Scholars and sceptics
Anthropologists, historians and investigators who study magic and test its claims.
Scholars and sceptics are the people who study magic from outside the practice: anthropologists, historians, folklorists, psychologists, scholars of religion and investigators who test claims. They have names such as E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Marcel Mauss, Bronislaw Malinowski, Mary Douglas, Keith Thomas and Carlo Ginzburg, and also investigators such as James Randi. This page covers what they have found, how they disagree, and what their work has cost and changed. Their work has changed how the whole subject is understood.
Early theories
Nineteenth-century writers such as James Frazer treated magic as a mistaken early science, a view now widely rejected as arrogant and inaccurate. Later anthropologists, including Evans-Pritchard in his 1937 study of the Azande, showed that magical belief can be a consistent way of reasoning about misfortune. Mauss and Malinowski stressed its social role. Fieldwork, archives, laboratory studies and surveys are their main methods, and each field has its own debates and schools.
The history of witch trials
Historians have revised their view of the witch trials. Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane studied English village accusations, Carlo Ginzburg found the benandanti in Friuli, and Ronald Hutton has argued about the numbers and causes, and Silvia Federici links the persecution to the rise of capitalism, a thesis historians dispute. The older figure of nine million victims has been dropped, and estimates now run to tens of thousands of executions.
Testing claims
Sceptics test whether claims hold up. James Randi offered a prize for evidence of paranormal power that was never won, and organisations such as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry investigate fraud. Researchers study why people believe: pattern-seeking, uncertainty and the wish to control events. The best sceptics aim to understand people, not to mock them. Sceptics hold that claims should be tested, and they have a long record of exposing cases such as spirit photography and fake healers.
Ethics of study
Scholars were often colonial officials or missionaries, and their reports shaped how Indigenous religions were named. Contemporary researchers work with communities, ask consent and respect closed knowledge. Practitioners sometimes object to being explained, and sceptics sometimes to being called closed-minded. The conversation continues, and this guide aims to stay neutral on whether magic works. Their critics reply that science cannot measure everything that matters to a community, and that explaining a ritual away is not the same as understanding it.
Scholars and sceptics on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio
A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreMagi
Priests of Zoroastrianism and the figures who inspired the word for magicTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 2 more脡liphas L茅vi
A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreSpirit possession
A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚨馃嚟 PhilippinesPhilippine mythology
The indigenous myths and spirits of the Philippines, shaped by centuries of trade and colonial contact.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚜馃嚫 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum
A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 2 moreTriquetra
A three-arc knot used in medieval art and modern pop culturePower and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomGeoffrey of MonmouthGruffudd ap Arthur
A medieval cleric whose writings shaped the King Arthur legend and British myth.Text 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee
An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚦馃嚳 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 2 moreLeviathan诇执讜职讬指转指谉 (Livya峁乶)
A primordial sea monster from ancient Near Eastern myth and biblical textBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceThree Books of Occult PhilosophyDe occulta philosophia libri III
A Renaissance treatise on elemental, celestial and divine magicText 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 3 moreGematria讙讬诪讟专讬讛
A numeric writing system that assigns numerical values to words and phrases for interpretation.Text 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 3 moreSerbian folklore小褉锌褋泻懈 褎芯谢泻谢芯褉
The folk traditions and epic poetry of the Serbs, blending pre-Christian customs with Orthodox faith.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459
An allegorical romance and Rosicrucian manifesto detailing a seven-day alchemical initiation.Text 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Historical
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
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreMagic and religion
A study of how ritual power and sacred belief overlap or separate across culturesBelief 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 3 moreSpirit
An invisible force or soul found in many cultures, linked to gods, humans, and nature.Being 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 5 moreAstaroth
An arch-demon in Western occultism, derived from the ancient goddess Astarte.Being 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceDictionnaire Infernal
A French demonology book cataloguing spirits and their hierarchies with engravings.Text 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 1 moreTerritorial spirit
A belief that demons or angels rule over specific lands and nations.Belief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 1 moreDusios
A Gaulish spirit type later classified as an incubus demon by early Christian writersBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreAxis mundi
A concept describing a central point connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.Belief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚫 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil
A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 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 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
- Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tagalog religion: The original uploader was Rodsan18 at English Wikipedia . ( Original t, CC BY 2.5, source
- Magi: Colijn de Coter, CC0, source
- 脡liphas L茅vi: Eliphas L茅vi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
- Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicol谩s Eymerich, Public domain, source
- Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Nostradamus: After C茅sar de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Triquetra: Wiglaf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Geoffrey of Monmouth: Colin Cheesman, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Astaroth: M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
- Dictionnaire Infernal: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Leviathan: Gustave Dor茅, Public domain, source
- Spirit: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gematria: Bethsheba Ashe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Serbian folklore: Uro拧 Predi膰, Public domain, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source