🇹🇷 Turkey
The nazar boncugu, a blue glass bead with an eye, hangs in houses, on cars and on babies' clothes to turn aside envy. It is also given as a gift to new neighbours.
Read: NazarHealing, luck and protection
People everywhere have made charms, rites and habits to keep harm away and bring good fortune.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for the curious, the homesick and the hosts.
People everywhere have made charms, rites and habits to keep harm away and bring good fortune. A red thread round the wrist, an evil-eye bead, a horseshoe over the door, a lucky coin, a herb bundle burned for blessing, a prayer said when a child sneezes: these are small, everyday customs, handed down in families. Many are tied to the care of the sick in traditional healing, and are described here as traditions that people keep, not as medical advice. They show how communities have always sought comfort, protection and hope, and how a symbol can steady the mind in uncertain times.
What it is for
Luck and protection customs speak to the fears and hopes that everyone has: health, safe journeys, good harvests, a baby born well and a house free of trouble. A charm gives a sense of control over what cannot be controlled. Traditional healing, which includes herbs, prayers, massage and ritual, is part of the wider heritage of a community and is often practised alongside modern medicine. This page describes such customs as tradition and does not offer medical advice. For any health concern, please see a qualified doctor.
Common elements across cultures
Common protective objects include beads and amulets, knots and threads, horseshoes, mirrors, bells and iron. Colours matter: red and blue ward off harm in many places, and white is for purity. Plants such as garlic, rue, neem, sage and mistletoe are hung, burned or worn. Words also protect, in prayers, verses, spells, blessings and the habit of saying "touch wood" or "bless you". Many rites are done at the turn of the year, at births, at weddings and at times of illness, and special people, such as healers, shamans or priests, may be called on.
Food, dress and music
Foods linked to luck are widespread: noodles for long life, lentils and grapes at the new year, round fruits, fish, sweet rice and red eggs. Some are medicinal in tradition, such as ginger tea, turmeric milk, chicken soup and herbal broths. Protective dress includes amulet bracelets, tattoos, talismans sewn into clothes and white or red cloth. Music and rhythm are used in healing ceremonies from Africa to the Americas, where drums, songs and dance are believed to help a person recover and make a community whole.
How it is changing
Some protective customs have become fashion, with evil-eye jewellery and crystals popular worldwide. Traditional medicine is studied by researchers, and ministries in many countries support the training of practitioners. Health authorities warn that some remedies are not safe and that serious illness should be treated by trained doctors. Many families hold both views at once, keeping a charm on the baby's wrist and taking the baby to the clinic. Respect for the tradition and for modern medicine is the sensible meeting point.
Healing, luck and protection around the world
🇬🇷 Greece
The mati, or evil eye, is guarded against by a blue bead, a clove of garlic and the habit of spitting lightly three times, ftou ftou ftou, after a compliment. Many Greeks also make the sign of the cross three times and say a prayer when someone is thought to have been touched by the eye.
Read: Evil eye🇮🇳 India
A black dot, kajal, is put on a baby's cheek to turn away the evil eye, and lemons and chillies are hung on a string above shop doors. Ayurveda, an old system of care, is widely used as a tradition.
Read: Nazar battu🇨🇳 China
Red is the colour of luck and protection, and red envelopes, red knots and red underwear in a zodiac year are common customs. Feng shui arranges the home, and traditional Chinese medicine remains a living practice.
Read: Feng shui🇯🇵 Japan
Omamori are small amulets from shrines, sold for safe travel, success in exams and health. Maneki-neko, the beckoning cat, brings luck to shops, and a daruma doll is painted with one eye when a goal is set.
Read: Omamori🇹🇭 Thailand
Monks give sacred white threads, sai sin, tied round the wrist for blessing, and people wear Buddhist amulets, phra khruang, believed to protect them. Spirit houses stand in gardens.
Read: Spirit houseTraditions to start with
Evil eyeA widespread protective belief.
OmamoriJapanese amulets from shrines.
Feng shuiThe art of placing things for harmony.Also part of it, and being written: Hamsa (The hand of Fatima.), Smudging (Native American cleansing with herbs.), Curandero (Latin American traditional healers.), Rongoā (Maori traditional healing.), Superstition (Everyday customs of luck.).
Questions people ask
Is this medical advice?
No. These are customs and traditions, described as the people who keep them describe them. For any health problem, please consult a qualified doctor.
Why is the evil eye so widespread?
Envy and its fear seem to appear in all societies, and a simple charm gives a way to answer them. The belief is documented from ancient Greece and Mesopotamia and now appears across Europe, Asia and Africa.
Why are some colours protective?
Red is the colour of blood and life in many cultures, and blue is linked to the sky and water. The meanings differ, and a colour that is lucky in one place may be mournful in another.
Do people use charms alongside modern medicine?
Very often. Many families keep a traditional protection and also use doctors, and see the two as serving different needs.
What is smudging?
A sacred practice among many First Nations and Native American peoples of burning herbs such as sage, cedar and sweetgrass for cleansing and prayer. It is a living ceremony, and visitors are asked to respect it.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Healing, luck and protection on EveryParampara
The traditions written up so far, best known first.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindi
A dot worn between the eyebrows, red for marriage and devotion, worn daily by many womenDress
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePujaपूजा (pūjā)
Hindu worship: light, flowers and food offered to a deity or a guestSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A rice-flour floor drawing made at South Indian doorsteps before sunriseCraft
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreBeatification
A Catholic rite conferring the title Blessed and allowing local public venerationSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 6 moreSaint George's Day
A saint's feast on 23 April, kept by churches and patron nations from England to GeorgiaSpiritual
🇬🇧 St Andrews, United Kingdom and 10 moreSaint Andrew's DayLà Naomh Anndrais
The feast of Andrew the Apostle, kept on 30 November and Scotland's national daySpiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreIntercession of the TheotokosПокровъ
An Eastern Christian autumn feast honoring the protective veil of the Virgin MarySpiritual
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreAnastenariaΑναστενάρια
A barefoot firewalking and dance rite honouring Saint Constantine and Saint HelenSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRogation days
Springtime Christian days of prayer, fasting, and parish boundary walks.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreLustratio
An ancient Greek and Roman cleansing rite using processions and animal sacrifice.Spiritual
🇮🇱 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις
The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇳🇴 NorwayEsbat
A Wiccan coven gathering held each month, most often when the moon is fullSpiritual
🇮🇳 Muhamma, India and 5 moreAkhiri Chahar Shambah
A day of bathing, prayer and charity on the last Wednesday of SafarSpiritual
🇹🇭 Dan Sai, ThailandPhi Ta Khonผีตาโขน
A three-day festival in Dan Sai, north-east Thailand, of ghost masks and merit-makingFestival
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik
The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDajiao打醮
An annual Taoist ritual and festival seeking peace and safety for the communitySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLife release放生
A Buddhist practice of freeing captive animals to spare their lives and gain meritSpiritual
🇨🇳 Tianjin, China and 1 moreBa-zha八蜡
An old Chinese harvest rite of eight offerings, later a guardian against locustsSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaSahasra Purna Chandrodayamसहस्र-(पूर्ण)चन्द्र-दर्शन
A Hindu rite marking a person's thousandth full moon, celebrated around age eighty-one.Rite of passage
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelSong of Ascentsשיר המעלות
Fifteen Hebrew psalms sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem and by monks at prayerSpiritual
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
A classical Chinese divination system that maps time, space, and strategySpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaJiuntia
An autumn festival of western Odisha, kept in two forms by mothers and by sistersSpiritual
🇨🇳 Luoyang, China and 1 moreYin and yang陰陽
Two opposite but complementary forces that Chinese thought sees in all thingsFolklore
🇷🇺 RussiaBlack wedding
A traditional Jewish crisis wedding held in a cemetery to ward off diseaseSpiritual
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
The traditional Chinese medical model of interconnected organ networks and vital energyFolklore
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu臟腑 (simplified 脏腑; zàngfǔ)
A Chinese medicine view of organs as networks of qi, blood and five phasesFolklore
🇨🇳 Ziyang, China and 1 moreThree Corpses三尸
A Daoist belief in three inner parasites that cause illness and cut life shortFolklore
🇧🇪 BelgiumMarches of Entre-Sambre-et-MeuseMarches de l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse
Folk processions with armed escorts in Belgian villages, kept from May to OctoberSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇹 Palermo, ItalyFeast of Saint RosaliaFestino di Santa Rosalia
An annual July festival in Palermo honouring the patron saint who ended the plague.Festival
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaiyin Xingjun太陰星君
The Chinese moon goddess, honoured at Mid-Autumn with incense, mooncakes and prayersSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇸 al-Khader, PalestineFeast of Saint George
An annual gathering of Palestinian Christians and Muslims honouring Saint GeorgeSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Chabbi (Chebbi), IndiaChabbi Ganapathi
A three-day Ganesha festival kept by seven households in a Karnataka village since 1827Festival
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaSacred groves of India
Communal forest sanctuaries across India where religious belief protects biodiversity and local resources.Spiritual
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa and 5 moreTooth ablation
A global custom of deliberately removing healthy teeth for social, ritual, or aesthetic reasons.Rite of passage
🇦🇲 Armenia and 4 moreBlessing of the Throats
A Christian prayer rite touching throats with crossed candles for protection from illnessSpiritual
🇨🇳 Dunhuang, China and 2 moreYingluo璎珞
A ring-shaped Buddhist neck ornament that became a Chinese necklace, worn again todayDress
🇮🇹 Lake Nemi, ItalyNemoralia
A three-day Roman festival of torches and garlands for the goddess DianaSpiritual
🇮🇹 Benevento, ItalyWitches of Benevento
A southern Italian tradition of walnut-tree gatherings and protective folk charmsFolklore
🇩🇪 Weingarten, Germany and 1 moreBlutritt
An equestrian pilgrimage across southern Germany honoring a relic of the Holy BloodSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaPrathamastami
An Odia ritual blessing the firstborn child for long life and good fortuneRite of passage
🇲🇼 Rumphi, Malawi and 2 moreTumbuka dances and festivals
Dances for healing and celebration, and the yearly festivals that keep themPerformance
🇧🇼 D'Kar, BotswanaKuru Dance and Music Festival
A gathering of San communities in Botswana to share songs, stories and sacred dancesPerformance
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
A traditional Chinese model of internal organs as paired networks of energy and functionFolklore
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 3 moreDupattaदुपट्टा
A traditional South Asian scarf worn across the shoulders, chest, and headDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Feng shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Song of Ascents: No machine-readable author provided. Amoruso~commonswiki assumed (base, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Life release: Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0, source
- Yin and yang: Klem, Public domain, source
- Kolam: mckaysavage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint George's Day: Raphael, Public domain, source
- Yingluo: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Nemoralia: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
- Akhiri Chahar Shambah: Hans Kyoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
- Phi Ta Khon: E.D.W., Public domain, source
- Kuru Dance and Music Festival: SanDanceVR, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Beatification: Stebunik, CC BY 3.0, source
- Anastenaria: Artkostov, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rogation days: Ray Trevena, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kiddush Levanah: Wacław Koniuszko, Public domain, source
- Amburbium: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dupatta: Kinshuk Sunil, CC BY 2.0, source
- Zangfu: Foristslow, CC BY 4.0, source
- Prathamastami: Swetabiswal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blutritt: Joseph Bayer, Public domain, source
- Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
- Tooth ablation: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Feast of Saint Rosalia: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Black wedding: American Colony Photo Department, Public domain, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Intercession of the Theotokos: SNCH, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Dajiao: 29cm, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Taiyin Xingjun: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Feast of Saint George: Onceinawhile, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sacred groves of India: James Forbes, Public domain, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Three Corpses: Michał Boym, Public domain, source
- Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chabbi Ganapathi: Reema Jalihal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blessing of the Throats: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, source
- Puja: Sakkhar21, CC BY-SA 4.0, source