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.
🇮🇹 ItalyBefana
An Italian witch-like figure who delivers gifts on Epiphany EveFigure · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreMay Day
A European spring festival marking the start of summer with flowers, poles and fire.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year
An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack in the Green
A foliate figure worn in English May Day processions to celebrate summerIllusion · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
A Christian vigil marked by bonfires and plant gathering on the summer solstice eveRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern
A hollowed vegetable carved with a face and lit from within, worn as a Halloween symbolCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreStraw bearStrohbär
A carnival figure wrapped in straw that visits homes for gifts and marks the turning of seasons.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn
A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting
A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreAlebrije
Brightly painted Mexican sculptures of fantastical creatures, made from paper or woodTradition · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた (七夕)
A Japanese celebration of star-crossed lovers and written wishesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomMari LwydY Fari Lwyd
A Welsh winter custom featuring a horse skull carried through villages for song and hospitality.Rite · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Revived
🇪🇬 EgyptSham Ennessimشم النسيم
An Egyptian spring holiday marked by picnics, colored eggs, and salted fishTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreFolklore of RomaniaFolclorul românesc
The traditional stories, music and customs of the Romanian peopleTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore
The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreTrick-or-treating
A Halloween custom where costumed visitors ask for treats from homesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreSaturnalia
An ancient Roman winter festival of role reversal and feasting in honor of SaturnTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesHex sign
Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols that range from folk art to talismansCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePunxsutawney Phil
A groundhog who serves as the central figure in an annual American weather prediction festival.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇸🇩 Sudan and 5 moreIncense
Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht
A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇫🇷 France and 4 moreRéveillon
A long Christmas or New Year's Eve dinner held to stay awake until morningTradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween
A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanHyakumonogatari Kaidankai百物語怪談会
An Edo period Japanese parlour game where ghost stories extinguish candles one by oneRite · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarnstar
A painted or carved star used to decorate barns in parts of the United States and Canada.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇹 ItalyBadaliscBadalisch
A mythical goat-headed creature from the Italian Alps, captured and mocked during Epiphany celebrations.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda
A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny
A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇯🇵 JapanShiranui不知火
Atmospheric ghost lights of the Yatsushiro and Ariake Seas in JapanBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer
A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBogle
A Northumbrian and Scots household spirit or ghost known for perplexing people.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇭🇹 HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval
A major Caribbean festival of music, dance, and satire leading to Mardi Gras in HaitiTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreKlabautermann
A North Sea ship kobold that aids sailors and signals a vessel's doom.Being · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak
A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesMarmot Day
An Alaskan holiday celebrating local marmots and frontier culture, replacing Groundhog Day.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 more11:11
A clock time believed to signal spiritual alignment or synchronicity in numerology and New Age thoughtBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Barnstar: Una Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Badalisc: Luca Giarelli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Walpurgis Night: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Alebrije: Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Mari Lwyd: Thomas Christopher Evans (Cadrawd), Public domain, source
- Sham Ennessim: Ikonact, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Folklore of Romania: TwoWings, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Czech folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
- Hex sign: Smallbones, CC0, source
- Punxsutawney Phil: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Klabautermann: Anton von Werner, Public domain, source
- Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Jack in the Green: SiGarb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marmot Day: Colin Canterbury/USFWS, Public domain, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- Befana: El Ágora, Public domain, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Wheel of the Year: Sunblade1500, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
- Straw bear: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source