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.
🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り
A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSun cross
A cross inside a circle found in prehistoric art and modern political symbolsBelief · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanShiranui不知火
Atmospheric ghost lights of the Yatsushiro and Ariake Seas in JapanBelief · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė
A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceAstrology and astronomy
Two disciplines that shared a history before splitting into science and divinationTradition · Seeing and foretelling · 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Cheltenham Ghost
A late nineteenth century English haunting investigated by the Society for Psychical ResearchBelief Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptIslam and astrology
The historical study of stars in the Islamic world and the religious debate over its permissibility.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇮🇷 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
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLegend of the White Snake白蛇傳
A Chinese folktale about a snake spirit who becomes human to love a mortal manFigure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution
Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreFire (classical element)
A classical substance of heat and transformation in Greek, Indian, and Western esoteric traditionsSubstance · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 FranceMagonia
A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements
Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇿 AlgeriaTassili Mushroom Figure
Neolithic cave art in Algeria interpreted by some as depicting psychedelic mushroom use.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAstral body
A subtle vehicle of emotion and dream said to travel beyond the physical formBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese sorcery scares
A series of moral panics in Imperial China driven by fears of magical harm and hair cuttingBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇵🇱 PolandFrankenstein town gravediggers scandal
A 1606 witchcraft trial in Silesia that may have inspired Mary Shelley's novelBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesMartian Monkey
A 1953 Atlanta hoax involving a tailless monkey dressed as an alienBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyOmen (ancient Rome)omen
A sign in ancient Rome believed to reveal the future, good or bad.Belief · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇸 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
🇱🇷 LiberiaMaryland ritual killings
A 1970s Liberian case of ritual murders and the public executions that followedBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesSecond-term curse
A belief that U.S. presidents face greater trouble in their second term than their first.Belief Historical
🇵🇭 Philippines and 3 moreMy Way killings
Fatal disputes in the Philippines sparked by singing Frank Sinatra's song at karaoke barsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreVoldemort effect
A social pattern where naming a fear or problem makes it seem more powerfulBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreBožićБожић
A Slavic figure linked to the new year and spring, whose name now marks ChristmasFigure · Luck and prosperity · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomCurse of Scotland
A nickname for a playing card linked to bad luck and Scottish historyBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSerpent seed
A fringe belief that Cain was the offspring of Eve and the Serpent, creating two distinct human lineages.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreGold of Tolosa
A legendary treasure hoard seized by Rome and lost to historyBelief · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceDaimonδαίμων
A Greek spirit or divine force that mediates between gods and humansBeing · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun
A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaAbhijñāअभिज्ञा
A set of special insights and powers in Buddhist meditation.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomLantern man
A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelNumber of the beastἈριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου
A biblical number linked to a prophetic figure and interpreted through ancient numerologyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect
A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese creation myths
A collection of ancient Chinese stories explaining how the universe and humanity beganBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCurse of Ham
A biblical story used to justify slavery and racial discriminationBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreAirship of Clonmacnoise
A medieval Irish legend of a ship in the sky and its anchorBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandJack O'The Lantern
An Irish folktale about a deceitful man condemned to wander with a carved lanternFigure · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇬 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
🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreThoughtography念写
A claimed psychic ability to imprint mental images directly onto photographic film.Belief · 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.
- Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Fire (classical element): Correogsk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Classical elements: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tassili Mushroom Figure: I redrawn the rock art written by ancient people., Public domain, source
- Astral body: Rad el Baluvar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Frankenstein town gravediggers scandal: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
- Martian Monkey: Tim Farley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Maryland ritual killings: Fred van der Kraaij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Curse of Scotland: James Gillray (died 1815), Public domain, source
- Gold of Tolosa: AchilleT, Public domain, source
- Daimon: François-André Vincent, Public domain, source
- Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Abhijñā: Gryffindor, Public domain, source
- Curse of Ham: Ксенофонтов Иван Степанович. Ksenofóntov Iván Stepánovich (1817-1875), Public domain, source
- Airship of Clonmacnoise: Joseph Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jack O'The Lantern: Bodrugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
- Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
- Second-term curse: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, source
- Voldemort effect: Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Serpent seed: David Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sun cross: National Museum of Denmark, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Astrology and astronomy: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Legend of the White Snake: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Islam and astrology: Ahmad Ibn Musa Ibn Shakir, Public domain, source