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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
🇹🇷 Edirne, TurkeyKakava A Romani night by the river in Edirne: bonfire, candles and pilafFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 5 moreNativity of John the Baptist A Christian feast day on June 24 that marks the birth of John the Baptist and anticipates Christmas.Festival 🇦🇱 Albania and 3 moreXhubleta A rippling bell-shaped skirt made by Albanian women of the northern highlandsDress 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreCouvade Childbirth rituals where fathers take to bed and mimic the labor of childbirthRite of passage 🇪🇸 Spain and 4 moreDay of the Holy InnocentsDía de los Santos Inocentes A 28 December day of pranks and fake news, kept in the Spanish-speaking worldFestival 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyAmbarvalia An ancient Roman agricultural rite to purify farmland and ensure fertile cropsSpiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreShoe throwing The act of hurling footwear for sport, wedding luck, protest or overhead display.Folklore 🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreVessantara JatakaVessantara Jātaka A Buddhist festival celebrating the last life of the Buddha as a generous prince.Festival 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival 🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreLine-crossing ceremony A naval initiation rite marking a sailor's first voyage across the equatorRite of passage 🇦🇱 Albania and 5 moreDodolaДодoла / Dodola A Balkan rainmaking ritual where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summer showers.Festival 🇲🇦 MoroccoBujloodبوجلود A masked carnival of animal skins held in Morocco just after Eid al-AdhaFestival 🇫🇷 FranceLa soule A rough medieval ball game from Normandy and Picardy played between parishes on religious holidays.Game 🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTauroctonyταυροκτόνος The sacred bull-slaying imagery at the heart of the ancient Roman Mithraic mysteriesSpiritual 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreKiddush Levanahקידוש לבנה A Jewish ritual service held after the new moon to bless God for the lunar cycle and seek protection.Spiritual 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFeraliaFerālia An ancient Roman day of offerings to the dead, marking the close of ParentaliaSpiritual 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋 Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal 🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreNeed-fire A ritual fire kindled by friction to ward off cattle plague, disease and harmFolklore 🇵🇪 Santo Tomás, PeruTakanakuy A December tradition in Peru where community members settle disputes through regulated fistfights and dance.Festival 🇬🇷 GreeceSparagmosσπαραγμός An ancient Greek Dionysian sacrificial rite of tearing an offering apartSpiritual 🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual 🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual 🇬🇭 Winneba, GhanaAboakyer festival A deer hunt kept by the people of Winneba, Ghana, on the first Saturday in MayFestival 🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak) A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore 🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals 🇵🇹 Portugal and 3 moreSalting the earth An ancient ritual of scattering salt over ruined ground to curse its future useFolklore 🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival 🇬🇷 Orchomenus, GreeceAgrionia An ancient Greek nocturnal festival dedicated to Dionysus AgrioniusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal 🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreLusona Sand drawings from Angola and Zambia that carry proverbs, fables and animalsCraft 🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual 🇷🇴 RomaniaCapra A New Year's ritual in Romania where a masked dancer visits homes to bring luck and predict the weather.Festival 🇹🇭 Dan Sai, ThailandPhi Ta Khonผีตาโขน A three-day festival in Dan Sai, north-east Thailand, of ghost masks and merit-makingFestival 🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore 🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore 🇵🇱 Poland and 3 morePodłaźniczka A decorated evergreen branch hung over the Christmas Eve table in Poland and SlovakiaFestival 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreCamel Heda'aحداء الإبل Camel herders' calls that speak to the herd, kept across the Arabian PeninsulaFolklore 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFairy-locks A folk belief that fairies and spirits tangle the hair of sleeping children and animals.Folklore 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees A Western European custom of informing honeybees about major household events like deaths and weddings.Folklore 🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 2 moreCaloian A Romanian rainmaking and fertility ritual centered on the creation, funeral, and rebirth of a clay effigy.Festival 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreBundling A traditional courtship practice where a couple shares a bed under supervision to ensure compatibility and accountabilitRite of passage 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 1 moreJeti ataЖеті ата A Kazakh custom requiring knowledge of seven direct ancestors to ensure healthy marriages and tribal identity.Folklore 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelTikkun HaKlaliתיקון הכללי A set of ten Psalms recited for repentance and spiritual healing within the Breslover Hasidic tradition.Spiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFlyting A ritual contest of poetic insults exchanged between two parties in verse.Performance 🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual 🇩🇪 Worms, Germany and 2 moreHollekreisch An Ashkenazi birth ritual where children name a newborn with a secular name.Rite of passage
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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.