The dominant religious and political institution of Lyra's world, exercising authority over science, education, and public life across multiple continents. A parallel evolution of the Catholic Church in a world where the Reformation never occurred, the Magisterium comprises numerous competing councils and authorities united by their determination to control the flow of knowledge and suppress anything that threatens their theological authority. Their particular obsession with Dust - elementary particles they associate with original sin - drives the central conflict of His Dark Materials.

A Magisterium-sanctioned body operating under the authority of Mrs Coulter, responsible for the programme of child abduction that gives the Gobblers their name. The Board's stated purpose is experimental theological research, specifically the investigation of Dust and its relationship to human development. Its methods - separating children from their daemons through the procedure known as intercision - represent one of the most extreme expressions of the Magisterium's determination to control human consciousness. Operates with considerable secrecy even within Magisterium structures.