Malay Magic is Walter William Skeat’s classic introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula. Drawing on fieldwork and indigenous sources, Skeat documents charms, spirit beliefs, rituals of agriculture, fishing, and mining, medicine, and the rich world of Malay magical practice.
Carefully recording incantations and ceremonies, the book is one of the most thorough early ethnographies of Southeast Asian folk religion, preserving material that blends indigenous animism with Hindu and Islamic influences. Like other colonial-era studies it reflects its period, but its detailed documentation has made it a standard reference. For students of anthropology, comparative religion, and Malay culture, Skeat’s work remains a foundational and frequently cited source.