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.
🇬🇧 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
🇩🇪 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
🇫🇷 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
🇮🇹 ItalyScrofa semilanuta
A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast
A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomPearlin Jean
A Scottish ghost said to haunt the ruins of Allanbank estate in BerwickshireBeing · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇮🇪 IrelandLatoon fairy bush
A whitethorn tree in County Clare saved from a motorway by folkloric warnings of misfortuneBelief · Protection Living
🇩🇪 GermanyBuch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
A 15th-century German alchemical treatise that aligns chemical work with Christian theology.Text · Change and initiation Historical
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreVoldemort effect
A social pattern where naming a fear or problem makes it seem more powerfulBelief · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 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 · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇩🇪 GermanyLichtenberg's Avertissement
A satirical poster exposing stage magic as deceptionText · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomLazy Laurence
A mischievous English pixie who makes orchard workers lazy and gives them indigestionBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm 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 1 moreBerkanan
A runic letter representing the birch tree across Germanic writing systems.Text Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHephaestusἭφαιστος
The Greek smith god who forged divine weapons and crafted automata for the gods.Being · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 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
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 2 moreEglė the Queen of SerpentsEglė žalčių karalienė
A Lithuanian folk tale about a woman who marries a serpent king and turns her family into trees.Figure · Wonder and entertainment 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
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 3 moreThe Swan Queen
A Lithuanian fairy tale about a bird maiden who becomes human and returns to the skyFigure · Wonder and entertainment 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
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreDioneΔιώνη
An ancient Greek oracular goddess and Titaness, mother of Aphrodite.Being · Seeing and foretelling 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
🇩🇪 GermanyThule SocietyThule-Gesellschaft
A German occult group that sponsored the early Nazi party and promoted racial mysticism.Tradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreTwardowski's Mirror
A cracked Renaissance mirror linked to the legend of a magical alchemistCharm · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreVelesВелес
A Slavic chthonic deity of cattle, the underworld, and oathsBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreBesomвеник
A twig broom used for sweeping, folk magic, and fire responseCharm · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreFourth Way
A spiritual path for inner development that does not require leaving ordinary lifeTradition · Change and initiation 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
🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreUr (rune)
A runic character representing the aurochs or cold rain in Germanic alphabetsText · 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
🇮🇱 IsraelBabalon
A Thelemic goddess of fertility, ecstasy, and spiritual transformation.Being · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇮🇷 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
🇸🇪 SwedenGlemminge stone
A Viking Age runestone in Sweden bearing a Younger Futhark inscription and a curse.Text · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreClassical elements
Ancient theories that explain all matter as combinations of earth, water, fire, air, and aetherBelief · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇫🇷 FranceMagonia
A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyDe Umbris Idearum
A 1582 treatise by Giordano Bruno on memory, magic and philosophyText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇪🇸 SpainGuañameñe
A Guanche prophet and the highest priestly rank in pre-conquest TenerifeFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaAugust curse
A Russian belief that severe disasters and national tragedies cluster in the month of August.Belief Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreFraternitas Saturni
A German esoteric order focused on Saturn magic and astrological teachingsTradition · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 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 · Power and authority 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomNine sorceressesnaw chwaer
A group of nine magical women in Welsh and Arthurian legendFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomBarddas
A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
- Cruentation: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fourth Way: Londonlinks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bevis of Hampton: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
- Classical elements: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
- Lichtenberg's Avertissement: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Public domain, source
- Hephaestus: Foundry Painter (name vase), Public domain, source
- Eglė the Queen of Serpents: Huw, CC BY 2.0, source
- Firedrake: Ramesh Kumar R, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stentoften Runestone: Sendelbach ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ur (rune): RexCrudelissimus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Voldemort effect: Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
- Veles: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Besom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist), Public domain, source
- Religious aspects of Nazism: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Dione: Phidias, CC BY 2.5, source
- Babalon: William Blake, Public domain, source
- Tam Lin: Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, source