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

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreMummers' play A folk drama featuring a fight and a resurrection, performed by amateur troupes in the British Isles.Rite · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Revived

🇬🇧 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

🇷🇺 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

🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreSoul dualism A belief that a person contains two or more distinct kinds of soulsBelief · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreBonfire A large outdoor fire used in seasonal festivals and religious feasts across many culturesRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreSlavic religion The pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples before their conversion to Christianity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Revived

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreBaba Yaga A complex Slavic witch figure who lives in a moving hut and flies in a mortar.Figure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCorn dolly A woven straw figure made from the last sheaf of a European harvest to house the crop spirit.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Revived

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRowancaorann A Northern Hemisphere tree believed to ward off witches and protect travellers.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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

🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomCŵn Annwn Spectral hounds of the Welsh otherworld that hunt souls and signal deathBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇷🇴 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

🇺🇦 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

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇪 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 🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreSixth and Seventh Books of Moses A grimoire claiming to reveal the hidden spells of Moses for controlling spirits and natureText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreConcealed shoes Shoes hidden in building structures as folk charms for protection and fertilityCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees A Western European custom of informing bees about major household eventsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve A Christian vigil marked by bonfires and plant gathering on the summer solstice eveRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreBeating the bounds A ceremonial walk along parish or town borders to reaffirm boundaries and community memory.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreEusapia Palladino An Italian medium whose séances were investigated by leading scientists and magicians in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspicy Reading animal entrails to discern divine will and omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomBarddas A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyUR Group An Italian esoteric circle studying magic and traditional philosophy in the late 1920s.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomGorsedd stonesCerrig yr Orsedd Stone circles built for the National Eisteddfod of Wales to host druidic ceremonies.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreEctoplasm A substance said to be excreted by mediums during séances, later exposed as common household materials.Substance · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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

🇦🇹 Austria and 3 moreSalige Frau A blissful Alpine spirit who guides farmers and guards mountain gameFigure · Protection · Healing Legendary

Photo credits on this page

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

Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Baba Yaga: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Corn dolly: Renata ( talk ), Public domain, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Rowan: Taken by me, Jonik , on August 25, 2004., CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Folklore of Romania: TwoWings, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ukrainian folklore: U.S. Army Europe Images, CC BY 2.0, source
Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wassail: Joss Smithson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Druidry: TheJaySpearing, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
UR Group: Gruppo di Ur, Public domain, source
Concealed shoes: Edmund Patrick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Salige Frau: various, Public domain, source
Gorsedd stones: Robin Drayton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
Beating the bounds: Andrew Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Eusapia Palladino: Baldi., Public domain, source
Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Well dressing: User:WhaleyTim, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Folk Orthodoxy: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wheel of the Year: Sunblade1500, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Soul dualism: 尹真人, Public domain, source
Bonfire: S Marshall, CC BY 3.0, source
Slavic religion: Alphonse Mucha, Public domain, source
Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source