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.
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreKing ArthurBrenin Arthur
A legendary British king and folk hero of medieval literature and Welsh mythologyFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreValknut
A symbol of three interlocked triangles found on Germanic artifacts and used in modern Heathenry.Belief · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world
Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia
A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBaphomet
A name from medieval trials and a symbol of occult equilibriumFigure · Power and authority Legendary
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreNumerology
The belief that numbers hold hidden meanings and influence human events.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSibylΣίβυλλα (Sibylla)
Ancient Greek prophetesses who spoke divine counsel at holy shrinesFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary
🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower
A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living
🇬🇷 GreeceOmphalosὀμφαλός
A sacred stone marking the center of the world in Greek myth and oracle practiceCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreGermanic seeressvǫlva
Diviners and sorceresses of early Germanic and Norse societyTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇮🇳 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths
Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism
The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreThelema
A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇬🇷 GreeceGreek divination
Ancient methods of consulting deities for prophecy and omens in Greek cultureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇮 FinlandVäki
A supernatural power in Finnish mythology found in nature and objectsBelief · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMelusineMélusine
A water spirit of French and Luxembourgish lore, known for her serpent form and the castles she built.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Legendary
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology
A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreFairy Queen
A female ruler of fairies found in folklore, literature, and witchcraft trials across Europe.Figure · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDusios
A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreHoly ChaliceSanto Cáliz
A cup believed to have held the blood of Jesus at the Last SupperCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreOuroborosοὐροβόρος
An ancient image of a serpent eating its own tail, symbolizing cycles and wholenessFigure · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSwastika (Germanic Iron Age)
A four-armed symbol found on Germanic artefacts from the Migration to Viking periods.Belief · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstral projection
An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSun cross
A cross inside a circle found in prehistoric art and modern political symbolsBelief · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreReligious aspects of Nazism
The study of how Nazi ideology borrowed religious forms and esoteric beliefs to build a political movement.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyVril Society
A fictional secret society from conspiracy theories about Nazi Germany and occult energy.Belief · Power and authority Legendary
🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil
A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreMagical motto
A chosen name used by occultists to separate their spiritual identity from their everyday life.Belief · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων
A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi
A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
- Greek divination: Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Numerology: Pietro Bongo, Public domain, source
- Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astral projection: Hereward Carrington, Sylvan Muldoon., Public domain, source
- Fairy: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Sibyl: Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), Public domain, source
- Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
- Omphalos: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Melusine: GilPe, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Germanic seeress: Emil Doepler, Public domain, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Holy Chalice: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Swastika (Germanic Iron Age): No machine-readable author provided. Bloodofox~commonswiki assumed (ba, Public domain, source
- Valknut: Sacrificial_scene_on_Hammars_(I).JPG : Berig derivative work: The Man, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sun cross: National Museum of Denmark, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Vril Society: John Martin, Public domain, source
- King Arthur: William Morris, Public domain, source