Protection
Warding off the evil eye, spirits, illness and bad luck: amulets, wards and thresholds.
Protection is the most widespread aim of magic. People hang, wear, bury, burn and recite things to keep out the evil eye, harmful spirits, illness and bad luck. The blue nazar, the hamsa, the horseshoe, the red thread, the Japanese omamori and the Ethiopian protective scroll all serve it. This page covers what is guarded, who is thought to need guarding, and how different societies see the practice. It is a good place to start with the subject.
What is guarded
The most guarded are the vulnerable and the valued: newborns, brides, pregnant women, livestock, new houses and travellers. Doorways, windows and crossroads get special care, since they are where inside meets outside. Practices include hanging a lemon and chillies in India, a horseshoe in Britain and Ireland, an eye-bead in Turkey, a mezuzah on Jewish doorposts and a spirit house in Thailand. Beyond doors, people protect journeys, wells, boats and herds, and the guarded thing is usually whatever the family can least afford to lose.
Against what
The danger named varies. In the Middle East and Mediterranean it is the evil eye, a harm said to come from envy or praise. In sub-Saharan Africa it is often witchcraft or a rival's sorcery. In Europe it was witches, fairies and the devil, and in East Asia hungry ghosts and ill-fortune. Protective practice therefore tells a researcher what a community fears and who it suspects. Some marks are drawn in chalk, paint or henna and renewed each year, and others are made once and left to fade.
Faith and the objects
Religions deal with protective objects in different ways. Many Muslim scholars accept verses of the Quran recited for protection and disapprove of beads or knots believed to work by themselves. Catholic Christians use blessed medals, holy water and the sign of the cross. Sikhism rejects talismans, while Buddhist monks bless protective threads and tattoos in Thailand and Cambodia. Official teaching often differs from practice in the village, where one household may wear a charm quietly and say a prayer at the same time.
Scholars and the market
Psychologists suggest protective objects ease anxiety and give a sense of control. Sceptics note that no test has shown them to prevent harm. Commerce is large: charms are mass-produced, and some sellers charge heavily for items promised to ward off disaster. Anyone in real danger or illness should turn to practical help first. Believers usually say the protection is a matter of trust and care, and many say the object matters less than the intention and the community that stands behind it.
Protection on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚚馃嚭 Cuba and 4 moreSanter铆aRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba spirits with Catholic saintsTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚫馃嚛 Sudan and 5 moreIncense
Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil and 2 moreCandombl茅
An Afro-Brazilian religion blending West African spirits with Catholic imageryTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreLwa
Spirits in Haitian Vodou that mediate between people and the creator god.Being 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚦馃嚞 Nigeria and 3 moreYem峄峧aYemoja
A mother spirit of rivers and oceans worshipped across Yoruba and diaspora traditionsBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚞馃嚬 Guatemala and 3 moreMaya religion
The living spiritual practices of the Maya peoples, shaped by centuries of contact with Catholicism.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreSnake worship
Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil and 5 moreSanto Daime
A Brazilian syncretic religion using ayahuasca for spiritual work and healingTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreVotive offering
Objects left in sacred places to honor a deity or fulfill a vow, never to be recovered.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreSacred dance
Movement used in worship to honour deities, heal communities, or connect with the spirit world.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚬馃嚬 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreSpiritual Baptist
An Afro-Caribbean Christian faith blending African traditions with Baptist worshipTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚜馃嚬 Ethiopia and 4 moreBuda釅♂嫵
An Ethiopian and Eritrean belief in the evil eye and hyena transformationBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Living
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 3 moreReliquary
A container for sacred remains or objects, crafted across many faithsCharm 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
A Christian vigil marked by bonfires and plant gathering on the summer solstice eveRite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 5 moreRelic
An object or body part kept to honor a holy person and mark their connection to the divineCharm 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚬馃嚬 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha
A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚘馃嚪 Argentina and 1 moreSpiritual mapping
A Christian practice of mapping locations to identify and pray against territorial demonsBelief 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 5 moreSaint Michael
A Christian archangel who defends the faithful and weighs soulsBeing 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚢馃嚜 Kenya and 5 moreLegio Maria
A Kenyan church blending Catholic rites with beliefs in a Black Christ and visionary apparitionsTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 HaitiChristian-Vodou
The blending of Haitian Vodou and Roman Catholicism into a single spiritual practiceTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚙馃嚞 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer
A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Egungun: 脤峁ａ汗虁峁Assembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Candombl茅: Andr茅 Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lwa: Hector Hyppolite, Public domain, source
- Yem峄峧a: Samuel Tobbytex007, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Buda: Aberdeen Bestiary, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
- Reliquary: Attributed to Jean de Toul, also written Jehan de Touyl in one source, CC0, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- Legio Maria: Comondi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Relic: MathieuGuy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Votive offering: Walter J. Pilsak, Waldsassen ( W.J.Pilsak at de.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint Michael: Francesco Botticini, Public domain, source
- Sacred dance: Jorge Barrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spiritual Baptist: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Santer铆a: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source