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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLecanomancy Divination using a dish or bowl of water to read the futureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaChronomancy A divination method to find lucky days and the best times for action.Oracle · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 2 moreKromanti A ritual language spoken by ancestral spirits in Jamaican Maroon ceremoniesBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇷 GreeceWitchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome Ancient beliefs and practices of magic, curses, and love charms in the Mediterranean worldTradition · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomMadam Pigott A White Lady ghost of Shropshire who haunts roads and rides on horsesBeing Historical 🇯🇵 JapanMisaki御先 Japanese spirit-like entities that serve gods or possess humans with illness and calamityBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreDydko A Polish folk creature evolved from a Slavic house demon into a night-time scarecrow.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLock charms家锁 / 锁片 (jiā suǒ / suǒ piàn) A Chinese metal pendant shaped like a lock to protect children from harm and death.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇹 ItalySmorfia A Neapolitan dream book that turns visions into lottery numbersOracle · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese burial money瘞錢 (yì qián) Imitations of currency placed in Chinese graves to serve the deceased in the afterlife.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 JapanDōbutsu uranai動物占い A Japanese divination system that sorts people into animal types based on birthdate and personality axes.Oracle · Luck and prosperity Living 🇧🇷 BrazilPro-VidaPró-Vida, Integração Cósmica An occultist group founded in Brazil that promises cosmic consciousness and earthly paradise.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living

🇪🇬 EgyptBarbarous name A magical word whose meaning is unknown or ignored, valued for its sound alone.Text · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesThe Gray Man A coastal ghost from South Carolina said to warn of hurricanesBeing · Protection Living 🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreTheatrical superstitions Beliefs and rituals among actors to avoid bad luck and ward off spiritsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanJapanese superstitions Common beliefs in Japan about luck, numbers, and omens rooted in language and customBelief · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇦🇿 AzerbaijanBastyBasdı A group of evil spirits and goblins from Turkic folklore in Anatolia.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇰🇷 South Korea and 3 moreKorean numismatic charm열쇠패 Coin-shaped objects used as protective and decorative charms in Korean cultureCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreHaruspicy Reading animal entrails to discern divine will and omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreZhengde Tongbao正德通寶 A fantasy cash coin used as a Chinese and Vietnamese amulet for luck and protection.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇺🇸 United StatesOinomancy A divination method that reads the future in wine patterns and sedimentOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreHippomancy Divination through the movements, sounds, and tracks of horsesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomWirry-cow A Scottish folk figure representing a frightening object or spiritBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 JapanChinkon kishin鎮魂帰神 A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesLemon pig A carved fruit figure made for amusement and later linked to New Year luckCharm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 IndiaApeswari sabha An Assamese healing rite where village women invoke a goddess to cure illnessRite · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreConfucian coin charms Amulets bearing Confucian moral teachings and historical storiesCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreMarriage coin charm夫婦和合花錢 Coin-shaped amulets from East Asia that celebrate marriage, fertility, and conjugal harmonyCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFriday the 13th A Western superstition that a specific calendar alignment brings misfortuneBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき) A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreVault protector coin鎮庫錢 (zhèn kù qián) Large Chinese numismatic charms cast to guard mint treasuries and attract wealth.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreShamanism in Europe Scholarly theories on shamanic elements in European folk beliefs and witch trialsTradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomFumsup A small figurine charm believed to bring good luck, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Charm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomLoch Ness MonsterUilebheist Loch Nis A legendary lake creature from the Scottish Highlands, famous for disputed photographs and folk tales.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBigfoot A large, hairy humanoid creature of North American folklore and cryptozoologyFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇩🇪 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

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreTooth fairy A childhood figure who exchanges lost baby teeth for gifts or coins.Figure · Luck and prosperity Living

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMelusineMélusine A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇭 Switzerland and 3 moreTatzelwurm A cat-headed lizard of the Alps, said to guard mines and drink cow milk.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇦🇱 Albania and 4 moreDhampir A half-vampire figure from Balkan folklore who hunts the undeadBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreOrder of the Solar TempleOrdre du Temple solaire A neo-Templar new religious movement responsible for mass deaths in the 1990s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreBlack Hebrew Israelites A religious movement claiming African Americans are descendants of ancient IsraelitesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreKrasueกระสือ A floating head with trailing organs from Southeast Asian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Living

🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreLindwormlindorm A serpentine dragon of Northern and Central European folklore, often depicted as limbless or winged.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChortчёрт A Slavic demon spirit with horns and hooves, known in folklore as a trickster or minor evil force.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Vault protector coin: 风之清扬, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bigfoot: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, Public domain, source
Order of the Solar Temple: George Stock derivative work: thumperward ( talk ), Public domain, source
Chinkon kishin: Tomokiyo Yoshisane (友清歓真), also known as Tomokiyo Kyūgo (友清九吾), Public domain, source
Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Barbarous name: Aktiophis, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
Chinese burial money: Gary Todd, CC0, source
Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
Lecanomancy: Author Robert Burns Translator Alexander Smith Illustrator C. A. Vande, Public domain, source
Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lemon pig: GenesisNZ, CC0, source
Hippomancy: Wer?Du?!, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Confucian coin charms: Jean-Michel Moullec, CC BY 2.0, source
Marriage coin charm: Scott Semans, CC BY 3.0, source
Krasue: Xavier Romero-Frias, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Loch Ness Monster: StaraBlazkova at Czech Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Black Hebrew Israelites: Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Tooth fairy: Eden, CC BY 2.0, source
Tatzelwurm: Abrasax, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
Lindworm: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome: Wilhelm Tischbein, Public domain, source
The Gray Man: Phoebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Korean numismatic charm: Unknown author(s)., Public domain, source
Chort: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Lock charms: Scott Semans World Coins (CoinCoin.com)., CC BY 3.0, source
New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source