Folk and village custom: magic in this belief world
Rural and household beliefs that belong to no single organised religion.
Folk and village custom is the large body of belief and practice that belongs to no organised religion: the charm against the evil eye, the cure for warts, the fairy hawthorn, the household spirit, the lucky day. It is passed within families and communities and exists in every society. This page looks at how it is kept, who keeps it, and why it is both valued and dismissed. It is also called popular religion, vernacular religion or lived religion by scholars.
Keepers and settings
Keepers are often older women, farmers, midwives, shepherds and craftsmen. Settings are the house, field, well, crossroads and church porch. European cunning folk offered help for fees and kept charms and books. In many Asian and African villages the specialist is a healer, a diviner or a spirit medium working beside religion. The same grandmother may light a candle at church, tie a thread on a child and say a charm for a burn, and see no conflict between them.
Names and labels
The same thing carries many names: the evil eye is the nazar, mal de ojo and ayin hara. Folklorists collected such customs from the nineteenth century, sometimes as relics of a vanished past and sometimes as living culture. The label folk also marks class, since the term often implies rural, poor or uneducated, a bias that modern scholars try to avoid. Where the village has a wise woman or a bone-setter, the community knows what to ask of her and what she will refuse to do.
Religion, state and reform
Churches, mosques and temples have absorbed, tolerated and condemned folk practice in turn. States have banned it as backward: Chinese campaigns against superstition in the twentieth century closed local temples and shrines, and Soviet policy targeted village healers. At times governments have turned to it as national heritage, as in revived festivals across Europe and Asia. Historians and folklorists note that it often keeps old customs alive within newer religions, such as lighting fires at midsummer within Christian saints' days.
Change and commerce
Urban life and migration thin out folk knowledge, while heritage projects and the internet gather it. Customs reappear as products, such as protective charms in shops and festival tourism. Some folk practice carries harm: village accusation of witchcraft, treatments that delay medical care, and fees charged to relieve fear. Illness needs real medical care. In places with active heritage movements, folk custom has become a source of pride, and young people record songs and cures from grandparents before they are lost.
Folk and village custom on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreWerewolf
A mythical shapeshifter that turns into a wolf, central to European witch-hunts and Gothic horror.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKappa河童
A river-dwelling yōkai known for its head dish and love of cucumbersBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanNoppera-bōのっぺらぼう
A faceless spirit from Japanese folklore that mimics human appearanceBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBlue men of the Minchna fir ghorma
Mythical blue-skinned spirits of the Scottish strait who challenge sailors to poetry contestsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLeprechaunlucharachán / leipreachán / luchorpán
A solitary Irish fairy known for mischief and shoe-makingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanNurarihyon滑瓢 or ぬらりひょん
A slippery Japanese monster that slips away and haunts homes in folklore and pop culture.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇹 ItalyBadaliscBadalisch
A mythical goat-headed creature from the Italian Alps, captured and mocked during Epiphany celebrations.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomLoch Ness MonsterUilebheist Loch Nis
A legendary lake creature from the Scottish Highlands, famous for disputed photographs and folk tales.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny
A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇳 IndiaSnow Lionགངས་སེང་གེ་
A celestial mountain guardian of Tibet embodying fearlessness, bliss, and the DharmaBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreBalaur
A many-headed dragon from Romanian folklore that guards treasures and controls the weather.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreShen蜃
A sea creature from Chinese mythology said to create mirages through shape-shiftingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ
Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaKui夔 (kuí)
A one-legged mountain spirit and ancient music master from Chinese mythologyBeing · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇴 RomaniaZână
A Romanian woodland spirit linked to Diana that guides travelers and blesses children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreHuoshu火鼠
A legendary fire-resistant rat from Chinese folklore said to yield self-cleaning cloth.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇬🇧 United KingdomTrow
Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalySquasc
A small, tawny creature from Eastern Lombardy folklore that frightens children and plays jokes on young girlsBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan
A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇲🇲 MyanmarMythical creatures in Burmese folklore
A collection of spirits, beasts and hybrids from Myanmar's stories and playsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDokkaebi도깨비
A one-legged supernatural being from Korean folklore, often linked to household objects and magical items.Being · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány
A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTsuchinokoツチノコ
A snake-like cryptid from Japanese folklore said to roll like a wheelBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanTōfu-kozō豆腐小僧
A Japanese yōkai depicted as a child carrying a tray of tofu, popular in Edo period literature.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTaka-Onna高女
A Japanese yokai of a tall woman said to spy on brothels from above.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle
A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBake-danuki化け狸
A shape-shifting raccoon dog spirit from Japanese folklore known for pranks and illusions.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇹🇼 TaiwanLui-kong-tsiau雷公鳥
A Taiwanese thunder-creature said to summon storms from treetopsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇳 ChinaAo鰲
A colossal sea turtle of Chinese myth whose legs support the skyBeing · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaBaakবাক
A shapeshifting water spirit from Assamese folklore that mimics humans and fears torn nets.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇳 ChinaLuduan甪端
A mythical Chinese creature said to speak every language and travel vast distances in a single dayBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann
A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ao: David Jackson, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, source
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Badalisc: Luca Giarelli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Leprechaun: Unknown author, FAL, source
- Nurarihyon: Brigham Young University, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kappa: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Loch Ness Monster: StaraBlazkova at Czech Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kui: Dave Pape, Public domain, source
- Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Mythical creatures in Burmese folklore: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Luduan: Gisling, CC BY 2.5, source
- Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
- Noppera-bō: 芥川龍之介, Public domain, source
- Blue men of the Minch: Lord P in the Commons 17:16, 17 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bake-danuki: Poposhka at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Snow Lion: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Werewolf: Mont Sudbury, Public domain, source