folk magic

Traditional healing practices

Folk magic is the traditional magical practices of ordinary people, passed down through generations rather than learned from formal occult texts.

It encompasses herbalism, charms, protective rituals, and healing spells rooted in local custom and belief: The Appalachian granny women practiced folk magic, folk magic remedies for warts.

Folk magic blends practical knowledge with supernatural assumptions, often coexisting with organized religion in communities where practitioners might attend church on Sunday and consult a cunning woman on Monday.

Related

divination · animism · conjure · mojo bag · hex · oral traditions · brujería · kitchen witch · candles · sorcery · charm · bones · warding · ritual cleansing · oils · crystals · moon water · ethnobotany

Categories
Opposites
formality and institutional structure

folk magicceremonial magic

Formalized supernatural invocation practice

ritual magic · Kabbalah · theurgy · occultism · Freemasonry

epistemological framework

folk magicscience

Systematic study through observation

scientific method · empiricism · rationalism · materialism · naturalism

religious orthodoxy

folk magicorganized religion

Structured communal belief systems

established church · Scholasticism · catechism · state religion · papal authority

Family

magic, folk

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG