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.
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet
A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanKami神
Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United StatesHopi mythology
The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore
The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇱 MaliDogon religion
The traditional spiritual beliefs of the Dogon people of MaliTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreTapu
A Polynesian concept of sacred restriction and spiritual prohibitionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り
Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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
🇦🇺 AustraliaSmoking ceremony
A ritual using herbal smoke for cleansing and welcoming among Aboriginal AustraliansRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomEvil eye bead (sample)Nazar boncuğu
A blue glass bead hung to turn aside envy.Charm · Protection Living
🇯🇵 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
🇯🇵 JapanHamaya破魔矢
A blunt arrow given at shrines to ward off evil and secure good luck for the new yearCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy
Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇮🇱 IsraelSegulaסגולה
A Jewish charm or ritual believed to bring protection, healing, or blessings.Charm · Protection · Healing Living
🇹🇭 ThailandMae Nak Phra Khanongแม่นากพระโขนง
A Thai ghost of a woman who died in childbirth and her shrine for protection and fertilityBeing · Protection · Healing 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
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair
A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho
Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇹🇭 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sarubobo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
- Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hamaya: Tomomarusan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Nazar battu: Wiki-uk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Czech folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dogon religion: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Mae Nak Phra Khanong: Xufanc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Turkish folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Smoking ceremony: Shillings1005, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Coin-sword: Etnografiska museet, CC BY 2.5, source
- Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pla taphian: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Superstition in China: Gary Todd, CC0, source