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.
馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio
A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 2 more脡liphas L茅vi
A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreNicholas Culpeper
An English herbalist and astrologer who translated medical texts into English for the poor.Text 路 Healing 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚤馃嚮 Latvia and 1 moreLatvian mythology
A collection of myths about gods, spirits, and the afterlife from the Baltic region.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceAncient Greek folklore
The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native Faith袪芯写薪芯胁械褉懈械
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee
An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚨馃嚤 Poland and 1 moreMichael SendivogiusMicha艂 S臋dziw贸j
A Polish alchemist who discovered oxygen and wrote on the 'food of life'Text 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomHermetic Order of the Golden DawnOrdo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae
A late-19th-century British magical order that shaped modern Western occultismTradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley
English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreNatural magic
A historical tradition exploring hidden forces in the physical worldTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths
Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚪馃嚫 Serbia and 3 moreSerbian folklore小褉锌褋泻懈 褎芯谢泻谢芯褉
The folk traditions and epic poetry of the Serbs, blending pre-Christian customs with Orthodox faith.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism
The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 4 moreThelema
A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyArcheosofica
A school of esoteric Christianity founded in Rome that teaches ascetic disciplines and magical theory.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreLocational astrology
A branch of astrology that maps planetary influences to specific places on Earth.Tradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreOsirian Egyptian OrderOrdine Osirideo Egizio
An Italian esoteric society tracing its roots to 18th-century Naples and ancient Hermetic traditions.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandTailteann Games脕enach Tailteann
Ancient Irish funeral games and assemblies held in County Meath to honor the dead.Rite 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 4 moreIlluminates of Thanateros
An international group dedicated to practical chaos magic and experimental ritual workTradition 路 Power and authority 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceSacred mysteries渭蠀蟽蟿萎蟻喂慰谓
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTyphonian Order
A British Thelemic esoteric body working with dark occultism, kalas, and cosmic mythTradition 路 Change and initiation 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyThule SocietyThule-Gesellschaft
A German occult group that sponsored the early Nazi party and promoted racial mysticism.Tradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 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 路 Power and authority 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚜馃嚫 SpainGua帽ame帽e
A Guanche prophet and the highest priestly rank in pre-conquest TenerifeFigure 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 2 moreFraternitas Saturni
A German esoteric order focused on Saturn magic and astrological teachingsTradition 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreAlpha et Omega
An occult order formed from the Golden Dawn schism, active in London and Paris before World War IITradition 路 Power and authority Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
- Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- 脡liphas L茅vi: Eliphas L茅vi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
- Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
- Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Latvian mythology: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (小芯褞蟹 小谢邪胁褟薪褋泻懈褏 袨斜褖懈薪 小谢邪胁褟薪褋泻芯泄, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Michael Sendivogius: 艁uszczkiewicz, Public domain, source
- Tailteann Games: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
- Serbian folklore: Uro拧 Predi膰, Public domain, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source