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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
馃嚦馃嚧 NorwayEsbat A monthly Wiccan ritual held at the full or new moon for worship and community.Rite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Love and attraction Living 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 4 moreFolk Orthodoxy薪邪褉芯写薪芯械 锌褉邪胁芯褋谢邪胁懈械 A blend of Eastern Orthodox doctrine and pre-Christian pagan beliefs in Slavic communitiesTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreCairn A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 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 馃嚦馃嚧 NorwaySami religion The animist and polytheistic beliefs of the S谩mi people across northern ScandinaviaTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 3 moreRowancaorann A Northern Hemisphere tree believed to ward off witches and protect travellers.Substance 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJ膩艈i; Jonin臈s; Jaanip盲ev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 7 moreWalpurgis NightWalpurgisnacht A spring vigil marking the eve of Saint Walpurga's feast day with bonfires and student festivalsRite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚤馃嚬 Lithuania and 1 moreLithuanian mythologyLietuvi懦 mitologija The ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Baltic people, preserved in folklore and early chroniclesTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 5 moreDruidry A modern nature religion inspired by ancient Celtic priests and Romantic idealsTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚝馃嚪 France and 3 moreReliquary A container for sacred remains or objects, crafted across many faithsCharm 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyLemuriaLemuralia An ancient Roman festival to send restless ghosts away from the homeRite 路 Cleansing and purification 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 5 moreConcealed shoes Shoes hidden in building structures as folk charms for protection and fertilityCharm 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve A Christian vigil marked by bonfires and plant gathering on the summer solstice eveRite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreBeating the bounds A ceremonial walk along parish or town borders to reaffirm boundaries and community memory.Rite 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 5 moreRelic An object or body part kept to honor a holy person and mark their connection to the divineCharm 路 Protection 路 Healing Living 馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore) A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 3 moreYehowists懈谢褜懈薪褑褘 A Russian Spiritual Christian group founded by Nikolai Ilyin in the 1840sTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚚馃嚟 SwitzerlandSegen A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 2 moreHoly ChaliceSanto C谩liz A cup believed to have held the blood of Jesus at the Last SupperCharm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚨馃嚬 PortugalAngel of PortugalAnjo de Portugal A guardian spirit of Portugal, celebrated on June 10 and linked to the F谩tima visions.Being 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.