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.
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 3 moreFirebird
A glowing bird of Slavic folklore that brings both fortune and peril to those who seek itFigure 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBrowniebr霉naidh
A nocturnal household spirit from Scottish folklore that performs chores in exchange for offerings.Being 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚠馃嚫 IcelandN谩br贸k
A pair of pants made from human skin, said to generate endless wealth in Icelandic folklore.Charm 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 2 moreMelusineM茅lusine
A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Power and authority 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
馃嚪馃嚫 SerbiaCikavac褑懈泻邪胁邪褑
A winged creature from Serbian folklore that fetches honey and milk for its ownerBeing 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Power and authority 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 RomaniaZ芒n膬
A Romanian woodland spirit linked to Diana that guides travelers and blesses children.Being 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceFarfadet
Small helpful spirits of French folklore that perform chores for foodBeing 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary
馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenSj枚r氓
A Swedish lake spirit that rewards kindness and drowns the disrespectfulBeing 路 Protection 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 KingdomJoan the Wad
A Cornish pixie queen linked to fire and fortuneFigure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Legendary
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBluecap
A blue flame spirit of English mines that guides miners and warns of dangerBeing 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Firebird: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
- Huldra: Bernard Evans Ward, Public domain, source
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- P煤ca: Wirt Sikes, Public domain, source
- Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Vodyanoy: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
- N谩br贸k: Bernard McManus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tatzelwurm: Abrasax, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Lindworm: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kulshedra: Bidgee, CC BY 3.0, source
- Skogsr氓: Gunnar Creutz (Achird), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Farfadet: User:Mattes, Public domain, source
- Puck: Joseph Noel Paton, Public domain, source
- Nis Puk: R2D3LA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source