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.
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePitru Pakshaपितृ पक्ष
A sixteen-day Hindu period for honoring ancestors through food offerings and death ritesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaAkshaya Tritiyaअक्षय तृतीया
A Hindu and Jain spring festival marking a day of inexhaustible merit and new beginnings.Tradition · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreVotive offering
Objects left in sacred places to honor a deity or fulfill a vow, never to be recovered.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaOsun-Osogbo Sacred GroveOsun-Osogbo
A sacred forest in Nigeria dedicated to the river goddess Osun, celebrated with an annual festival.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreYantraयन्त्र
A geometric diagram from Indian traditions used for worship and meditationTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A daily geometric floor drawing made with rice flour at the home entrance in South IndiaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMahakaleshwar JyotirlingaMahākāleśvara
A sacred Shiva shrine in Ujjain, India, known for its south-facing idol and ancient origins.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKavu
Sacred forest patches in South India that protect local deities and wildlifeTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNavagrahaनवग्रह
A group of nine celestial deities in Hinduism that govern fate and astrologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAncestor worship
Rites of respect for the dead that maintain family bonds and seek spiritual guidanceTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDiyaदीया
A small oil lamp used in prayers and festivals across the Indian subcontinentTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreDurga Pujaদুর্গাপূজা
A ten-day autumn festival honouring the goddess Durga and her victory over evil.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreMaha Shivaratriमहाशिवरात्रि
A Hindu night of fasting and vigil dedicated to the deity ShivaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇻🇳 Vietnam and 1 moreVietnamese folk religiontín ngưỡng dân gian Việt Nam
A collection of local spirit worship and ancestral veneration in VietnamTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreKejawènꦏꦗꦮꦺꦤ꧀ (Kajawèn)
A Javanese tradition blending animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam into a path of inner harmony.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली
Floor art made with coloured powders and flowers to welcome guests and deitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreAncestor veneration
Rituals of respect and offerings for the dead across many culturesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGhost FestivalZhongyuan Festival; Yulanpen Festival
A festival to feed wandering spirits and guide them home during the seventh lunar month.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ
Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha
A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society
A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaTribal religions in India
Indigenous spiritual practices of India's Scheduled Tribes, often grouped under Hinduism in official records.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition · Protection · 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.
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sunda Wiwitan: Greenland4, Public domain, source
- Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga: Ashverse, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
- Kavu: Ashwin.appus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navagraha: Kiran891, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Diya: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Durga Puja: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Maha Shivaratri: Navneesh Ramessur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vietnamese folk religion: Unknown (traditional painting dated back to the 17th century), Public domain, source
- Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Ancestor veneration: Thang Nguyen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ghost Festival: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Akshaya Tritiya: Fgndgndgnr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Votive offering: Walter J. Pilsak, Waldsassen ( W.J.Pilsak at de.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove: Cheeka 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source
- Pitru Paksha: Firoz Shakir, CC BY-SA 3.0, source