Power and authority
Magic as kingship, priesthood and status: the sorcerer-king, the court astrologer, the rainmaker.
Magic as power and authority is the use of ritual to make or hold rank: kings with sacred duties, court astrologers, rainmakers, chiefs who are said to hold spiritual force, and priests who keep a state religion. It includes the Egyptian pharaoh, the Mongol shamans at the court of the khan, the Chinese Taoist masters, the Zulu and Shona spirit mediums, and the astrologers who advised Mughal and European rulers. This page asks how magic and politics feed each other. Where this happens, magic is less about individual wishes and more about who is allowed to speak for the unseen.
Sacred rulers
In many kingdoms the ruler was believed to hold a power linked to harvest, rain or victory. Pharaohs performed rites to keep order, and the Divine Right of kings in Europe included the royal touch, a rite by which French and English monarchs touched people with scrofula. Chinese emperors held the Mandate of Heaven, which natural omens could confirm or withdraw. The Mongol khans consulted shamans and diviners. Kings also commissioned astrologers to choose coronation dates.
Advisers and rivals
Courts employed diviners, astrologers and mages. John Dee advised Elizabeth I, and Indian and Persian kings kept court astrologers. Such advisers also faced risk: in Rome, astrologers were expelled several times, and accusations of sorcery were used to remove rivals at courts from Byzantium to Ming China. Magic offered influence to people with little formal rank. Sorcery charges were used against queens and ministers in several courts, and the fall of a favourite was often explained by a spell.
Resistance and the state
Spirit mediums have led resistance. In Zimbabwe, the spirit mediums Nehanda and Kaguvi were central to the 1896 uprising against British rule, and Nehanda was hanged in 1898. In Kenya and Tanzania, the Maji Maji rebellion of 1905 drew on a water said to protect against bullets. Colonial states responded with witchcraft ordinances, which often banned healers and protected nobody. In Africa, chiefs are often described as guardians of a land and its rain, and ruling families have held rites for the whole community.
Modern politics
Some leaders consult astrologers or healers, and political use of the occult is reported from India to Latin America. Accusations of witchcraft are used against opponents and in land disputes. Scholars read these links as part of how power is made visible and legitimate. Citizens may wish to ask who benefits when magic is used in public life. Many states now regulate healers and diviners, or use them for public health messages, which shows how much influence they still have.
Power and authority on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreAstrology
A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley
English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native Faith袪芯写薪芯胁械褉懈械
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyThe MagicianLe Bateleur
A tarot trump symbolizing power and the link between spirit and matterText 路 Power and authority 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚥馃嚞 Madagascar and 4 moreGeomancy
A cross-cultural system of divination using earth, sand, and landforms to read the future or align spaces.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths
Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚫馃嚦 Senegal and 5 morePentagram蟺蔚谓蟿维纬蟻伪渭渭慰谓
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm 路 Protection 路 Binding and oaths Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 5 moreSatanism
A modern set of beliefs using the figure of Satan as a symbol or deity.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 1 moreNeotantra啶ㄠさ啶むえ啷嵿い啷嵿ぐ (navatantra)
A Western movement blending Tantra with modern views on sacred sexualityTradition 路 Love and attraction 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 4 moreThelema
A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreLocational astrology
A branch of astrology that maps planetary influences to specific places on Earth.Tradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyArcheosofica
A school of esoteric Christianity founded in Rome that teaches ascetic disciplines and magical theory.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreNew Thought
A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition 路 Healing 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 4 moreAMORCAntiquus Mysticusque Ordo Rosae Crucis
A US-based Rosicrucian order with global lodges and a focus on correspondence study.Tradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceSacred mysteries渭蠀蟽蟿萎蟻喂慰谓
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesKrotona
A historic Theosophical center and intentional community in CaliforniaTradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 4 moreIlluminates of Thanateros
An international group dedicated to practical chaos magic and experimental ritual workTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesChurch of Light
An esoteric organization teaching astrology, alchemy, and magic as a way of life.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreKhidr丕賱禺囟乇
A Qur'anic guide and saint believed to hold hidden wisdom and aid those in need.Being 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTyphonian Order
A British Thelemic esoteric body working with dark occultism, kalas, and cosmic mythTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚠馃嚤 IsraelBabalon
A Thelemic goddess of fertility, ecstasy, and spiritual transformation.Being 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum
A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreFraternitas Saturni
A German esoteric order focused on Saturn magic and astrological teachingsTradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (小芯褞蟹 小谢邪胁褟薪褋泻懈褏 袨斜褖懈薪 小谢邪胁褟薪褋泻芯泄, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- The Magician: Pamela Colman Smith, Public domain, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
- Magical alphabet: Francis Barrett, Public domain, source
- Geomancy: Jacopo188, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Khidr: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Babalon: William Blake, Public domain, source
- New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source