Can cursing be considered tough love?

[JackFrost102]

I watch a YT channel dedictated to educating people about the various forms of Witchcraft - Now this person has said in the past that sometimes using dark spells as a form of revenge (This is usually due to a person who has been uncharacteristically mean and can help them change their ways.) could be considered tough love. I'm still questioning whether or not to follow either Christian Witchcraft or Atheistic Witchcraft due to the fact that I couldn't really relate to Wicca.

I can understand how dark spells are a definite no no for Christian Witches but my own interpretation is that Jesus/God is the energy that helps perform Magick - and God does use a form of tough love in the Bible.

Thoughts?

[YanaKhan]

I don't think cursing can be considered any kind of love.
My 5 cents only.

[Heartsong]

I agree with Yana, I can't see how cursing someone, in any form, can be considered a sign of love, tough or not. Tough love is limiting your kids computer time or telling them to buck up after they scrape their knee or removing all of the ice cream from the house even though it's your husband's favorite thing but he needs to watch his weight and his sugar. That's an action that can be seen as negative, but is in truth a positive. Cursing, to my understanding, doesn't have the capability to be that. It's simply, profoundly, negative.

Those are my thoughts, at any rate.

[Becks]

Yana summed it up succinctly for me.

It is not for me to be the hand of justice and measure out punnishment or reward. I am highly conscious of that. I have had to defend myself, but thankfully-I have been able to do that without cursing people. That is important to me.

[evil ed]

I must agree with the previous three! There is nothing positive in a curse. It is one thing to protect yourself, another to actively seek to cause harm, FOR ANY REASON. This is a slippery path, and once you step down it, it can lead to more than you can handle. "Do as ye will, but harm none" is a very good rule to follow. Take your plight/ situation/ hurt to your God/Goddess/Gods/Goddesses, and state your case, then do your best to let it go! They know what to do, and how best to do it. Sometimes they let you watch- safely from the outside!

E.E.

[Kassandra]

I'm still questioning whether or not to follow either Christian Witchcraft or Atheistic Witchcraft due to the fact that I couldn't really relate to Wicca...I can understand how dark spells are a definite no no for Christian Witches but my own interpretation is that Jesus/God is the energy that helps perform Magick - and God does use a form of tough love in the Bible.

Thoughts?

To me, the wording of the question seems to imply curse work is something only done in "atheistic witchcraft," and not done in "Christian witchcraft." This is an oversimplification and not a reflection of the reality of the spectrum of witchcraft performed in the real world. Hoodooists, Voodooists, Pennsylvannia Dutch and/or German witches, and many other magical traditions, have members that attend traditional Christian churches (either Catholic or Protestant), while simultaneously practicing as solitary witches or as coven members. Like it or not (and I know a lot of people don't, lol), that's just the way the real world is.

From my research in this area, to say that "dark spells are a definite no no for Christian Witches" would be making a totally incorrect assumption. In these paths curse work is merely one genre in the spectrum of spell work. Curse work is not outside of the realm of self-identifying Christians who also regularly practice witchcraft. For example, a "Christian witch" may perform curses using the Psalms (Psalms 9 is used for "punishing enemies," etc.). I would say it is entirely up to the practitioner whether or not he or she will employ such spells.

And believe me, they are not doing it out of "tough love." They want to hurt somebody, plain and simple. Revenge is not to "help someone change their ways." Revenge merely helps the avenger feel better after being hurt. It is not a benevolent act, but malevolent and self-centered, kind of childish, actually. If someone thinks doing malevolent, self-centered things to other people 'helps" them, I would assess that that person really needs to look at whether he or she might have some deep-seated passive-aggressive tendencies, has been in denial about it, and could actually benefit from doing some serious "shadow work." I would really advise against watching whatever YouTube channel that was. This is just a suggestion, though...Do What Thou Wilt.

Also, it shouldn't be assumed that a witch who has no pantheon, doesn't believe in nor subscribe to the worship of deities, etc., necessarily includes curse work as part of his or her magical repertoire. It's possible to be an "atheistic witch," as you term it, who, regardless of his or her views on gods and goddesses, does not perform curses at all, that such spell work may not fit into that individual's personal code of ethics. It need not be for fear of any three-fold, nor ten-fold, nor any other -fold law or dogma. It may simply be a matter of a witch choosing not to nurture that type of energy in his or her life. Again, this is entirely up to the practitioner.

In short, to do or not do curse work isn't dependent on the choice of divinities a witch does or doesn't work with, but a personal choice of the practitioner, regardless of pantheon or lack thereof.

Here are related posts, if you're interested in reading further:
On Baneful Magic: Pause and Reflect First
Psalmic Magic
Hex Signs
Christian Witchcraft discussion forum


The best.




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[Xiao Rong]

Completely agree with what everyone has said above, but especially Kassandra's point that atheist witches are not, by virtue of atheism, inherently prone to more curses.

I usually compare cursing/hexing to slashing someone's tires. I am hard-pressed to think of a way in which you could slash someone's tires in the name of "tough love". There are many ways to pursue justice or to help them see the error of their ways that don't involve slashing tires. Cursing is just a less-easy, more error-prone, and more-roundabout way to figuratively slash someone's tires.

[Jenny Crow]

I really like what Kassandra posted, she explained it very well. I've been practicing Witchcraft for a long time - over 30 years now - and have not placed a curse on anyone - up to this point. I would not hesitate to curse someone to stop them from hurting myself or my family. I believe there are times when, after careful consideration, some divination and a realization and acceptance of the repercussions that cursing can (and usually does) bring, that cursing is acceptable and the thing to do.

Kassandra did say that people who curse WANT to hurt somebody plain and simple. I don't think it's quite that simple, really. I know of a coven whose members had suffered much from the evil doings of a particular person who was not a member of their coven but involved in the Craft. Finally, after much discussion and careful consideration it was agreed by all members of the coven to curse the person causing harm. (When I say harm, I'm talking accidents, illness, loss of a business etc and the death of beloved pets). The cursing was not performed simply to hurt.