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.
🇵🇭 Philippines and 1 moreAgimatAnting-anting
A Filipino amulet or charm believed to grant protection, power, and supernatural abilities.Charm · Protection · Love and attraction Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope
A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Carved stones inscribed with Buddhist mantras, placed as offerings along paths in the Himalayas.Charm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie
A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity 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 1 moreEye of Horuswḏꜣt
A stylized eye symbol in ancient Egypt representing healing and cosmic orderCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandBlarney StoneCloch na Blarnan
A limestone block in an Irish castle kissed for the gift of eloquenceCharm · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreYantraयन्त्र
A geometric diagram from Indian traditions used for worship and meditationTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 IrelandLia Fáil
A standing stone at the Hill of Tara used for royal inaugurations in Irish legendCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreWind Horseརླུང་རྟ་
An East and Central Asian symbol of the soul, luck, and vital energyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇪🇬 EgyptDjedḏd
An ancient Egyptian pillar symbol representing stability and resurrectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyCornicello
A twisted horn charm worn in Italy to ward off the evil eye and invite luck.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanDaruma doll達磨
A round Japanese talisman that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreBulla
A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanFukusuke福助
A kneeling Japanese doll believed to bring wealth and honorCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJapanese numismatic charm絵銭
Coin-shaped charms from Japan used for protection, luck, and blessings.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreHoly ChaliceSanto Cáliz
A cup believed to have held the blood of Jesus at the Last SupperCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇶 IraqBurney Relief
A Mesopotamian terracotta plaque depicting a winged goddess with owl companions and lion mounts.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaDragon turtle龍龜 (Lóngguī)
A Chinese mythic creature with a dragon body and turtle shell, used as a Feng Shui charm.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak
A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanMagatama勾玉
A curved Japanese bead used as jewelry, status symbol, and sacred object in Shinto.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanOkiagari-koboshi起き上がり小法師
A Japanese roly-poly doll that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNavaratnaनवरत्न
A nine-gem talisman set in gold or silver, linked to Hindu astrology and planetary worshipCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇷 GreeceMinoan sealstones
Carved gemstones and amulets from Bronze Age Crete used for identification and ritualCharm · Protection · 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.
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Bulla: Anonymous ( Category:Etruscans ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source
- Lia Fáil: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0, source
- Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blarney Stone: Srleffler, Public domain, source
- Fukusuke: Nesnad, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Wind Horse: Clemensmarabu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Djed: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Cornicello: Antonio Cavallo, Public domain, source
- Burney Relief: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Dragon turtle: Jonathan O'Donnell, CC BY 2.0, source
- Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Agimat: FroyAgta, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Okiagari-koboshi: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navaratna: Pradeep717, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eye of Horus: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Minoan sealstones: Andree Stephan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Holy Chalice: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source