Curse

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(Redirected from
Execration
)
A woman performs a cursing ritual (Hokusai)

A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison,

magic (usually black magic) or witchcraft; in the latter sense, a curse can also be called a hex or a jinx. In many belief systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is sometimes called "removal" or "breaking", as the spell has to be dispelled, and often requires elaborate rituals or prayers.[2]

Types

Ancient Greek curse tablet, text written onto a lead sheet, 4th century BC, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens.

The study of the forms of curses comprises a significant proportion of the study of both

Hindu culture, the Sage or Rishi is believed to have the power to bless (Āshirvada or Vara) and curse (Shaapa). Examples include the curse placed by Rishi Bhrigu on king Nahusha[3] and the one placed by Rishi Devala.[4]
Special names for specific types of curses can be found in various cultures:

Egyptians and mummies

Dynasty XXII
. The inscription celebrates a donation of land to an Egyptian temple, and places a curse on anyone who would misuse or appropriate the land.

There is a broad popular belief in curses being associated with the violation of the tombs of

Ötzi the Iceman
". While such curses are generally considered to have been popularized and sensationalized by British journalists of the 19th century, ancient Egyptians were, in fact, known to place curse inscriptions on markers protecting temple or tomb goods or property.

In the Bible

Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld

According to the

the Law (Leviticus 26:14–25, Deuteronomy 27:15, etc.). The 10 Plagues of Egypt, preceding the 10 Commandments, can be seen as curses cast from the rods of Aaron and Moses acting on instruction from the God of Israel, in order to enable the enthralled to come free from the yoke of enforced serfdom, slavery
and the like.

In the

In Japanese culture

public urination
in that location will be cursed

In Japanese culture, there are two kinds of curses. One is called Tatari, the other is called Noroi.[citation needed]

Tatari is believed to occur due to people breaking taboo, including disrespecting kami (deities).[citation needed]

On the other hand, Noroi is a curse in which certain malicious practitioners actively curse others.[citation needed]

Objects

Ancient Greek cursed object against enemies in a trial, written on a lead figurine put in a lead box, 420-410 BC, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Cursed objects are generally supposed to have been stolen from their rightful owners or looted from a sanctuary. The Hope Diamond is supposed to bear such a curse, and bring misfortune to its owner. The stories behind why these items are cursed vary, but they usually are said to bring bad luck or to manifest unusual phenomena related to their presence. Busby's stoop chair was reportedly cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby shortly before his execution so that everyone who would sit in it would die.

According to the Bible, cursed objects are those which are used in idolatry whether that idolatry is indirectly or directly connected to the devil. A list of those Bible references along with a comprehensive list of occult and cursed objects can be found online.[7]

Bishop Dunbar's curse

The Cursing Stone art work in Carlisle, England, by Gordon Young with an extract from the bishop's curse

In 1525 Gavin Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland, pronounced a curse on the Anglo-Scottish Border reivers and caused it to be read out in all churches in the border area. It comprehensively cursed the reivers and their families from head to toe and in every way.[8][9] In 2003 a 371-word extract from the curse was carved into a 14 ton granite boulder as part of an art work by Gordon Young which was installed in Carlisle; some local people believed that a series of misfortunes (floods, factory closure, footballing defeats etc) were caused by the curse, and campaigned unsuccessfully for the destruction of the stone.[10][11]

As a plot device

Curses have also been used as plot devices in literature and theater. When used as a plot device, they involve one character placing a curse or hex over another character. This is distinguished from adverse spells and premonitions and other such plot devices. Examples of the curse as a plot device:

  • Rigoletto – Count Monterone places a curse on Rigoletto. Rigoletto blames the climactic death of his daughter on the curse.
  • Romeo and Juliet – A dying Mercutio curses the Montagues and Capulets with "A plague o' both your houses." (Often quoted as "a pox on both your houses.")
  • Princess Aurora
    to die on her 16th birthday.
  • Beauty and the Beast – A fairy punishes a conceited prince by transforming him into a hideous beast.
  • The Six Swans (and variants) – a mother curses her six (seven, twelve) sons into bird form, and their sister must sew magic shirts to reverse the transformation
  • ShrekPrincess Fiona was cursed to be human by day, but ogre by night.
  • There Will Be Blood – Daniel Plainview was cursed by Eli Sunday through "blessing" of Daniel's oil rig and through "baptism".[citation needed]
  • Lady Dimitrescu
    tormenting and taunting him that he will never see his daughter Rose again and utters a curse on him before disintegrates and calcifies to her death.
  • Drag Me To Hell
    – Christine Brown was cursed by Sylvia Ganush to experience three days of torture, then the lamia will drag her to hell.
  • Someone Behind You – Ga-in finds herself being the target of an ancient family curse fearing that her family and friends are out to kill her.
  • firstborn son turn into stone
    at the age of 10.

Sports

A number of curses are used to explain the failures or misfortunes of specific sports teams, players, or even cities. For example:

  • No first-time winner of the
    Crucible Curse
    .
  • The Curse of the Billy Goat was used to explain the failures of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, who did not win a World Series championship between 1908 and 2016, and a National League pennant between 1945 and 2016.
  • The Curse of the Bambino is a cliche popularized by a Boston Globe sportswriter to describe a decades-long championship drought for the Boston Red Sox team in Major League Baseball. "Bambino" was a nickname for Babe Ruth, the team's star when Boston won the last three of its first five World Series titles. In 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to his team's archrival New York Yankees, which won four World Series with him. It took Boston 86 years to win another World Series. The Red Sox reversed history in the 2004 American League Championship Series (ALCS), losing the first three games of a best-of-seven series against the Yankees before winning four in a row to take the league pennant in unprecedented and dramatic style. This comeback is considered one of the greatest in sports history. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series in four games, a triumph which many fans considered the end of the "curse." The Red Sox have won three more World Series since then.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Definition of CURSE". Definition of Curse by Merriam-Webster. 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  2. .
  3. . Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. ^ Buddhaghosha (1870). Buddhaghosha's Parables: translated from Burmese by Captain T. Rogers: With an Introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, or "Path of Virtue", translated from Pâli by F. Max Müller. Trübner. p. 22.
  5. ^ On Genesis 3:17 cf. Andreas Dorschel, 'Entwurf einer Theorie des Fluchens', Variations 23 (2015), § 29, pp. 167–175, pp. 174–175
  6. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Cursing" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  7. ^ Reality, Truth in (2012-10-27). "Occult and Cursed Objects List". Truth in Reality. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  8. ^ "The Border Reivers - The Curse". BBC Cumbria. July 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2022. Includes text of curse, in English
  9. ^ "Dare You Read the Curse?". News and Star. 10 March 2005. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2022. includes full text of curse, in original Scots
  10. ^ "Cursing Stone & Reiver Pavement". Gordon Young. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  11. ^ "They're doomed: the curse of Carlisle". The Guardian. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. ^ Mesure, Susie (29 November 2009). "Shaven but stirred: the Gillette curse". Tribune News. Tribune.ie. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  13. ^ Mesure, Susie (29 November 2009). "Henry, Woods, Federer: The curse of Gillette". The Independent. Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2010.

Further reading

External links

  • Quotations related to Curse at Wikiquote