I put a spell on you…OK hands up who is now humming the fabulous Bette Midler, with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, song from Hocus Pocus 1?
A curse is a malevolent spell that is cast with the purpose of inflicting harm upon another; curses can be spoken, written or given with a look. Objects can also be cursed with bad luck, misfortune, ill health and even death.
Cursing is not something to do regularly or without serious preparation! It should not be done when you are angry or upset. Let the emotions settle first, then decide what course of action to take, as time uncovers more accurately who was involved, and often it turns out things would be better to deal with in mundane ways.
A good way of looking at this is, if you wouldn’t do it in reality, don’t do it with magic. Make sure that what you do, whatever kind of defensive action you take, is equivalent to the action that was taken against you. Think about your plan of action, if you feel uncomfortable in any way, then don’t do it. You have to take responsibility for your actions/reactions, so be very sure that the person you are sending a curse or hex to is the person responsible.
The Romans wrote their curses on lead and stone, often asking a local deity to intervene on their behalf. It is likely that people before that made offerings of items imbued with malicious energy to their Gods, or maybe hid the item near the person it was intended for.
Below are a few examples -
Cursing Stones
Charging a stone with malevolence is an ancient Celtic method of delivering a curse. This is done when you are feeling full of negative emotions such as rage, anger and hatred; you direct all those emotions into the stone. It can then be stored and used later by taking up the stone in your hands, turning it widdershins (anti-clockwise) and directing those emotions to where you want them to go.
This is also a useful way of venting all that anger and frustration by sending it into the stone; you could then drop it into the sea or a river so that those negative emotions wash away.
Agate curse
Inscribing your curse onto an agate will ‘set your curse in stone’.
Cursing Packet
You will need hair, nail clippings, a photo or something the person has written,
Place on a piece of cloth or paper, add anything obnoxious you can think of, whilst constantly visualising what you want to happen to them.
Fold into a pack, tie it up tightly and burn it. Dispose of the ashes well away from your property.
Cursing can be a form of manipulation, but remember, this is interfering with someone's free will! If you decide to change someone’s behaviour the following could be used –
You will need –
Herb/s to match your intention
Fireproof dish
Charcoal disc or candle
Matches/lighter.
Light your disc or candle in/on your dish.
Hold the herb/s in your hand visualising what you want the person to do.
Then sprinkle the herb, taking care not to burn yourself, onto the disc or flame whilst saying –
‘It is not this (herb name) I wish to burn,
But (person’s name) heart to turn,
That they may neither rest not happy be,
Until they (desired action) me!
Herbs for cursing:
Cypress, dragon’s blood, rowan, wormwood, yarrow.
Crystals to work with for curse spells:
Agate, alexandrite, amethyst, angelite, diamond, emerald, flint, shark teeth, garnet, hematite, kunzite, kyanite, obsidian, onyx, opal, ruby.
You can watch a chat about this here
image from Wikipedia
Sources and further reading –
Spells and Charms by Rachel Patterson
Practical Protection Magic by Ellen Dugan
Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones by Stephanie Rose Bird