folk magic

noun

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

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

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

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

This stood in opposition to the early church's claims that it was the angel Moroni who had appeared to Smith and told him about the buried ancient record that would later become the Book of Mormon, and the fear was that the "Salamander Letter" would call into question Smith's spiritual experience by associating it with folk magic.

From Salon

Other recent favorites include Ronald L. Smith’s “Hoodoo,” about a boy in the Jim Crow South who’s trying to figure out how to do folk magic.

From New York Times