folk magic

American  

noun

1. any attempt to practice charms, spells, etc., to control events or people.

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Example Sentences

Tokarczuk sticks close to the historical record, but fills its gaps with made-up characters and charges the atmosphere with the daemonic energy of Jewish folk magic and a sense that God lurks nearby.

From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2022

Mother Clarke dispenses folk magic; Rebecca’s mother, Jane, is described by her own daughter as “Jade. Pot-companion. Mother”; Rebecca herself is an outlier for being literate.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2021

As a native of Trinidad, where there’s a long tradition of belief in sorcery and folk magic, she may have been more inclined than most to buy what Linda Taylor was selling.

From Slate • Dec. 19, 2013

Hendricks was raised in a cocktail of conservative Islam and the folk magic of her own mother, a shaman who would read coffee grinds and see evil eyes.

From Washington Post

Meanwhile, D. Michael Quinn resigned under pressure from B.Y.U. for publishing Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, which detailed Smith's involvement with folk magic and the occult before becoming the church's first prophet.

From Time Magazine Archive