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.
🇫🇷 FranceChamalières tabletPlomb de Chamalières
A Gaulish lead tablet from a French spa, read as either a curse or a healing prayer.Text · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreScarab
An ancient Egyptian amulet and seal shaped like a dung beetleCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandLorica
A Hiberno-Scottish monastic prayer for protection against evilText · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptKitab al-Kanuzكتاب الكنوز
A lost Arabic treasure guide linked to Zerzura and the SphinxText · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaSynoptical astrology
An astrological system that overlays tropical, sidereal and constellational zodiacsText · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇫🇷 FranceDictionnaire Infernal
A French demonology book cataloguing spirits and their hierarchies with engravings.Text · Power and authority Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreThirteen Treasures of the Island of BritainTri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain
A collection of magical objects from late-medieval Welsh legendText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreBevis of HamptonПовесть о Бове-королевиче
A medieval chivalric romance about a hero's exile and return across Europe and the Near EastText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaKhongjomnubi NonggarolKhongchomnupi Nongkalol
A Meitei puya with two stories of transformation and ascent to the sky.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomSaducismus Triumphatus
A 1681 English book defending witchcraft beliefs and attacking skepticsText · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBook of Magical Charms
A seventeenth-century English manuscript of spells and medical remedies held in Chicago.Text · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaKing Wen sequence文王卦序
The oldest arrangement of the sixty-four hexagrams in the I ChingText · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreLots of the ApostlesSortes Apostolorum
A Christian divination text based on casting lots to seek guidance from the apostles.Text · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomBarddas
A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇪🇸 SpainLiber Ignium
A medieval Latin manuscript containing recipes for incendiary weapons and chemicals.Text · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaRisalah Maktubaatرساله مکتوبات
A collection of Persian letters guiding disciples and rulers on spiritual and moral matters.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇹🇭 Thailand and 2 moreSang Thongสังข์ทอง
A Southeast Asian folktale about a prince born in a shell who gains golden skin and magical powers.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreBooks of secrets
Early modern European compilations of recipes and formulae framed as hidden knowledgeText · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreManba al-Ansabمنبع الانساب
A Persian manuscript tracing Sayyid lineage and Sufi practice in early modern IndiaText · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyDe Umbris Idearum
A 1582 treatise by Giordano Bruno on memory, magic and philosophyText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇷 IranBalaibalanباليبلن
An early constructed language from the Islamic world, likely created for sacred or poetic purposes.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreAramaic Uruk incantation
A Seleucid-era magical tablet written in Aramaic using cuneiform signsText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie
A foundational treatise on ritual magic by Éliphas Lévi, structured around the tarot.Text · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePardesפרד״ס
A four-level method for interpreting Jewish scriptureText · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇯🇵 JapanKyōka Hyaku Monogatari狂歌百物語
An 1853 Japanese picture book pairing yōkai illustrations with humorous kyōka poetryText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyGli ExperimentiGli Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.r Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux.mo S.r Giouanni de Medici
A 16th-century manuscript of alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes by Caterina SforzaText · Healing · Power and authority Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone
A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · Cursing and harm Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenSaleby Runestone
A Swedish memorial stone raised by a husband for his wife, featuring an ancient curse.Text · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTosa Obake Zōshi土佐お化け草紙
An Edo-period illustrated scroll of yōkai tales from Tosa ProvinceText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement
A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreBerkanan
A runic letter representing the birch tree across Germanic writing systems.Text Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreThe Teachings of Don Juan
A 1968 book presenting an apprenticeship with a Mexican sorcerer as anthropological fieldwork.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenStentoften Runestone
A seventh-century Swedish stone inscribed with a curse and harvest blessings in Proto-NorseText · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesDreaming the Dark
A 1982 book by Starhawk linking magic, sex, and politicsText · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreUr (rune)
A runic character representing the aurochs or cold rain in Germanic alphabetsText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇸🇩 SudanWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
A foundational anthropological study of Azande witchcraft, oracles, and magic in southern Sudan.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandSowilo
The s-rune representing the sun in Germanic writing systemsText · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlgiz
A runic letter representing a terminal sound and later symbols of life and deathText Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptPrima materia
The formless base of all matter in alchemyText · Change and initiation Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Book of Thoth
A guide to a tarot deck designed by an occultist and his collaboratorText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreRune poem
Proverbial verses used to memorize the names and order of runic lettersText · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesThe Occult: A History
A 1971 survey of occult figures and latent human powers by Colin WilsonText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomTam Lin
A Scottish ballad about a fairy knight rescued by his mortal lover on Hallowe'enFigure · Love and attraction · 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.
- Glemminge stone: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saducismus Triumphatus: unknown engraver of the 17th century, Public domain, source
- Book of Magical Charms: Robert Ashley, died 1641, Public domain, source
- Sang Thong: Narisara Nuwattiwong, Public domain, source
- Chamalières tablet: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dictionnaire Infernal: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
- Bevis of Hampton: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
- Gli Experimenti: Mattman723, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saleby Runestone: Berig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
- Stentoften Runestone: Sendelbach ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scarab: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Algiz: Arolsen Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rune poem: Tollef Salemann, CC0, source
- Tam Lin: Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Synoptical astrology: Constellarius, CC BY-SA 3.0, source