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EveryJaadu

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 AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
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
OccasionWeddings and betrothalFestivalsBirth and childhoodDeath and remembranceHarvest, farming and weatherNew yearInitiation and coming of ageIllness and misfortuneJourneys and voyagesEveryday use
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreFolklore of RomaniaFolclorul românesc The traditional stories, music and customs of the Romanian peopleTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة Moroccan ritual music blending West African heritage with Islamic practice for healing and tranceTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 IndiaBhuta KolaBhūta Kōla A Tulu folk dance and ritual where spirits are channelled into human performersTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDongyue Dadi東嶽大帝 The Chinese mountain god of Mount Tai who rules lifespans and underworld recordsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreWell dressing A rural English custom of decorating water sources with natural designsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreAncestor veneration Rituals of respect and offerings for the dead across many culturesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSnake worship Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreSanto Daime A Brazilian syncretic religion using ayahuasca for spiritual work and healingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreChaharshanbe Suriچهارشنبه‌سوری An Iranian fire festival marking the transition from winter to springTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreQingming Festival清明节 A spring day for sweeping graves, feeding the dead and honouring ancestorsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreFolk Orthodoxyнародное православие A blend of Eastern Orthodox doctrine and pre-Christian pagan beliefs in Slavic communitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreMediumship The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKardecist SpiritismSpiritisme A French spiritualist doctrine based on communication with spirits and reincarnation.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJāņi; Joninės; Jaanipäev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance and offeringsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreMachi Mapuche spiritual authorities and healers who bridge herbal knowledge and spirit realmsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomWassail A hot spiced drink and the twelfth-night customs of singing to trees or visiting homes for giftsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 A Korean ancestral memorial rite involving food offerings and ritual bowsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教 Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreTotemdoodem A spirit or symbol linking a group to nature, from Ojibwe clan systems to Australian kinshipBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇲🇽 MexicoOfrenda A Mexican home altar built to welcome the souls of the dead during Día de los MuertosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa A Gaelic harvest festival marking the beginning of the grain gathering seasonTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreDruidry A modern nature religion inspired by ancient Celtic priests and Romantic idealsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreFolk Catholicism Local religious customs that blend official Church teaching with indigenous or regional traditions.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇻🇳 Vietnam and 5 moreTếtTết Nguyên Đán The Vietnamese lunisolar new year and the most important annual celebration in VietnamTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng) A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese shamanism巫教 (Wūjiào) Spirit-mediums of China who dance and trance to carry messages between people and godsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇵🇰 PakistanShamanism in Pakistan A shamanic tradition of the Hunza region where spirit guides select healers who enter trance states through music and riTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreRegional forms of shamanism A global overview of indigenous spirit-interaction practices across Asia and the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanChinkon kishin鎮魂帰神 A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreBlack Hebrew Israelites A religious movement claiming African Americans are descendants of ancient IsraelitesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇸 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 🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreLegio Maria A Kenyan church blending Catholic rites with beliefs in a Black Christ and visionary apparitionsTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSpiritualist church A worship service led by a medium to communicate with the deceasedTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇮🇷 IranPersian mysticism A spiritual tradition in Iran blending ancient beliefs with Sufi practice and poetic thought.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
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Photo credits on this page

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

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