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EveryJaadu

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.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreWild rueاسپند A desert plant whose seeds hold psychoactive alkaloids and serve as incense in the Middle East.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 5 moreKava culture A shared ritual across Oceania where a root brew marks ceremony, respect, and social gathering.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇸 United StatesHawaiian religion The traditional spiritual practices of the Indigenous people of Hawaiʻi, centered on deities and ancestral guardians.Tradition · 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 🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreDay of the DeadDía de los Muertos A Mexican holiday honoring the dead with altars, food, and humor during Allhallowtide.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreMaya calendar A system of timekeeping used by ancient and modern Maya communities to track days, years, and historical cycles.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanMount Osore恐山 A volcanic pilgrimage site in Japan believed to be a gateway to the underworldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreMutiumuthi Traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa using plants, animals and mineralsTradition · Healing · Protection Living 🇲🇲 MyanmarBurmese folk religionNat Worship Animistic worship of nature spirits and ancestors in Myanmar, often practiced alongside Buddhism.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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 🇲🇲 MyanmarNatနတ် Spirits venerated in Myanmar alongside Buddhism, including deified humans and nature guardians.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇧🇯 Benin and 5 moreVodun art Religious sculpture and temple painting from West African Vodun traditionsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇩 IndonesiaNyi Roro KidulRatu Laut Selatan The spirit queen of Java's southern coast and guardian of the Indian OceanBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreSan religion Traditional beliefs of the San peoples of Southern Africa, centered on trance and rock artTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePalo Santo Aromatic wood used in South American ritual cleansing and folk medicineSubstance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living 🇳🇿 New ZealandTohunga A Māori expert practitioner of sacred or secular arts, from priests to carvers.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnic mythologies The traditional beliefs and spiritual practices of the Finnic-speaking peoples of northern Eurasia.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFlorida Water A citrus perfume used in spiritual cleansing and folk healing across the Americas.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreOjibwe religion The traditional spiritual practices of the Ojibwe people of North AmericaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreCleromancy A divination method that uses random chance to reveal divine willOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · 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 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm · Protection · Healing Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreRegional forms of shamanism A global overview of indigenous spirit-interaction practices across Asia and the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreAfrican divination Methods used across the continent to understand present realities and predict future events.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreNuo folk religion傩 (Nuó) A Chinese exorcistic tradition using wooden masks and ancestor worship to drive away malevolent forcesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇳🇵 Nepal and 3 moreGurung ShamanismTamu Cho The ancient shamanic beliefs and rituals of the Gurung people in NepalTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstral projection An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 1 moreKromanti dance A sacred Jamaican Maroon ceremony rooted in Asante traditions and ancestral possessionRite · Healing · Protection Living 🇲🇱 Mali and 1 moreSandobele A Senufo woman diviner who mediates between the village and bush spirits.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉 A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇧🇿 Belize and 3 moreSisimito A bipedal cryptid of Central American folklore, said to live in the mountains and caves.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreImitation of sounds in shamanism Shamanic vocal and musical mimicry of nature to invoke spirits or transform identityRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇧🇿 BelizeTata DuendeNukuch Tat A thumbless forest spirit of Belizean folklore that protects animals and warns children.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇰🇷 South KoreaMusok eumak무속 음악 Traditional Korean shamanistic music performed during gut rituals to induce tranceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇩 IndonesiaMarapu Ancestral religion of Sumba and Flores in IndonesiaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇨🇦 CanadaMistapewmistâpêw (ᒥᐢᑖᐤ) A spirit-being of the Cree peoples, known as the Great Man or Bigfoot.Being · Protection · Healing Living 🇲🇬 MadagascarFady Malagasy cultural taboos regulating daily life and ancestor relationsBelief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreVanishing hitchhiker An urban legend where a motorist picks up a passenger who vanishes, often leaving behind proof of their death.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Wonder and entertainment Living
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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