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

🇮🇷 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 StatesCurse of Tippecanoe An urban legend linking US presidential deaths to election years ending in zero.Belief · Cursing and harm Fading

🇺🇸 United StatesKennedy curse A pattern of tragedies linked to the American Kennedy familyBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇾🇪 YemenDhu'l-Khalasaذُو الْخَلَصَة A pre-Islamic shrine in Yemen destroyed by early Muslim forces.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling 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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreQareenقرين A spiritual companion or double assigned to every human in Islamic beliefBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living

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

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreZduhaćздухаћ A South Slavic belief in men who fight storms and hail to protect their cropsBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreSaciSaci-pererê A one-legged prankster of Brazilian folklore who hides in dust devils and wears a magic red cap.Figure · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Living 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreSoucouyant A shape-shifting vampire spirit of Caribbean folklore that sheds its skin to fly as a fireballBeing · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇪 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

🇫🇷 FranceChamalières tabletPlomb de Chamalières A Gaulish lead tablet from a French spa, read as either a curse or a healing prayer.Text · Cursing and harm · Healing Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreUnclean forceнечисть A Slavic term for evil spirits and the undead that inhabit the natural worldBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇸🇾 SyriaLilulilû (Akkadian), lilu (Sumerian) A class of Mesopotamian spirits linked to unfulfilled lives and illnessBeing · Cursing and harm · Healing 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

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaoist coin charm道教品壓生錢 Chinese and Vietnamese numismatic charms used for protection and feng shuiCharm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLei Ting curse charm符咒钱 A numismatic charm invoking the thunder god to banish evil spirits.Charm · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomWirry-cow A Scottish folk figure representing a frightening object or spiritBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreShamanism in Europe Scholarly theories on shamanic elements in European folk beliefs and witch trialsTradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical

🇱🇰 Sri LankaMara A Buddhist figure representing the forces that block spiritual awakening and keep beings trapped in rebirth.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living

🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreAstaroth An arch-demon in Western occultism, derived from the ancient goddess Astarte.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical

🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreOrder of the Solar TempleOrdre du Temple solaire A neo-Templar new religious movement responsible for mass deaths in the 1990s.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChortчёрт A Slavic demon spirit with horns and hooves, known in folklore as a trickster or minor evil force.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity 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

🇫🇷 FranceTitivillus A medieval demon who collects scribal errors and liturgical mistakes in a sack.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇹🇷 Turkey and 4 moreAl BastyAlbastı A female spirit of guilt and childbirth found in Turkic and Caucasian folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreAbyzou A female demon of envy who targets newborns and pregnant women in late antique magic.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMogwai魔鬼 A Chinese term for demons and evil spirits, borrowed from Sanskrit lore through Buddhism.Being · Cursing and harm 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

🇯🇵 JapanAkuma悪魔（あくま） An evil spirit in Japanese folklore, later used for Satan in ChristianityBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 3 moreDuppy A Caribbean term for a ghost or malevolent spirit, rooted in West African folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇱 IsraelAgrat bat Mahlatאגרת בת מחלת A demon in Jewish tradition who rules over destructive spirits and night hours.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCola Pesce An Italian merman legend about a boy cursed by his mother to live in the seaFigure · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreTerritorial spirit A belief that demons or angels rule over specific lands and nations.Belief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living 🇷🇺 RussiaHabernitsa A noon demon of Slavic fields who punishes workers and causes pain.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreWiedergänger A German term for a revenant or ghost that returns to the world of the living.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇫🇷 FranceYan-gant-y-tan A Breton demon who carries five candles and is said to bring bad luck.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment 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

🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreNight ravennattravn A nocturnal creature of European folklore, feared as a child-stealer or seen as a ghost in bird form.Being · Cursing and harm Historical

🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 moreSárkány A winged reptilian beast from Hungarian folklore, linked to weather and literary heroes.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayDeildegast A Norwegian ghost bound to boundary stones it moved in lifeBeing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇸 IcelandYule catJólakötturinn A giant feline from Icelandic folklore that threatens those without new Christmas clothesFigure · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMaternal impression A discredited theory that a mother's shock or thoughts can mark her unborn childBelief · Cursing and harm 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
Qareen: عامر شاہین, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Zduhać: Bidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
Obake: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞), Public domain, source
Order of the Solar Temple: George Stock derivative work: thumperward ( talk ), Public domain, source
Curse of Tippecanoe: Albert Gallatin Hoit, Public domain, source
Chamalières tablet: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Unclean force: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Lei Ting curse charm: Donald_Trung, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Div: Unknown Calligrapher, Public domain, source
Taoist coin charm: Etnografiska Museet, CC BY 2.5, source
Astaroth: M. Jarrault, Public domain, source
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source
Strix: Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Titivillus: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Abyzou: Paul Perdirizet (1870-4 juin 1938), Public domain, source
Mogwai: Gisling, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Gello: Filippino Lippi, Public domain, source
Wiedergänger: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Yan-gant-y-tan: Louis Le Breton, Public domain, source
Night raven: Kim Diaz Holm (den unge herr Holm), CC BY 4.0, source
Dusios: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Sárkány: Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, source
Mara: Under the Bo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
Yule cat: Christine Rondeau, CC BY 2.0, source
Chort: Unknown author, Public domain, source
The Hairy Leg: Diógenes Montenegro, Public domain, source