All traditions
2,287 traditions so far, best known first. 12,328 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and meal.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 1 moreFortune-telling
Reading cards, palms or tea leaves to tell a client what may lie aheadFolklore
🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde
A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWhakapapa
Māori genealogy, recited to place a person among ancestors, land and tribeHome
🇹🇷 TurkeyRamadan in Turkey
A holy month of fasting, prayer, and community meals, observed across Turkey with unique local customs.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇬 MadagascarFady
A system of cultural taboos in Madagascar that regulate daily life and spiritual practice.Spiritual
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 2 moreMarae
A cleared, sacred gathering place at the heart of Māori and Polynesian community lifeSpiritual
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭᠠ (Traditional Mongol)
A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreKyūdō弓道
The Japanese martial art of archery, practiced with an asymmetrical longbowGame
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTraditional tattooing
The ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesDress
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل
A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWharenui
A Māori carved communal meeting house at the centre of tribal life in New ZealandHome
🇳🇬 Ibadan, Nigeria and 1 moreYoruba naming ceremonyÌkòlọ́pọ̀ Orúkọ Yorùbá
A rite of passage where a newborn receives a destiny name through divination and family celebration.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara
A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGrihapraveshगृहप्रवेश (Gṛhapravēśa)
A Hindu housewarming ritual to purify a new home and invite blessings.Home
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanTorii鳥居
A traditional Japanese gate marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine and separating the sacred from the mundane.Spiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreAndalusi classical musicطرب أندلسي
A classical suite of vocal and instrumental music shared across North AfricaPerformance
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaPenjorᬧᬾᬜ᭄ᬚᭀᬃ
A curved bamboo pole decorated with leaves and offerings, raised in Bali to mark Galungan and invite prosperity.Spiritual
🇧🇭 Bahrain and 3 moreFann at-Tanburaفن الطنبورة
A Gulf song and dance of drums and tanbura, born in healing, now stagedPerformance
🇦🇺 AustraliaBark painting
Ochre pictures on flattened tree bark, an Aboriginal art form of northern AustraliaCraft
🇮🇩 North Sumatra, IndonesiaUlosᯥᯞᯘᯬ᯲
A hand-woven textile of the Batak people in Indonesia, worn for warmth and ceremony.Dress
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas
A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaSatsangसत्सङ्ग
Sitting in the company of truth, to hear, sing and meditate in northern IndiaSpiritual
🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu
Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance
🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesPasyon
A Tagalog epic of Christ's passion, chanted without a break during Holy WeekSpiritual
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilCapoeira
An Afro-Brazilian martial art and musical game played inside a circleGame
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreHoly FireἋγιον Φῶς
A fire ceremony in Jerusalem each year, kept by Orthodox Christians before EasterSpiritual
🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės
A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿
Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJongo
A nightlong dance and music gathering kept by Afro-Brazilian communities in the southeast of Brazil.Performance
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnish saunasauna
A weekly bathing ritual of steam and heat, central to Finnish life and wellbeing.Home
🇱🇦 Laos and 1 moreBaciບາສີ (Lao)
A Lao rite that calls the soul home and ties a thread on the wrist for good luckSpiritual
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai
A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAkhand Pathਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ
The unbroken, continuous reading of the entire Sikh scripture over two daysSpiritual
🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女
A woman who serves at a Shinto shrine, dancing, cleansing and helping with ritesSpiritual
🇮🇷 Isfahan, Iran and 3 morePersian gardenباغ ایرانی
An ancient tradition of creating walled, geometric sanctuaries of shade and flowing waterCraft
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SevilleSemana Santa de Sevilla
A week of solemn processions and floats through the streets of Seville to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreHamadsha
A Moroccan possession rite kept by Muslim fraternities to cure affliction and restore social balance through music and dSpiritual
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline
A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore
🇸🇦 Mecca, Saudi ArabiaIhramإِحْرَام
A sacred state and simple dress that Muslims enter for Hajj and UmrahSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreTzitzitצִיצִית
Knotted ritual fringes worn on a four-cornered garment, a reminder of the commandmentsDress
🇲🇿 Island of Mozambique, MozambiqueTufo
A women's dance of northern Mozambique, performed at Islamic feasts to drums and songPerformance
🇻🇦 Vatican City and 1 moreConclave
Cardinals sealed in the Sistine Chapel, voting until two thirds agree on a new popeSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Badrinath, IndiaChota Char Dham
Four Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand, visited in one season each yearSpiritual
🇲🇽 Veracruz, Mexico and 3 moreMesoamerican ballgameōllamalīztli
An ancient Mesoamerican ball game, struck with the hips on stone courtsGame
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Zajal: 13th century artist, Public domain, source
- Whakapapa: Jimmy Pitt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marae: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mesoamerican ballgame: Daniel Lobo (Daquella manera), CC BY 2.0, source
- Ghazal: Poem by Sa'di of Shiraz (13th century). 19th century manuscript, Public domain, source
- Bark painting: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pasyon: Judgefloro, CC0, source
- Tufo: JCPBFerreira, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Holy Fire: William Holman Hunt, Public domain, source
- Fortune-telling: Taras Shevchenko, Public domain, source
- Rara: Lombinodr Alfonso Lomba, CC BY 3.0, source
- Miko: Chris Gladis, Flickr user MShades, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tzitzit: DRosenbach at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Ihram: United Press International, Public domain, source
- Conclave: User Maus-Trauden on de.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Baci: Dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wharenui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Traditional tattooing: Haa900, CC0, source
- Music of Tuvalu: Avenue, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Capoeira: Augustus Earle, Public domain, source
- Dandiya Raas: User:psubhashish, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Torii: JordyMeow, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fady: Robin Taylor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Finnish sauna: Eric Koch for Anefo, CC0, source
- Shehnai: TAPAS KUMAR HALDER, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Kyūdō: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Akhand Path: William John Howship (1874–1932), Public domain, source
- Persian garden: dynamosquito, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ramadan in Turkey: Wiki leylek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Grihapravesh: Aruna at ml.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holy Week in Seville: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Penjor: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ulos: Boy Lawson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jongo: Vanessa Freitas, Public domain, source