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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
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalySquasc A small, tawny creature from Eastern Lombardy folklore that frightens children and plays jokes on young girlsBeing 路 Cursing and harm 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 馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenAskafroa A Scandinavian tree spirit believed to guard the ash and demand appeasement.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Legendary 馃嚟馃嚭 Hungary and 1 moreS谩rk谩ny A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical 馃嚨馃嚬 Portugal and 1 moreCabra cabriola A fire-breathing goat bogeyman used to frighten children in Portuguese and Brazilian folkloreBeing 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 2 moreSupernatural beings in Slavic religion Mythic entities of nature, death, and fate in Slavic folklore and belief.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚦馃嚧 NorwayDeildegast A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚝馃嚪 FranceMargot the fairy Earthly fairies of Brittany known for dancing, building monuments, and testing human guests.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚪馃嚭 RussiaMeduza袦械写褍蟹邪 A Russian mythic figure with a woman's head and a serpent body, linked to trickery.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 1 moreGrim Reaper A hooded skeleton with a scythe, representing death in Western art and story.Figure 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandDeath coachc贸iste bodhar A spectral carriage that signals an unavoidable death in European folkloreBelief 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBiast Bhealach Odail A shapeshifting spirit of a Scottish mountain passBeing 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomChained Oak A Staffordshire oak bound in chains by a local legend of a curse and an earl.Belief 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚠馃嚫 IcelandYule catJ贸lak枚tturinn A giant feline from Icelandic folklore that threatens those without new Christmas clothesFigure 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚠馃嚫 IcelandDj谩kninn 谩 Myrk谩 An Icelandic ghost story about a dead deacon who returns for his bride on Christmas EveFigure 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 1 moreVampire pumpkins and watermelons A Balkan folk tale about ground fruit that turns into vampires.Belief 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 5 moreFiredrakeognennyi zmei A European dragon myth born from sightings of shooting stars and will-o'-the-wispsBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚪馃嚧 RomaniaMuma P膬durii A forest spirit in Romania who protects nature and punishes those who harm itBeing 路 Protection 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 馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenVittra A forest spirit from northern Sweden linked to livestock and seductionBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Love and attraction Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomLazy Laurence A mischievous English pixie who makes orchard workers lazy and gives them indigestionBeing 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical 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 馃嚜馃嚫 SpainXana A water spirit of Asturian myth who offers treasures or madness to those who hear her song.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomCeffyl D诺r A Welsh water spirit that takes the form of a horse to test or harm travellers.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomLantern man A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚠馃嚫 IcelandGr媒la A monstrous Icelandic troll associated with Christmas and the Yule LadsBeing 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚘馃嚤 AlbaniaXhindi Invisible spirits in Albanian mythology that appear at night and may help or harm.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Legendary 馃嚝馃嚪 FranceTempestarii Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomQueen of Elphame The elfin queen of Faerie from Lowland Scotland and Northern England folkloreFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Healing Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTam Lin A Scottish ballad about a fairy knight rescued by his mortal lover on Hallowe'enFigure 路 Love and attraction 路 Cursing and harm Historical 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 馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyWitte Wiwer Subterranean spirits of Low German folklore known for music and child exchangeBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚪馃嚧 RomaniaS芒ntoaderi Supernatural beings in Romanian folklore known for causing illness through music and danceBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreNis PukNi脽 Puk A legendary household spirit from Northern Germany and Denmark that helps or torments its owner.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreElder Mother A guardian spirit of elder trees in English and Scandinavian folkloreBeing 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomMaggy Moulach A Scottish brownie known for her hair and fierce protection of her kinBeing 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyFeldgeist German folk creatures tied to crops, weather and harvest ritualsBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 3 moreDrude A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical 馃嚜馃嚫 SpainGuajona A blood-sucking hag from Cantabrian and Asturian legendBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomMadgy Figgy's Chair A granite rock in Cornwall linked to a legendary witch and her storm conjuringFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚪馃嚫 SerbiaBauk袘邪褍泻 A bear-like creature from Serbian folklore that lurks in the dark.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚟馃嚭 HungaryLid茅rc A shape-shifting spirit from Hungarian folklore that brings wealth or illness.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreAufhocker A German folklore spirit that leaps on travelers and weighs them down.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreDames Blanches Spectral women in French folklore who demand dances or warn of dangerBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Legendary 馃嚝馃嚪 FranceMagonia A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.