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.
🇵🇸 Palestine and 1 moreRachel's TombQever Raḥel; Qabr Rāḥīl
A shared holy site near Bethlehem revered by Jews, Christians, and MuslimsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreMagi
Priests of Zoroastrianism and the figures who inspired the word for magicTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreTetragrammatonיהוה
The four-letter name of God in the Hebrew Bible, written as YHWH.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreIsaac Luriaיִצְחָק בן שלמה אשכנזי לוּרְיָא
A sixteenth-century rabbi who founded modern Kabbalah through oral teachings in Safed.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession
A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreBelialבְּלִיַּעַל
A Hebrew term for worthlessness that evolved into a demon of darkness in Jewish and Christian texts.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLag BaOmerלַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר
A Jewish holiday marking the end of a mourning period with bonfires and outdoor playTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer
A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah
A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMedieval European magic
A broad category of ritual and natural practices in the Middle Ages, blending healing, divination, and religious belief.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreMagic and religion
A study of how ritual power and sacred belief overlap or separate across culturesBelief · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 5 moreMolybdomancy
A divination method using molten metal poured into water to read omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAzazelעזאזל
A desert place and fallen angel linked to the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritualFigure · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreSibylline Oracles
A mixed collection of ancient prophecies attributed to pagan prophetesses but shaped by Jewish and Christian writers.Text · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreMezuzahמְזוּזָה
A scroll of Torah verses placed in a case on Jewish doorpostsCharm · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreJannes and Jambresיניס וימבריס
Named Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in biblical traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLeviathanלִוְיָתָן (Livyaṯān)
A primordial sea monster from ancient Near Eastern myth and biblical textBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore
Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreShimon bar Yochaiשמעון בר יוחאי
A second-century sage of the Land of Israel and a central figure in Kabbalistic tradition.Figure · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKabbalahקַבָּלָה
An esoteric school of thought within Judaism focused on the hidden meanings of scripture and the divine.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreGematriaגימטריה
A numeric writing system that assigns numerical values to words and phrases for interpretation.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 EgyptDemon
A supernatural entity believed to cause harm or possess humansBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelJewish astrologyמַזָּלוֹת (mazzālôt)
A belief system within Judaism that celestial bodies influence earthly affairs and human destiny.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreAngelמלאך
A supernatural messenger or intermediary spirit found in many religious traditions.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreTutelary deity
A guardian spirit or god assigned to protect a specific place, person, or group.Being · Protection Living
🇮🇱 IsraelAgrat bat Mahlatאגרת בת מחלת
A demon in Jewish tradition who rules over destructive spirits and night hours.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreRighteous Priest
A messianic priestly figure in Jewish eschatology, identified with Shem and Melchizedek.Figure · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelSeder hishtalshelusסדר השתלשלות
A Kabbalistic cosmology mapping the descent of divine light through spiritual realms to the physical world.Belief · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇱 IsraelShekhinahשְׁכִינָה
The divine presence of God dwelling among people in Jewish and Islamic thoughtBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreYom Hillulaיום הילולא
A joyous death anniversary for a saint in Jewish traditionRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇮🇱 IsraelPulsa diNuraפולסא דנורא
A Kabbalistic curse invoking destroying angels to block forgiveness and cause deathRite · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelMelchom
A demon of hell and former Ammonite idol described in the Dictionnaire InfernalBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDream questionShe'elat Halom
A Jewish divination practice seeking prophetic answers through dreamsOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution
Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSe'irimשעירים
Demons of Hebrew tradition linked to wild goats and ruined placesBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAna BeKoachאנא בכח
A medieval Jewish liturgical poem linked to the 42-letter name of GodText · Power and authority · Protection Living
🇾🇪 Yemen and 1 moreDor Daimדור דעה
A Yemenite Jewish movement promoting rational theology and opposing Kabbalistic mysticismTradition Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreJewish views on astrologyחָכְמַת הַמַּזָּלוֹת
A long-standing debate within Jewish thought about the influence of stars and planetsBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelQlippothקְלִיפּוֹת
Impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, opposites of the holy sefirotBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCurse of Ham
A biblical story used to justify slavery and racial discriminationBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelEisheth Zenunimאֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים
A demonic epithet for Lilith in Kabbalah and Western esotericismFigure · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelMessiah ben Josephמָשִׁיחַ בֶּן־יוֹסֵף
A Jewish eschatological figure who wages war and dies before the final age of peaceFigure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePardesפרד״ס
A four-level method for interpreting Jewish scriptureText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreMahalathמָחֲלַת
A queen of demons in Jewish mysticism and the mother of AgratBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Magi: Colijn de Coter, CC0, source
- Tetragrammaton: Lakisletter.gif : derivative work: Filii Henoch ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Yom Hillula: Jonathan Stein, Public domain, source
- Isaac Luria: Louski1, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Lag BaOmer: Yoninah, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jiangshi: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- Jewish astrology: Talmoryair, Public domain, source
- Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Molybdomancy: Micha L. Rieser, Attribution, source
- Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
- Angel: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Melchom: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- Seder hishtalshelus: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Azazel: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Curse of Ham: Ксенофонтов Иван Степанович. Ksenofóntov Iván Stepánovich (1817-1875), Public domain, source
- Sibylline Oracles: Domenichino, Public domain, source
- Mezuzah: Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
- Jannes and Jambres: Gerard Hoet, Public domain, source
- Leviathan: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
- Shimon bar Yochai: איתי פרץ, Attribution, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
- Magical alphabet: Francis Barrett, Public domain, source
- Kabbalah: Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla, Paulus Riccius, Leonhard Beck, Public domain, source
- Ana BeKoach: Baruch Zvi Ring (c. 1872 - 1927) Details on Google Art Project, Public domain, source
- Gematria: Bethsheba Ashe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rachel's Tomb: Lane-Poole, Stanley, Public domain, source