Households and ordinary people
Grandmothers, parents and neighbours doing the small things: the knot, the salt, the red thread.
Households and ordinary people do most of the world's magic: the grandmother who ties a thread on a baby's wrist, the neighbour who throws salt, the shopkeeper who hangs a lemon and chillies, the family that burns incense before a photograph. These people are not specialists and often do not call it magic. This page looks at the domestic side of the subject, which is the commonest and least written about.
Everyday customs
Household practice is woven into daily life: sweeping at new year, a bead on a cradle, a horseshoe over a door, a charm in a car. It tends to be practical, brief and handed down within the family. Many people say they do it because their mother did, or to be safe. It rarely needs a priest, a text or a fee. The hands that do it are those of mothers and grandmothers, who also cook, clean and care, so the magic is part of the labour of the home.
Women and the home
Women are the principal keepers of household custom in many societies, as mothers, grandmothers and aunts. Their knowledge covers birth, child care, food, illness, marriage and death. That knowledge is often undervalued by the formal religion and by scholars, and was also the source of accusations in the witch trials, in which women who were midwives or healers were prominent. A household custom is learned by watching and may never be explained, since the practitioner does not see it as special.
Faith and the home
Religious leaders have seen household custom as faith, as superstition or as a nuisance. Reformers in Protestant Europe, Salafi Islam and some Hindu and Buddhist movements have told people to give up such practices. Many people keep them regardless. In the diaspora, the home customs are sometimes the part of heritage that lasts longest, and are carried to new countries in suitcases. In cities, small shrines, protective charms and everyday rituals often survive in apartments, taxis and shops.
Why scholars care
Anthropologists of everyday religion and folklorists record these customs as evidence of how people manage risk. They show how belief and practice differ, since people may say they do not believe and still knock on wood. Household magic is also the easiest to commercialise, in shops selling charms and kits that detach customs from their homes. A new student or visitor may find that families who say they do not believe still follow such customs carefully, and this gap is one of the more interesting findings.
Households and ordinary people on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreDried cat
A dried feline body hidden in walls to protect a home from harmCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaDrishti bommai
A fearsome doll hung at homes and vehicles to ward off the evil eye in South India.Charm · Protection Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin
A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaKadangot Makkam
A North Malabar goddess who became a deity after being killed by her brothers.Being · Protection · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇳 IndiaAsanbibiআসানবিবি
A Bengali folk goddess worshipped with six sisters in southern Bengal.Being · Protection Living
🇳🇴 NorwayBergen rune charm
A four-sided wooden stick with runic verses for love and protection from medieval Norway.Charm · Love and attraction · Protection Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaEight Treasures八寶 (Bābǎo)
A set of eight symbols in Chinese art and amulets representing good fortune.Charm · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇫🇷 FranceTempestarii
Medieval figures accused of controlling storms and the beliefs surrounding them.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 JapanHōko這子
A Japanese soft doll used as a protective talisman for mothers and childrenCharm · Protection Historical
🇹🇼 TaiwanYin miao陰廟
Temples for wandering spirits in Taiwanese folk religionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomFairy FlagA' Bhratach Shìth
A tattered silk heirloom of Clan MacLeod, said to hold fairy magic and ancient power.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreTroll crosstrollkors
A carved or bent iron sigil used in Sweden and Norway to ward off harmful magic and creatures.Charm · Protection Revived
🇪🇸 SpainIndalo
A Bronze Age pictograph used as a protective house charm and lucky symbol in Almería, SpainCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇹🇭 ThailandPla taphianปลาตะเพียนสาน
A woven palm leaf fish mobile hung as a blessing for health and plentyCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China
A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · 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
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreBullroarer
A wooden slat on a string that produces a roaring sound for ritual and communication.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreDrude
A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreElder Mother
A guardian spirit of elder trees in English and Scandinavian folkloreBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic
A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical
🇻🇳 VietnamCây nêuCây nêu (chữ Nôm: 核標)
A bamboo pole raised to keep evil spirits away during the Lunar New Year in VietnamTradition · Protection Living
🇮🇳 IndiaPulimaranja Thondachan
A theyyam deity of North Malabar, born from a shapeshifter who became a leopard.Figure · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇻🇳 VietnamBà Chúa Xứ婆主處
A Mekong Delta goddess of prosperity, asked for trade, health and fertilityBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇾 SyriaArslan Tash amulets
Assyrian limestone charms found in Syria that ward off demons through inscribed prayersCharm · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 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 · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSegen
A German term for blessing, charm, or spell rooted in Christian and folk traditions.Belief · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGod's eyeOjo de Dios
A woven yarn cross believed to grant spiritual sight and protectionCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United StatesJewett City vampires
A 19th-century New England family's belief in undead plague and their violent response to it.Belief · Protection Historical
🇦🇲 Armenia and 5 moreSpilling water for luck
A folk custom of pouring water to wish a traveler or worker a smooth journeyBelief · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kadangot Makkam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Drude: Ramessos, Public domain, source
- God's eye: Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Petit Albert: Albertus Parvus Lucius, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Troll cross: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dried cat: The Voice of Hassocks, CC0, source
- Drishti bommai: Chrissy starsi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bergen rune charm: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Eight Treasures: Etnografiska Museet, CC BY 2.5, source
- Yin miao: Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fairy Flag: Otter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
- Indalo: Ismael Olea, Public domain, source
- Pla taphian: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Superstition in China: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Wedding superstitions: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source
- Cây nêu: vi:Phạm Xuân Nguyên, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pulimaranja Thondachan: Uajith, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bà Chúa Xứ: Phương Huy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Arslan Tash amulets: National Museum of Aleppo, Public domain, source