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.
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 IndiaPanchagavya
A fermented mixture of five cow products used in Hindu rituals and Ayurvedic traditions.Substance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 morePrecious coral
A marine skeleton harvested for jewelry and worn as a protective charm in several culturesSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower
A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePalo Santo
Aromatic wood used in South American ritual cleansing and folk medicineSubstance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreCopal
A tree resin used as incense in Mesoamerica and varnish in EuropeSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cleansing and purification Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreAmber
Fossilized tree resin used in jewelry and folk healing traditionsSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreJet
A black gemstone carved into amulets and mourning jewellery for centuriesCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇸🇩 Sudan and 5 moreIncense
Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreHaoma
A divine plant and spirit in Zoroastrianism, linked to healing and ancient rituals.Substance · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 GreeceKykeonκυκεών
An Ancient Greek ritual drink linked to the Eleusinian Mysteries and peasant lifeSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreSomaसोम
A sacred ritual drink of the ancient Vedic religion and its Iranian counterpartSubstance · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCalifornian white sage
A California shrub used by Indigenous peoples for food, healing, and ritual cleansingSubstance · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope
A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreTurquoise
An opaque blue-green gemstone prized for its color since ancient timesSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRowancaorann
A Northern Hemisphere tree believed to ward off witches and protect travellers.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreBay Laurelδάφνη
An aromatic Mediterranean plant used in cooking and as a symbol of victory and purification.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇩🇲 Dominica and 1 morePrayer beads
Beaded strings used to count prayers and mantras across many world religionsSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKumkumकुङ्कुमम्
A red powder made from turmeric and lime, used in Hindu markings and ritualsSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇴 Somalia and 5 moreFrankincense
An aromatic tree resin harvested for incense, perfume, and religious ritualSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFlorida Water
A citrus perfume used in spiritual cleansing and folk healing across the Americas.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreRudrakshaरुद्राक्ष
Dried seeds of the Elaeocarpus tree used as prayer beads in Hindu and Buddhist traditions.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomWassail
A hot spiced drink and the twelfth-night customs of singing to trees or visiting homes for giftsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreWild rueاسپند
A desert plant whose seeds hold psychoactive alkaloids and serve as incense in the Middle East.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreAmethyst
A violet quartz variety used in jewelry and historically believed to ward off intoxicationSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreMugwortчорнобиль (chornóbyl')
An aromatic herb used in folk medicine, cooking, and magical protection across Eurasia.Substance · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanKabura-ya鏑矢
A Japanese arrow with a whistling tip used in ritual archery and Shinto ritesSubstance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Precious coral: Géry PARENT, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kabura-ya: urasimaru, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Copal: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Amber: uploaded with permission, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jet: Thmsfrst, Public domain, source
- Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kykeon: Marsyas, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Soma: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Californian white sage: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Turquoise: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rowan: Taken by me, Jonik , on August 25, 2004., CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bay Laurel: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
- Prayer beads: ja:利用者:pack372sd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kumkum: Thamizhpparithi Maari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Frankincense: No machine-readable author provided. Gaius Cornelius assumed (based on, Public domain, source
- Florida Water: Unknown artist(s), Public domain, source
- Rudraksha: Merasmita, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wassail: Joss Smithson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Wild rue: Yuriy75, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dragon's blood: Andy Dingley, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Amethyst: JJ Harrison ( https://jjharrison.com.au/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mugwort: Prahlad balaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
- Palo Santo: Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lock of hair: Unknown author, CC0, source