News
FestivalsVista D铆a de Muertos Festival 2026 | Day of the Dead CelebrationMuseumsWealthy widow in England's biggest witch trial rememberedWitch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost storiesWitch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries agoStage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All TimeCharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different MeaningsFestivalsWho Is La Catrina? Meet the Iconic Skeleton of Mexico鈥檚 Day of the DeadWitch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for HalloweenCharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faithStage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his deathFestivalsVista D铆a de Muertos Festival 2026 | Day of the Dead CelebrationMuseumsWealthy widow in England's biggest witch trial rememberedWitch-huntsHeading to Salem this October? 5 spots with true ghost storiesWitch-huntsScottish council votes to apologise to women persecuted as witches centuries agoStage magicHow Harry Houdini Became the Best Magician of All TimeCharmsThe Horns Hand Gesture: One Sign With Five Very Different MeaningsFestivalsWho Is La Catrina? Meet the Iconic Skeleton of Mexico鈥檚 Day of the DeadWitch-huntsSpooky Day Trips in Connecticut: Witchy History for HalloweenCharmsA Jurassic fossil turned talisman in Morocco links science and faithStage magicHarry Houdini returns from the grave in AI-generated Fox Nation series 100 years after his death
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
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomEnglish folklore The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm 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 馃嚪馃嚭 RussiaOssetian mythology袠褉芯薪 屑懈褎芯谢芯谐懈 The beliefs and supernatural beings of the Ossetian people in the Caucasus.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 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 馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceAncient Greek folklore The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical 馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine A Gaelic festival marking the start of summer with protective bonfires and livestock ritualsTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Revived 馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandBodach A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreAugury A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition 路 Protection 路 Seeing and foretelling Living 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 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 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomEvil eye bead (sample)Nazar boncu臒u A blue glass bead hung to turn aside envy.Charm 路 Protection Living 馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreBulla A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚪馃嚭 RussiaCarromancy A divination method that reads the future from molten wax or candle flamesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Living 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreUnclean force薪械褔懈褋褌褜 A Slavic term for evil spirits and the undead that inhabit the natural worldBelief 路 Cursing and harm Historical 馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandStatue rubbing A tourist custom of touching statues to attract luck, love, or a return visit.Belief 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Love and attraction Living 馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreOomancy Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing 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 1 moreBabay袘邪斜邪泄 A night spirit in Slavic folklore used to frighten children into sleepingFigure 路 Cursing and harm Legendary 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 7 moreOgnyena Maria袨谐薪械薪邪 袦邪褉懈褬邪 A Slavic fire goddess linked to lightning, rain, and seasonal fire bansFigure 路 Protection 路 Healing Living 馃嚝馃嚪 France and 3 moreLes Lavandi猫resKannerez-Noz Supernatural washerwomen who wash shrouds or bloodstained clothes for those about to die.Being 路 Seeing and foretelling Legendary 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 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTrow Nocturnal spirits of the Orkney and Shetland islands, known for mischief and musical abduction.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical 馃嚫馃嚜 SwedenAskafroa A Scandinavian tree spirit believed to guard the ash and demand appeasement.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Legendary 馃嚨馃嚬 Portugal and 1 moreCabra cabriola A fire-breathing goat bogeyman used to frighten children in Portuguese and Brazilian folkloreBeing 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyIn bocca al lupo An Italian idiom wishing good luck by invoking danger, with a response asking for the wolf's death.Belief 路 Luck and prosperity 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 馃嚘馃嚤 Albania and 3 moreCross necklace A pendant bearing the Christian cross worn as a sign of faith or protection.Charm 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomHobgoblin A household spirit from English folklore known for chores and mischiefBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚟馃嚭 HungaryLid茅rc A shape-shifting spirit from Hungarian folklore that brings wealth or illness.Being 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Legendary 馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyMazap茅gul A mischievous elf of Romagna with a red cap that steals sleep and braids horse manesBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomQueen of Elphame The elfin queen of Faerie from Lowland Scotland and Northern England folkloreFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Healing Historical 馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 2 moreTiet盲j盲 A traditional Finnic healer and sage whose power came from memorised spells and deep knowledge.Figure 路 Healing 路 Protection Historical 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreCromniomancy Divination by onions to reveal health, love, weather and distant newsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Love and attraction Historical 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 3 moreDrude A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Protection Historical 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden and 1 moreTroll crosstrollkors A carved or bent iron sigil used in Sweden and Norway to ward off harmful magic and creatures.Charm 路 Protection Revived 馃嚠馃嚦 India and 3 moreAstral projection An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living 馃嚙馃嚞 Bulgaria and 5 moreApocryphal prayer A folk prayer text blending church forms with apocrypha and incantations for protection and healingText 路 Protection 路 Healing Living 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreNis PukNi脽 Puk A legendary household spirit from Northern Germany and Denmark that helps or torments its owner.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Legendary 馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm 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 馃嚝馃嚪 FrancePetit AlbertSecrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert An 18th-century French grimoire of natural and cabalistic magic sold to rural householdsText 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 1 moreImitation of sounds in shamanism Shamanic vocal and musical mimicry of nature to invoke spirits or transform identityRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
Previous

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.