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

🇦🇺 AustraliaRainbow Serpent A creator spirit of water and land in Aboriginal Australian mythologyBeing · Healing · Cursing and harm Living

🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreMjölnirMjǫllnir The hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor, used as a weapon and for blessingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

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

🇨🇳 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

🇷🇺 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 🇮🇹 ItalyWitch trials in Italy Historic legal proceedings against alleged witches across Italian states from the 14th to 18th centuries.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇪🇸 SpainBasque witch trials A seventeenth-century Inquisition campaign against alleged witches in the Basque Country.Belief · 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

🇪🇸 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText · Cursing and harm · Power and authority 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 7 moreSatanic panic A moral panic over unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cults abusing children in the late twentieth centuryBelief · Cursing and harm 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

🇬🇭 GhanaWitchcraft in Ghana Beliefs in harmful magic and the social violence that follows accusations in GhanaBelief · Cursing and harm Living

🇨🇭 SwitzerlandValais witch trials The first systematic European witch-hunt, beginning in the Valais region of Switzerland in 1428.Tradition · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreTrial by combat A medieval legal practice where two disputants fought to settle a caseRite · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 RussiaBlack magic Magic traditionally defined by malevolent intent and selfish purposesBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomSamlesbury witches Three Lancashire women acquitted in a 1612 trial linked to anti-Catholic propagandaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreRabisu A wind spirit in Akkadian myth sent to correct human transgressionsBeing · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYoginiयोगिनी A female master of yoga and tantra, or a fierce goddess aspect in Indian temples.Tradition · Power and authority · Protection Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomSpectral evidence Court testimony based on visions of spirits during historical witch trialsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreThe Holy Blood and the Holy Grail A 1982 book proposing Jesus had a bloodline protected by a secret societyText · Cursing and harm Historical 🇮🇳 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 🇳🇱 NetherlandsCornelius Loos A Catholic priest who publicly opposed the European witch trials of the late 1500s.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇿🇦 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

🇸🇪 SwedenTorsåker witch trials The largest mass execution of witches in Swedish history, carried out in a single day.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBaba YagaБаба Яга A Slavic witch who lives in a turning hut and flies in a mortarFigure · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary 🇵🇱 PolandWitch trials in Poland A historical record of sorcery prosecutions and executions in Poland from the 15th to the 19th century.Belief · 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomPaisley witches A 1697 Scottish witch trial ending in mass execution after a child's illness sparked local panic.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyPhilipp Adolf von Ehrenberg A German prince-bishop who directed a massive witch-hunt in the 1620sFigure · Cursing and harm Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch trials in early modern Scotland A period of judicial persecution where thousands were executed for alleged sorcery and diabolic pactsBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreLa Llorona A vengeful ghost in Hispanic American folklore who mourns drowned children near water.Figure · Cursing and harm Living

🇩🇪 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 🇬🇧 United KingdomWiccan Rede A moral guideline for Wiccans stating that actions should cause no harm.Text · Cursing and harm Living

🇮🇳 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

🇪🇬 EgyptCurse of the pharaohs A belief that disturbing ancient Egyptian tombs brings illness or death to the living.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇸🇪 SwedenMora witch trial A 1669 Swedish mass execution driven by child testimony and European hysteriaBelief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreStrigoi A Romanian undead spirit linked to witchcraft and vampirismBeing · 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

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

🇬🇧 United KingdomBideford witch trial The final English hangings for witchcraft in 1682.Belief · Cursing and harm Historical 🇳🇴 NorwayVardø witch trials A major Scandinavian persecution of women accused of sorcery in 17th-century NorwayBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇮🇳 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

🇬🇧 United KingdomWitch trials in England A historical period of legal persecution for alleged sorcery in England from the 15th to the 18th centuryBelief · Cursing and harm Historical

🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical 🇪🇪 Estonia and 1 moreWitch trials in Latvia and Estonia Early modern persecutions of sorcery and paganism by Baltic German authoritiesBelief · Cursing and harm · Cleansing and purification Historical

Photo credits on this page

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

Basque witch trials: Alberto-g-rovi, CC BY 3.0, source
Salem Witch Trials: unattributed, Public domain, source
Rabisu: editor Austen Henry Layard , drawing by L. Gruner, Public domain, source
Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Black magic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eliogarcia/ (nick in flickr:creo que soy, CC BY 2.0, source
Torsåker witch trials: Y-näsmannen, CC0, source
Valais witch trials: Dagalia2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Trial by combat: Jörg Breu der Jüngere (died 1547), Paulus Hector Mair (died 1579), Public domain, source
Samlesbury witches: Tom Oates, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Witch trials in early modern Scotland: Unknown author, Public domain, source
La Llorona: Melvin Callejas, Public domain, source
Alp: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
Matthew Hopkins: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Tantra: William Clark, Public domain, source
Curse of the pharaohs: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mora witch trial: Unknown author Unknown author contemporary artist, Public domain, source
Witch trials in the Netherlands: Mathje1963, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bideford witch trial: Totnesmartin, Public domain, source
Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
Baba Yaga: Ivan Bilibin, Public domain, source
Witchcraft in Ghana: SALTN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Witch trials in Denmark: Rigsarkivet - Danish National Archives, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Yogini: Soumendra Barik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Number of the beast: William Blake, Public domain, source
Satanic panic: Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Public domain, source
Upiór: Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicolás Eymerich, Public domain, source
Jiang Ziya: Wang Qi, Public domain, source
Mjölnir: Mårten Eskil Winge, 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