Curses are incantations performed for the purpose of causing harm or misfortune to befall someone either on the part of the caster or on the behalf of someone else. The idea of curses has been around practically since the dawn of time and all the major cultures of the world have beliefs about curses and supernaturally based misfortune, including ways to block or cure curses after they are cast and ways to prevent curses from being cast. In our modern era societies tend to view curses in a more light-hearted fashion, calling misfortunes in things like sporting events ‘curses’ because they extend for long periods of time and seem to have no obvious reason behind them.
Types of Curses
There are three main types of curses: quick, long and object bound. Quick curses can be broken down into a few different categories, written, verbal, the evil eye, and spitting. Because a curse is all about intention, quick curses can be quite powerful. For example, spitting can be a very powerful curse because you have to quickly create enough saliva to spit while your ire at whatever you are cursing is still acute enough to make the curse effective. The evil eye is a curse with a long tradition and history. It takes time to master and care must be taken as it is all too easy to accidentally curse someone with the evil eye and not even mean to. Verbal curses, like written curses, are curses based on words. Spoken at your intended victim they are as powerful as the intention behind them. When written, the curse must be in proximity to the person in order to be most effective.
Long Form
Long form curses are those that have time and effort taken in their planning. These often involve chanting and spell casting. You will want to, again, be cautious as you are putting your curse together. Make sure the amount of energy and emotion behind the curse is appropriate. Always remember the rule of three: whatever you send out into the universe will return to you three times as strong. If you put too much emotion and strength into a curse it will come back and cause even greater harm to you.
Object Bound
Object bound curses are those curses that have been attached to an object. This object isn’t always on a particular person that the curse caster intends for the curse to affect, but on other objects that people in general may come into contact with. Many of these sorts of cursed items can be found in places like antique stores – perhaps the original caster intended it for just one person, but over time the cursed object ended up where it could affect others. Or, perhaps, the caster simply meant to cause harm to all or did not know they were casting a spell that could harm others and so the item sits and affects those around it who unknowingly come into contact with it. In some cases, objects that are curse bound have actually become haunted and simply need help being freed from a spirit that has gotten trapped inside them.
