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.
🇨🇺 Cuba and 4 moreSanteríaRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba spirits with Catholic saintsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition · Protection · Healing 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
🇧🇯 Benin and 2 morePapa Legba
A loa who stands at the crossroads and opens the gate between people and spiritsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePachamama
The Andean mother goddess of space-time and the earthBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreLwa
Spirits in Haitian Vodou that mediate between people and the creator god.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreMapuche religion
The traditional spiritual practice of the Mapuche people of Chile and ArgentinaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreFolk Catholicism
Local religious customs that blend official Church teaching with indigenous or regional traditions.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇲🇽 MexicoCalavera
A sugar or clay skull used in Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreSanto Daime
A Brazilian syncretic religion using ayahuasca for spiritual work and healingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreSpiritual Baptist
An Afro-Caribbean Christian faith blending African traditions with Baptist worshipTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection 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
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreDay of the DeadDía de los Muertos
A Mexican holiday honoring the dead with altars, food, and humor during Allhallowtide.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇽 MexicoOfrenda
A Mexican home altar built to welcome the souls of the dead during Día de los MuertosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreQuyllurit'iQoyllur Rit'i
A syncretic Andean pilgrimage celebrating the Pleiades and the Lord of Star SnowTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 4 moreTrinidad Orisha
A syncretic Afro-Caribbean faith blending Yoruba spirit work with Christian and other traditions in Trinidad.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇨🇺 Cuba and 1 moreHaitian Vodou in CubaVodú Haitiano
A Caribbean religious tradition brought by migrants and maintained in eastern CubaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and 5 moreZemi
A Taíno deity or ancestral spirit housed in a carved object used for worship and protectionBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇭🇹 HaitiChristian-Vodou
The blending of Haitian Vodou and Roman Catholicism into a single spiritual practiceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇯🇲 Jamaica and 1 moreNine-Night
A nine-day Caribbean wake rooted in Akan tradition to celebrate the deceased and guide their spirit home.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 1 moreTrinidadian Vodunu
A West African Vodun tradition practiced in Trinidad and Tobago with Catholic elementsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Copal: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Prayer beads: ja:利用者:pack372sd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pachamama: Penarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lwa: Hector Hyppolite, Public domain, source
- Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ofrenda: Eneas de Troya, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haitian Vodou in Cuba: Dr. Anthony R. Picciolo, NOAA NODC, Public domain, source
- Quyllurit'i: AgainErick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mapuche religion: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Folk Catholicism: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
- Zemi: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Calavera: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Santo Daime: Tonelada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spiritual Baptist: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Santería: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source