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.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇹🇼 TaiwanKuai Kuai culture乖乖文化 A Taiwanese custom of placing obedient snacks on machines to ensure smooth operationBelief · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of the Bambino A sports superstition linking a long championship drought to a player saleBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaAstrometeorology A historical belief that celestial positions forecast weather and climateBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSeventh son of a seventh son A folklore belief that birth order grants supernatural healing or cursed powersBelief · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇭🇺 HungaryCurse of TuranTuráni átok A Hungarian belief that a historic spell causes national misfortune and personal despairBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreJinx A curse or attribute believed to attract bad luckBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreUnclean forceнечисть A Slavic term for evil spirits and the undead that inhabit the natural worldBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition marking a specific calendar date as unluckyBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇪 IrelandStatue rubbing A tourist custom of touching statues to attract luck, love, or a return visit.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living 🇯🇵 JapanAkisutozenekoあきすとぜねこ A Shōwa-era Japanese game that turns lovers' names into a predicted relationship outcomeBelief · Love and attraction Historical 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 2 moreKromanti A ritual language spoken by ancestral spirits in Jamaican Maroon ceremoniesBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 JapanJapanese superstitions Common beliefs in Japan about luck, numbers, and omens rooted in language and customBelief · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreTheatrical superstitions Beliefs and rituals among actors to avoid bad luck and ward off spiritsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇬🇷 GreeceWitchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome Ancient beliefs and practices of magic, curses, and love charms in the Mediterranean worldTradition · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition that a specific calendar alignment brings misfortuneBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき) A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreTooth fairy A childhood figure who exchanges lost baby teeth for gifts or coins.Figure · Luck and prosperity Living

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMelusineMélusine A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Legendary

🇸🇮 Slovenia and 5 moreVesnaВесна A Slavic personification of spring and youth, known in myth and languageFigure · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrixστρίξ A classical bird of ill omen that evolved into a term for witches and vampires across Europe.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇯🇵 JapanAosaginohi青鷺火 A Japanese will-o'-the-wisp attributed to the glowing flight of herons at nightBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreFairy Queen A female ruler of fairies found in folklore, literature, and witchcraft trials across Europe.Figure · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreFiery serpentsогненный змей A pan-Slavic spirit of fire and wind, seen as a demon or a household helperBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 3 moreDuppy A Caribbean term for a ghost or malevolent spirit, rooted in West African folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living

🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreSânziană Romanian fairies and a summer solstice festival of flowers and magicBeing · Protection · Love and attraction Living

🇨🇳 ChinaPeaches of Immortality仙桃 Legendary Chinese fruits said to grant eternal life to deities and mortalsSubstance · Luck and prosperity · Change and initiation Legendary 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKōshin庚申信仰 A Japanese folk belief involving vigils to prevent internal spirits from reporting human deeds to heavenBelief · Protection · Healing Living

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇯🇵 JapanSakabashira逆柱 A reversed wooden pillar in Japanese folk belief, said to cause misfortune or ward off disasterBelief · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇮 FinlandEtiäinen A Finnish belief in a premonitory apparition that precedes a person's arrivalBelief · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomLantern man A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomShoes on a table A superstition that placing footwear on a table invites bad luck or disrespectBelief · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇹 ItalyIn bocca al lupo An Italian idiom wishing good luck by invoking danger, with a response asking for the wolf's death.Belief · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇯🇵 JapanYakudoshi厄年 Traditional Japanese ages believed to bring bad luck and the rituals used to ward them offBelief · Protection Living 🇨🇲 CameroonNyongo society A witch legend from Cameroon used to explain sudden wealth and unexplained deathBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇷🇺 RussiaAugust curse A Russian belief that severe disasters and national tragedies cluster in the month of August.Belief Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Astrometeorology: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Aosaginohi: Koikawa Harumachi ja:恋川春町 (1744-1789), Public domain, source
Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Curse of the Bambino: National Photo Company, Public domain, source
Kuai Kuai culture: 總統府, CC BY 2.0, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Unclean force: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Fairy: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
Statue rubbing: Matthias Rosenkranz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Tooth fairy: Eden, CC BY 2.0, source
Vesna: Viktor Vasnetsov, Public domain, source
Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Peaches of Immortality: Anonymous ( China ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Sakabashira: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome: Wilhelm Tischbein, Public domain, source
The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source
Sânziană: Saturnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source