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 1 moreMantraमन्त्रम्
A sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 JapanDaruma doll達磨
A round Japanese talisman that rights itself when knocked overCharm · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living
🇭🇹 Haiti and 2 moreHaitian VodouVodou
An Afro-Haitian religion blending West African traditions with Catholicism and FreemasonryTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤
A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇳🇵 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
🇨🇳 ChinaNeidan内丹
A Taoist practice using the body as a cauldron to refine inner energies for longevity and immortalityTradition · Healing · Power and authority 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
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreObatalaỌbatalá
The Yoruba king of white cloth who is believed to have created humanity and presides over purity.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreShivaशिव
A principal Hindu deity of destruction and yoga, worshipped across South and Southeast AsiaBeing · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMuhurtamuhūrta
A Hindu unit of time used to select auspicious moments for rituals and daily practiceBelief · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreShakta pithasशाक्त पीठ (Śākta Pīṭha)
Sacred shrines in Shaktism marking where parts of the goddess Sati fell to earth.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇹 GuatemalaMaximónRi Laj Mam
A Maya folk saint and trickster deity venerated in the Guatemalan HighlandsBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇺🇸 United StatesHopi mythology
The creation stories and spirit traditions of the Hopi people of the American SouthwestTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United StatesRing shout
A sacred circle dance of African American origin using rhythmic movement and call-and-response singingRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreMisogi禊
A Shinto rite of full-body purification using cold waterRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreLakshmiलक्ष्मी
A Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, and beauty, worshipped as the consort of Vishnu.Being · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority 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 moreSnake worship
Veneration of serpents as divine or ancestral beings across global culturesTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year
An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikrذِكْر
Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreHanumanहनुमान्
A divine vanara deity of devotion and strength in HinduismBeing · Protection · 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
🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling 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
🇮🇩 IndonesiaMarapu
Ancestral religion of Sumba and Flores in IndonesiaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 more11:11
A clock time believed to signal spiritual alignment or synchronicity in numerology and New Age thoughtBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 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
🇺🇸 United StatesLaw of attraction
A New Thought belief that focused thoughts draw matching experiences into lifeBelief · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreVarahiवाराही (Vārāhī)
A Hindu mother goddess with a sow face, worshipped in Tantric rites for protection and powerBeing · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMawlidمولد
An annual festival commemorating the birth of the Prophet MuhammadTradition · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreKṣitigarbhaक्षितिगर्भ
A bodhisattva vowed to empty the hells and guard children, shown with a staff and jewel.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇦🇱 Albania and 3 moreCross necklace
A pendant bearing the Christian cross worn as a sign of faith or protection.Charm · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreBay'ahبيعة
An oath of loyalty and obedience given to a political or spiritual leader in Islamic traditionRite · Binding and oaths · 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.
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Haitian Vodou: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Neidan: A16898, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Obatala: Isha, CC BY 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Shiva: Indianhilbilly, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shakta pithas: Abhishek Chandra, Public domain, source
- Maximón: Sapfan (Jan Pesula), Public domain, source
- Hopi mythology: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ring shout: Attributed to John Rose, Public domain, source
- Vahana: Unknown Nepali, Public domain, source
- Marapu: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Misogi: Ds13 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lakshmi: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Snake worship: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Holy Chalice: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wheel of the Year: Sunblade1500, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Frankincense: No machine-readable author provided. Gaius Cornelius assumed (based on, Public domain, source
- Kṣitigarbha: སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།, Public domain, source
- Dhikr: Eugène Baugnies, Public domain, source
- Mawlid: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Hanuman: Niranjan Arminius, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source
- Cross necklace: paterm, CC BY-SA 4.0, source