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

🇯🇵 JapanKijo鬼女 A demon woman from Japanese folklore, born of resentment and karma.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇦🇱 Albania and 3 moreKulshedra A multi-headed serpent demon in Albanian folklore that controls storms and droughts.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreBabayБабай A night spirit in Slavic folklore used to frighten children into sleepingFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇩 IndonesiaSundel bolong A vengeful ghost of Java, a woman whose long black hair hides the hole in her back.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreZmeu A humanoid dragon from Romanian folklore that kidnaps maidens and steals treasures.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreJenny Greenteeth A river-hag from English folklore used to warn children away from dangerous watersFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇬🇧 United KingdomBoobrie A shapeshifting loch monster from Scottish folklore that preys on livestock and horses.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇺 RussiaShishigaшишига A female swamp spirit of Russian and Komi folklore that brings misfortune and death.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreSkogsrå A forest spirit in Swedish folklore who appears as a beautiful woman but hides a hollow back and animal feet.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreChimimōryō魑魅魍魎 A Chinese term for mountain and river spirits that spread to Japan and VietnamBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇴 RomaniaCăpcăun A Romanian ogre with a dog head known for kidnapping children and eating peopleBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreLikhoradkaЛихорадка A fever spirit in Slavic myth who brings illness and sicknessBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇹 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 🇮🇹 ItalyMonacielloMunaciello A Neapolitan sprite linked to the city's underground waterways and hidden wealth.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaNine-headed bird九頭鳥 A mythical creature from ancient China that became a symbol of deceit.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenAskafroa A Scandinavian tree spirit believed to guard the ash and demand appeasement.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇹🇼 TaiwanMo-sin-a魔神仔 A short, furry forest demon from Taiwanese folklore said to lure travelers into the mountains.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreSupernatural beings in Slavic religion Mythic entities of nature, death, and fate in Slavic folklore and belief.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreKakuen玃猿 (Jué yuán) A legendary ape-like creature from Chinese and Japanese folklore known for abducting humans.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇸 SerbiaBaukБаук A bear-like creature from Serbian folklore that lurks in the dark.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreAufhocker A German folklore spirit that leaps on travelers and weighs them down.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDames Blanches Spectral women in French folklore who demand dances or warn of dangerBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇷🇴 RomaniaSântoaderi Supernatural beings in Romanian folklore known for causing illness through music and danceBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanSankai産怪 A yōkai born from a woman during childbirth if proper care is neglectedBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇵🇭 PhilippinesMandurugo A shapeshifting spirit from Philippine folklore that feeds on human bloodBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇴 Colombia and 1 moreLa Bolefuego A fiery apparition from the Llanos that hunts travelers and avoids prayer.Figure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇪 IrelandSleih beggey Manx fairies and little people of the Isle of ManBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇺 RussiaMeduzaМедуза A Russian mythic figure with a woman's head and a serpent body, linked to trickery.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇪 IrelandDeath coachcóiste bodhar A spectral carriage that signals an unavoidable death in European folkloreBelief · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVampire pumpkins and watermelons A Balkan folk tale about ground fruit that turns into vampires.Belief · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 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 🇯🇵 JapanNyūdō-bōzu入道坊主 A Japanese yokai that grows taller when stared at and can kill or vanish depending on the responseBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇴 RomaniaMuma Pădurii A forest spirit in Romania who protects nature and punishes those who harm itBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇫🇮 FinlandAjatar An evil female spirit of Finnish folklore associated with serpents and diseaseFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanShidaidaka次第高 A tall spirit in Japan that grows when you look up and shrinks when you look down.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇮🇳 IndiaChedipeचेदिप A witch-vampire spirit of the Godavari region that drains men and feeds on sorrowBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇧🇷 BrazilRomãozinho A cursed immortal boy from Brazilian folklore who never grows and causes mischief.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreEl Sombrerón A tall, hat-wearing figure from Guatemalan legend who courts young women and haunts neighborhoods at dusk.Figure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMōryō魍魎 Spirits of nature and graves in East Asian folklore, often linked to corpse theft.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreSwan maiden A folk motif where a man steals a bird-woman's feather cloak to force marriage.Figure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomCeffyl Dŵr A Welsh water spirit that takes the form of a horse to test or harm travellers.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFlying Africans A legend of enslaved people returning to Africa by magic flightFigure · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenYsätters-Kajsa A wind-troll from Swedish folklore who danced with the gales of NärkeFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇪🇸 SpainXana A water spirit of Asturian myth who offers treasures or madness to those who hear her song.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇧🇷 BrazilLobisomem A South American shape-shifter born from family fate or sin, often linked to the full moon.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇦🇱 AlbaniaXhindi Invisible spirits in Albanian mythology that appear at night and may help or harm.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary 🇩🇪 GermanyWitte Wiwer Subterranean spirits of Low German folklore known for music and child exchangeBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇸🇪 SwedenVittra A forest spirit from northern Sweden linked to livestock and seductionBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary

Photo credits on this page

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

Boobrie: Ole Worm - Olaus Wormius, Public domain, source
Supernatural beings in Slavic religion: Bartolomeo Giuliano, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Flying Africans: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kulshedra: Bidgee, CC BY 3.0, source
Babay: Kyoukaa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jenny Greenteeth: Jayan.thanal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Skogsrå: Gunnar Creutz (Achird), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Nine-headed bird: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Aufhocker: Longbow4u, Public domain, source
Vampire pumpkins and watermelons: The original uploader was Ke4roh at English Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
Bake-danuki: Poposhka at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Shidaidaka: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Swan maiden: Walter Crane, Public domain, source