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.
🇩🇪 GermanyTrier witch trials
A series of mass executions in the Holy Roman Empire between 1581 and 1593.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 moreSaint Andrew's Day
A Christian feast day marked by national holidays in Scotland and Romania, and folk divination across Europe.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomBideford witch trial
The final English hangings for witchcraft in 1682.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore
Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWill-o'-the-wisp
A ghostly light in folklore that guides or misleads travellers over marshes and bogs.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇫🇷 FranceWitch trials in France
A fragmented history of legal persecution for sorcery across French regions and centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos
A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch trials in early modern Scotland
A period of judicial persecution where thousands were executed for alleged sorcery and diabolic pactsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenTorsåker witch trials
The largest mass execution of witches in Swedish history, carried out in a single day.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyWitch trials in Italy
Historic legal proceedings against alleged witches across Italian states from the 14th to 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇱 NetherlandsWitch trials in the Netherlands
A historical record of prosecutions and executions for sorcery in the Dutch Republic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaBlack magic
Magic traditionally defined by malevolent intent and selfish purposesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomPaisley witches
A 1697 Scottish witch trial ending in mass execution after a child's illness sparked local panic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceOrphismὈρφικά
A Greek mystery tradition based on the myth of Dionysus and the soul's journeyTradition Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenMora witch trial
A 1669 Swedish mass execution driven by child testimony and European hysteriaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials
A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreWitch trials in Finland
A historical record of legal persecution for magic in a region where men were common targets.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark
A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇵🇱 PolandWitch trials in Poland
A historical record of sorcery prosecutions and executions in Poland from the 15th to the 19th century.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreBay Laurelδάφνη
An aromatic Mediterranean plant used in cooking and as a symbol of victory and purification.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWitch trials in the Holy Roman Empire
A wave of executions across Central Europe between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries.Belief · 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
🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia
Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia
A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWitch's mark
A bodily mark believed to prove a pact with the Devil during early modern witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore
The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇱🇻 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials
A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba
The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇪🇸 SpainFolklore of Spain
The oral traditions, legends, and folktales of the Iberian PeninsulaTradition · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomCornish mythology
The folk tales and legends of Cornwall, shared with Brittany and Wales.Tradition · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority 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
🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWild Hunt
A spectral chase across Europe led by a mythic figure and ghostly riders.Belief · Cursing and harm 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
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreWitches' Sabbath
A legendary gathering of witches described in early modern trial records and folkloreBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home
A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic
The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomPendle witches
A 1612 series of English witch trials that resulted in ten executions near Pendle Hill.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreAlonso de Salazar Frías
An inquisitor who used evidence to stop witch executions in SpainBelief Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandFetch
A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇸 SpainBasque witch trials
A seventeenth-century Inquisition campaign against alleged witches in the Basque Country.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreWitch trials in Hungary
A centuries-long series of persecutions for sorcery that ended with imperial decree.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSpectral evidence
Court testimony based on visions of spirits during historical witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayWitch trials in Norway
A wave of executions and legal persecution for sorcery in early modern Norway.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBamberg witch trials
A mass execution campaign in a German prince-bishopric that killed around one thousand people between 1623 and 1632.Belief · 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.
- Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
- Orphism: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Witch-cult hypothesis: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
- North Berwick witch trials: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Mora witch trial: Unknown author Unknown author contemporary artist, Public domain, source
- Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bay Laurel: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
- Jiangshi: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
- English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
- Folklore of Spain: Mikipons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cornish mythology: waterborough, Public domain, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wild Hunt: Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
- Pendle witches: Dr Greg, CC BY 3.0, source
- Alonso de Salazar Frías: Oscar Montañés, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bamberg witch trials: Berthold Werner, Public domain, source
- Witch trials in the Netherlands: Mathje1963, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lady Midday: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Basque witch trials: Alberto-g-rovi, CC BY 3.0, source
- Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Torsåker witch trials: Y-näsmannen, CC0, source
- Will-o'-the-wisp: Hermann Hendrich, Public domain, source
- Bideford witch trial: Totnesmartin, Public domain, source
- Witch trials in France: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source