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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
🇯🇵 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 🇨🇳 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 🇯🇵 JapanNoppera-bōのっぺらぼう A faceless spirit from Japanese folklore that mimics human appearanceBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇯🇵 JapanKamo no Yasunori賀茂 保憲 A Heian-era onmyōji and teacher of Abe no Seimei in Japanese esoteric artsFigure · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanInugami犬神 A Japanese spirit of dog possession and folk sorceryBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority 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 🇯🇵 JapanShikigami式神 A conjured spirit from Japanese Onmyōdō, often bound to paper or animal form.Being · Power and authority · 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 🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神 Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical 🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊 A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity 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 🇨🇳 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 🇯🇵 JapanUkehi誓 A Japanese divination ritual using oaths and sortition to seek the will of the kamiRite · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm 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 moreJiji ru lüling急急如律令 A Taoist incantation demanding immediate action from spiritsText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaDongti동티 Divine punishment in Korean mythology, often manifesting as sudden illness or death.Belief · 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 🇯🇵 JapanNurikabe塗り壁 A spirit that manifests as an invisible wall to block travelers at nightBeing · Cursing and harm 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 🇯🇵 JapanAkuma悪魔（あくま） An evil spirit in Japanese folklore, later used for Satan in ChristianityBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean virgin ghost처녀귀신 (cheonyeo-gwisin) A spirit of an unmarried woman who died with resentment in Korean folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths 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 🇯🇵 JapanKamikiri髪切り A Japanese yōkai blamed for the sudden disappearance of human hairBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanShinigami死神 A Japanese spirit or deity associated with inviting humans toward deathBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanUmi zatō海座頭 A sea yōkai depicted as a giant blind musician that threatens shipsBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanNoderabō野寺坊 A Japanese yōkai of abandoned temples and broken vowsBeing · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYamajijii山爺 A one-eyed mountain spirit from Shikoku folklore known for its thunderous voice and unpredictable nature.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreLegend of the White Snake白蛇傳 A Chinese folktale about a snake spirit who becomes human to love a mortal manFigure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanDatsue-ba奪衣婆 A Japanese underworld figure who strips clothes from spirits at the river of deathBeing · 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 🇯🇵 JapanDaigensuihō大元帥法 An Esoteric Shingon Buddhist rite for military defense and cursing enemiesRite · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical 🇯🇵 JapanAyakashi妖 Water spirits and ghost lights in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreVerliokaВерлиока A cross-eyed monster from East Slavic folk talesFigure · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanHashihime橋姫 A Japanese bridge spirit linked to jealousy and demonic transformation in folklore and Noh theatre.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇯🇵 JapanYosuzume夜雀 A Japanese mountain spirit that appears as a bird or butterfly and signals the presence of wolves.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical

Photo credits on this page

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.