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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
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 4 moreMay Day A European spring festival marking the start of summer with flowers, poles and fire.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 5 moreStraw bearStrohb盲r A carnival figure wrapped in straw that visits homes for gifts and marks the turning of seasons.Tradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚫馃嚛 Sudan and 5 moreIncense Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living 馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreSandpainting A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 2 moreTanabata銇熴仾銇般仧 (涓冨) A Japanese celebration of star-crossed lovers and written wishesTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomMari LwydY Fari Lwyd A Welsh winter custom featuring a horse skull carried through villages for song and hospitality.Rite 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Revived 馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 1 moreFolklore of RomaniaFolclorul rom芒nesc The traditional stories, music and customs of the Romanian peopleTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚚馃嚳 Czech RepublicCzech folklore The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreTrick-or-treating A Halloween custom where costumed visitors ask for treats from homesTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 3 moreSaturnalia An ancient Roman winter festival of role reversal and feasting in honor of SaturnTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical 馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern A hollowed vegetable carved with a face and lit from within, worn as a Halloween symbolCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚝馃嚪 France and 4 moreR茅veillon A long Christmas or New Year's Eve dinner held to stay awake until morningTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomJack in the Green A foliate figure worn in English May Day processions to celebrate summerIllusion 路 Wonder and entertainment Revived 馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyBefana An Italian witch-like figure who delivers gifts on Epiphany EveFigure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyBadaliscBadalisch A mythical goat-headed creature from the Italian Alps, captured and mocked during Epiphany celebrations.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 2 moreBesom胁械薪懈泻 A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm 路 Protection 路 Wonder and entertainment Living 馃嚟馃嚬 HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval A major Caribbean festival of music, dance, and satire leading to Mardi Gras in HaitiTradition 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚭馃嚘 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly digest

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