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.
馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 5 moreVampire
An undead creature from folklore that feeds on the blood or life force of the livingBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 5 moreWerewolf
A mythical shapeshifter that turns into a wolf, central to European witch-hunts and Gothic horror.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceLady of the LakeDame du Lac
A water spirit who raises knights and captures wizards in Arthurian talesFigure 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 4 moreBaba Yaga
A complex Slavic witch figure who lives in a moving hut and flies in a mortar.Figure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreBugbear
A medieval English creature used to frighten children into obedienceFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 3 moreFirebird
A glowing bird of Slavic folklore that brings both fortune and peril to those who seek itFigure 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 3 moreMorgause
A legendary queen of Orkney and sister to King Arthur in British mythFigure 路 Power and authority Legendary
馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 1 moreMoroi
A Romanian phantom that drains the living, linked to strigoi and unbaptised infants.Figure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 2 moreFreyja
Norse goddess of love, war, and sei冒r magic who rides a chariot pulled by catsBeing 路 Love and attraction 路 Seeing and foretelling Legendary
馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil and 5 moreWhite Lady
A female ghost in white clothing linked to tragedy and omens across many culturesFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Legendary
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceBaba Yaga (sample)袘邪斜邪-褟谐邪
A witch of Slavic tales who lives in a hut on legs.Figure 路 Change and initiation Legendary
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 2 moreMelusineM茅lusine
A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Power and authority Legendary
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreBabay袘邪斜邪泄
A night spirit in Slavic folklore used to frighten children into sleepingFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreJenny Greenteeth
A river-hag from English folklore used to warn children away from dangerous watersFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandMerrowmur煤ch
A sea creature from Irish folklore, known for its magical cap and singing voice.Figure 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyMonacielloMunaciello
A Neapolitan sprite linked to the city's underground waterways and hidden wealth.Figure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚝馃嚠 FinlandAjatar
An evil female spirit of Finnish folklore associated with serpents and diseaseFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚙馃嚞 Bulgaria and 1 moreIspolin懈褋锌芯谢懈薪
A legendary giant from Bulgarian folklore, said to be the second generation of Earth's inhabitants.Figure Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomJoan the Wad
A Cornish pixie queen linked to fire and fortuneFigure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Legendary
馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenYs盲tters-Kajsa
A wind-troll from Swedish folklore who danced with the gales of N盲rkeFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 3 moreSwan maiden
A folk motif where a man steals a bird-woman's feather cloak to force marriage.Figure 路 Love and attraction 路 Cursing and harm Legendary
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandChildren of LirOidheadh chloinne Lir
An Irish myth about four siblings transformed into swans by a jealous stepmotherFigure 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenKnights of 脜lleberg
Swedish ghost story about sleeping warriors in a mountainFigure 路 Power and authority Legendary
馃嚨馃嚤 Poland and 1 morePan Twardowski
A Polish sorcerer who bargained with the Devil and ended up on the MoonFigure 路 Power and authority Legendary
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreKuma Lisa袣褍屑邪 袥懈褋邪
A trickster fox from Slavic folklore who outwits other animalsFigure 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTom Thumb
A tiny English folk hero who outwits giants and serves King ArthurFigure 路 Wonder and entertainment Legendary
馃嚘馃嚬 Austria and 3 moreSalige Frau
A blissful Alpine spirit who guides farmers and guards mountain gameFigure 路 Protection 路 Healing Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Firebird: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
- Lady of the Lake: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
- Artes prohibitae: engraved by Ames of Bristol (according to Fincham, Artists and engrave, Public domain, source
- Children of Lir: John Duncan, Public domain, source
- Baba Yaga: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
- Morgause: H. S. Campbell, Public domain, source
- Freyja: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Babay: Kyoukaa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jenny Greenteeth: Jayan.thanal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Merrow: Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Knights of 脜lleberg: Photograph: Nasko, Public domain, source
- Pan Twardowski: Pit1233, Public domain, source
- Tom Thumb: Leutemann or Offterdinger , photo by Harke, Public domain, source
- Salige Frau: various, Public domain, source
- Ispolin: Joshua Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Swan maiden: Walter Crane, Public domain, source
- Werewolf: Mont Sudbury, Public domain, source
- Vampire: Edvard Munch, Public domain, source