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 Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇸🇴 Somalia and 5 moreFrankincense An aromatic tree resin harvested for incense, perfume, and religious ritualSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇵🇭 PhilippinesAlbularyo A Filipino folk healer who uses herbs, massage, and prayer to treat illnessTradition · Healing Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreCaul A birth membrane kept as a talisman for luck and protection from drowningCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊 A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCorn dolly A woven straw figure made from the last sheaf of a European harvest to house the crop spirit.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Revived

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 Paper burned as money and goods for ancestors, gods and the deadCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇳🇴 Norway and 1 moreHuldra A seductive forest spirit of Scandinavian folklore with a hidden animal tail.Being · Protection Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreEight Immortals八仙 Eight legendary Taoist figures of China, each with a power and a vesselFigure · Protection · Healing Living

🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreWitchcraft in Latin AmericaBrujería A syncretic blend of Indigenous, African, and European magical practices across Latin AmericaTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreTrial by ordeal An ancient judicial test where guilt or innocence was decided by surviving a painful physical trial.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreBaba Yaga A complex Slavic witch figure who lives in a moving hut and flies in a mortar.Figure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇬🇧 United KingdomGlaistig A Scottish shape-shifting spirit linked to cattle, deer, and haunted castles.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreKitchen God灶君 The Chinese hearth deity who reports domestic conduct to the Jade EmperorBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreBagua八卦 A set of eight trigram symbols from China used in divination, cosmology, and feng shui.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇫🇷 FranceLady of the LakeDame du Lac A water spirit who raises knights and captures wizards in Arthurian talesFigure · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreDrekavacДрекавац A South Slavic night creature born from unbaptised souls or sinnersBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇲🇽 MexicoCalavera A sugar or clay skull used in Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living

🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical 🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreOrang Minyak A slippery ghost from Malay folklore that abducts women and is covered in black grease.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreMediumship The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoon blocks筊杯 Two crescent blocks thrown to a deity for a yes or noOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQi氣 / 气 A vital force in Chinese philosophy and medicine, believed to flow through all living things.Substance · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreRainmaking Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤 A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreChaharshanbe Suriچهارشنبه‌سوری An Iranian fire festival marking the transition from winter to springTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomBarghest A mythical black dog from Northern England that foretells death and haunts the countryside.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreAmber Fossilized tree resin used in jewelry and folk healing traditionsSubstance · Protection · Healing Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreHidden-folkhuldufólk Supernatural beings in Nordic folklore who live in a parallel world within the landscape.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChaos magic A modern magical system that treats belief as a flexible tool rather than a fixed truth.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNicholas Culpeper An English herbalist and astrologer who translated medical texts into English for the poor.Text · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomHob A small household spirit of Northern England and the Anglo-Scottish border.Being · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇶 IraqKispu An ancient Mesopotamian ritual to feed and honour the dead ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Historical 🇮🇪 IrelandFetch A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJāņi; Joninės; Jaanipäev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇯🇵 JapanSetsubun節分 A Japanese seasonal rite to drive away bad luck and welcome spring with roasted beansRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLuoshu Square洛書 An ancient Chinese three-by-three magic square linked to geomancy and numerologyTradition · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyAlp A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreBay Laurelδάφνη An aromatic Mediterranean plant used in cooking and as a symbol of victory and purification.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living

🇯🇵 JapanGazu Hyakki Yagyō画図百鬼夜行 A 1776 Japanese woodblock book of yōkai illustrations by Toriyama SekienText · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreChangeling A substitute left by supernatural beings in place of a stolen human child or adultBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇸🇩 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

🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic magical stavesgaldrastafir Sigils from Icelandic grimoires believed to hold magical powerCharm · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFirst-footciad-chuairt The first visitor on New Year's Day, believed to set the household's fortune for the year aheadTradition · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFairy ring A natural ring of mushrooms surrounded by folklore about dancing spirits and witches.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living

Photo credits on this page

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

Calavera: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yule log: Pehr Arvid Säve (1811—1887), Public domain, source
Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Lady of the Lake: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
Luoshu Square: An unknown Tibetan artist, Public domain, source
Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
Huldra: Bernard Evans Ward, Public domain, source
Eight Immortals: Fanghong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Trial by ordeal: James Sibree, Public domain, source
Baba Yaga: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
Amber: uploaded with permission, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Amniomancy: JC Brand, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Corn dolly: Renata ( talk ), Public domain, source
Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Moon blocks: Hsiung/d6478coke, CC BY 2.0, source
Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
Setsubun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bay Laurel: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
Chaharshanbe Suri: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
Hidden-folk: Schorle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Frankincense: No machine-readable author provided. Gaius Cornelius assumed (based on, Public domain, source
Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
Midsummer: Kora27, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
Icelandic magical staves: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Hob: Jo Turner, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Fairy ring: User:Mrs skippy, Public domain, source