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

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWild Hunt A spectral chase across Europe led by a mythic figure and ghostly riders.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreNatural magic A historical tradition exploring hidden forces in the physical worldTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTalisman An object believed to channel specific forces for protection, healing, or influence.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreCaribbean folklore The blended tales and spirits of the Caribbean islandsTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 5 moreWitch hunt A campaign to find and punish people accused of using magic for harmBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomCeridwenCerridwen A Welsh enchantress and modern goddess of poetic inspiration and transformation.Being · Change and initiation Revived 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived

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

🇪🇸 SpainFolklore of Spain The oral traditions, legends, and folktales of the Iberian PeninsulaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇷 GreeceCoscinomancy A divination method using a sieve and shears to reveal guilt or answer questions.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGuanyin觀音 (Guānyīn) The Bodhisattva of compassion, worshipped across East Asia as a listener to human sufferingBeing · Protection · Healing Living 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲 An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived

🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living

🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreValknut A symbol of three interlocked triangles found on Germanic artifacts and used in modern Heathenry.Belief · Power and authority Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreNumerology The belief that numbers hold hidden meanings and influence human events.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇨🇳 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

🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神 Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

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

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng) A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreSoul dualism A belief that a person contains two or more distinct kinds of soulsBelief · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic magical stavesgaldrastafir Sigils from Icelandic grimoires believed to hold magical powerCharm · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreLady MiddayPoludnitsa A Slavic noon spirit who watches over fields and punishes those who work during the hottest hours.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChurch grim A guardian spirit of Christian churchyards, often appearing as a black dog or lamb.Being · Protection Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWill-o'-the-wisp A ghostly light in folklore that guides or misleads travellers over marshes and bogs.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇱 ChileChilean mythology The myths and legends of Chile, blending indigenous roots with colonial influences.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreJet A black gemstone carved into amulets and mourning jewellery for centuriesCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

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

🇯🇵 JapanOnmyōdō陰陽道 A Japanese system of divination and calendar science rooted in yin-yang philosophyTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Revived 🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrigoi A Romanian undead spirit linked to witchcraft and vampirismBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數 A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇨🇳 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

🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing 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 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

🇬🇷 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

🇬🇧 United KingdomBeltane Fire Festival A modern Edinburgh performance celebrating the start of summer with fire and danceRite · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Living 🇮🇪 IrelandFetch A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 7 moreSatanic panic A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreHermetica A collection of ancient texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, covering magic, alchemy and philosophy.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Change and initiation Historical

🇬🇧 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

Photo credits on this page

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

Guanyin: JL Cogburn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
Luoshu Square: An unknown Tibetan artist, Public domain, source
Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
Soul dualism: 尹真人, Public domain, source
Numerology: Pietro Bongo, Public domain, source
Jet: Thmsfrst, Public domain, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Onmyōdō: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bay Laurel: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
Beltane Fire Festival: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
Icelandic magical staves: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Ceridwen: Chris Denny, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Will-o'-the-wisp: Hermann Hendrich, Public domain, source
Church grim: Inès Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fairy ring: User:Mrs skippy, Public domain, source
Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Witch hunt: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Vampire folklore: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
Valknut: Sacrificial_scene_on_Hammars_(I).JPG : Berig derivative work: The Man, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
Talisman: Sasha India, CC BY 2.0, source
Coscinomancy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Public domain, source
Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Caribbean folklore: Biblioteca Juvenil Mayaguez ( talk · contribs ), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Folklore of Spain: Mikipons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cornish mythology: waterborough, Public domain, source
Natural magic: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wild Hunt: Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain, source