Curses & hexes

The basic curse or hex is perhaps one of the oldest forms of magic dating back thousands of years with forms of hexes and curses being used in many cultures and traditions. Hexes vary considerably in different hands and can range from the simple to the more elaborate and can be cast in a variety of ways, the most simplest of curses and hexes do nothing more than bring the person bad luck while the more elaborate can cause many problems with the victims wealth, health and even specified body parts.

The very basic hex or curse can be a spoken curse wishing bad luck and unhappiness on the intended victim; this is usually invoked by briefly describing what you want to happen to the victim followed by a sacred word or magical name.

Gypsy curses

Gypsy curses are perhaps the best known of all curses, exactly why is not known, but it probably stems from gypsy fortune telling of many years ago and one of the most famous of all gypsy curses which has been portrayed on TV many times is. "May you wander over the face of the earth forever, never sleep twice in the same bed, never drink water twice from the same well and never cross the same river twice in a year".

As you can see gypsy curses can be pretty elaborate and not just simply one or two words, after all if we could be cursed or hexed with just a couple of simple words the parents of almost every teenage child would drop dead on the spot.

Voodoo, curses and hexes

Voodoo has long been recognised as a form of curse or hex, this tradition involves the use of a figure crafted in the fashion of the intended victim and often has some trait of the victim such as hair or blood. The practitioner of voodoo would then use pins to stick in the doll with the hope of causing the victim great pain and suffering; the practice of voodoo is thought to have come from the Caribbean.

Different forms of curses and hexes

People throughout the world have their own different beliefs on curses and hexes with all of them intending to bring trouble and strife to the unsuspecting victim, the Chinese believe that they can deliver a curse by leaving a few grains of rice and some pennies on the victim's doorstep. This type of curse symbolizes a wish for the victim to have great financial difficulty.

More recently a Tanzanian member of parliament declared they would put an Islamic death curse on the board members of a Tanzanian executive branch if they didn't clean up corruption. The aboriginal Australians strongly believe that a curse can be put on someone by pointing a kangaroo bone at them and curses have always been associated with the Egyptians.

King Tutankhamen's tomb is a great example of this and it has always been shrouded with mystery and anyone said to have been associated with the opening of the tomb was cursed with six of the people involved with the opening of the tomb meeting untimely and unfortunate deaths.

The curse of Rasputin

Perhaps one of the most famous of all curses was the one which Rasputin mumbled from his deathbed, Rasputin cursed Russia's ruling monarchs due to being shot, almost drowned and castrated by the Romanov prince. This curse was apparently very effective as the entire family were dead within one year.