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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
馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 5 moreVampire An undead being from European folklore that feeds on the life force of the living.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚚馃嚟 Switzerland and 5 moreWerewolf A figure in folklore who transforms into a wolf or hybrid beastFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚝馃嚪 France and 5 moreRevenant An animated corpse or spirit that returns from the grave to haunt the livingBeing 路 Cursing and harm 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 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBarghest A mythical black dog from Northern England that foretells death and haunts the countryside.Being 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 3 moreHellhound A mythological canine that guards the underworld or serves demonic forces across global folkloreBeing 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBlack dog A spectral hound from English folklore that signals death or guards the living.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection 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 馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 1 moreDrekavac袛褉械泻邪胁邪褑 A South Slavic night creature born from unbaptised souls or sinnersBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreEach-uisge A fierce water spirit of the Scottish Highlands and Irish shores that takes the form of a horse.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 3 moreChangeling A substitute left by supernatural beings in place of a stolen human child or adultBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomC诺n Annwn Spectral hounds of the Welsh otherworld that hunt souls and signal deathBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreNachzehrer A German revenant believed to consume the living from beyond the graveBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandP煤ca A shape-shifting spirit of Celtic folklore that brings fortune or mischiefBeing 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreLikho袥懈褏芯 A Slavic spirit of bad luck and misfortune, often depicted as a one-eyed creature.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 3 moreLeshy谢械褕懈泄 A forest spirit from Slavic folklore who guards the woods and misleads travelers.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm 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 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 3 moreVodyanoy胁芯写褟薪芯泄 A water spirit of Slavic folklore that dwells in rivers and lakesBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity 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 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreFuath A class of malevolent water spirits in Scottish and Irish folkloreBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreBlue men of the Minchna fir ghorma Mythical blue-skinned spirits of the Scottish strait who challenge sailors to poetry contestsBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment 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 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomGlaistig A Scottish shape-shifting spirit linked to cattle, deer, and haunted castles.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomPuck A mischievous domestic sprite of English folklore known for practical jokes and household choresBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚦馃嚧 Norway and 1 moreTroll cat A familiar spirit in Nordic folklore blamed for stealing milk and cream from farmsBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚠馃嚫 IcelandRau冒skinna A legendary Icelandic grimoire said to grant mastery over dark forces.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 2 moreSolomonari葮olomonar A Romanian weather wizard who rides a dragon and controls the storms.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚨馃嚤 Poland and 1 moreDydko A Polish folk creature evolved from a Slavic house demon into a night-time scarecrow.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚚馃嚟 Switzerland and 3 moreTatzelwurm A cat-headed lizard of the Alps, said to guard mines and drink cow milk.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚘馃嚤 Albania and 4 moreDhampir A half-vampire figure from Balkan folklore who hunts the undeadBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 5 moreLindwormlindorm A serpentine dragon of Northern and Central European folklore, often depicted as limbless or winged.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 5 moreBalaur A many-headed dragon from Romanian folklore that guards treasures and controls the weather.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Legendary 馃嚘馃嚤 Albania and 3 moreKulshedra A multi-headed serpent demon in Albanian folklore that controls storms and droughts.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 2 moreZmeu A humanoid dragon from Romanian folklore that kidnaps maidens and steals treasures.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Love and attraction 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 馃嚪馃嚭 RussiaShishiga褕懈褕懈谐邪 A female swamp spirit of Russian and Komi folklore that brings misfortune and death.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBoobrie A shapeshifting loch monster from Scottish folklore that preys on livestock and horses.Being 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 1 moreSkogsr氓 A forest spirit in Swedish folklore who appears as a beautiful woman but hides a hollow back and animal feet.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚧 RomaniaC膬pc膬un A Romanian ogre with a dog head known for kidnapping children and eating peopleBeing 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreLikhoradka袥懈褏芯褉邪写泻邪 A fever spirit in Slavic myth who brings illness and sicknessBeing 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
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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