Everyday use: practices that mark them
Small habits kept at home: the horseshoe, the salt over the shoulder, the evil-eye bead.
Everyday magic is the small habits kept at home: the horseshoe, salt over the shoulder, knocking on wood, the evil-eye bead, a lucky number, a morning prayer, the red thread, a bowl of water at the door, a charm in the car. People keep them without making much of them. This page looks at what these habits are, why they last and where they fit alongside religion and science. It is the commonest magic of all.
What it looks like
Daily practice is ordinary. In India, a lemon and chillies hang at shops, and a rangoli drawn at a doorstep welcomes luck. In Turkey, a nazar hangs near the door. In Britain, people say touch wood. In Japan, a lucky cat sits in the shop window, and in Mexico an egg may be rolled over a child. Many of these customs use cheap, available things. Many habits are older than the people who keep them, and nobody can say who started them.
Why people keep them
Researchers describe such habits as low-cost ways to cope with uncertainty. They give a feeling of control, mark boundaries and bring people together at little risk. Studies of lucky charms show they can raise confidence. Most people hold small customs with a light touch, half serious and half playful, and would not say they believe in them. Practices come in several types: some are protective, some bring luck, some help the household keep track of time and weather, and some are no more than a habit of speech.
Names, religion and class
Customs are shared across religions with different explanations. The evil eye is feared by Muslims, Christians, Jews and Hindus in the Mediterranean and beyond. Religious reformers often attack such customs, and educated people sometimes mock them as rural. Women do most of the work of keeping them going, within the home. The home is also where these customs meet money, since shops sell everything needed, and some of the items on sale are made far from their cultural homes.
Shops and screens
Ordinary habits are now a market of charms, apps, horoscopes and online readers. Small purchases are harmless, but large payments for luck or protection are a warning sign of fraud. The customs also spread online, where they can lose their origin. Whether or not they work, they remain a way people say that they care about each other. In the end, the most common magic in the world is neither dramatic nor secret, and it is practised by people who have no wish to be called magicians.
Everyday use on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun
A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition 路 Healing 路 Seeing and foretelling 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
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 5 moreWitchcraft in Latin AmericaBrujer铆a
A syncretic blend of Indigenous, African, and European magical practices across Latin AmericaTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 5 moreSlavic religion
The pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples before their conversion to Christianity.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Revived
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 1 moreBagua鍏崷
A set of eight trigram symbols from China used in divination, cosmology, and feng shui.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Living
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 5 moreKardecist SpiritismSpiritisme
A French spiritualist doctrine based on communication with spirits and reincarnation.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 4 moreRainmaking
Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreSandpainting
A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚞馃嚬 GuatemalaMaxim贸nRi Laj Mam
A Maya folk saint and trickster deity venerated in the Guatemalan HighlandsBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 5 moreSanta MuerteNuestra Se帽ora de la Santa Muerte
A female skeletal folk saint in Mexico and the Americas, worshipped for protection, healing, and safe passage.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 5 moreFolk Catholicism
Local religious customs that blend official Church teaching with indigenous or regional traditions.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚘馃嚪 Argentina and 2 moreSan La Muerte
A skeletal folk saint venerated in South America for protection and favorsTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 1 moreTurkish folkloreT眉rk halk k眉lt眉r眉
A rich body of oral tales, jokes, and rituals from Turkey and the Turkic worldTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚨馃嚜 Peru and 5 morePalo Santo
Aromatic wood used in South American ritual cleansing and folk medicineSubstance 路 Cleansing and purification 路 Healing Living
馃嚥馃嚘 Morocco and 1 moreGnawa music诃賿賳丕賵丞 or 賰賿賳丕賵丞
Moroccan ritual music blending West African heritage with Islamic practice for healing and tranceTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism
A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition 路 Healing 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 5 moreRegional forms of shamanism
A global overview of indigenous spirit-interaction practices across Asia and the Americas.Tradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚡馃嚨 JapanChinkon kishin閹瓊甯扮
A Japanese spiritual practice combining soul calming with spirit possessionRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreSpiritualist church
A worship service led by a medium to communicate with the deceasedTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dukun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinkon kishin: Tomokiyo Yoshisane (鍙嬫竻姝撶湡), also known as Tomokiyo Ky奴go (鍙嬫竻涔濆惥), Public domain, source
- Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bagua: Tarc铆sioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maxim贸n: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
- Folk saint: Sergio Serrano, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Santa Muerte: Not home, Public domain, source
- Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
- Turkish folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palo Santo: Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Regional forms of shamanism: Man Sing, Public domain, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Slavic religion: Alphonse Mucha, Public domain, source
- Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source