yeah, even educated, materialist people just believe this shit off-hand. my wife refused to publish or even display any picture of our children before they were baptized, in case someone with ill intent saw the child's likeness and put a curse on it. also you can't step over a child, if you do you need to step over it backwards, or she goes into hysterical breakdown. when you leave a dwelling, then return for something right after, you have to make a silly face at a mirror to apologize to domovoi for the disturbance. if you leave for a journey you have to sit down for one second before stepping over the treshold, again, to confuse the household spirit like you aren't leaving. oh and militant atheists go get their shit blessed with holy water on easter and christmas. and every driver has a holy icon on a dashboard, and above the home door.  the whole fucking nation is steeped in this shit, and i just play along to avoid any conflict. literally magic exists for these people in day to day life.
Russian Federation