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.
🇮🇷 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
🇪🇸 SpainGuañameñe
A Guanche prophet and the highest priestly rank in pre-conquest TenerifeFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution
Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSe'irimשעירים
Demons of Hebrew tradition linked to wild goats and ruined placesBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptEn-Naddahaالنداهة
A water spirit of the Nile who lures men to their doom with a hypnotic callBeing · Cursing and harm Fading
🇺🇸 United StatesSecond-term curse
A belief that U.S. presidents face greater trouble in their second term than their first.Belief Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandSowilo
The s-rune representing the sun in Germanic writing systemsText · Power and authority Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreWeiße Frauen
Elven spirits of sunlight and water in Germanic folkloreBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyAlgiz
A runic letter representing a terminal sound and later symbols of life and deathText Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAlchemy in the medieval Islamic world
The study of matter and spirit by scholars in the early Islamic CaliphateTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptMagical alphabet
Letter systems used in occult rituals and talismanic magicText · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 EgyptPrima materia
The formless base of all matter in alchemyText · Change and initiation Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTaka-Onna高女
A Japanese yokai of a tall woman said to spy on brothels from above.Being · 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
🇨🇳 ChinaLute
A sealing paste for alchemical vessels and a joining technique in potterySubstance · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreVoldemort effect
A social pattern where naming a fear or problem makes it seem more powerfulBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 IndiaCausal plane
A high spiritual realm in Theosophy and New Age cosmologyBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreAna BeKoachאנא בכח
A medieval Jewish liturgical poem linked to the 42-letter name of GodText · Power and authority · Protection Living
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇱 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
🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 3 moreMana
A spiritual force of power and authority in Oceanic culturesBelief · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 EgyptEnochian chess
A four-player chess variant used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for divination and playTradition · 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
🇾🇪 Yemen and 1 moreDor Daimדור דעה
A Yemenite Jewish movement promoting rational theology and opposing Kabbalistic mysticismTradition Historical
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreSwastika (Germanic Iron Age)
A four-armed symbol found on Germanic artefacts from the Migration to Viking periods.Belief · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreJewish views on astrologyחָכְמַת הַמַּזָּלוֹת
A long-standing debate within Jewish thought about the influence of stars and planetsBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreFortune telling fraud
A confidence trick where a grifter invents a curse to extract money from a vulnerable client.Belief · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇶 Iraq and 3 moreMandaic lead rolls
Lead sheets inscribed with Mandaic incantations, rolled and worn as protective talismans by Mandaeans.Charm · Protection Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreTwardowski's Mirror
A cracked Renaissance mirror linked to the legend of a magical alchemistCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 EgyptHermanubisἙρμανοῦβις
A Graeco-Egyptian god who guides the souls of the dead to the underworld.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇬🇱 GreenlandAnguta
A Greenlandic Inuit figure who guides the dead and fathered the sea goddess SednaBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreVelesВелес
A Slavic chthonic deity of cattle, the underworld, and oathsBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreKṣitigarbhaक्षितिगर्भ
A bodhisattva vowed to empty the hells and guard children, shown with a staff and jewel.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreKhidrالخضر
A Qur'anic guide and saint believed to hold hidden wisdom and aid those in need.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone
A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · 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
🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreRune poem
Proverbial verses used to memorize the names and order of runic lettersText · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreFourth Way
A spiritual path for inner development that does not require leaving ordinary lifeTradition · Change and initiation Living
🇺🇸 United StatesChristian views on magic
A spectrum of Christian beliefs about magical practices, ranging from strict condemnation to esoteric integration.Belief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreIlluminates of Thanateros
An international group dedicated to practical chaos magic and experimental ritual workTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreVäinämöinen
An ancient Finnish demigod and master singer from the Kalevala epicBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇱 IsraelQlippothקְלִיפּוֹת
Impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, opposites of the holy sefirotBeing · 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
- Jewish astrology: Talmoryair, Public domain, source
- Fourth Way: Londonlinks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Christian views on magic: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Väinämöinen: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Public domain, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
- Second-term curse: Achille Beltrame, Public domain, source
- Weiße Frauen: Wojciech Gerson, Public domain, source
- Algiz: Arolsen Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world: An Islamic artist 739H/1339, probably in Baghdad, Public domain, source
- Magical alphabet: Francis Barrett, Public domain, source
- Lute: Gremelm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Voldemort effect: Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ana BeKoach: Baruch Zvi Ring (c. 1872 - 1927) Details on Google Art Project, Public domain, source
- Serpent seed: David Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mana: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ouroboros: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Swastika (Germanic Iron Age): No machine-readable author provided. Bloodofox~commonswiki assumed (ba, Public domain, source
- Fortune telling fraud: Simon Vouet, Public domain, source
- Hermanubis: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Veles: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kṣitigarbha: སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།, Public domain, source
- Khidr: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
- Sun cross: National Museum of Denmark, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rune poem: Tollef Salemann, CC0, source