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
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng)
A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ
Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanBaku獏
A Japanese spirit said to eat bad dreams and protect sleepersBeing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreMisogi禊
A Shinto rite of full-body purification using cold waterRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreBardo Thodolབར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ (bar do thos grol)
A Tibetan Buddhist guide for navigating the intermediate state between death and rebirth.Text Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教
Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese fortune telling算命 (Suànmìng)
Reading faces, palms, birth hours and places to map a person's luck through lifeTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreSky lantern天燈
A paper hot air balloon lifted by flame to carry wishes and blessingsRite · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사
A Korean ancestral memorial rite involving food offerings and ritual bowsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreEight Immortals八仙
Eight legendary Taoist figures of China, each with a power and a vesselFigure · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り
Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 ChinaPixiu貔貅
A winged Chinese creature that guards wealth and wards off evil spiritsFigure · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар
A Mongol lunisolar new year marked by white clothes and dairy feastsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanDaruma doll達磨
A round Japanese talisman that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇰🇷 South KoreaGut굿
Rites performed by Korean shamans to commune with spirits and ensure community welfare.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanŌkuninushi大国主神
A Japanese kami of the earth, nation-building, and protective magic.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanMount Osore恐山
A volcanic pilgrimage site in Japan believed to be a gateway to the underworldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to reveal luck and life adviceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFulu符籙
Taoist talismans with cryptic symbols used for healing and protectionCharm · Healing · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreBagua八卦
A set of eight trigram symbols from China used in divination, cosmology, and feng shui.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoon blocks筊杯
Two crescent blocks thrown to a deity for a yes or noOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤
A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese guardian lions石獅 (shíshī)
Stone lion pairs placed at entrances to ward off harm and welcome fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQi氣 / 气
A vital force in Chinese philosophy and medicine, believed to flow through all living things.Substance · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 JapanSetsubun節分
A Japanese seasonal rite to drive away bad luck and welcome spring with roasted beansRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanShinto shrine神社 (jinja)
A structure housing kami deities within the Shinto tradition of JapanTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanOfudaお札/御札 (ofuda)
Paper and wooden talismans from Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist templesCharm · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 3 moreKorean shamanism무속
A Korean folk religion centered on ritual specialists who mediate between humans and spiritsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreTetraphobia
The avoidance of the number four due to its similarity to the word for death in East Asian languagesBelief · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 ChinaNeidan内丹
A Taoist practice using the body as a cauldron to refine inner energies for longevity and immortalityTradition · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGuanyin觀音 (Guānyīn)
The Bodhisattva of compassion, worshipped across East Asia as a listener to human sufferingBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanZashiki-warashi座敷童子
A parlor spirit from northern Japan that brings fortune or ruin to a household.Being · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanKodama木霊
A tree spirit in Japanese folklore that brings misfortune if the host tree is harmedBeing · Cursing and harm Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreJangseung장승
Wooden or stone poles that guard Korean villages and temples from evil spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreObonお盆
A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance and offeringsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanKagura神楽
A Shinto ritual dance where performers embody deities to purify and welcome spiritsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreMenshen門神
Guardian figures pasted to doors in Chinese folk religion to protect homes from evil.Belief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた (七夕)
A Japanese celebration of star-crossed lovers and written wishesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름
A Korean lunar holiday marking the first full moon with nut-cracking and field firesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanKami神
Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanTorii鳥居
A traditional Japanese gate marking the boundary between the mundane and sacred spaces of Shinto shrines.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreManeki-neko招き猫
A Japanese figurine of a beckoning cat believed to bring luck and prosperityCharm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數
A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreHmong folk religionKev Dab Qhuas
The ethnic religion of the Miao and Hmong peoples, centered on spirit worship and shamanic healing.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女
A Shinto shrine priestess and traditional female medium in JapanTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道
A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreFeng shui風水
A Chinese geomantic practice for aligning structures with cosmic energyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Guanyin: JL Cogburn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Eight Immortals: Fanghong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Fulu: Youle26, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Moon blocks: Hsiung/d6478coke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
- Setsubun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ofuda: 教派研究 (Sectarian research), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shinto shrine: No machine-readable author provided. Fg2 assumed (based on copyright c, Public domain, source
- Korean shamanism: Steve46814, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tetraphobia: Halowand, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Neidan: A16898, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Obon: Batholith, Public domain, source
- Menshen: Taiwankengo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Daeboreum: hojusaram, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Torii: JordyMeow, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maneki-neko: Su--May, CC BY 2.0, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hmong folk religion: Thomas Riccio, CC BY 4.0, source
- Miko: Chris Gladis, Flickr user MShades, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shugendō: 唐山健志郎 (Kenshiro Karayama), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feng shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Jesa: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kagura: Elstner Hilton, Public domain, source
- Chinese guardian lions: Pvt pauline, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pixiu: Sol lc, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jangseung: Yoshiaki Sano, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ancestor veneration in China: Three huntings, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mount Osore: Douglas P Perkins ( Douglaspperkins ( talk )), CC BY 3.0, source
- Ōkuninushi: Yashima Gakutei, CC0, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source
- Sky lantern: Richy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Misogi: Ds13 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Baku: Momotarou2012, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source