Cursing and harm

Curses, hexes and sorcery as people describe and fear them, with the counter-magic against them.

Cursing and harm are the part of magic that societies fear most. This page describes curses and sorcery as beliefs, and the social role of fear and accusation, and does not give instructions. The evil eye, the curse tablets of the Greek and Roman world, Hebrew and Arabic writings on harmful magic, sorcery in Melanesia and Africa, and the European witch are all part of this subject. Most of the harm recorded is that done to people accused.

What is believed

Many cultures hold that envy, anger or hostile ritual can bring illness, loss or death to a victim. The beliefs differ: in the Mediterranean, the evil eye needs no intent. In Azande society, studied by Evans-Pritchard, witchcraft was an inherited substance that explained why misfortune struck one person and not another. Greek and Roman lead curse tablets, often addressed to gods of the underworld, show the belief was written down in antiquity.

Accusation as social force

Where harm is feared, accusation follows. Anthropologists have shown that charges of witchcraft often follow tension inside a family or village, such as inheritance, jealousy or a sudden death. Accusers are usually in conflict with the accused, who is more likely to be old, poor, widowed or marginal. The belief can enforce norms and also destroy people. People also fear being accused, since an accusation can arrive without warning and can follow a family for generations.

Persecution and its present

European and colonial American witch trials, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, put tens of thousands to death, including the Salem trials of 1692. The practice has not ended. Mobs and families still attack accused people in parts of Africa, India, Papua New Guinea and elsewhere, and Saudi Arabia has executed people for sorcery. Albino people have been killed for body parts in East Africa. Several states are drafting or enforcing laws against accusation itself.

Counter-magic and scholarship

Where harm is feared, so is protection: amulets, cleansing, and a specialist who can say who sent it. Scholars see curses as a language of grievance, and psychologists have documented the nocebo effect, in which belief in harm can bring on real distress. A person who is afraid should seek medical and social help, and talk to someone they trust. People who believe they have been cursed should be helped to find practical support, including from health services, and not left alone with fear.

Cursing and harm on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇬🇧 United KingdomBideford witch trial The final English hangings for witchcraft in 1682.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 5 moreVampire folklore Global legends of blood-drinking spirits and undead revenantsBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreLeviathanלִוְיָתָן (Livyaṯān) A primordial sea monster from ancient Near Eastern myth and biblical textBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayWitch trials in Norway A wave of executions and legal persecution for sorcery in early modern Norway.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBamberg witch trials A mass execution campaign in a German prince-bishopric that killed around one thousand people between 1623 and 1632.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 7 moreSatanic panic A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreDaeva𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 A Zoroastrian entity that evolved from rejected gods to personifications of evil.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesKennedy curse A pattern of tragedies linked to the American Kennedy familyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreOccultism in Nazism The study of alleged magical links to the Nazi regime and the myths that surround themBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇾🇪 YemenDhu'l-Khalasaذُو الْخَلَصَة A pre-Islamic shrine in Yemen destroyed by early Muslim forces.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇷🇺 RussiaBlack magic Magic used for evil or selfish purposes, and the beliefs surrounding itBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇭🇺 HungaryCurse of TuranTuráni átok A Hungarian belief that a historic spell causes national misfortune and personal despairBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSeventh son of a seventh son A folklore belief that birth order grants supernatural healing or cursed powersBelief · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇷 FranceLouviers possessions A seventeenth-century French convent case of mass demonic possession and witchcraft accusationsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreUnclean forceнечисть A Slavic term for evil spirits and the undead that inhabit the natural worldBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇮 FinlandVäki A supernatural power in Finnish mythology found in nature and objectsBelief · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical

🇮🇳 IndiaIndrajalaइन्द्रजाल A Sanskrit term for illusion and conjuring, linking stage magic to Hindu philosophy.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Cursing and harm Historical

🇧🇷 BrazilThe Hairy LegPerna cabeluda A Brazilian urban legend of a detached leg that attacks people at nightFigure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceWitchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome Ancient beliefs and practices of magic, curses, and love charms in the Mediterranean worldTradition · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreKollyra curse tablet An ancient Greek tablet cursing a thief to suffocation until stolen goods are returned.Text · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanTanukitsuki狸憑き (たぬきつき) A Japanese folk belief where a tanuki spirit possesses a human, causing illness and strange behavior.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaDongti동티 Divine punishment in Korean mythology, often manifesting as sudden illness or death.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreHiisi A Finnic spirit of sacred places that evolved into a demonic giant in folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreWolves in folklore, religion and mythology A global survey of how cultures view the wolf as symbol, spirit or threatBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrixστρίξ A classical bird of ill omen that evolved into a term for witches and vampires across Europe.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreFiery serpentsогненный змей A pan-Slavic spirit of fire and wind, seen as a demon or a household helperBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇷 GreeceGelloΓελλώ A Greek demon of infancy and a class of beings blamed for infant death.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesGreenbrier Ghost A West Virginia murder case where a mother claimed her daughter's spirit revealed the truth.Belief · Cursing and harm 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

🇯🇵 JapanSakabashira逆柱 A reversed wooden pillar in Japanese folk belief, said to cause misfortune or ward off disasterBelief · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇵🇱 PolandFrankenstein town gravediggers scandal A 1606 witchcraft trial in Silesia that may have inspired Mary Shelley's novelBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese sorcery scares A series of moral panics in Imperial China driven by fears of magical harm and hair cuttingBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇫🇷 FranceMagonia A cloud realm of aerial sailors blamed for hail and stolen grain in medieval EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreDevil's Footprints A 1855 English mystery of hoof-like tracks appearing across snow-covered landscapesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesBelled buzzard A folklore omen of disaster, depicted as a vulture wearing a bellBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomChained Oak A Staffordshire oak bound in chains by a local legend of a curse and an earl.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreChain letterFukou no Tegami A message that demands copying and forwarding to avoid bad luck or gain fortuneBelief · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreCurse of Ham A biblical story used to justify slavery and racial discriminationBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceLoudun possessionsaffaire des possédées de Loudun A 17th-century witchcraft trial in France involving alleged demonic possession by Ursuline nuns.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreDrude A Germanic nightmare spirit and the pentagram charm used to keep it outBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 3 moreDeal with the Devil A cultural trope of trading one's soul for worldly favours in exchange for demonic aidBelief · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan and 3 moreCurse of TimurПроклятие Тамерлана A rumor that disturbing the conqueror's tomb brings invasion and calamity.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 3 moreUmayyad tradition of cursing Ali A state policy to denounce Ali during communal prayers under the Umayyad CaliphateRite · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreDivine retribution Supernatural punishment by a deity in response to anger or wrongdoingBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreStalloStállu A large, clumsy creature from Sámi folklore that eats people and is often outwitted by humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Kennedy curse: Walt Cisco, Dallas Morning News, Public domain, source
Occultism in Nazism: Peretz Kaminsky, Public domain, source
Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
Stallo: John Bauer, Public domain, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Unclean force: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Jiangshi: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
Div: Unknown Calligrapher, Public domain, source
Indrajala: Abishekrl15156, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bamberg witch trials: Berthold Werner, Public domain, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Devil's Footprints: John Good, Public domain, source
Frankenstein town gravediggers scandal: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
Belled buzzard: Saturday Evening Post Irvin Cobb Douglas Durr, Public domain, source
Drude: Ramessos, Public domain, source
Deal with the Devil: Christoph, Public domain, source
Witchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome: Wilhelm Tischbein, Public domain, source
Loudun possessions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Curse of Ham: Ксенофонтов Иван Степанович. Ksenofóntov Iván Stepánovich (1817-1875), Public domain, source
Chain letter: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Chained Oak: Gary Rogers, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Kamikiri: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
Leviathan: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
Bideford witch trial: Totnesmartin, Public domain, source
Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali: Anwar Rizvi, CC BY 2.0, source
Divine retribution: John Martin, Public domain, source
The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source
Sakabashira: Unknown author, Public domain, source