The Society for the Academic Study of Magic (SASM) is a multidisciplinary academic group composed of those scholars studying all aspects of magic and other aspects of esotericism. According to the Society's website, the scope of the Society's interests include "the history, sociology, philosophy, psychology, anthropology of magic, magical practices and theories of magic, as well as magical objects, artefacts and texts."[1]
The Society was founded in 2002 by Alison Butler and Dave Evans, two postgraduates from Bristol University.[2] Initially, Evans took the position of president whilst Butler took the roles of vice president and treasurer.[3] The control of the group was later taken on jointly by Evans and Dr. Dave Green, a cultural sociologist and esotericist, who is also Deputy Director of the Unit for the Study of Religion and Spirituality at University of the West of England in Bristol, England.[4]
Initially, the Society published, through the company Mandrake of Oxford, an annual scholarly, peer-reviewed, cross-disciplinary journal entitled The Journal for the Academic Study of Magic (JASM), containing topical articles, news, and book reviews. JASM ran for five issues, from 2003 to 2009, before it was replaced by a new annual periodical, Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies of the Preternatural, which seeks to publish articles upon the subject of "magics, witchcraft, spiritualism, occultism, prophecy, monstrophy, demonology, and folklore."[5]