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EveryJaadu

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 AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
OccasionWeddings and betrothalFestivalsBirth and childhoodDeath and remembranceHarvest, farming and weatherNew yearInitiation and coming of ageIllness and misfortuneJourneys and voyagesEveryday use
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇪🇬 EgyptCurse A spoken wish for misfortune to befall a person or placeBelief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇯🇵 JapanKitsunetsuki狐憑き A Japanese folk belief in which a fox spirit enters and controls a human host.Belief · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreTrial by combat A medieval legal practice where two disputants fought to settle a caseRite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanHyakumonogatari Kaidankai百物語怪談会 An Edo period Japanese parlour game where ghost stories extinguish candles one by oneRite · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreTrial by ordeal An ancient judicial test where guilt or innocence was decided by surviving a painful physical trial.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreChild sacrifice The ritual killing of children to appease deities or restore cosmic order in ancient culturesRite · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇷 GreeceDeipnonδεῖπνον An ancient Athenian lunar offering to Hekate and the restless dead at the month's end.Rite · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKukeriкукери A costumed ritual in Bulgaria to chase away evil spirits and welcome springRite · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇭🇹 HaitiBois Caïman The sacred site where enslaved Africans planned the Haitian Revolution through a Vodou ceremony.Rite · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical 🇪🇸 Spain and 6 moreBurning of Judas An Easter rite where an effigy of the betrayer is destroyed by fire or other meansRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living 🇫🇮 Finland and 5 moreMolybdomancy A divination method using molten metal poured into water to read omensRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomPricking A method used to locate a witch's mark during early modern European witch trialsRite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesDeliverance ministry A Christian practice to remove evil spirits believed to cause personal afflictionRite · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Living 🇺🇸 United StatesBloody Mary A mirror ritual to summon a spirit that reveals the future or brings harmBelief · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇹 ItalyBadaliscBadalisch A mythical goat-headed creature from the Italian Alps, captured and mocked during Epiphany celebrations.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreBirkat haMinimברכת המינים A Jewish liturgical curse against apostates and Christians within the daily standing prayerRite · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical 🇯🇵 JapanUshi no toki mairi丑の時参り A Japanese ritual of cursing performed at a shrine during the early morning hours.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanUkehi誓 A Japanese divination ritual using oaths and sortition to seek the will of the kamiRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection 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 🇯🇵 JapanDaigensuihō大元帥法 An Esoteric Shingon Buddhist rite for military defense and cursing enemiesRite · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇺🇬 UgandaKilling of disabled children in Uganda The ritual murder of disabled children in parts of Uganda for body parts and perceived benefitsRite · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreOrdeal of the bitter waterמֵי הַמָּרִים (mei ha-marim) A biblical test for a wife accused of adultery when no witnesses are present.Rite · Cursing and harm · Protection 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 🇵🇱 Poland and 4 moreMoranaМорена A Slavic goddess of winter and death, whose effigy is drowned to welcome springFigure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living 🇪🇸 SpainHuman sacrifice in the ancient Iberian Peninsula Ancient ritual killings by Lusitanian and Vetton peoples for divination and warRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical

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

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Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.