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.
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreAstaroth
An arch-demon in Western occultism, derived from the ancient goddess Astarte.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreOrder of the Solar TempleOrdre du Temple solaire
A neo-Templar new religious movement responsible for mass deaths in the 1990s.Tradition · Cursing and harm 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
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreHiisi
A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology
A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm 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
🇹🇷 Turkey and 4 moreAl BastyAlbastı
A female spirit of guilt and childbirth found in Turkic and Caucasian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou
A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ
A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMogwai魔鬼
A Chinese term for demons and evil spirits, borrowed from Sanskrit lore through Buddhism.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanAkuma悪魔（あくま）
An evil spirit in Japanese folklore, later used for Satan in ChristianityBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost
A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelAgrat bat Mahlatאגרת בת מחלת
A demon in Jewish tradition who rules over destructive spirits and night hours.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCola Pesce
An Italian merman legend about a boy cursed by his mother to live in the seaFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling 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
🇫🇷 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
🇩🇪 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
🇫🇷 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
🇭🇺 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
🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast
A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression
A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇦🇷 ArgentinaLegendary creatures of the Argentine Northwest region
Myths and spirits from the Andean highlands of ArgentinaBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm 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
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreAramaic Uruk incantation
A Seleucid-era magical tablet written in Aramaic using cuneiform signsText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇫🇷 FranceMagonia
A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り
A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm 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
🇸🇪 SwedenStentoften Runestone
A seventh-century Swedish stone inscribed with a curse and harvest blessings in Proto-NorseText · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone
A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelQlippothקְלִיפּוֹת
Impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, opposites of the holy sefirotBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomLazy Laurence
A mischievous English pixie who makes orchard workers lazy and gives them indigestionBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandSelkolla
A seal-headed woman from Icelandic folklore who clashed with a medieval bishop.Being · Cursing and harm 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
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution
Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreVerliokaВерлиока
A cross-eyed monster from East Slavic folk talesFigure · Cursing and harm 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
🇵🇭 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
🇮🇱 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
🇯🇵 JapanYamajijii山爺
A one-eyed mountain spirit from Shikoku folklore known for its thunderous voice and unpredictable nature.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇸 SpainLiber Ignium
A medieval Latin manuscript containing recipes for incendiary weapons and chemicals.Text · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBaskerville effect
A theory that superstition about unlucky numbers causes heart attacks through stressBelief · 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 KingdomLantern man
A ghost light of the English fens said to lure victims into the marshesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreCruentation
A medieval judicial test where a suspect touched a victim's body to see if it bled.Rite · 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
- Obake: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞), Public domain, source
- Order of the Solar Temple: George Stock derivative work: thumperward ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
- Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Astaroth: M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
- Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source
- Mogwai: Gisling, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
- Firedrake: Ramesh Kumar R, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stentoften Runestone: Sendelbach ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chort: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Divine retribution: John Martin, 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