Folklore and superstition by no means actually die. Everyone knows somebody who nonetheless avoids stepping on cracks on the sidewalk. Or somebody who refuses to whistle at night time.
Even in trendy life, these historical beliefs nonetheless creep in, stuffed with smartphones and AI. Superstition adapts itself, quietly transferring together with expertise and progress.
Listed below are ten locations world wide the place folklore is alive and even thriving.
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10 The Appalachians
It’s believed that the Appalachian Mountains are round 480 million years outdated. They started forming throughout continental collisions that later contributed to the creation of Pangea. These mountains are well-known for the Appalachian Path and their unimaginable ecosystems. They’re additionally identified for custom and superstition. Even with highways, web entry, and trendy medication in 2025, many within the small cities surrounding the mountains proceed to apply “granny magic.”
Older ladies combine herbs and carry out protecting rituals for therapeutic. Some folks grasp horseshoes above their doorways or paint porch ceilings blue to keep at bay spirits. Many maintain on to charms for luck. Such beliefs thrive each regionally and on-line, with youthful generations sharing spells and creepy tales. To not point out that the Appalachians are the backdrop of notorious ghost tales just like the Mothman, the Bell Witch, and the Brown Mountain Lights.
These tales are nonetheless being retold a few years after they first scared the wits out of individuals. Even trendy storytellers and podcasters now report these identical tales for thousands and thousands of followers, maintaining the outdated folklore alive for a brand new digital era.[1]
9 Iceland
Iceland is likely one of the richest and most developed international locations on the earth. It ranks excessive in financial system, superior expertise, and human growth. But many Icelanders nonetheless imagine in elves, or huldufólk. When a building challenge in Reykjavik in 2013 threatened a rock believed to be an elf church, public strain ensured that officers moved the boulder as an alternative of destroying it.
Surveys from the College of Iceland present that round half of the inhabitants gained’t rule out the existence of hidden folks. Roads, tunnels, and even energy traces are typically rerouted to keep away from elf houses. In some cities, residents construct small picket homes, or álfhól, of their gardens or alongside the highway as dwellings for elves.
These homes are sometimes colourful to maintain the elf spirits blissful. Some folklorists say that the assumption in elves displays cultural respect for nature, mixing delusion and trendy ethics. In recent times, eco-tourism corporations have even employed “elf consultants” to advise on new building tasks, making certain that no unseen inhabitants are disturbed.[2]
8 Thailand
Bangkok has an enviable trendy skyline of glass and metal. What guests could not know is that, at avenue stage, practically each one in every of these buildings hosts a spirit home. These miniature shrines, referred to as san phra phum, honor guardian spirits believed to guard the land and its inhabitants.
The spirit-house custom is a mix of animism and Buddhism. They’re positioned in auspicious areas outdoors companies, houses, and even public areas. Locals adorn them with flowers, fruit, candles, and incense. In city areas, shrines are generally discovered at company workplaces and malls.
If you end up in Bangkok, you could discover crimson Fanta is a well-liked providing at these spirit homes. The crimson colour symbolizes vitality, fertility, and life in Thai tradition. Earlier than there was crimson Fanta, folks would colour and sweeten water with palm sugar and herbs earlier than utilizing it as an providing. The custom has develop into so central that even trendy lodges and skyscrapers embody shrines of their blueprints earlier than opening to the general public.[3]
7 Japan
Japan is a frontrunner in high-speed trains, expertise, and robotics. Juxtaposed towards this ultra-modern tradition are Shinto purification rituals. In Tokyo and Osaka, you’ll discover small shrines between towering skyscrapers. Commuters and guests take a second to bow earlier than them or clap for blessings.
Purification, or harae, is central to Shinto rituals. Folks use salt, water, or hearth to take away impurities earlier than particular occasions or prayer. Guests can wash their fingers and rinse their mouths at temizuya water basins positioned at shrine entrances. Shinto rituals additionally lengthen to households in mourning. Many sprinkle salt after funerals to keep at bay dangerous vitality. Even sumo wrestlers imagine within the energy of salt and scatter it within the ring to purify it earlier than a match.
Twice a yr, Japan observes the Ōharae-shiki, or Nice Purification, throughout which communities are cleansed of misfortune. For many, these rituals usually are not carried out solely out of concern of dangerous luck however from behavior and custom, linking trendy life to nature and purity. In truth, Japan’s Shinto inhabitants stays the world’s largest, with practically 80% of residents nonetheless taking part in some type of shrine observance annually.[4]
6 Italy
Italy is a spot bustling with fancy vehicles and chic vogue boutiques. Beneath the glitz and glamor, nonetheless, is a steadfast concern of the malocchio, or evil eye. This perception holds that envy can unleash a torrent of dangerous luck or sickness.
To protect towards this, some Italians put on a cornicello tucked underneath their shirts or grasp them inside their vehicles. These crimson, horn-shaped charms are believed to protect them from hurt. Others use the mano cornuta, a hand gesture meant to keep at bay dangerous issues. Some healers in rural areas even apply secret rituals to raise curses.
These customs and superstitions mix Catholic prayers with historical Mediterranean beliefs. Outlets in Naples promote cornicelli beside luxurious items, and a few celebrities put on them as safety. In 2018, a cultural survey discovered that many Italians, particularly within the south, nonetheless belief these charms greater than they’d admit in public. Curiously, the cornicello image has develop into a well-liked emoji amongst younger Italians, turning an age-old superstition right into a digital icon.[5]
5 Northern Ghana
Residents in Ghana’s northern area are used to cell towers rising above clay villages. However inside this mixture of outdated and new, one thing disturbing lurks. Witchcraft stays a polarizing social drive right here. At any time when tragedy strikes—whether or not sickness, drought, or dying—communities accuse ladies of casting curses, typically pointing fingers at older widows.
As such, witch camps, together with Gambaga and Kukuo, have existed for generations. These camps shield ladies from violence as they discover shelter underneath the supervision of native chiefs. Additionally they carry out rituals to cleanse their spirits. Reviews point out that these settlements proceed to deal with tons of of ladies who can’t safely return house.
Whereas the federal government has been keen to shut these witch camps since 2020, human-rights staff imagine it’s a foul concept. The concern of witchcraft runs deep, rooted in centuries-old perception programs. In 2025, this can be a sobering reminder that progress merely can’t erase superstition or folklore in a single day. Native NGOs now train youthful generations to report elders’ folklore as an alternative of fearing it—an try and protect custom whereas breaking cycles of accusation.[6]
4 Louisiana
Louisiana is thought for tourism and jazz, in addition to an extended and sophisticated historical past. However some components of that historical past refused to remain behind because it galloped towards the long run. Non secular traditions like Voodoo and Hoodoo proceed to flourish right here, each stemming from West African religions.
It’s frequent to occur upon altars stacked with candles, images, and choices to spirits referred to as loa. Practitioners, or root medical doctors, create gris-gris luggage stuffed with herbs, cash, and charms to guard folks towards evil or assist them discover love. There are even trendy Voodoo festivals and museums that commemorate these cultural traditions.
Voodoo is a mix of Catholic saints and African deities, making a religion centered on well being and respect for ancestors. What began as resistance to oppression throughout the trauma of slavery has develop into a type of cultural survival. In the present day, guests to New Orleans may even be a part of guided “Voodoo excursions” led by native historians and priestesses, the place storytelling and ritual nonetheless merge within the metropolis’s humid air.[7]
3 The Andes
Throughout the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, villagers join by way of buses and smartphones. Expertise permits them to speak and journey to 1 one other. Nonetheless, this progress hasn’t stopped them from believing in and honoring Pachamama, the Andean earth mom.
Earlier than planting crops, farmers bury coca leaves, pour chicha beer, or burn sweets as choices. Every August, communities have a good time pago a la tierra, which interprets to “cost to the Earth.” This ritual thanks Pachamama for fertility and safety. Miners carry out related rituals underground by leaving items for El Tío, the spirit believed to rule the mines.
These beliefs mix Catholic affect with Indigenous Andean cosmology. The rituals mirror each religion and ecology as villagers present gratitude towards the land that sustains them. In lots of cities, colleges now train these rituals as cultural heritage, making certain that respect for Pachamama continues alongside classes in science and expertise.[8]
2 Peru
Peru is likely one of the hottest journey locations on the earth, not solely due to Machu Picchu but additionally for its great artwork markets. In these markets, conventional retablos—painted picket containers stuffed with miniature figures—inform historical tales of religion and folklore.
Retablos originated within the Andes and as soon as depicted saints and miracles for rural worship. In trendy instances, artists in Ayacucho and Lima create them to painting on a regular basis life and nationwide occasions. These containers typically include private prayers, so every one is each artwork and altar.
The Peruvian Ministry of Tradition has acknowledged retablo-making as nationwide heritage. Workshops additionally promote these sacred containers on-line to collectors world wide. Regardless of that enlargement, the essence of every retablo stays the identical: gratitude, safety, and a hyperlink to a lifestyle now previous. Some Peruvian artisans even train on-line masterclasses to share their strategies globally, mixing historical craft with trendy schooling.[9]
1 Romania
Romania is a contemporary nation with deep-rooted historic traditions. The nation is house to landmarks just like the Danube Delta and Bran Fort. It’s additionally synonymous with the legend of Dracula. Between the outdated and the brand new, rural folklore nonetheless makes itself heard. Some villagers proceed to voice their perception within the strigoi—spirits believed to rise from the grave to wreak havoc on the residing.
In 2004, villagers in Marotinul de Sus exhumed a physique and burned its coronary heart, believing the deceased was haunting kinfolk. Native authorities condemned the act, but it surely revealed how deep the concern of the undead runs within the far reaches of Romania.
Regardless that most Romanians imagine the strigoi are simply legend, many villagers nonetheless maintain night time vigils after a dying or place garlic in doorways to maintain the useless away. The strigoi are believed to be the inspiration behind trendy vampire tales—a connection not arduous to think about, provided that Transylvania lies within the coronary heart of the nation. In the present day, folklore festivals in Transylvania appeal to 1000’s of tourists, proving that the undead—and their legends—nonetheless have a pulse within the trendy world.[10]
