Birth and childhood: practices that mark them

Protecting the newborn, naming rites and the charms hung over a cradle.

Birth and childhood are surrounded by protection because newborns and mothers are seen as especially vulnerable. Customs include the Indian black dot and kajal, the Turkish blue bead pinned to a baby, the Jewish red thread and the pidyon haben, the Chinese month of confinement, the Ghanaian outdooring, Yoruba naming ceremonies, the Italian cornicello and the Mexican red bracelet. This page looks at what these practices are said to do and what safe care requires.

Protecting mother and child

Many cultures ward off envy, spirits and illness during the early weeks. Mothers rest and are fed special foods, and visitors may be limited. Charms are hung over cradles and pinned to clothes. In many places the child is not named or shown to outsiders until a safe period has passed, and the naming is the moment of acceptance into the community. Families may also hold a feast for neighbours and kin, which spreads the work and the joy.

Naming and welcome

Naming rites place the baby among kin and ancestors. In Ghana the Akan outdooring takes place on the eighth day. In Hindu tradition, the namakarana is held in the first weeks. Muslim families whisper the call to prayer in the child's ear and hold an aqiqah. Jewish families hold a brit milah or a naming ceremony. In many African traditions a child is thought to be an ancestor returned. Parents in several regions tie a knot or a bead on the baby and keep a lamp lit through the first nights.

Midwives and women's knowledge

Midwives hold much of this knowledge, and many are respected elders. Their role has been undermined by medicalisation in some places and valued in others. In colonial and early modern Europe, midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft. Today, many programmes train traditional birth attendants to work with clinics, because skilled medical care greatly reduces risk. Other customs, such as a month of confinement or the burying of the placenta, are held in many families and also have health consequences that vary from region to region.

Harm and care

Some customs harm: infants taken from care for rituals, twins or disabled children believed to bring misfortune, and, in some places, children accused of being witches. Others have been outlawed or reformed. Anyone with a pregnant or newborn child should seek proper medical care, whatever protective customs a family also keeps. Fathers and relatives share in the rites, and the first outing of the child, the first haircut and the first solid food are all marked in different cultures.

Birth and childhood 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

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

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreBonfire A large outdoor fire used in seasonal festivals and religious feasts across many culturesRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreTurkish folkloreTürk halk kültürü A rich body of oral tales, jokes, and rituals from Turkey and the Turkic worldTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreFreyja Norse goddess of love, war, and seiðr magic who rides a chariot pulled by catsBeing · Love and attraction · Seeing and foretelling Legendary

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 morePazuzu𒀭𒅆𒊒𒍪𒍪 (pà.zu.zu) A Mesopotamian wind demon and protective amulet against child-harming spiritsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 3 moreChangeling A substitute left by supernatural beings in place of a stolen human child or adultBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇲🇾 Malaysia and 5 morePenanggalan A floating head with trailing organs from Malay folklore, said to hunt pregnant women and newborns.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreCaul A birth membrane kept as a talisman for luck and protection from drowningCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNazar battuनज़र बट्टू / نظر بٹو A charm or deliberate flaw used in South Asia to ward off the evil eye.Charm · Protection Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 1 moreFolklore of RomaniaFolclorul românesc The traditional stories, music and customs of the Romanian peopleTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomEvil eye bead (sample)Nazar boncuğu A blue glass bead hung to turn aside envy.Charm · Protection Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreBulla A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇯🇵 JapanSaruboboさるぼぼ A faceless red doll from Japan, given as a charm for family and fortuneCharm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇮🇪 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

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCoin-sword辟邪劍 (bì xié jiàn) A Chinese numismatic talisman made of cash coins strung on a rod to ward off evil spiritsCharm · Protection Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLock charms家锁 / 锁片 (jiā suǒ / suǒ piàn) A Chinese metal pendant shaped like a lock to protect children from harm and death.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreTooth fairy A childhood figure who exchanges lost baby teeth for gifts or coins.Figure · Luck and prosperity Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇹🇭 ThailandMae Nak Phra Khanongแม่นากพระโขนง A Thai ghost of a woman who died in childbirth and her shrine for protection and fertilityBeing · Protection · Healing Living

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇫🇷 FranceMargot the fairy Earthly fairies of Brittany known for dancing, building monuments, and testing human guests.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyWitte Wiwer Subterranean spirits of Low German folklore known for music and child exchangeBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanSankai産怪 A yōkai born from a woman during childbirth if proper care is neglectedBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇹🇭 ThailandPla taphianปลาตะเพียนสาน A woven palm leaf fish mobile hung as a blessing for health and plentyCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

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

🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGod's eyeOjo de Dios A woven yarn cross believed to grant spiritual sight and protectionCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇯🇵 JapanHōko這子 A Japanese soft doll used as a protective talisman for mothers and childrenCharm · Protection Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
Sarubobo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bonfire: S Marshall, CC BY 3.0, source
Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Bulla: Anonymous ( Category:Etruscans ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
Amniomancy: JC Brand, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
Penanggalan: Hi I really try my best here, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nazar battu: Wiki-uk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hydromancy: Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Folklore of Romania: TwoWings, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ukrainian folklore: U.S. Army Europe Images, CC BY 2.0, source
Czech folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Freyja: John Bauer, Public domain, source
Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
Tooth fairy: Eden, CC BY 2.0, source
Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source
Mae Nak Phra Khanong: Xufanc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Turkish folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Pla taphian: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Coin-sword: Etnografiska museet, CC BY 2.5, source
Superstition in China: Gary Todd, CC0, source
Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
Lock charms: Scott Semans World Coins (CoinCoin.com)., CC BY 3.0, source