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

🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch trials in England A historical period of legal persecution for alleged sorcery in England from the 15th to the 18th centuryBelief · Cursing and harm 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

🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreDaeva𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 A Zoroastrian entity that evolved from rejected gods to personifications of evil.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇰🇷 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

🇺🇸 United StatesKennedy curse A pattern of tragedies linked to the American Kennedy familyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇾🇪 YemenDhu'l-Khalasaذُو الْخَلَصَة A pre-Islamic shrine in Yemen destroyed by early Muslim forces.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇨🇦 CanadaSpoon bending A magic trick and paranormal claim involving the deformation of metal cutleryBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Historical

🇳🇱 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

🇷🇺 RussiaBlack magic Magic used for evil or selfish purposes, and the beliefs surrounding itBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSeventh son of a seventh son A folklore belief that birth order grants supernatural healing or cursed powersBelief · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaAstrometeorology A historical belief that celestial positions forecast weather and climateBelief · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreThelema A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living 🇫🇷 FranceLouviers possessions A seventeenth-century French convent case of mass demonic possession and witchcraft accusationsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceGreek divination Ancient methods of consulting deities for prophecy and omens in Greek cultureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreUnclean forceнечисть A Slavic term for evil spirits and the undead that inhabit the natural worldBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇱 IsraelJewish astrologyמַזָּלוֹת (mazzālôt) A belief system within Judaism that celestial bodies influence earthly affairs and human destiny.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇮🇷 IranʿIlm al-Ḥurūfعِلْم الْحُرُوف A system of Arabic numerology that assigns numerical values to letters to reveal hidden meanings in the Quran.Belief · 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

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCurse of 1940 A superstition explaining a long championship drought for the New York RangersBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreAngelמלאך A supernatural messenger or intermediary spirit found in many religious traditions.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇱🇰 Sri LankaMara A Buddhist figure representing the forces that block spiritual awakening and keep beings trapped in rebirth.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

🇧🇫 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

🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrixστρίξ A classical bird of ill omen that evolved into a term for witches and vampires across Europe.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomEnfield poltergeist A disputed 1970s case of alleged supernatural activity in a London homeBelief Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreFairy Queen A female ruler of fairies found in folklore, literature, and witchcraft trials across Europe.Figure · Power and authority Historical

🇯🇵 JapanAosaginohi青鷺火 A Japanese will-o'-the-wisp attributed to the glowing flight of herons at nightBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 3 moreDuppy A Caribbean term for a ghost or malevolent spirit, rooted in West African folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreTerritorial spirit A belief that demons or angels rule over specific lands and nations.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomLantern man A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇲 CameroonNyongo society A witch legend from Cameroon used to explain sudden wealth and unexplained deathBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living

🇱🇷 LiberiaMaryland ritual killings A 1970s Liberian case of ritual murders and the public executions that followedBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇳 IndiaCausal bodyKarana-Sarira A yogic and esoteric concept describing the highest innermost body that veils the true Self.Belief · Change and initiation 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 🇷🇺 RussiaAugust curse A Russian belief that severe disasters and national tragedies cluster in the month of August.Belief Living

🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · 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.

Kennedy curse: Walt Cisco, Dallas Morning News, Public domain, source
Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
Spoon bending: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pig-faced women: DubhEire, CC0, source
Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
Greek divination: Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Astrometeorology: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Aosaginohi: Koikawa Harumachi ja:恋川春町 (1744-1789), Public domain, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Curse of Tippecanoe: Albert Gallatin Hoit, Public domain, source
Unclean force: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Fairy: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Div: Unknown Calligrapher, Public domain, source
Jewish astrology: Talmoryair, Public domain, source
Curse of 1940: Trophy: Unknown Photo: Alexey Chernyadyev Derivative work: J . delanoy, CC BY 3.0, source
Angel: Unknown author, CC0, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Enfield poltergeist: Mx. Granger, CC0, source
Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Seder hishtalshelus: Daderot, Public domain, source
Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
Maryland ritual killings: Fred van der Kraaij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Mara: Under the Bo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bideford witch trial: Totnesmartin, 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
Cosmic egg: James Basire, 1730–1802 (engraver), Public domain, source
The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source