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
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptSham Ennessim卮賲 丕賱賳爻賷賲
An Egyptian spring holiday marked by picnics, colored eggs, and salted fishTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚥馃嚘 Morocco and 1 moreGnawa music诃賿賳丕賵丞 or 賰賿賳丕賵丞
Moroccan ritual music blending West African heritage with Islamic practice for healing and tranceTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚬馃嚦 TunisiaStambeli
A Tunisian music and possession rite practiced by Black communities of slave descentTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Living
馃嚥馃嚘 Morocco and 1 moreTweeza鬲賵賷夭丞
A North African Sufi tradition of communal labor and mutual aidTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚳 AlgeriaWezeea賵賻夭賽賷毓賻丞
A Kabyle custom of communal slaughter and meat sharing for social solidarityRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚛馃嚳 Algeria and 5 moreZawiya夭丕賵賷丞
A Sufi building and institution for worship, education, and community life in the Islamic world.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚛馃嚳 AlgeriaHezzab丨夭賾丕亘
A Quran reciter who leads daily collective chanting in Algerian mosques.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚛馃嚳 AlgeriaMawsim賲賵爻賲
Annual Maghrebi festival blending Sufi veneration with social and economic gatheringTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 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.
- Stambeli: Youssefbensaad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sham Ennessim: Ikonact, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hezzab: Elph, Public domain, source
- Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magical alphabet: Francis Barrett, Public domain, source
- Zawiya: Schneders, CC BY-SA 4.0, source