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

🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreMurder for body parts The killing of people to harvest body parts for traditional medicine or the illegal organ trade.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDaayanदायन A vengeful female spirit from Indian folklore, often blamed for misfortune and witchcraft accusations.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreBelialבְּלִיַּעַל A Hebrew term for worthlessness that evolved into a demon of darkness in Jewish and Christian texts.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreWitch trials in Hungary A centuries-long series of persecutions for sorcery that ended with imperial decree.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 KingdomPricking A method used during European witch trials to locate a supposed insensitive mark on an accused person.Rite · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreUpiórупіор A demonic spirit from Slavic and Turkic folklore that is believed to return from the dead to feed on the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesSalem Witch Trials A colonial legal crisis where over two hundred people faced accusations of sorcery in Massachusetts.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇳🇱 NetherlandsWitch trials in the Netherlands A historical record of prosecutions and executions for sorcery in the Dutch Republic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyMalleus Maleficarum A 15th-century manual on witchcraft written by Heinrich KramerText · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreJiang Ziya姜子牙 A historical strategist and war god who helped establish the Zhou dynastyFigure · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived

🇨🇦 CanadaNanabozhoᓇᓇᐳᔓ A shapeshifting spirit and trickster in Anishinaabe storytelling from North AmericaBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

🇦🇺 AustraliaRainbow Serpent A creator spirit of water and land in Aboriginal Australian mythologyBeing · Healing · Cursing and harm Living 🇵🇪 Peru and 1 morePishtacoñañaq; kharisiri An Andean bogeyman said to steal human fat for oil and medicineBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living 🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWill-o'-the-wisp A ghostly light in folklore that guides or misleads travellers over marshes and bogs.Belief · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreNornsnornir Fate-weaving figures from Norse myth who shape human destiny and tend the world tree.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomBoggart A malevolent household spirit from northern English folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyAlp A Germanic spirit that presses on sleepers and drinks milkBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomMatthew Hopkins The English witch-hunter who led the deadliest wave of executions in Britain.Figure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神 Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreDakiniḍākinī A goddess figure in Hinduism and Buddhism, ranging from flesh-eating demoness to enlightened energy.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptLucifer A Latin name for the planet Venus that became an epithet for the Devil in Christian traditionFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreWitch's mark A bodily mark believed to prove a pact with the Devil during early modern witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 4 moreTantraतन्त्र An esoteric yogic tradition from India focusing on ritual, mantra, and body-based spiritual practices.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇫🇷 France and 4 moreWitch trials in the early modern period A wave of prosecutions across Europe and British America from the 1400s to the late 1700s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomEnglish folklore The myths, legends, and customs of England passed down through generations.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Living

🇩🇪 GermanyWürzburg witch trials A mass execution of hundreds in a German Catholic principality during the Thirty Years WarBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇱 IsraelNumber of the beastἈριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου A biblical number linked to a prophetic figure and interpreted through ancient letter values.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSatanism A modern set of beliefs using the figure of Satan as a symbol or deity.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living 🇫🇷 France and 3 moreChristian Kabbalah A Renaissance effort to read Christian theology into Jewish mysticismTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMedieval European magic A broad category of ritual and natural practices in the Middle Ages, blending healing, divination, and religious belief.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWild Hunt A spectral chase across Europe led by a mythic figure and ghostly riders.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenMora witch trial A 1669 Swedish mass execution driven by child testimony and European hysteriaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 France and 3 moreWitches' Sabbath A legendary gathering of witches described in early modern trial records and folkloreBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreJack A trickster hero from English folklore who outwits giants and oppressorsFigure · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇪 IrelandBodach A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreMare A spirit that sits on sleepers to cause nightmares and physical distressBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreIfritعفريت A class of powerful chthonic spirits in Islamic tradition and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreWitch trials in Finland A historical record of legal persecution for magic in a region where men were common targets.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪 A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇪🇹 EthiopiaPlanetary hours A system assigning celestial rulers to each hour of the day and weekTradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenWitch trials in Denmark A history of legal executions and local panics against sorcery in early modern Denmark.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇸 IcelandGaldrabók An Icelandic grimoire of spells and staves from around 1600Text · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 EgyptDemon A supernatural entity believed to cause harm or possess humansBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
Witch-cult hypothesis: Francisco Goya, Public domain, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Matthew Hopkins: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Tantra: William Clark, Public domain, source
Mora witch trial: Unknown author Unknown author contemporary artist, Public domain, source
Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Pricking: Heinrichkramer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Upiór: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicolás Eymerich, Public domain, source
Jiang Ziya: Wang Qi, Public domain, source
Nanabozho: D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rainbow Serpent: unknown (as drawn by an Aboriginal), Public domain, source
Will-o'-the-wisp: Hermann Hendrich, Public domain, source
Norns: file: James Steakley ; artwork: Gustav Heidenreich, Public domain, source
Boggart: Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Dakini: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
Lucifer: Gustave Doré, Public domain, source
Witch's mark: T. H. Matteson, Public domain, source
English folklore: J. R. Skelton, Public domain, source
Würzburg witch trials: Sweet Chily, Public domain, source
Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
Medieval European magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Wild Hunt: Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain, source
Jack: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
Mare: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Ifrit: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋暁斎), Public domain, source
Witch trials in the early modern period: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Demon: Martin Schongauer, Public domain, source
Bamberg witch trials: Berthold Werner, Public domain, source
Malleus Maleficarum: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the Netherlands: Mathje1963, CC BY-SA 4.0, source