Where
does the tradition of cursing in Ireland come from?
Curses in Ireland come from the usual roots, folk magic and charms, mythology, and religion (the good versus evil model is simple and always popular) with famous examples of spell curses in folklore (eg the spell placed on Etain that turned her into various animals or the curse placed on the children of Lir.) These qualify as curses because they are malicious, inflict hardship on the victim, and are contingent on a set of extreme circumstances before they can be lifted. Every country area and every town has its own peculiar curses, ways of accidentally (by falling over a rath or fairy fort, or standing on a famine grave) attracting a curse or deliberately inflicting one.
Thus far Ireland is like any other country, but our Filiocht (poets) bequeathed to us another rich magical strain, one which contains the rules for just and unjust curses.
Anyone in any doubt as to our ancestors’ attitudes towards hexing and maledictions should take a cursory glance through the Celtic annals and literature: far from eschewing the so-called “darker” side they were only too ready to whip out a curse and fire off a “backward blessing”. The roots of revenge or malicious magic in Ireland is both ancient and surprisingly well chronicled and provides quite an insight into several aspects of ancient Irish life - including the fact that human beings haven’t changed very much over the years!
Among the ancient Irish malicious magic had its roots in the power of words. like the Heka of egypt, the magic of the spken word was instrinsic to ancient Irish magical traditions, and like the egyptian model it was heavily linked to the idea of truth and honourSo, the greatest insight into cursing in Ancient Ireland comes to us through that Druidic class, The fili (poets) who were honoured for their powers of foresight, eloquence, their mastery and knowledge of poetic forms and styles, as well as being the repository of great knowledge from the lineage of Kings to the magical power of words.
They used words to effect magic: special words or special combinations of words; invocations; and charms. They also had powerful words in a more mundane sense as their opinions were closely listened to and they could make or break reputations.
The flip side of all this is that when crossed the Poets had two main weapons: their power of Satirizing and their power of rhyming. The later was used mainly on the lower animals: Seanchan in “The Proceedings of the Great Bardic Institution”(a famous satiric poem that preceded any recitation of “the Tain”) rhymed the mice of Guaire’s palace to death with a satirical verse when they ate his leftovers after a feast. He then tried the same trick on the cats, but they retaliated fiercely and Seanchan was lucky to escape with his life! This is only one of many examples among Celtic literature of the power of the poets to effect magic.
The higher form “Satire”, was used on the court up to and including Kings.
Satire as a form of Irish Poetry can be divided into two distinct groups: there is unjust and malicious satire and there is just satire. At one time the guidelines between these two forms were very blurred. But as the power of the poets threatened to get out of hand strict guidelines were laid down to control them.
At the time of writing down the literature the actual events were given a Christian spin so that we are told that it was this saint or that saint who subdued the poets, but in reality it was more than likely the secular Brehons who brokered the agreement possibly to preclude any condemnation of the Poets as a class by the rising Priests. Whoever was responsible at any rate clear division was made between the Satires that were acceptable and those that were unjust.
A poet could ask for almost anything in return for his poetry and were richly rewarded for their labours. Chieftains fell over themselves to provide extravagant hospitality and this was the measure of one’s princely status. If a poet was insulted by his patron he could tear up his poems of praise and instead write a satire: this would have at one time killed his victim outright but after the guidelines were accepted, was to raise three blemishes on the cheek of the victim, and these blemishes were shame guilt and ridicule. The blemishes meant the king could no longer rule, as they were now physically imperfect. No wonder kings would not risk alienating their poets.
But if the poets satirized unjustly: if they uttered false and undeserved insults the three blemishes would be raised on their own cheeks! And they would surely die from the humiliation, as no man would listen to them again or accept their opinion.
Many Celtic stories have plotlines that hinge on this device: a poet for some corrupt reason would trap and honest man into some breach of etiquette, such as refusing a direct request from a poet, and then they would satirize their poor victim, but of course in the end the trick would rebound and the poet would lose out for his terrible act!
But Satire was not always outlawed, in some circumstances it was encouraged: the great use of Satire was to punish the unjust ruler. Like the tradition of fasting against someone, it ruined the reputation, made the wrong doer nervous and shamed him with the supernatural three blemishes. It was also used to defend the weak and poor and it was perfectly legitimate in warfare. Poets strode into battle with other Druidic classes and roundly satirized the enemy: the most successful poets would reduce the opposing army to absolute weakness and cowardice!
Thus there is clearly a dual tradition in Ireland of formal cursing, with guidelines as to just and unjust usage. Prior to these guidelines it was a free for all, with the strongest will winning.
Under this general word “satire” malicious magic in these times revolved around the spoken word : some examples include the white, black and spotted eitgead, for example and the Glam Diceann, (popularly called The Hard Word)In Druidic times this was a more formal and specific curse, in modern witchcraft it is used as an umbrella term for Cursing and hexing as a whole.
Anyone wanting to learn more about Satire
should check out John Mathews “Bardic Source Book”:
enough insight has been given here to show the importance of the
poetic word, and the mysterious power of the Poets in a magical
sense, and their use of that power at times to curse and satirize.
Modern
Witchcraft
From the complex laws of Satire evolved the Glam Diceann, the rules of cursing in modern Ireland, the “Hard Word”. As time went by this evolved into a set of specific curses, to be performed under specific circumstances. All of these curses are at the discretion of the practitioner and any one of these types can be used for fair or unfair purposes.
They range from “low” curses, i.e. basic folk magic to “High” curses, immensely powerful spells arranged for an importance purpose. In consequence then there are many anti-curses and charms.
Many Charmers and local practitioners in rural areas made a steady income at one point by charging money to remove curses/jinxes. The likelihood was that if a beast was badly cursed or a human less severely the local wise woman would be your first port of call, while very severe, life threatening curses would be referred to the local priest. Of course the less-then -life-threatening kind of curse was often placed by the wise man/woman in the first place so quite a nice little earner all round!
The witch was also the person to call in the case of accidentally contracting a curse: there were several ways for this to happen, a few include crossing a fairy fort at midnight or on certain days: annoying the fairies : standing on hungry grass* : removing or damaging a fairy tree: eating food put out for the sidhe: crossing a red haired woman or a one legged man: seeing a red haired woman on your way to sea or a woman of any discription stepping on your boat: meeting a funeral and not walking back three steps with it: these were accidents or sins of omission. It was the otherworld in general that you had annoyed- you were not cursed through some human agency.
These kinds of hexes can usually be removed easily: an act of reparation is required, repair of damage or return of goods. But in the case of having crossed hungry grass or a rath no reparation is made, the Irish believing that when it came right down to it, land was land and the land was ours. Instead many rememdies and cures were held to be effective: cutting off a piece of rowan or hawthorn and striking the ground with it, removed the curse of crossing a rath while eating something, even chewing a piece of grass, will cure the "hungry grass hunger". These maladies were believed in, as real as colds or flu, and their importance should not be underestimated. The landscape itself held magic, taboo, danger and remedy and this is a very important part of magical Ireland
.The Glam Diceann
By far the most interesting and dangerous hexes came from humans. here we see the true heritage of the Poets, with ryhmes and satire used as magic curses to ruin and destroy the enemy. Like the ancient art of satire from which it stems, the modern form of Glam Diceann uses words, their secret power and their psychological power, to destroy the enemy. There are rules, there are restrictions and there's a price to pay if you get it wrong, just as it was for the ancient Fili. There is the "low curse" a sort of low grade mischief like making a "wish". The elements of a successful low curse is annoyance, rudeness, irritation : the low curse or mischief is not designed to seriously injure the victim but to render them uncomfortable. Of course amatuers often get the dosage wrong:) !! But by and large its use is to unsettle and irritate (malicious e.g: against a rival in love or career / Just e.g. to teach someone a lesson, sort of like aversion therapy. They repeat the offence, they activate the curse. They stop, the curse stops)
These types of curses are usually bound to some physical relic of the victim, hair or nails being preferred, However even the dust from their footprint can be used to capture their essence and subject it to your influence. However the effect of this magic is short, and localised: some degree of closeness to the victim is necessary. It works best on lovers, family members, Work colleagues and neighbours. In popular fiction this type of largely sympathetic hexing is written up as being powerful, able to encompass the death even of the victim. In reality this magic is used for small jinxes and illwishing.
Its effectiveness is derived from two things, the piece of
physical evidence and the words used to curse. In this level of
magic the spell has often been used in a roughly similar form for
many years, so that the formula is strengthened by time and
tradition. The old ones are best!!
Often they sound nonsensical, they are secret words,
and are powerful because of their sound, the delivery and the
rythm or ryhme as well as their occult meanings.
to punish a bad neighbour: "Sally Rod beat, sally rod beat,
bear down cross and bear down stone." Co. Cavan
If you had no physical link with your victim other important symbolic tools can be called into play in order to effect the curse. FOr example all over Ireland a black Kid tied to a gate would ensure bad luck to the owners of the peoperty while a white Kid would lift any curse below a death curse. The blood of a wren, swallow or blackbird (depending on what area you lived in ) placed on the doorstep with the correct incantations would ensure that the first percon to step over it would have a very unlucky day.
Moving upwards from such acts of petty annoyance and mischief, we enter the middle ground of Cursing. Hre the intent is to cause definite harm, either physical or material. To use such cursing maliciously one would have to really be peeved! Its Just use would have to be in retaliation for a serious tangible wrong. Take note: traditionally running off with your husband or wife soes not qualify for this type of cursing! Alls fair in love and war, and while you can take as much petty revenge as you like middle level cursing is not for this. Wife-beaters, child-abusers, ruiners of reputation, any physical persecution (stalkers, racists, fanatics) all qualify, and because honour was such a huge part of the druidic notion of Truth, anyone who causes you to lose your place or your livelihood because of calumny. However you must be very sure that you didn't play a part in your own downfall or that you haven't maligned them in the process. If you fight tit for tat with someone and they win, that's just tough luck for you. Honour forbids a revenge in these circumstances.
To effect a middle level curse you don't need any physical link to the victim although it can be a great aide to the spell. The main thing are the words: you are now in the realm of teh Glam Diceann proper. The Glam Diceann relies on using words that suggest themselves to you, which have a natural rythm and which have a natural power. For example, the names of sidhe or gods automatically have this power. The names of sacred places particularly in their original Irish also have it, and the name of certain trees. If you have a guide or entity with whom you are familiar, whose name has been revealed to you, this is the most powerful but you will have to propitiate them with gifts afterwards.
The rythm of the words should be powerful but not if possible doggerel. The old Iambic Pentameter can make the most bitter curse seem like a pantomime riddle! The use of the Hard Word should be natural but well thought out, and requires a certain degree of practice. Entering a light trance while mulling over the injustice done often reveals both the rythm of the curse and the wording. Usually these are techniques best learn from a teacher but we have within us all the natural capacity to successfully curse. Words are the most important weapon in this matter (think of the simplest of malicious satires, spreading rumours or planting doubts about someone in the minds of your mutual aqauintances) and if you play with the words over and over you can soon build them up into an effective spell.
You can choose to proceed in one of two ways, with a purely word spell or with a more traditional spell. The former consists of weaving a story, out loud preferably, a true spell of teh filiocht whereby the history of the relationship between you and the victim is outlined, the wrongdoing explained, and then basically you trash the other person while calling out to the powers, whatever powers you are harnessing, for justice. Please do remember Justice is what you'll get. This is not an extension or form of the Wiccan rede/threefold Law but the logical conclusion of calling out for something. And Justice is blind, they say...
The beauty of this technique is that is often prooves a release for the wronged, and gives a good balanced form of justice, and can be repeated over and over until the victim is defeated and the spellcaster feels they have got it out of their system. Results can be spectacular, and often avoid the physical harm that is more likely with traditional spells. By telling the story to the universe the slur on the victims character reverberates and resonates around the world: doors previously open to them will close and favours they owe will be called in, while favours owed them will be reneged on. You can lift the curse at any point if sufficient reparation has been sincerely made, but if the curse refuses to lift then they are insincere and must try again later...
This is the most elegant and mature form of the advanced curse and the Glam Diceann Proper: however, the more basic folk magic traditions have thrown up a parallel form of the advanced curse alongside it. This more traditional type of spell -think "boil and bubble toil and trouble" - stems partly fom the petty "nonsense ryhme" model explored earlier and partly from a more sophisticated level of sympathetic magic, mingled with the purer tradition of the Glam Diceann. While the Glam DIceann proper gives excellent results sometimes it's a tad too civilised to deliver true vengence and this very dark tradition can then be utilised. While I have no intentions of giving out specifics, it's the type of activity that can lead to you being up to your arse in a bog at three a.m. trying to access the darker gods of the ancients. In other words, not unless you want the bastard dead!
Death spells are a realted topic but while death can be a result of curses, proper death spells are primarily related to healing, to the flip side of the power to heal and sometimes can be a healing in themselves. Causing death as a result of a curse can only be justified if the victim has left one with no choice, deserves no other fate and their death gives you no unjust monetary gain. Usually however cursers stop well short of this as very few offences merit it. Most use the art of cursing to either
A) teach a small sharp lesson, to train better manners and behaviour in someone you can't help but have to deal with on a regular basis. petty cursing
or B) to exact a measure of revenge and justice for an outrageous offence, and it is considered best if the curse leaves room for repentence and growth. the Hard word
Of course, sometimes the most effective curses? Just mutter something under your breath as they pass, give them a dirty look and let their imagination do the rest!
Part two of this essay will be a collection of various charms hexes and curses from around Ireland, and some basic "Satire" spells.