If you were to enter the search phrase “how can I curse someone” into the great Oracle known as Google, you’ll receive nearly 27 million results. Twenty-seven MILLION results. Yowza! At one time or another, for various and sundry reasons, most of us have thought “UGH! I wish I could put a curse on [insert name of the recipient of our wrath here]!” If you’re not one of those people, the rest of us may look at you strangely, but good for you. But what’s the deal with curses, hexes, and the like? Are they real? Is it possible to curse someone? If it is, do YOU have a curse on you? In this article, we’ll look at curses in a bit more detail.
Wicca & Curses
The concept of curses and hexes is part of a larger occult practice known as “baneful magick” which is sometimes (erroneously) called “black magick.” The argument of “white magick vs. black magick” is a topic for another day. According to the Llewellyn Encyclopedia, baneful magick is “[a]ny spell, ritual, or technique that is used in a way that is harmful—mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually—to the subject of the magick.” So where does Wicca stand with respect to curses, hexes, and other acts of baneful magick? The answer (which, you’ve probably already figured out if you’ve read any of my previous articles) is “it depends.”
The vast majority of Wiccans, however, are averse to the practice of anything that harms another person. It’s one of the major reasons why Wicca is one of the few religions that has not and is not at the center of any war. If you read (and adhere to) things like the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Return (aka the “Rule of Three”), then it’s a pretty clear answer: doing harm is a no-no, and that includes putting a curse on someone. There’s a similar (but altogether different) practice called “binding,” but we’ll get to that; all in good time, my pretty. All in good time.
What is a Curse?
Going back to our friends at Llewellyn, they define a curse as “[a] spell or ritual – or the result of the spell or ritual – used to harm someone or punish the person…” So you can see how it fits squarely within the practice of baneful magick. A curse can come in many shapes and sizes, and they are as varied as the individuals who practice the darker occultist arts.
Curses aren’t a uniquely occultist thing, however. Curses are mentioned many times in the Christian Bible, wherein the Christian God doles out curses for disobedience. But again, that’s another topic for another day. We’ll discuss the more modern perspective of curses instead.
I’ve had dozens of requests from (clearly angry) people asking me to put a curse on someone (usually an ex-lover, in-law, or boss). Indeed, by and large, the vast majority of people who want to curse someone are doing it out of anger, hurt, betrayal, or some other heightened negative emotion. Obviously.
When was the last time you heard someone say, “So-and-so is such a sweetheart! Always with a smile and would give the shirt off their back to someone in need. I just want to put a curse on them!” If you DO hear someone say that, back away slowly, don’t make any sudden movements, and keep running, because they’re probably a psychopath.
So when it really comes down to it, what is a curse from a practical real-life perspective? Curses are a magickal ritual performed by people who wish to inflict harm on someone (or several someone’s). At its most basic, a curse is a build-up and release of negative energy. It could be considered the antithesis (or “complete opposite” if you don’t want to use the fancy college words) of the “normal” practice of magick, which is the build-up and release of positive energy. It’s really that simple.
Do Curses Work?
More often than not, curses aren’t as life-threatening as they make it seem in Hollywood. That doesn’t mean, however, that a curse can’t be effective in disturbing someone in their day-to-day lives. Energy is still sent out; and the Universe makes no moral distinction between energy being worked for good or ill.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that if a person puts a “curse” on another person, that the recipient of that curse will mysteriously fall ill, lose their job, lose their marriage, and lose their minds… or does it?
Simply put, curses have as much power as we allow them to have over us. We are all in control of the energy that affects us, in that we have the power and free will to act (or react) in any way. That applies to any situation, regardless of whether someone somewhere put a “curse” on you. Whether the worker of the energy (the originator) is practicing withcraft, voodoo, Santeria, or Religion of the Great and Mighty Pygmy Marmoset, energy is energy.
And once you take the “eek” out of a curse, it’s actually very easy to deal with.
Countering a Curse
So let’s say you learned that your vindictive ex-lover went to a voodoo priest and had a curse put on you. How you react to it will determine how much power it has. If you allow it to scare you out of your mind, then guess what? It’s going to scare you out of your mind. From that moment forward, your mind will begin to subconsciously (and consciously) attribute every bad thing that happens to you to the curse.
Everything from always getting stuck at the red light to your car breaking down to that time you bit into your burrito too hard and chipped your tooth. Left unaddressed, the mentality towards that curse from your ex will begin to consume your life. But when you break it down, the curse was only a very small part of your ill-fated events.
The worst thing you can do in response to negative energy is to respond with more negative energy. Anger, fear, anxiety, panic… these are all negative energies, and it will simply foster more and more negative energy. So if you learn of a person who has allegedly placed a curse on you, it’s okay to feel angry at the situation, but don’t let that negativity fester.
Instead, perform a protection ritual (you can find some great protection rituals in the Spells & Rituals section), do a cleansing of your home with sage, and operate at a high vibration by radiating love, happiness, joy, and harmony with nature and with yourself. As you do so, you’ll be putting up energetic barriers that the negative energy cannot cross.
But what do you do if you’re reading this and you were told a month ago, a year ago, ten years ago that you were cursed? The process is the same, though it might require slightly more effort to get rid of the negativity. The longer negative energy is allowed to fester, the deeper it burrows into your life. So you might need to step up the power of the ritual you perform.
The intent behind the ritual should be focused on removing the negative energy, NOT the curse. Why? As I said earlier, the curse itself is only a small part of the equation. The majority of the equation is the negative energy that has built up around you and within you. It will require a shift in mentality, a change in your mindset. If you’ve been operating for months or years(!) under the assumption that every bad thing that happens to you is because of a curse, then it’s going to take some time until you’re able to reprogram yourself to the reality that you’re the one in control of your life.
Curses & Charlatans
Does the following sound familiar? You have a reading done by a psychic, Tarot reader, or other mystic. Things seem to be going well; they’ve picked up on things that they couldn’t possibly know, and you listen intently as they dispense their reading. Then, at the end (or the middle, or maybe even the beginning) they tell you that there’s a powerful curse or hex on you! Troubled, you ask for more details, which may or may not be given; just that it’s powerful! Not to worry, though. The mystic can remove the curse for you for the low, low price of X dollars. You feverishly fork over the cash. I mean, they knew things that you didn’t reveal, so they must be genuine, right?
Wrong. Well, sort of. There are people out there who have a genuine gift of intuitive abilities, but who use them for less-than-honorable means. The scenario above is sadly all too common in the world of the esoteric arts. Then there are people who don’t have a gifted bone in their body, except for the “gift” of being able to convince someone that they need their pricey services to remove a hex placed on you or your family.
In addition to being the witty mind behind WiccanUniverse.com, I also read Tarot (in case you didn’t know, you can book a Tarot reading with me by clicking the link! End shameless self-promotion), and as if that didn’t make me quirky enough, I’m also the co-founder of a volunteer paranormal investigation group here in Las Vegas, NV, US. In my practice as a Tarot reader, and as a paranormal investigator, I’ve come across many people who tell me:
“This witch [or psychic, etc.] told me I needed to get this curse removed. But after I paid the first $200, they came back and said the curse is stronger than they thought, and it would cost another $500, so I paid it.” Some people have been duped out of tens of thousands of dollars by falling victim to such ruses.
Let me set the record straight: There are genuine people out there who offer psychic readings and Tarot readings at a reasonable fee based on their gift and their experience. This is normal, and most of us hold ourselves to a very high standard. I read Tarot for people because I have a genuine desire to help others. For those of us who do this from a place of genuine love, we collect a fee to help us make a living, and to keep our websites (for those who operate on this modality) up and running with fresh content.
But if you’re ever asked to pay a fee to someone to remove a curse, don’t do it! First and foremost, don’t do it because they’re trying to play to your fears. Secondly, you’ve just read how you can deal with any alleged curse on your own and/or with the help of like-minded friends or family. The charlatans who “hook” you have no intention of helping you. They have every intention of helping themselves to whatever money you give them.
So while I do charge a fair (at least in my mind) rate for my Tarot services, I’ll never charge to educate you on how you can take control of your situation and flip that negativity over on its back and bring in positive energy to live a happy, healthy, “curse-free” life. And any psychic or worker of the esoteric arts who is “above board” and has integrity will most likely be the same way.
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