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.
馃嚙馃嚧 Bolivia and 1 moreEkekoIqiqu
An Andean deity of abundance and prosperity, central to the Alasitas festival.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚳馃嚘 South Africa and 1 moreRain Queen
A hereditary queen of the Balobedu people believed to control rainfall in South AfricaTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚤馃嚮 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚫馃嚦 Senegal and 5 morePentagram蟺蔚谓蟿维纬蟻伪渭渭慰谓
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm 路 Protection 路 Binding and oaths Living
馃嚨馃嚞 Papua New GuineaKula ring
A ceremonial gift network in the Trobriand Islands that circulates shell valuables to build social status.Tradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚬 GuatemalaMaxim贸nRi Laj Mam
A Maya folk saint and trickster deity venerated in the Guatemalan HighlandsBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesHopi mythology
The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚮馃嚭 VanuatuJohn Frum
A Melanesian cargo cult figure on Tanna Island who promises wealth and the return of American supplies.Figure 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚮馃嚭 Vanuatu and 3 moreKastom
A Melanesian term for traditional life, covering magic, law and ritualTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚚馃嚘 Canada and 1 moreTotemdoodem
A spirit or symbol linking a group to nature, from Ojibwe clan systems to Australian kinshipBelief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚮馃嚦 Vietnam and 1 moreVietnamese folk religiont铆n ng瓢峄g d芒n gian Vi峄噒 Nam
A collection of local spirit worship and ancestral veneration in VietnamTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 3 moreSerbian folklore小褉锌褋泻懈 褎芯谢泻谢芯褉
The folk traditions and epic poetry of the Serbs, blending pre-Christian customs with Orthodox faith.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚟馃嚬 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreMedicine wheel
Circular stone formations built by Indigenous peoples of North America for ceremony and astronomy.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚦馃嚳 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚨馃嚲 Paraguay and 3 moreGuarani mythology
The oral traditions of the Tupi-Guarani peoples regarding gods, spirits and creationTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚩 Iraq and 3 moreAncient Mesopotamian religion
The polytheistic beliefs and practices of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia from 6000 BC to 500 ADTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreSnake worship
Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesGhost DanceNanissaanah
A circular movement seeking spiritual renewal and reunion with ancestorsRite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚠馃嚛 IndonesiaMarapu
Ancestral religion of Sumba and Flores in IndonesiaTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Protection Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Kula ring: Bendeguz, Public domain, source
- Maxim贸n: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
- Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- John Frum: Tim Ross, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kastom: Graham Crumb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Totem: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vietnamese folk religion: Unknown (traditional painting dated back to the 17th century), Public domain, source
- Marapu: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Medicine wheel: U.S. Forest Service Photo, Public domain, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalb茅ra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ghost Dance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Serbian folklore: Uro拧 Predi膰, Public domain, source
- Ekeko: Ciudades, CC BY-SA 4.0, source