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.
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreTyrTýr
A Germanic deity of war and oaths, known for sacrificing his hand to a wolfBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceTriple Goddess
A Neopagan deity representing three female life stages and lunar phasesBeing · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomCeridwenCerridwen
A Welsh enchantress and modern goddess of poetic inspiration and transformation.Being · Change and initiation Revived
🇩🇪 GermanyAlp
A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCernunnos
An antlered Celtic deity associated with nature and fertilityBeing · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandFetch
A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreUpiórупіор
A demonic spirit from Slavic and Turkic folklore that is believed to return from the dead to feed on the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreĒostre
An Anglo-Saxon goddess linked to spring and the dawn, whose name became Easter.Being · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreMare
A spirit that sits on sleepers to cause nightmares and physical distressBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreNornsnornir
Fate-weaving figures from Norse myth who shape human destiny and tend the world tree.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChurch grim
A guardian spirit of Christian churchyards, often appearing as a black dog or lamb.Being · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBoggart
A malevolent household spirit from northern English folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreMjölnirMjǫllnir
The hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor, used as a weapon and for blessingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrigoi
A Romanian undead spirit linked to witchcraft and vampirismBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreLady MiddayPoludnitsa
A Slavic noon spirit who watches over fields and punishes those who work during the hottest hours.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBrown Lady of Raynham Hall
A famous English ghost story and photograph from a Norfolk country houseBeing Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWirry-cow
A Scottish folk figure representing a frightening object or spiritBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreStrichaСтріча
A Slavic goddess who spins the golden thread of human destiny and good fortuneBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMadam Pigott
A White Lady ghost of Shropshire who haunts roads and rides on horsesBeing Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreTutelary deity
A guardian spirit or god assigned to protect a specific place, person, or group.Being · Protection Living
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreKalevaKalev
A primordial giant and ancestral figure in the mythologies of Estonia and FinlandBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChortчёрт
A Slavic demon spirit with horns and hooves, known in folklore as a trickster or minor evil force.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity
A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrixστρίξ
A classical bird of ill omen that evolved into a term for witches and vampires across Europe.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇷 FranceTitivillus
A medieval demon who collects scribal errors and liturgical mistakes in a sack.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAllocer
A duke of demons in grimoires who teaches sciences and commands legionsBeing · Power and authority Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreLaumaLaumė
A Baltic fairy-like spirit of the sky, weather, and newborn children.Being · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaTriple-headed eagle
A heraldic and mythological bird with three heads, appearing in Russian symbolism and European manuscripts.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇸 SpainAnjanaanˈhana / an.xa.nɜ
Cantabrian fairies who protect forests and bring gifts to children.Being · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaHabernitsa
A noon demon of Slavic fields who punishes workers and causes pain.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreWiedergänger
A German term for a revenant or ghost that returns to the world of the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreNight ravennattravn
A nocturnal creature of European folklore, feared as a child-stealer or seen as a ghost in bird form.Being · Cursing and harm 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
🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan
A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast
A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány
A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomPearlin Jean
A Scottish ghost said to haunt the ruins of Allanbank estate in BerwickshireBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreFiredrakeognennyi zmei
A European dragon myth born from sightings of shooting stars and will-o'-the-wispsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGiants (esotericism)
Spiritual beings linked to lost continents and root races in occult literatureBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyMazapégul
A mischievous elf of Romagna with a red cap that steals sleep and braids horse manesBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomLazy Laurence
A mischievous English pixie who makes orchard workers lazy and gives them indigestionBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceMoiraiΜοίρες
Greek personifications of destiny who spin, measure, and cut the thread of life.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen
Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreVelesВелес
A Slavic chthonic deity of cattle, the underworld, and oathsBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreDioneΔιώνη
An ancient Greek oracular goddess and Titaness, mother of Aphrodite.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelBabalon
A Thelemic goddess of fertility, ecstasy, and spiritual transformation.Being · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu
A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · 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.
- Brown Lady of Raynham Hall: Hubert C. Provand e Indre Shira, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Xana: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Cernunnos: Nationalmuseet, Roberto Fortuna og Kira Ursem, Public domain, source
- Upiór: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Norns: file: James Steakley ; artwork: Gustav Heidenreich, Public domain, source
- Church grim: Inès Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boggart: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Tyr: Gunnar Creutz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ēostre: Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921), Public domain, source
- Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Allocer: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
- Wiedergänger: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Night raven: Kim Diaz Holm (den unge herr Holm), CC BY 4.0, source
- Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Mjölnir: Mårten Eskil Winge, Public domain, source
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Giants (esotericism): Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Moirai: John Melhuish Strudwick, Public domain, source
- Triple Goddess: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Firedrake: Ramesh Kumar R, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chort: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ceridwen: Chris Denny, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Lauma: Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, source
- Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
- Veles: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mare: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Dione: Phidias, CC BY 2.5, source
- Babalon: William Blake, Public domain, source
- Triple-headed eagle: Неизвестный автор. (фото обложки сборника: Александр Храмов), Public domain, source