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

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 morePazuzu𒀭𒅆𒊒𒍪𒍪 (pà.zu.zu) A Mesopotamian wind demon and protective amulet against child-harming spiritsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreNaming taboo避諱 A cultural rule against speaking or writing the names of rulers and ancestors in East AsiaBelief · Protection Historical

🇮🇩 Indonesia and 3 moreDragon's blood A bright red resin from several plant species used in magic, medicine, and art since antiquitySubstance · Healing · Protection Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRabbit's foot A charm carried for luck, often linked to graveyards and strict folk rulesCharm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇳 India and 2 morePlanets in astrology Seven celestial bodies used to map human character and destinyBelief · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Living

🇪🇬 EgyptScrying A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKardecist SpiritismSpiritisme A French spiritualist doctrine based on communication with spirits and reincarnation.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection 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

🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreDuende A humanoid spirit of Iberian and Latin American folklore, ranging from household pranksters to forest guardians.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreAmethyst A violet quartz variety used in jewelry and historically believed to ward off intoxicationSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教 Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreAugury A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreSilver bullet A folk weapon for monsters and a metaphor for simple solutionsCharm · Cursing and harm Historical

🇧🇷 BrazilBoitatá A fiery serpent of Brazilian folklore that guards forests or frightens childrenBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇹🇭 Thailand and 7 moreSpirit house A small roofed shrine that shelters a place's protective spiritCharm · Protection Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreTotemdoodem A spirit or symbol linking a group to nature, from Ojibwe clan systems to Australian kinshipBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

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

🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪 A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇲🇽 MexicoOfrenda A Mexican home altar built to welcome the souls of the dead during Día de los MuertosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇮🇸 IcelandGaldrabók An Icelandic grimoire of spells and staves from around 1600Text · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesThe Long Lost FriendDer lange verborgene Freund A Pennsylvania German grimoire of folk remedies and magical charms published in 1820.Text · Healing · Protection Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreSpirit An invisible force or soul found in many cultures, linked to gods, humans, and nature.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 morePersonifications of death Figures from many cultures that embody the end of life and guide soulsFigure · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomEvil eye bead (sample)Nazar boncuğu A blue glass bead hung to turn aside envy.Charm · Protection Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch bottle (sample) A stoppered bottle set out against curses.Charm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇳 IndiaNew moon cleansing (sample) Smoke and water used to mark a lunar month.Rite · Cleansing and purification Fading 🇬🇷 GreeceBaba Yaga (sample)Баба-яга A witch of Slavic tales who lives in a hut on legs.Figure · Change and initiation Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSpiritualism A nineteenth-century religious movement focused on communicating with the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesBloody Mary A mirror ritual to summon a spirit that reveals the future or brings harmBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreFan death선풍기 사망설 A South Korean urban legend that running a fan in a sealed room causes fatal suffocationBelief Fading

🇺🇸 United StatesCurse of Tippecanoe An urban legend linking US presidential deaths to election years ending in zero.Belief · Cursing and harm Fading

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreSampo A magical mill or world pillar in Finnish and Estonian mythology that produces wealth.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 JapanTeru teru bōzuてるてる坊主 A white paper doll hung outside to ask for sunny weatherCharm · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBhootभूत A restless spirit of the dead in South Asian belief and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreKallikantzarosκαλικάντζαρος A malevolent goblin that dwells underground and surfaces during the twelve days of Christmas.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇦🇱 Albania and 5 moreDodolaДодoла / Перперуна A Balkan rainmaking rite performed by youths in greenery to invoke summer showersRite · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇬🇧 United KingdomPuck A mischievous domestic sprite of English folklore known for practical jokes and household choresBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreBulla A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 ChinaJin Chan金蟾 A three-legged toad charm used in feng shui to attract wealth and guard against bad luckBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanSaruboboさるぼぼ A faceless red doll from Japan, given as a charm for family and fortuneCharm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇺🇸 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

🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 morePig-faced women A European legend of a woman with the face of a pig, and the charms used to break her curseFigure · Change and initiation Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreZduhaćздухаћ A South Slavic belief in men who fight storms and hail to protect their cropsBeing · Protection · 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.

Sampo: Väinö Blomstedt, Public domain, source
Bhoot: Anilbhardwajnoida, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kallikantzaros: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Jin Chan: Tristanb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
Pig-faced women: DubhEire, CC0, source
Barnstar: Una Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sarubobo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Zduhać: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Teru teru bōzu: Novaric at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bulla: Anonymous ( Category:Etruscans ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Curse of Tippecanoe: Albert Gallatin Hoit, Public domain, source
Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Setsubun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Naming taboo: Haruno Akiha, Public domain, source
Dragon's blood: Andy Dingley, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rabbit's foot: Sobebunny, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Planets in astrology: Jan van Loon, Public domain, source
Duende: René Mayorga, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Ancestor veneration in China: Three huntings, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Amethyst: JJ Harrison ( https://jjharrison.com.au/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Silver bullet: Smithsonian Institution, CC0, source
Boitatá: The ponta cabeça, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Spirit house: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋暁斎), Public domain, source
Ofrenda: Eneas de Troya, CC BY 2.0, source
Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Personifications of death: No machine-readable author provided. Kirtap assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
Spiritualism: Rossington, W. W. and Garrett, J. Ellwood, Public domain, source
Puck: Joseph Noel Paton, Public domain, source
Spirit: Jastrow, Public domain, source
Dodola: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source