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.
馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia and 4 moreKejaw猫n軎応軎軎り (Kajaw猫n)
A Javanese tradition blending animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam into a path of inner harmony.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 4 moreRainmaking
Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition 路 Protection 路 Healing 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
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 morePilgrimage
A journey to a sacred site for spiritual growth or religious dutyTradition 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚬馃嚦 TunisiaStambeli
A Tunisian music and possession rite practiced by Black communities of slave descentTradition 路 Healing 路 Protection Living
馃嚬馃嚬 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha
A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Living
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreWestern Sufism
Adaptations of Islamic mysticism in Europe and North AmericaTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
馃嚛馃嚳 AlgeriaMawsim賲賵爻賲
Annual Maghrebi festival blending Sufi veneration with social and economic gatheringTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚥馃嚘 Morocco and 1 moreTweeza鬲賵賷夭丞
A North African Sufi tradition of communal labor and mutual aidTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 2 moreSuperstitions in Muslim societies
Beliefs in supernatural forces and charms found across the Islamic worldTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing 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.
- Sunda Wiwitan: Greenland4, Public domain, source
- Egungun: 脤峁ａ汗虁峁Assembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
- Stambeli: Youssefbensaad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pilgrimage: Ali Mansuri, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Superstitions in Muslim societies: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Rachel's Tomb: Lane-Poole, Stanley, Public domain, source
- Sama: myself, Public domain, source
- Mawlid: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, source