorcery: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Divination bones: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source