Beliefs, omens and superstitions

Luck and unluck, the evil eye, knocking on wood and the small customs people keep without asking why.

A crescent moon and a star: the sky as a calendar and a sign, used for lunar rites, fasting months, omens and night-time practice.

Beliefs, omens and superstitions are the small customs people keep without asking why: knocking on wood, salt over the shoulder, avoiding the number thirteen, the evil eye, a black cat crossing the road, a first visitor of the new year. They are found on every continent and are rarely tied to a priest or book. This page looks at where they come from, what the word superstition hides, and why they persist.

What they look like

Beliefs differ by place. The number four is avoided in China, Japan and Korea because it sounds like the word for death, while thirteen is avoided in much of the West. In India, a sneeze before leaving home may delay a journey, and a lemon and chillies are hung over a shop. The evil eye is feared under many names: nazar, mal de ojo, ayin hara. First-footing at new year in Scotland is said to bring luck to a house.

Whose word is superstition

The word superstition has a history. Roman writers used it for religion they disliked, and Christian writers for forbidden practice. Today it often means someone else's belief. Many religions regard some of their own customs as faith and others as superstition, and where the line falls depends on the speaker. Using the word can mark a speaker as modern and a neighbour as backward. Tests of common superstitions show that people who hold them are not less educated or less rational than others, and many hold them lightly.

Why people keep them

Psychologists find that superstition rises with uncertainty and stakes, which is why athletes, sailors, students and gamblers are known for them. Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski observed in the 1920s that Trobriand fishermen used rites in dangerous deep-sea fishing and not in safe lagoon fishing. Most people who follow small customs say they do so partly in jest and partly just in case. Similar customs turn up in places that have never met each other, which suggests that people everywhere respond to risk in similar ways.

When belief causes harm

Most superstitions are harmless. Some are not: beliefs about witchcraft have led to killings in parts of Africa, India and Papua New Guinea, and beliefs about albinism have led to attacks in Tanzania and Malawi. Others cost people money, as when a fee is demanded to lift a bad omen. Education, law and trusted community leaders have all been part of reducing harm. Campaigns by health workers, teachers and community radio have been effective where they listen first and explain later.

Belief 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

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

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

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

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition 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 Africa and 5 moreMurder for body parts The killing of people to harvest body parts for traditional medicine or the illegal organ trade.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇵🇭 PhilippinesPhilippine mythology The indigenous myths and spirits of the Philippines, shaped by centuries of trade and colonial contact.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDaayanदायन A vengeful female spirit from Indian folklore, often blamed for misfortune and witchcraft accusations.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇰🇮 Kiribati and 4 moreMicronesian mythology The traditional belief systems and legends of the island peoples in the southwest Pacific.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇪🇪 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

🇬🇭 GhanaWitchcraft in Ghana Beliefs in harmful magic and the social violence that follows accusations in GhanaBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

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

🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreEstonian mythologyeesti mütoloogia The pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Estonian peopleTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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 1 moreMagic and religion A study of how ritual power and sacred belief overlap or separate across culturesBelief · Power and authority Historical

🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnish mythology The pre-Christian folklore and cosmology of the Finns and KareliansTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Revived

🇨🇦 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 🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇨🇴 ColombiaColombian folklore Beliefs and legends passed down through generations in ColombiaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇳 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 🇾🇪 YemenDhu'l-Khalasaذُو الْخَلَصَة A pre-Islamic shrine in Yemen destroyed by early Muslim forces.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling 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

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso and 5 moreCosmic egg A mythological motif where the universe or a creator emerges from a primordial egg.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreHiisi A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇵🇬 Papua New GuineaBaloma Spirits of departed kin who, Trobrianders hold, place each new child in the wombBeing · Love and attraction Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSwastika (Germanic Iron Age) A four-armed symbol found on Germanic artefacts from the Migration to Viking periods.Belief · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLegend of the White Snake白蛇傳 A Chinese folktale about a snake spirit who becomes human to love a mortal manFigure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese creation myths A collection of ancient Chinese stories explaining how the universe and humanity beganBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesPlastic shaman A label for imposters who sell fake Indigenous spiritual practices for profitBelief · Cursing and harm Living 🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreToltecayotl A Nahuatl concept of the art of living and wisdom derived from Toltec traditionBelief · Power and authority Revived 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreVanishing hitchhiker An urban legend where a motorist picks up a passenger who vanishes, often leaving behind proof of their death.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · 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.

Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Orphism: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Philippine mythology: The original uploader was Rodsan18 at English Wikipedia . ( Original t, CC BY 2.5, source
English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
Estonian mythology: Jeannette Berkowitz (illustrator), Public domain, source
Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Finnish mythology: Väinö Blomstedt, Public domain, source
Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Colombian folklore: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Legend of the White Snake: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Witchcraft in Ghana: SALTN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
Soul dualism: 尹真人, Public domain, source
Spirit: Jastrow, Public domain, source
Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Holy well: The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Cosmic egg: James Basire, 1730–1802 (engraver), Public domain, source
Mana: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Swastika (Germanic Iron Age): No machine-readable author provided. Bloodofox~commonswiki assumed (ba, Public domain, source