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EveryParampara

Folklore and belief

Legends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.

Folklore and belief gather the legends, charms, superstitions and customs of luck that people live by: knocking on wood, the evil eye, the tooth fairy, the black dog on the moor, the fox spirit of Japan, the spirits of the forest. These are not formal religion but a living layer of stories and habits, told by grandparents and kept alive in jokes, rhymes and small rituals. EveryParampara describes them as folklore, in the way those who keep them describe them, and takes no position on whether they are true.

Tales and creatures

Every region has its stories of giants, fairies, trolls, tricksters, ghosts and talking animals, often explaining a hill, a river or a custom. They are told to entertain and to teach, and collectors such as the Brothers Grimm and local folklorists have written many down. The same tale types appear across continents, with local details, which scholars have long studied. Storytelling nights, festivals and schools keep them in circulation.

Luck and protection

Customs of luck and protection are the small daily rituals: spilling salt, a horseshoe over the door, a red thread, a coin in the fountain, a lucky number. They answer the wish for some control in an uncertain world and are often kept with a smile. Some have a practical origin, and others are echoes of older beliefs. EveryParampara notes traditional use as tradition and offers no medical or financial advice.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Folklore and belief (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween An annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageFestival · Sweets given and shared 🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 3 moreGlove puppetry布袋戲 A traditional theatre of cloth-bodied puppets with carved wooden heads and live musicPerformance 🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual 🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 1 moreFortune-telling Reading cards, palms or tea leaves to tell a client what may lie aheadFolklore 🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaGumboot danceIsicathulo A percussive South African dance born in the mines, performed in Wellington boots to communicate and celebrate.Performance 🇮🇳 IndiaKambala An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語 Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance 🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤 A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance 🇬🇧 South Queensferry, United KingdomThe Burryman A man clad in burdock burrs walks a Scottish town for a day, bringing luck as he goesFolklore 🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev Estonia's midsummer night of bonfires, song and fortune-telling, on 23 and 24 JuneFestival 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 2 moreChinese opera戲曲 / 戏曲 (xìqǔ) A sung, danced and acrobatic theatre from China, in over a hundred regional stylesPerformance 🇬🇭 Ntɔnso, Ghana and 1 moreAdinkra symbols Symbols of the Akan people, stamped on cloth, each one carrying a proverbCraft 🇮🇪 Waterford, IrelandSean-nós singingSean-nós An unaccompanied, highly ornamented style of traditional Irish folk singingPerformance 🇪🇸 Granada, SpainCante jondo A solemn and profound vocal tradition of Andalusian flamenco song.Performance 🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreMorris dance A rhythmic English folk dance performed in costume with bells, sticks and handkerchiefsPerformance 🇲🇱 Bamako, Mali and 5 moreGriotjeli, ߖߋ߬ߟߌ in N'Ko script West Africa's hereditary keepers of spoken history, praise and musicPerformance 🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual 🇹🇷 Kayseri, Turkey and 4 moreHalay A traditional line and circle folk dance kept across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Syria.Performance 🇵🇷 San Juan, Puerto Rico and 1 moreBomba A Puerto Rican music and dance tradition where the drummer follows the dancer in a rhythmic dialogue.Performance 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié) A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft 🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWhakapapa Māori genealogy, recited to place a person among ancestors, land and tribeHome 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival 🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (Traditional Mongol) A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual 🇳🇴 Norway and 3 moreGákti A traditional coat worn by the Sámi people across northern Scandinavia and Russia, signaling origin and status through cDress 🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreTrick-or-treating A custom where children visit homes in costume to ask for treats or face a playful prank.Festival · Sweets given and shared 🇵🇬 Maprik, Papua New GuineaHaus Tambaran A sacred house of the Sepik peoples, used for ancestor worship and male initiationSpiritual 🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿 Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual 🇵🇪 Peru and 2 moreAyniAyni (Quechua and Aymara) Giving and receiving as a duty, kept by Andean communitiesEtiquette 🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreEwe drumming The drum ensembles of the Ewe people, with iron bells, rattles and talking drumsPerformance 🇧🇭 Bahrain and 3 moreFann at-Tanburaفن الطنبورة A Gulf song and dance of drums and tanbura, born in healing, now stagedPerformance 🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile and 3 moreCueca A courtship dance of Chile and the Andes where partners trace circles with handkerchiefs to mimic a rooster and hen.Performance 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh) A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft 🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore 🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreKumpo A palm-leaf figure of the Diola, danced at village festivals to urge good conductFolklore 🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFriday the 13th A Western folk superstition regarding the unluckiness of a Friday falling on the 13th.Folklore 🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game 🇵🇬 Trobriand Islands, Papua New GuineaTrobriand cricket Cricket as played in the Trobriand Islands, with chants, dances and a feastGame 🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft 🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru and 4 moreIntiinti (Quechua) The Inca sun deity, honoured with temples, offerings and the June festival Inti RaymiSpiritual 🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreApril Fools' Day An annual day of lighthearted pranks, hoaxes and teasing kept on the first of AprilFestival 🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreDreidelדרײדל (Yiddish); סביבון (Hebrew) A four-sided top spun for small stakes, most often by Jewish families at HanukkahGame 🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern A carved pumpkin lantern lit with a candle to brighten and protect Halloween nightsFolklore 🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da) Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.