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.
🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming
A living spiritual worldview and law connecting Aboriginal Australians to ancestors, land, and community.Spiritual
🇬🇭 Ntɔnso, Ghana and 1 moreAdinkra symbols
Symbols of the Akan people, stamped on cloth, each one carrying a proverbCraft
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWhakapapa
Māori genealogy, recited to place a person among ancestors, land and tribeHome
🇬🇲 Gambia and 4 moreKoraߞߐߙߊ
A 21-string West African harp-lute played by hereditary storytellers and bardsPerformance
🇵🇬 Trobriand Islands, Papua New GuineaTrobriand cricket
Cricket as played in the Trobriand Islands, with chants, dances and a feastGame
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇨🇳 Puyang, ChinaFeng shui風水
The Chinese spatial practice of aligning homes and graves with natural energyFolklore
🇲🇬 MadagascarFady
A system of cultural taboos in Madagascar that regulate daily life and spiritual practice.Spiritual
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline
A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore
🇵🇬 Maprik, Papua New GuineaHaus Tambaran
A sacred house of the Sepik peoples, used for ancestor worship and male initiationSpiritual
🇳🇴 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
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLion dance舞獅
A dynamic ritual dance featuring costumed lions, drums and martial acrobaticsPerformance
🇹🇼 Yilan, Taiwan and 4 moreTaiwanese opera歌仔戲
A Taiwanese theatrical art of Hokkien balladry, stylized staging, and expressive song.Performance
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesWampum
Shell beads woven into belts by Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands for record-keeping and ceremony.Folklore
🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай
Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game
🇲🇱 Bamako, Mali and 5 moreGriotjeli, ߖߋ߬ߟߌ in N'Ko script
West Africa's hereditary keepers of spoken history, praise and musicPerformance
🇮🇪 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
🇨🇳 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
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭᠠ (Traditional Mongol)
A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual
🇮🇸 IcelandKvæði
Long narrative ballads sung during traditional chain dances in the Faroe IslandsPerformance
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh)
A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft
🇮🇩 Ubud, IndonesiaBarongᬩᬭᭀᬂ
A sacred Balinese masked dance drama depicting the eternal struggle of good and evilPerformance
🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaGumboot danceIsicathulo
A percussive South African dance born in the mines, performed in Wellington boots to communicate and celebrate.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇧🇭 Bahrain and 3 moreFann at-Tanburaفن الطنبورة
A Gulf song and dance of drums and tanbura, born in healing, now stagedPerformance
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual
🇵🇷 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
🇨🇱 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
🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles
The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.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
🇬🇧 South Queensferry, United KingdomThe Burryman
A man clad in burdock burrs walks a Scottish town for a day, bringing luck as he goesFolklore
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFriday the 13th
A Western folk superstition regarding the unluckiness of a Friday falling on the 13th.Folklore
🇮🇳 IndiaKambala
An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇮🇳 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
🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreKumpo
A palm-leaf figure of the Diola, danced at village festivals to urge good conductFolklore
🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės
A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual
🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru and 4 moreIntiinti (Quechua)
The Inca sun deity, honoured with temples, offerings and the June festival Inti RaymiSpiritual
🇪🇸 Granada, SpainCante jondo
A solemn and profound vocal tradition of Andalusian flamenco song.Performance
🇵🇷 Ponce, Puerto RicoVejigante
A masked folkloric character in Puerto Rican festivals, wearing ornate masks and performing a role of mischief or resistFestival
🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし
Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿
Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual
🇮🇪 Waterford, IrelandSean-nós singingSean-nós
An unaccompanied, highly ornamented style of traditional Irish folk singingPerformance
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇵🇪 Peru and 2 moreAyniAyni (Quechua and Aymara)
Giving and receiving as a duty, kept by Andean communitiesEtiquette
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Inti: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Public domain, source
- Whakapapa: Jimmy Pitt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hunting with eagles: Franz Roubaud, Public domain, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haus Tambaran: Sylt-Tinto, CC0, source
- Gákti: Thorguds, Public domain, source
- Shagai: User:Yaan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Griot: Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (gravure) [ 1 ] M. Barbier (photograph, Public domain, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dreamcatcher: Jorge Barrios, Public domain, source
- Chinese knotting: Ucla90024, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Burryman: Oliver Benton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumpo: Pietervp, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ayni: Sr raleigh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese opera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/univers-finder/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Adinkra symbols: Bosomba Amosah other versions=, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cueca: Manuel Antonio Caro, Public domain, source
- Bomba: TechyLibrarian, CC BY 4.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gumboot dance: Michal Maňas, CC BY 4.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Morris dance: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Kambala: Sajith mv parappally, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kokeshi: Kimivanil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sean-nós singing: Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Public domain, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kora: kevinzim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fady: Robin Taylor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Taiwanese opera: Sean Chiu, CC BY 4.0, source
- Feng shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Kvæði: Eileen Sandá, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Barong: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lion dance: Alfresco24, CC BY 3.0, source
- The Dreaming: September 1985, Public domain, source
- Wampum: Museuvalenciaetnologia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vejigante: Oscar Rohena, CC BY 2.0, source