Weddings and betrothal: practices that mark them
Blessings, protection against envy and the rites that bind two families.
Weddings are heavy with protection and blessing. Families the world over fear envy and the evil eye at the point where two households join, and many wedding customs are meant to guard the couple, bring fertility and bind the match. Examples include the Indian haldi and mangalsutra, the Jewish glass-breaking and canopy, the Moroccan henna night, the Chinese red dress and the European horseshoe and confetti. This page looks at what these customs are said to do.
Guarding the couple
Weddings gather people, food and attention, which makes them a target of envy in many belief systems. Brides in the Middle East and North Africa are surrounded by henna, amulets and kohl. In India the bride is marked with haldi and kajal, and a black dot may be placed against the evil eye. In Turkey, the couple may wear a blue bead, and Jewish tradition includes the covering of the bride's face. A new bride in some regions is protected by older women of the family, who stay close and watch for envious looks.
Binding and blessing
Vows, knots and rings carry the idea of binding. In Hindu weddings, the couple walks around the sacred fire and ties knots in their garments. In Scotland, handfasting once meant joining hands with a cord. Blessings call on ancestors and gods: Yoruba couples are blessed with kola nuts, and Christian weddings ask for God's blessing. Songs, dances and teasing rites also play a part, and many are as much a social event as a spiritual one, with neighbours, cooks and musicians all taking a role.
Fertility and omens
Many customs aim at fertility and prosperity: rice, nuts or grain thrown over the couple, bowls of sweet food, a child set on the bride's lap in several regions. Omens matter, with auspicious dates chosen by astrologers in India, and rain on a wedding day taken as lucky in some places and unlucky in others. Many of these customs are said to be older than the religions that now host them, and each faith has made its own rules about which are acceptable.
Pressure and change
Wedding customs can carry harm: dowry demands, child marriage and virginity tests have been justified by tradition and are illegal or condemned in many countries. In the diaspora, couples blend customs and may drop some. A commercial wedding industry now sells charms and rituals, some of them taken from cultures outside the couple's own. Some of the same customs have been questioned by reformers for the pressure they place on the bride and her family, and many couples now choose which to keep.
Weddings and betrothal on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 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
🇯🇵 JapanKami神
Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreIranian folkloreفولکلور ایرانی
The oral legends, heroes, and spirits of Greater IranTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde
A woven straw charm hung for protection, named after Ireland's patron saintCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 5 moreKava culture
A shared ritual across Oceania where a root brew marks ceremony, respect, and social gathering.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 3 moreDragon's blood
A bright red resin from several plant species used in magic, medicine, and art since antiquitySubstance · Healing · Protection Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り
Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreTurkish folkloreTürk halk kültürü
A rich body of oral tales, jokes, and rituals from Turkey and the Turkic worldTradition · Protection · Healing 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
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees
A Western European custom of informing bees about major household eventsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली
Floor art made with coloured powders and flowers to welcome guests and deitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindiबिंदी
A dot worn on the forehead to mark spiritual focus and cultural identityCharm · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreSacred dance
Movement used in worship to honour deities, heal communities, or connect with the spirit world.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKautuka
A red or yellow ritual thread worn for protection in South Asian traditionsCharm · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKahuna
A Hawaiian expert or priest, keeper of hidden knowledge in craft and spiritTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇹🇷 TurkeyHamsa (sample)Khamsa
An open hand with an eye, hung on doors.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanSaruboboさるぼぼ
A faceless red doll from Japan, given as a charm for family and fortuneCharm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreTai folk religionສາສະໜາຜີ
Spirits, ancestor rites, and soul-calling ceremonies of the Tai peoplesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMangala Dosha
A Hindu astrological belief that Mars causes marital trouble and the rituals used to address itBelief · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCoin-sword辟邪劍 (bì xié jiàn)
A Chinese numismatic talisman made of cash coins strung on a rod to ward off evil spiritsCharm · Protection Living
🇮🇷 IranSkandolasikina ḏ-aula
An iron talismanic seal used by Mandaeans to ward off evil and mark life transitions.Charm · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreZhengde Tongbao正德通寶
A fantasy cash coin used as a Chinese and Vietnamese amulet for luck and protection.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇮🇱 IsraelSegulaסגולה
A Jewish charm or ritual believed to bring protection, healing, or blessings.Charm · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaSuperstition in India
Common beliefs and rituals across India that influence daily life and major eventsBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair
A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreWedding superstitions
Folk beliefs and omens tied to marriage customs across many culturesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreSacred caves of the Basotho
Cave networks in South Africa and Lesotho used by the Basotho for ancestral rituals and healingTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇮🇳 IndiaTribal religions in India
Indigenous spiritual practices of India's Scheduled Tribes, often grouped under Hinduism in official records.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China
A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity 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
- Sarubobo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tai folk religion: ( เทวประภาส มากคล้าย ), Tevaprapas, Public domain, source
- Kahuna: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Iranian folklore: Hossein Mirkamali, CC BY 4.0, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kava culture: Jaejay77, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dragon's blood: Andy Dingley, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Skandola: Akamanda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sacred caves of the Basotho: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Turkish folklore: Biser Todorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Homa: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Coin-sword: Etnografiska museet, CC BY 2.5, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Superstition in India: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sacred dance: Jorge Barrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kautuka: Aditya.Asopa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Superstition in China: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Wedding superstitions: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source