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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
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 5 moreEvil eye A curse caused by an envious look and the charms used to block itBelief 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 5 moreTetragrammaton讬讛讜讛 The four-letter name of God in the Hebrew Bible, written as YHWH.Belief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚫馃嚛 Sudan and 5 moreIncense Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 4 moreJinn噩賽賳賾 Supernatural beings in Islamic and pre-Islamic Arabian belief, capable of shapeshifting and living in society.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living 馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 2 moreHaoma A divine plant and spirit in Zoroastrianism, linked to healing and ancient rituals.Substance 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 4 moreIsaac Luria讬执爪职讞指拽 讘谉 砖诇诪讛 讗砖讻谞讝讬 诇讜旨专职讬指讗 A sixteenth-century rabbi who founded modern Kabbalah through oral teachings in Safed.Text 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 5 moreTefillin转职旨驻执诇执旨讬谉 Black leather boxes containing Torah scrolls, worn by Jewish men during weekday prayers.Charm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living 馃嚠馃嚤 IsraelBanishing Ceremonial magic rites used to clear a space of spiritual influences before other workings.Rite 路 Cleansing and purification Living 馃嚥馃嚘 Morocco and 5 moreWild rue丕爻倬賳丿 A desert plant whose seeds hold psychoactive alkaloids and serve as incense in the Middle East.Substance 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 2 moreMezuzah诪职讝讜旨讝指讛 A scroll of Torah verses placed in a case on Jewish doorpostsCharm 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 3 moreCleromancy A divination method that uses random chance to reveal divine willOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚫馃嚘 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikr匕賽賰賿乇 Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚨馃嚫 Palestine and 1 moreRachel's TombQever Ra岣l; Qabr R膩岣ツ玪 A shared holy site near Bethlehem revered by Jews, Christians, and MuslimsTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreHamsa禺賲爻丞 A palm-shaped amulet used across North Africa and the Middle East for protection.Charm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚬馃嚪 TurkeyHamsa (sample)Khamsa An open hand with an eye, hung on doors.Charm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite protection.Charm 路 Protection 路 Healing Living 馃嚠馃嚤 IsraelSegula住讙讜诇讛 A Jewish charm or ritual believed to bring protection, healing, or blessings.Charm 路 Protection 路 Healing Living 馃嚠馃嚪 IranFravashi A personal spirit in Zoroastrian belief that guides the living and protects the dead.Being 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreMawlid賲賵賱丿 An annual festival commemorating the birth of the Prophet MuhammadTradition 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 4 moreSufi whirlingSemazen A spinning meditation practiced by Sufi dervishes to reach spiritual connection through music and movement.Rite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 2 moreHadra丨囟乇丞 A collective Sufi ritual of remembrance and chanting to experience Divine PresenceRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 4 moreChai讞讬 A Hebrew word and symbol meaning 'alive', used as an amulet and in Jewish culture.Charm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living 馃嚫馃嚘 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreBay'ah亘賷毓丞 An oath of loyalty and obedience given to a political or spiritual leader in Islamic traditionRite 路 Binding and oaths 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 3 moreSama爻賲丕毓 A Sufi ritual of listening, music, and whirling to reach spiritual ecstasyRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living 馃嚠馃嚤 IsraelShekhinah砖职讈讻执讬谞指讛 The divine presence of God dwelling among people in Jewish and Islamic thoughtBelief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 1 moreAna BeKoach讗谞讗 讘讻讞 A medieval Jewish liturgical poem linked to the 42-letter name of GodText 路 Power and authority 路 Protection Living 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreTariqa胤乇賷賯丞 A Sufi spiritual path and the community that follows itTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living

Photo credits on this page

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

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