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.
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePitru Pakshaपितृ पक्ष
A sixteen-day Hindu period for honoring ancestors through food offerings and death ritesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 morePrayer flagLung ta
Cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the windCharm · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 2 moreParittaපිරිත් (Sinhala), ปริตร (Thai), ပရိတ် (Burmese)
Pali verses recited in Theravada Buddhism for protection and blessingsText · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKautuka
A red or yellow ritual thread worn for protection in South Asian traditionsCharm · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreHanumanहनुमान्
A divine vanara deity of devotion and strength in HinduismBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreYantraयन्त्र
A geometric diagram from Indian traditions used for worship and meditationTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A daily geometric floor drawing made with rice flour at the home entrance in South IndiaTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A ritual dance from Kerala where performers embody deities through elaborate costume and songRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKavu
Sacred forest patches in South India that protect local deities and wildlifeTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNavagrahaनवग्रह
A group of nine celestial deities in Hinduism that govern fate and astrologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope
A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Carved stones inscribed with Buddhist mantras, placed as offerings along paths in the Himalayas.Charm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKumkumकुङ्कुमम्
A red powder made from turmeric and lime, used in Hindu markings and ritualsSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaSarnaism
A tribal faith centered on nature worship and sacred groves in eastern IndiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAncestor worship
Rites of respect for the dead that maintain family bonds and seek spiritual guidanceTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDiyaदीया
A small oil lamp used in prayers and festivals across the Indian subcontinentTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreSantoshi Mataसंतोषी माता
A Hindu goddess of contentment worshipped through a Friday ritual fast.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGaneshaगणेश (Gaṇeśa)
An elephant-headed Hindu deity worshipped as the remover of obstacles and patron of wisdom.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKamakhya Templekamakhya mondir
A Hindu temple in Assam known for its yoni shrine and the Ambubachi Mela festivalTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaPili Yesaಪಿಲಿವೇಷ
A coastal Karnataka folk dance where performers paint themselves as tigers to honour the Goddess DurgaIllusion · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBhairavaभैरव
A fierce manifestation of Shiva and a Buddhist protector deity worshipped across South and East Asia.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreHomaहोम
A fire ritual found across Asian religions where offerings are burned as a votive exchange with the divine.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇵🇾 ParaguayJasy Jatere
A Guaraní spirit of the moon who guards yerba mate and enforces the siestaBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇳🇵 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
🇮🇳 IndiaSuperstition in India
Common beliefs and rituals across India that influence daily life and major eventsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreSuperstitions in Muslim societies
Beliefs in supernatural forces and charms found across the Islamic worldTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreVarahiवाराही (Vārāhī)
A Hindu mother goddess with a sow face, worshipped in Tantric rites for protection and powerBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kavu: Ashwin.appus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navagraha: Kiran891, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumkum: Thamizhpparithi Maari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sarnaism: বুদ্ধি, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Diya: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Santoshi Mata: Nishu0246, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ganesha: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Kamakhya Temple: JyotiPN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pili Yesa: Premnath Kudva, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bhairava: Saankav, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vahana: Unknown Nepali, Public domain, source
- Homa: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Superstition in India: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Superstitions in Muslim societies: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Kautuka: Aditya.Asopa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jasy Jatere: Patty P, Public domain, source
- Hanuman: Niranjan Arminius, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source
- Pitru Paksha: Firoz Shakir, CC BY-SA 3.0, source