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.
馃嚥馃嚱 MexicoAztec religion
The polytheistic and monistic belief system of the Aztec Empire in central MexicoTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreMediumship
The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreOjibwe religion
The traditional spiritual practices of the Ojibwe people of North AmericaTradition 路 Healing 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 1 moreAinu religion
The animist spiritual beliefs and ritual practices of the Ainu people of Japan and RussiaTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreCalifornian white sage
A California shrub used by Indigenous peoples for food, healing, and ritual cleansingSubstance 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 2 moreS茅ance
A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesHopi mythology
The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesRing shout
A sacred circle dance of African American origin using rhythmic movement and call-and-response singingRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 2 moreSpiritualism
A nineteenth-century religious movement focused on communicating with the dead.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism
A modern spiritual practice adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekersTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling 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
馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 2 moreHaltija
A supernatural guardian of a specific place or animal species in Finnish and Baltic Finnic mythologyBeing 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
- S茅ance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ring shout: Attributed to John Rose, Public domain, source
- Spiritualism: Rossington, W. W. and Garrett, J. Ellwood, Public domain, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Ojibwe religion: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ainu religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Aztec religion: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Californian white sage: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source