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

🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreKōshin庚申信仰 A Japanese folk belief involving vigils to prevent internal spirits from reporting human deeds to heavenBelief · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 ChinaPeaches of Immortality仙桃 Legendary Chinese fruits said to grant eternal life to deities and mortalsSubstance · Luck and prosperity · Change and initiation Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFengli风狸 / 風狸 A legendary flying mammal from Chinese lore, said to carry a magic wand and resist death.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreHuoshu火鼠 A legendary fire-resistant rat from Chinese folklore said to yield self-cleaning cloth.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean virgin ghost처녀귀신 (cheonyeo-gwisin) A spirit of an unmarried woman who died with resentment in Korean folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaBenzhuism本主教 The indigenous patron worship of the Bai people in Yunnan, ChinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 ChinaNine-headed bird九頭鳥 A mythical creature from ancient China that became a symbol of deceit.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanKinoko木の子 A mountain spirit in Japan that looks like a small child and plays tricks on workers.Being Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreKakuen玃猿 (Jué yuán) A legendary ape-like creature from Chinese and Japanese folklore known for abducting humans.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanSakabashira逆柱 A reversed wooden pillar in Japanese folk belief, said to cause misfortune or ward off disasterBelief · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇹🇼 TaiwanMo-sin-a魔神仔 A short, furry forest demon from Taiwanese folklore said to lure travelers into the mountains.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDokkaebi도깨비 A one-legged supernatural being from Korean folklore, often linked to household objects and magical items.Being · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaPanhu盤瓠 A dragon-dog origin myth of the Yao and She peoples in ChinaFigure · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇹🇼 TaiwanLui-kong-tsiau雷公鳥 A Taiwanese thunder-creature said to summon storms from treetopsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMōryō魍魎 Spirits of nature and graves in East Asian folklore, often linked to corpse theft.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaNine-tailed turtle九尾龜 A legendary Chinese creature linked to divination and folkloreBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaDragon turtle龍龜 (Lóngguī) A Chinese mythic creature with a dragon body and turtle shell, used as a Feng Shui charm.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese sorcery scares A series of moral panics in Imperial China driven by fears of magical harm and hair cuttingBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaLuduan甪端 A mythical Chinese creature said to speak every language and travel vast distances in a single dayBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanYama-uba山姥 A Japanese mountain spirit depicted as either a cannibalistic monster or a benevolent guardian.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanChīsai-ojisan小さいおじさん A tiny Japanese cryptid said to bring luck when spotted in everyday placesFigure · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanTsuchinokoツチノコ A snake-like cryptid from Japanese folklore said to roll like a wheelBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanAmabieアマビエ A prophetic sea creature from Japan that wards off disease with its imageFigure · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanAyakashi妖 Water spirits and ghost lights in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 JapanTōfu-kozō豆腐小僧 A Japanese yōkai depicted as a child carrying a tray of tofu, popular in Edo period literature.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 JapanSankai産怪 A yōkai born from a woman during childbirth if proper care is neglectedBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaInterconnected-arm gibbon通臂猿 A mythical primate with linked arms that can extend one limb by pulling in the other.Figure · Power and authority Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanHashihime橋姫 A Japanese bridge spirit linked to jealousy and demonic transformation in folklore and Noh theatre.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreThoughtography念写 A claimed psychic ability to imprint mental images directly onto photographic film.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇯🇵 JapanOkiagari-koboshi起き上がり小法師 A Japanese roly-poly doll that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreCash方孔錢 A round copper coin with a square hole used in China and East Asia for two millennia.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoney tree搖錢樹 A mythical tree of fortune and a Chinese New Year custom for wealthFigure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living

🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBake-danuki化け狸 A shape-shifting raccoon dog spirit from Japanese folklore known for pranks and illusions.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanNyūdō-bōzu入道坊主 A Japanese yokai that grows taller when stared at and can kill or vanish depending on the responseBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaMien shiang面相 A Chinese practice of reading character and fate through facial featuresBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaJiugongdao九宫道 A Chinese folk sect centered on Mount Wutai and esoteric cosmologyTradition · Power and authority Revived

🇨🇳 ChinaAo鰲 A colossal sea turtle of Chinese myth whose legs support the skyBeing · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanUmi zatō海座頭 A sea yōkai depicted as a giant blind musician that threatens shipsBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanTaka-Onna高女 A Japanese yokai of a tall woman said to spy on brothels from above.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇯🇵 JapanShidaidaka次第高 A tall spirit in Japan that grows when you look up and shrinks when you look down.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanYakudoshi厄年 Traditional Japanese ages believed to bring bad luck and the rituals used to ward them offBelief · Protection Living 🇯🇵 JapanYamajijii山爺 A one-eyed mountain spirit from Shikoku folklore known for its thunderous voice and unpredictable nature.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 JapanTōkyūjutsu淘宮術 A Japanese fortune-telling system based on birth date and facial featuresOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 ChinaEight Treasures八寶 (Bābǎo) A set of eight symbols in Chinese art and amulets representing good fortune.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇯🇵 JapanHōko這子 A Japanese soft doll used as a protective talisman for mothers and childrenCharm · Protection Historical

🇹🇼 TaiwanYin miao陰廟 Temples for wandering spirits in Taiwanese folk religionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanNoderabō野寺坊 A Japanese yōkai of abandoned temples and broken vowsBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Fengli: Anonymous (1603), Public domain, source
Korean virgin ghost: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr, source
Ao: David Jackson, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, source
Peaches of Immortality: Anonymous ( China ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Benzhuism: G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nine-headed bird: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Dragon turtle: Jonathan O'Donnell, CC BY 2.0, source
Luduan: Gisling, CC BY 2.5, source
Yama-uba: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Amabie: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Interconnected-arm gibbon: Xuande Emperor, Public domain, source
Okiagari-koboshi: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cash: User 冷玉 on zh.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Money tree: Pratyeka, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bake-danuki: Poposhka at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
Shidaidaka: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Eight Treasures: Etnografiska Museet, CC BY 2.5, source
Yin miao: Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sakabashira: Unknown author, Public domain, source