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.
馃嚙馃嚧 BoliviaThe Witches' MarketMercado de las Brujas
A La Paz market where Aymara women and yatiri sell ritual items for Pachamama offeringsTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Living
馃嚬馃嚬 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreSpiritual Baptist
An Afro-Caribbean Christian faith blending African traditions with Baptist worshipTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚚馃嚭 Cuba and 4 moreSanter铆aRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba spirits with Catholic saintsTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 1 moreEzili Dantor脠zili Dant貌
A fierce mother spirit in Haitian Vodou who protects the marginalized and demands loyalty.Being 路 Protection 路 Love and attraction Living
馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil and 1 moreQuimbanda
An Afro-Brazilian religion focused on male and female street spirits for worldly mattersTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 2 moreAluxaluxo'ob
A small Maya spirit believed to guard fields and cause mischief if offended.Being 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚨馃嚜 Peru and 5 morePachamama
The Andean mother goddess of space-time and the earthBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreLwa
Spirits in Haitian Vodou that mediate between people and the creator god.Being 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreManbo
A female priestess in Haitian Vodou who leads rituals and healing workTradition 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 3 moreFolk saint
Unofficially recognized holy figures venerated by local communities for intercession and miraclesBelief 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 1 moreOungan
A male priest in Haitian Vodou who leads rituals and serves as a medium for spirits.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico and 5 moreDay of the DeadD铆a de los Muertos
A Mexican holiday honoring the dead with altars, food, and humor during Allhallowtide.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity 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
馃嚟馃嚬 HaitiErzulie脠zili
A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou representing love, beauty, and protective fury.Being 路 Protection 路 Love and attraction Living
馃嚟馃嚬 HaitiGedeGu茅d茅
A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou who guard the dead and grant fertility.Being 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreFlorida Water
A citrus perfume used in spiritual cleansing and folk healing across the Americas.Substance 路 Protection 路 Cleansing and purification Living
馃嚘馃嚪 Argentina and 5 moreGauchito Gil
A folk saint from Argentina who protects the poor and outcastsBeing 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
馃嚫馃嚮 El SalvadorChasca
A spirit of the water in Salvadoran folklore who blesses respectful fishermenFigure 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚙馃嚳 BelizeTata DuendeNukuch Tat
A thumbless forest spirit of Belizean folklore that protects animals and warns children.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚡馃嚥 Jamaica and 1 moreKromanti dance
A sacred Jamaican Maroon ceremony rooted in Asante traditions and ancestral possessionRite 路 Healing 路 Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ezili Dantor: Oficinalis, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alux: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Pachamama: Penarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lwa: Hector Hyppolite, Public domain, source
- Manbo: Aliceba, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maxim贸n: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
- Folk saint: Sergio Serrano, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Oungan: Anthony Karen, CC BY 4.0, source
- Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Santa Muerte: Not home, Public domain, source
- Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
- Erzulie: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Florida Water: Unknown artist(s), Public domain, source
- Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spiritual Baptist: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Santer铆a: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Witches' Market: Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0, source