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.
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreBaetyl
A sacred stone, often a meteorite, believed to house a deity in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean traditions.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreEye of Horuswḏꜣt
A stylized eye symbol in ancient Egypt representing healing and cosmic orderCharm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandLia Fáil
A standing stone at the Hill of Tara used for royal inaugurations in Irish legendCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope
A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptDjedḏd
An ancient Egyptian pillar symbol representing stability and resurrectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic magical stavesgaldrastafir
Sigils from Icelandic grimoires believed to hold magical powerCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreBulla
A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaPig dragon玉豬龍
A coiled Neolithic jade amulet from Hongshan culture, possibly an early dragon imageCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreScarab
An ancient Egyptian amulet and seal shaped like a dung beetleCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreAxe of Perun
Bronze axe-shaped pendants worn in honor of the Slavic god PerunCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇩 IndonesiaPancar Merah
An engraved Islamic talisman from South Borneo used for protection and charismaCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreUraeusjꜥrt
An ancient Egyptian rearing cobra emblem of royal power and divine protectionCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇷 Iran and 1 moreDerafsh Kavianiدرفش کاویانی
A legendary royal standard of pre-Islamic Iran, later adopted as a symbol of national identity.Charm · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceMinoan sealstones
Carved gemstones and amulets from Bronze Age Crete used for identification and ritualCharm · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇹🇷 TurkeyHittite sun disk
An ancient Anatolian bronze symbol used in Hattian and Hittite religious ceremoniesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇦🇺 AustraliaTjurunga
Sacred objects of the Arrernte people, embodying ancestral power and clan identity.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreTwardowski's Mirror
A cracked Renaissance mirror linked to the legend of a magical alchemistCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇶 IraqBurney Relief
A Mesopotamian terracotta plaque depicting a winged goddess with owl companions and lion mounts.Charm · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyAlchemical DoorPorta Alchemica
A Roman gate covered in alchemical symbols and legends of transmutationCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 4 moreFeather cloak
A garment of feathers worn by royalty and gods across cultures to signal rank or enable flightCharm · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bulla: Anonymous ( Category:Etruscans ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pig dragon: Prof. Gary Lee Todd, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lia Fáil: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0, source
- Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ankh: Soutekh67, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Djed: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pancar Merah: Stameni011, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omphalos: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Uraeus: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Derafsh Kaviani: CNG Coins, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kilili: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Feather cloak: Lusanaherandraton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alchemical Door: Sailko, CC BY 2.5, source
- Tjurunga: No machine-readable author provided. Sepu~commonswiki assumed (based o, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hittite sun disk: Noumenon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scarab: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Minoan sealstones: Andree Stephan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Baetyl: Jusepe de Ribera, Public domain, source
- Icelandic magical staves: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Axe of Perun: VoivodeZmey, Public domain, source
- Eye of Horus: Tangopaso, Public domain, source