WEBVTT 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:21.219 From the unexplained to the mundane, join us 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:26.539 on our journey to the fringe. Hello and welcome 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:30.219 to Journey to the Fringe. Now, don't worry about 00:00:30.219 --> 00:00:32.700 the Halloween episodes at least. We got tons 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:36.539 of ideas, so many ideas. You don't need to give 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:40.240 us anything. Now, those Christmas episodes, why 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:43.539 do we need your help with those? We're open to 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:47.490 suggestions. But tonight, we descend into the 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.530 shadowy realm of language, and we're going to 00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:52.810 explore the uncanny, mysterious, and sometimes 00:00:52.810 --> 00:00:56.549 dangerous history of what we call curse words. 00:00:56.810 --> 00:00:59.350 I love curse words. I use them all the time, 00:00:59.590 --> 00:01:02.070 and I'm frankly kind of odd why we call them 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:04.769 that. Are they about to get better? Are they 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:07.010 simply forbidden utterances, or do they truly 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:09.489 carry the power to summon misfortune or even 00:01:09.489 --> 00:01:15.709 protect evil? Let's begin our dive into this 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:18.750 with a simple, but unsettling question. Chelsea, 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:23.689 why do we call swear words curse words? I don't 00:01:23.689 --> 00:01:26.370 know, because they're fun. You would think, but 00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:28.810 it's just kind of funny that it's one of the 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:31.689 few places where curses still come up in modern 00:01:31.689 --> 00:01:44.030 society. The phrase carries more weight than 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:46.709 its everyday use might suggest. When you stub 00:01:46.709 --> 00:01:49.230 your toe, or when traffic cuts you off, and an 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.689 expletive bursts forth, you're likely not thinking 00:01:51.689 --> 00:01:54.500 about summoning ancient spirits. Yet the language 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:58.159 we use for these verboten utterances is a relic 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.180 of more superstitious times, when words themselves 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:03.819 spoken aloud were believed to possess a real, 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:08.620 perhaps dangerous power. The word curse emerges 00:02:08.620 --> 00:02:12.300 from Late Old English curse, meaning a prayer 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:15.199 cursed without an E. I should say, because it 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:18.099 sounds the same. But you know what? Now that 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:21.719 you're saying that, there are things where I 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:25.740 do say, like, I will say, curse this. Curse this 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:29.340 whatever I'm working on. Like, I have said it. 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:33.400 Like, is that weird of me? This damn thing or 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.960 whatever. Yeah. Damn you straight to hell. Something 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:42.520 like that. Curse you, you son of a bitch. Okay, 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:45.199 you get my drift, got it. We actually do that 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.139 to Craig quite a bit. Yes, we're constantly cursing 00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:51.020 Craig. Maybe that's why he doesn't work. The 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:53.539 word in Old English, curse, meaning a prayer 00:02:53.539 --> 00:02:56.400 that evil or harm befalls someone. The act of 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:59.460 cursing someone then was a literal invocation, 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:02.719 a spoken desire for another's misfortune, sometimes 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.500 believed to bring down divine or superhuman glass. 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:09.849 Later, by the 13th century, to curse had morphed 00:03:09.849 --> 00:03:12.710 into the use of profane or blasphemous language, 00:03:12.909 --> 00:03:15.969 words thought too potent or dangerous for polite 00:03:15.969 --> 00:03:19.729 society. And in American English, cuss is just 00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:23.090 a dialectical variation of the word. So cussing 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:25.669 is the exact same thing, which blew my mind. 00:03:25.770 --> 00:03:28.370 This is all blowing my mind. But what connects 00:03:28.370 --> 00:03:30.610 blasphemy magic in the four -letter words we 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:33.469 know today? To explore this is to journey into 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.580 older primal layers of culture. where language 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:40.979 was an act of magic, binding, casting, a summoning. 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:43.680 The spoken word and the magical spell, the curse 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.259 and the cusk were once the same ritual. Now long 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.379 before, wizards and witches haunted the imagination. 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:54.020 the human fear of languages, power, was shaping 00:03:54.020 --> 00:03:56.719 our vocabularies. One of the most striking examples 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.539 of this lies hidden in the seemingly innocuous 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:03.439 name of bears. Which sounds weird, but picture 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.780 yourself walking in the wild forests of ancient 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:09.099 Europe. To the early Indo -Europeans who hunted, 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.599 worshipped, and feared this formidable animal, 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:14.900 the bear was more than a beast. was a living 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:18.259 threat, and it was believed to utter its real 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:21.180 name was to summit, risking attack or misfortune. 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:24.319 So as a result of this, in Germanic languages, 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:27.379 which includes English, the word bear doesn't 00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:30.680 mean the animal bear. What does it mean? It means 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:34.180 brown. It literally translates to the brown one. 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:37.540 What? A way to reference the animal without calling 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:40.660 its name directly. What's his real name? We don't 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:44.209 know. Well, it had to have had a name at some 00:04:44.209 --> 00:04:46.730 point. Yeah, but it was before written language 00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:51.529 and they stopped using the name. Oh my god. It's 00:04:51.529 --> 00:04:53.910 not just Germanic languages either. Similarly, 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:57.189 Slavic medved, which means honey eater, and Baltic 00:04:57.189 --> 00:04:59.889 languages call them loki, meaning the hairy ones. 00:05:00.069 --> 00:05:02.589 And even the real Proto -Indo -European term 00:05:02.589 --> 00:05:06.649 for bear survives somewhat in Greek with arktos. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.240 but that means arctic and it's latin which means 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.339 arctic now i am so impressed that they're so 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.000 scary we literally still do not call them by 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.899 their name this is like where the term curse 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:22.660 comes from is words could summon they had this 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:25.980 power back in the day so it would actually shape 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.920 language through it The Taboo Superstition is 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:31.120 more than a linguistic game, it's a window into 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.439 the world where speaking the truth, the secret 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.040 name of a thing, a bear, a demon, even a deity, 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.420 was fraught with peril. If a name can summon, 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:42.089 in danger. I will say, I still believe that words 00:05:42.089 --> 00:05:44.889 have power. Cause even at work, like you can't 00:05:44.889 --> 00:05:47.490 say out loud on a slow day that it's a slow day. 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:50.069 You can't say it. Yeah. You jinxed us or something 00:05:50.069 --> 00:05:52.750 like that. Don't jinx it. Yeah. Like you don't, 00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:54.850 you don't say it. Somebody said it the other 00:05:54.850 --> 00:05:56.769 day and I was like, you can't just say that. 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:59.370 And then they jinxed us and then it got busy. 00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:02.490 Yeah. I find that so crazy that like throughout 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:05.529 most of Europe, we have no idea for bear because 00:06:05.529 --> 00:06:09.050 it just stopped being used. That's crazy. My 00:06:09.050 --> 00:06:11.689 mind is totally blown by that one. We'll get 00:06:11.689 --> 00:06:14.589 busy if you say it's quiet. So you can't say 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:21.689 bear. Exactly. Exactly. That's crazy. My mind 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:25.930 is blown. Don't say bear. No, but we're saying 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.149 bear. You can't say the name that we don't even 00:06:28.149 --> 00:06:31.629 know anymore. It's gotten so out of hand. Successful 00:06:31.629 --> 00:06:35.649 campaign that we don't know it. That's so crazy. 00:06:36.310 --> 00:06:38.769 Okay, okay. So I guess we've never said bear. 00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:42.029 We still don't. I have to assume bear attacks 00:06:42.029 --> 00:06:46.569 are way down from that time. You gotta imagine 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:49.589 they would be. Wow, that's crazy. Is this the 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:55.759 end of the episode? Yeah. Bye. But this isn't 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.019 just a northern European superstition. Across 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:00.720 ancient societies, the prohibition on using real 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.180 names or speaking without careful indirection 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:05.740 was a survival tactic. Such superstitions have 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:08.800 left their mark in toponyms, folklore, and even 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.339 in the way we refer to certain animals, like 00:07:11.339 --> 00:07:13.519 the example we gave there. Now what happens when 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.100 a word is believed not just to reference an object, 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.279 but to actively shape, bind, or destroy reality? 00:07:19.379 --> 00:07:22.699 Here we step into the world of curses as magic. 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:41.579 We're going to talk about defixio. I really like 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:44.500 this thing, Chelsea. I feel like people who work 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:48.180 in customer -facing jobs should bring back this 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:50.959 idea. Okay, I'll bring it back. Basically, they're 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:53.410 little pieces of bronze that you Curse isn't 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:56.230 due for people. So these curses would be shockingly 00:07:56.230 --> 00:08:00.170 specific or entirely formulaic, invoking infernal 00:08:00.170 --> 00:08:03.990 deities or liminal gods, Hecate, Pluto, Persephone, 00:08:04.329 --> 00:08:06.670 or simply naming the victim, binding them with 00:08:06.670 --> 00:08:09.189 a string of gibberish or a list of the body parts 00:08:09.189 --> 00:08:11.970 to be afflicted. A few examples. This was found 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:15.470 at a Roman bath. Dosemedes has lost two gloves 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:17.850 and asks that the thief responsible should lose 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:20.550 their minds and eyes in the goddess's temple. 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:24.360 A curse from Germany. The human who stole Berio's 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:27.459 cloak made the worms, cancer, and maggots penetrate 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:30.600 his hands, head, feet, as well as his limbs and 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:33.419 marrows. What do you think he did? Wow, that's 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.899 pretty harsh. He stole Berio's cloak. Wow, that's 00:08:36.899 --> 00:08:39.399 quite the curse for stealing a cloak. I mean, 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:41.240 cloaks were pretty valuable back in the day, 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.120 and it could have been a really nice cloak. It 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.259 might have been his life savings on that cloak. 00:08:45.710 --> 00:08:48.529 And a spell that found in Egypt, wrapped in a 00:08:48.529 --> 00:08:52.529 lock of hair and lead. I bind you, Athanodoros, 00:08:52.669 --> 00:08:55.250 daughter of Theodora, so that you cannot sleep 00:08:55.250 --> 00:08:58.289 or eat or find peace until you come to me." So 00:08:58.289 --> 00:09:01.210 very weird. That one seemed like a love spell. 00:09:01.470 --> 00:09:04.169 Gotta get your feelings out there. It was a love 00:09:04.169 --> 00:09:06.509 spell, but also it's a curse still, nonetheless. 00:09:06.850 --> 00:09:08.929 Yeah, love spells are curses. I feel like that 00:09:08.929 --> 00:09:10.830 should make a comeback, just as like something 00:09:10.830 --> 00:09:13.590 that you do to get your stress out from a hard 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.990 day of talking to customers. I hope nobody looks 00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:20.309 in my desk at work. Chelsea, why do you have 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:25.590 all of these binded? Just a desk full of them. 00:09:26.210 --> 00:09:29.669 Why is there so much bronze in your desk? Don't 00:09:29.669 --> 00:09:32.350 ask, okay? Just glare at them and start chiseling. 00:09:32.529 --> 00:09:34.889 There's another one in. Now sometimes the words 00:09:34.889 --> 00:09:37.590 themselves inscribed on these were nonsensical, 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:40.269 mystic voices basically, or palindromes like 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:42.570 the Satyr Square. These were thought to be understood 00:09:42.570 --> 00:09:44.879 only by spirits or demons lending supernatural 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.100 efficacy to even the most -interesting of vengeance, 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:50.220 which is actually where we derive some of our 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.100 magic words like abracadabra. Really? We'll get 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.379 into that later. These spells and curses were 00:09:55.379 --> 00:09:57.480 not only for enemies, some were inscriptions 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:00.379 for love, courtroom victories, sports competitions, 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.100 or to right perceived injustices. Often the act 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:07.220 of writing itself for the proper recitation by 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:09.299 a ritual professional was thought to guarantee 00:10:09.299 --> 00:10:14.799 the outcome. Oh so it's like um uh like you need 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.139 to get your feelings out it's not just getting 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:20.059 your feelings out you can do that oh god i can't 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:21.960 remember though of course it is you put me on 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:23.940 the spot for trying to remember something i was 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:26.039 just watching a paulie shore and he was talking 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:28.259 about his journaling where he writes about what 00:10:28.259 --> 00:10:31.200 he wants to happen like uh i can't remember what 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.710 is called a promise Is that what it's called? 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:36.149 No, it's not a promise. I can't remember what 00:10:36.149 --> 00:10:38.090 the fuck it's called But you talk about what 00:10:38.090 --> 00:10:40.309 you want to happen as if it's already happened 00:10:40.309 --> 00:10:42.009 so that it happened. That's still a thing. Oh, 00:10:42.009 --> 00:10:44.889 positive information, yeah. Yeah, I mean essentially, 00:10:45.190 --> 00:10:47.269 yeah. But you know with make it's burrowing into 00:10:47.269 --> 00:10:50.129 people's eyes Yeah, but they were using it for 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.629 positive like court outcomes and stuff like that. 00:10:52.769 --> 00:10:55.090 You said yeah They could but it was kind of like 00:10:55.090 --> 00:10:58.250 making sure the words would bring it out. Yeah, 00:10:58.330 --> 00:11:00.889 like manifesting. That's the word manifesting 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:03.340 and that's the whole idea of the curse is words 00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:06.220 have power both good and bad like when it first 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:09.860 comes out yeah we of curse is like bringing about 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:12.940 a bear but it's anything it can bring about anything 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:15.879 not just the negative that makes sense if they 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:18.860 have power like to manifest something good in 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:21.799 your life it would mean the same thing to manifest 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.460 something bad so I guess it makes sense it's 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:28.820 all very logical it's still belief Now? Yeah, 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.080 we've said it several times now with examples. 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:35.059 Yeah, we still do these things. We still don't 00:11:35.059 --> 00:11:38.899 say bear. We say bear, not the other one. We 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:41.820 dare not speak its name. Hey, neither of us have 00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:45.320 been attacked by bears. As we're going through 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.759 the history, you can see that there's a deep 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.259 theme here that the words have power, and particularly 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:53.679 names have power too. In folklore, you see this 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.779 a lot of place to invoke a name, especially of 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.799 a super supernatural being, say, a Rumpelstiltskin 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.860 from Germanic legend. Oh shit. So we banish it 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:05.360 or banish it, but knowing and speaking a name 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.820 could also bring doom. Cultures the world over 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:12.350 are filled with name taboo. Such as Ashkenazi 00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:16.309 Jews, apotropaic names were given to sick children 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:19.970 to confuse the angel of death. Altar, meaning 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:23.070 old, or necros, meaning not handsome, were given 00:12:23.070 --> 00:12:25.610 to these people to avoid the angel. Dear God. 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:28.289 And across many societies, saying the name of 00:12:28.289 --> 00:12:30.629 a demon or the dead was forbidden lest it draw 00:12:30.629 --> 00:12:33.850 their presence. Huh. Even today superstitions 00:12:33.850 --> 00:12:36.909 persist around unlucky name with entire family 00:12:36.909 --> 00:12:40.149 lines burdened by cursed roots in the very act 00:12:40.149 --> 00:12:42.809 of naming like the Kennedy curse or the avoidance 00:12:42.809 --> 00:12:45.769 of the name like Adolf throughout Europe. Do 00:12:45.769 --> 00:12:48.590 you think that's cursed or just bad stigma around 00:12:48.590 --> 00:12:51.529 the name? Is there really a difference? Yeah, 00:12:51.570 --> 00:12:55.149 that's true. This is all very philosophical. 00:12:55.409 --> 00:12:58.830 There was an entire era in feudal Japan where 00:12:58.830 --> 00:13:01.769 they gave people names that were terrible. like 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:04.929 smells of rotting shit or something along those 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:07.529 lines. Just because they thought that the gods 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:09.509 wouldn't be as interested in them if they had 00:13:09.509 --> 00:13:12.769 terrible names. Interesting. By the Middle Ages 00:13:12.769 --> 00:13:14.889 and Renaissance, the belief in magical potency 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:17.970 of words had been systematized in grimoires, 00:13:18.250 --> 00:13:20.549 texts devoted to the practices of magic spells. 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:24.039 These books, from the Key of Solomon to the Lesser 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:27.240 Key of Solomon and the notorious Grimorium Verum, 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:30.720 often contained long lists of invocations, arcane 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.899 spells, and rituals intended to summon a supernatural 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:37.179 entity. Some grimoires wandered between prayers, 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.100 oaths, and outright maledictions. The ritual 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:43.580 cursings in the name of angels, demons, The lines 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.200 blur between the sacred and the profane. Christianity 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.259 itself, in the Old Testament, cursing was a forbidden 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:52.059 but recognized act. and in other traditions, 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.600 the right spell could both protect and destroy. 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:57.200 As we keep going forward, we get to reference 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.799 from last week, Chelsea, if there's a cursed 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:01.940 word lurking in Western culture, it's surely 00:14:01.940 --> 00:14:04.960 the name of Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Oh, yeah. 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.559 For centuries, actors and theater practitioners 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:09.980 have refused to utter the play's name indoor, 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:12.580 except within the script, opting instead for 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:15.480 euphemisms like the Scottish play. Why do they 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:17.759 do this? According to theatrical superstition, 00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:20.320 speaking Macbeth in a theater is believed to 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.100 bring catastrophe. Accidents, ghostly mishaps, 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:25.659 injuries, even death. Legends tell of a coven 00:14:25.659 --> 00:14:27.899 of witches placing a curse upon the script because 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.940 it used real incantation. Lines like double, 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.779 double toil and trouble forever doomed those 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.279 who invoked it carelessly. Historical records 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.539 fuel the legend. The original actor playing Lady 00:14:38.539 --> 00:14:41.639 Macbeth is said to have died suddenly before 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:43.919 opening night. Shakespeare himself allegedly 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.139 had to step in. Throughout the centuries, productions 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:49.460 of Macbeth have seen falls from the stage, flying 00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:52.350 props, fires, and even riots, most infamously 00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:56.049 the Dead Aster Place riot in 1849. How deep does 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:58.710 this belief run? Even today, if an actor accidentally 00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:01.370 lets slip Macbeth in a theatre, a ritual must 00:15:01.370 --> 00:15:03.830 be performed to dispel the curse. These rituals 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:06.370 are almost magical indentations themselves. You 00:15:06.370 --> 00:15:08.820 have to step outside the theatre. turn around 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:11.399 three times, spit over your left shoulder, swear 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:14.580 or recite a cleansing line from another Shakespeare 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:17.820 play, knock and wait for readmitting. This tradition 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.820 embodies the persistence of magic thinking, the 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:24.080 legacy of cursed words and the theater's enduring 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.539 enchantment with the power of language itself. 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:29.500 Spoken curses are not the only province of Shakespearean 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:32.440 actors. The magical force of malevolent blessings, 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:35.679 their positive counterpart, runs like a dark 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.240 thread through global folklore. Some of the most 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.730 notorious curses include the curse of - Pharaoh 00:15:40.730 --> 00:15:43.289 the ancient Egyptian inscribed warning on tombs 00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:45.610 anyone who disturbed the eternal rest of king 00:15:45.610 --> 00:15:48.470 would be beset by misfortune illness or death 00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:50.769 legend reached fear pitch after the discovery 00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:53.370 of king toton commons tomb when mysterious deaths 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:55.929 among archaeologists fueled media hysteria i 00:15:55.929 --> 00:15:58.509 believe we did an i think we did too yeah actually 00:15:58.509 --> 00:16:00.549 it might be a halloween episode i think it was 00:16:00.549 --> 00:16:03.049 a halloween episode actually again we're good 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:05.850 on halloween episodes don't worry the bell witch 00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:08.690 the 19th century tennessee bell family was ties 00:16:08.690 --> 00:16:11.539 by a supernatural singing, cursing, even alleged 00:16:11.539 --> 00:16:13.960 poisoning the patriarch, the bellwitch's threats, 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:16.860 and curses became a regional legend speaking 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:19.700 to American anxieties about evil gender. own, 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:22.759 the Hope Diamond. This stunning blue gem is said 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.059 to doom its owners to death and disaster, another 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:28.320 echo of the ancient belief that objects too can 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.820 chant powers of word, a curse, a wish, and familial 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:34.799 curses. Many cultures hold stories of lineages 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.659 blighted by ancient words of wrath cursed for 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:40.279 seven generations by the indiscretion's real 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:43.850 or imagined ancestor. In these tales, the act 00:16:43.850 --> 00:16:46.330 of uttering, inscribing, or merely believing 00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:49.870 in a curse can reshape reality, misfortune explained, 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:53.250 tragedy given meaning, and chaos rendered understandable 00:16:53.250 --> 00:16:56.070 through the conduit of language. Of course, where 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:58.509 there are words believed to wound, there are 00:16:58.509 --> 00:17:01.509 also words used to heal, to defend, to protect. 00:17:01.769 --> 00:17:05.750 Enter the realm of apotropaic magic, from the 00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:07.930 Greek meaning to turn away, the tradition of 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:10.769 using words, charms, or rituals to ward off evil 00:17:10.769 --> 00:17:13.549 or supernatural attacks. Some of the most enduring 00:17:13.549 --> 00:17:16.990 apotropaic words and symbols include the term 00:17:16.990 --> 00:17:19.789 abracadabra. Known today as the magician's stage 00:17:19.789 --> 00:17:22.490 word, its origins are far older. In ancient Rome, 00:17:22.690 --> 00:17:25.170 it was prescribed as an amulet against fever 00:17:25.170 --> 00:17:28.049 and harm. Written in diminishing triangle, the 00:17:28.049 --> 00:17:30.509 word itself was thought to funnel the illness 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:34.319 away and And satyr square. This five -word palindrome 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:37.160 was inscribed on walls, amulets, and tablets 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.059 across Europe as a guardian charm to reverse 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:43.460 curses or repel evil spirits. Charms, gestures, 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:46.279 and folklore rituals. Spitting over your shoulder, 00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:48.859 knocking on wood, sweeping negative energy with 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:52.799 a broom, wearing a hamsa or evil eye bead. Buildings, 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.059 too, are often inscribed with a symbolic witch 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.319 mark or daisy wheel. Written prayer and protective 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.380 sigils. Testimonies of the faith. place in the 00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:04.339 written or spoken words ability to shape destiny. 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:07.240 Now can you break or neutralize a curse with 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.720 ancient and modern rituals? Curses and curse 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:13.000 words are ancient, so too are practices of neutralizing. 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:15.960 Diverse cultures developed entire systems, rituals, 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:18.920 spells, and psychological strategies to defang 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:21.940 the melodictions woven by word will or envy. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:25.420 I got one. Knock on wood. I think that's an incredibly 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:29.220 common one in European background. I do it all 00:18:29.220 --> 00:18:31.700 the time. Common ones are cleansing rituals. 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:35.339 A couple are bathing in salt water using sacred 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:38.259 herbs and smudging with smoke features in many 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:41.180 traditions to purify a space a person believed 00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:44.039 to be cursed. Breaking the cursed object. If 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:46.359 a curse is tied to an object, destroying it, 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:48.400 often with fire, water, or burial, is thought 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.380 to end its power. Protective amulets and talismans. 00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:54.619 Wearing a cross, very Christian way, the nazar 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:58.599 or evil eye. That's to break curses? Oh yeah, 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:00.619 the evil eye. Wearing a cross. Yeah, well, the 00:19:00.619 --> 00:19:04.220 cross protects you. Oh, I wear, I wear, I have 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.619 an evil eye that I wear. And I always love the 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:18.900 evil eyes to protect it. These are believed to 00:19:18.900 --> 00:19:20.740 create a shield against malevolent energies. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.740 Rituals to reflect or return the curse. Mirror 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:26.299 boxes or return to center spells are common in 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:28.779 both folk magic and modern witchcraft. Positive 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:31.460 affirmations and support. Psychology tells us 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:34.119 that belief in curses can cause anxiety, stress, 00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:36.079 and self -affirmation. Prophecies, so rituals 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.599 of self -empowerment, support circles, and education 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.819 can help break the hold of such curses. Repentance 00:19:41.819 --> 00:19:44.680 and forgiveness. Religious traditions often describe 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.440 confessions to a null self -spoken curse as words 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:51.140 of hate or ancestral maledictions. Or community 00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:53.740 rituals, incantations, prayers, or cleansing 00:19:53.740 --> 00:19:56.059 ceremonies done by groups are thought to generate 00:19:56.059 --> 00:19:58.819 stronger protection. An echo of how curses themselves 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:02.500 once operated as social From breaking eggs to 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:05.519 breaking chains from ritual baths to modern therapy 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:07.759 the quest to neutralize the power of the curse 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:11.809 word continues And I just love, like, you can 00:20:11.809 --> 00:20:14.109 see in those, like, seven different categories 00:20:14.109 --> 00:20:16.730 of Breaking Curses, multiple different parts 00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:19.190 of Christianity. Which is interesting. Yeah, 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:21.630 there's a lot of heavily Christian stuff that 00:20:21.630 --> 00:20:25.269 is Breaking Curses. Like, it's so... But... You 00:20:25.269 --> 00:20:26.950 don't think of it as a superstitious religion, 00:20:27.009 --> 00:20:29.369 but it's, like, it's building on what came before 00:20:29.369 --> 00:20:32.130 it, which everything does. And here's the thing, 00:20:32.170 --> 00:20:34.470 and maybe it does tie a little bit back to our 00:20:34.470 --> 00:20:37.869 previous episode, because King James I, you said... 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:40.930 King James Bible, yeah. Like, and he was heavily 00:20:40.930 --> 00:20:45.549 into the, like, witchcraft stuff, so maybe that 00:20:45.549 --> 00:20:48.450 might get - had a crossover episode or something, 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:50.869 you know what I mean? It is weird how close these 00:20:50.869 --> 00:20:54.440 two episodes actually are. Yeah, yeah, and like 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:57.579 you look at the crosses and stuff and this is 00:20:57.579 --> 00:21:00.460 very like religion heavy, a lot of breaking, 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:02.920 like confession and stuff like that. Oh yeah, 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:06.019 confession, rosary beads, repenting, and they 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:08.200 do have, I forget what they call it, but basically 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:11.279 smudge going in the church. That's true too. 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.099 Yeah, that's like, it's all about keeping the 00:21:15.099 --> 00:21:18.859 curses away. really is what it is all about comes 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.619 down to. We can't leave the world of curse words 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:24.279 behind without acknowledging their everyday magic, 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.640 the psychological, social, and emotional power. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:29.940 Why do people swear? Today's science suggests 00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:32.700 reasons both primal and profound. Pain relief. 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:35.500 Swearing does actually activate response, releasing 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:38.400 endorphins, and temporarily raising pain tolerance. 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:41.440 In experiments, volunteers who cursed endured 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.980 cold water pain longer than those who remained 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:46.640 polite. For emotional catharsis and defiance, 00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:49.660 curse words function as a pressure valve, letting 00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:52.720 out frustration, anger, or fear in a burst of 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.059 ritualized transgression. Mark Twain. No stranger 00:21:55.059 --> 00:21:57.779 to colorful language. No Quote, when angry, count 00:21:57.779 --> 00:22:03.220 to four. When very angry, swear. End quote. Group 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:05.279 bonding and identity. Among friends or within 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:08.140 social group. Shared bad language can signal 00:22:08.140 --> 00:22:11.079 camaraderie and group membership and honest self 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:13.980 -expression. And power control and humor. Swearing 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.559 can assert dominance or flip social hierarchies, 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:18.680 converting potential violence into manageable 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:21.589 controlled aggression. Profanity, well -timed, 00:22:21.690 --> 00:22:23.970 can also be a source of humor or satire. But 00:22:23.970 --> 00:22:26.089 science also supports centuries -old wisdom. 00:22:26.309 --> 00:22:28.490 There's a double edge to the curse word sword. 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:31.579 Swearing too often may blunt its power, emotionally 00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:34.460 and socially, and in every society, certain words 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.319 retain their ability to shock, offend, provoke, 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.579 rooted in specific historical taboos. So we've 00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:43.000 seen that not all curse words are created equal 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:45.980 and not all cultures banish the same taboos. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.859 Across the globe, what is profane or powerful 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:52.769 in one language may be trivial in another. In 00:22:52.769 --> 00:22:55.329 Spanish and Italian, profanity often draws sexual 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.170 terminology or blasphemies. In Japanese, words 00:22:58.170 --> 00:23:00.710 associated with death or misfortune are taboo 00:23:00.710 --> 00:23:03.170 and certain numbers or syllables are avoided. 00:23:03.269 --> 00:23:05.890 In some African and indigenous societies, curses 00:23:05.890 --> 00:23:09.029 focus on social and familial order and slurs 00:23:09.029 --> 00:23:11.930 may be used as healing or balancing tools under 00:23:11.930 --> 00:23:15.250 controlled circumstances. Religion, politics, 00:23:15.390 --> 00:23:17.650 and historical trauma shaped the landscape of 00:23:17.650 --> 00:23:20.009 bad words. From the French Revolution, where 00:23:20.009 --> 00:23:23.309 profanity was used as rebellion, to strict censorship 00:23:23.309 --> 00:23:26.190 of blasphemy in the Islamic world. The functions 00:23:26.190 --> 00:23:29.089 are nonetheless universal, expressing emotion, 00:23:29.309 --> 00:23:31.869 forging group identity, policing boundaries, 00:23:32.170 --> 00:23:34.589 and sometimes channeling the uncanny sense that 00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:37.289 words themselves can summon bless. Now tonight, 00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:40.509 I'm just gonna go to, I decided, despite it not 00:23:40.509 --> 00:23:43.150 really matching up with everything in the theme 00:23:43.150 --> 00:23:45.569 here, we're just gonna read some cursed stories 00:23:45.569 --> 00:23:49.619 from Reddit that I found. I like that. Cuz I 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:51.299 just feel like when we have an opportunity to 00:23:51.299 --> 00:23:53.619 go to reddit you go. Oh, yeah, it's the best 00:23:53.619 --> 00:23:57.480 now This was posted seven years ago by the leaded 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.480 on the witchcraft subreddit Then the specific 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:03.259 question was were you cursed and this person 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:05.960 broke I believe I was when I was a much younger 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:08.220 witch with more curiosity than practice under 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:10.420 my magical belt I was fooling around with this 00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:13.259 super hot guy who was a practitioner of voodoo 00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:15.940 and who referred to himself as Bokor I didn't 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:18.019 want anything serious, but he did eventually 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:20.460 I called things off I left as I felt he was getting 00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:23.000 too pushy and I didn't want to lead him on if 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.039 things weren't going anywhere. Shortly after 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.880 that my life started going seriously haywire. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.799 My work situation took a nosedive, my bathroom 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.519 flooded, my refrigerator broke, my dog got in 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:35.579 a terrible fight where I ended up pretty torn 00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:38.230 up myself. It felt like every aspect of my life 00:24:38.230 --> 00:24:40.430 was suffering. It took me a while to get suspicious 00:24:40.430 --> 00:24:43.009 because bad things happen, right? But this all 00:24:43.009 --> 00:24:45.529 just seemed ridiculous. My fling did have access 00:24:45.529 --> 00:24:47.549 to plenty of my personal effects, after all, 00:24:47.549 --> 00:24:50.509 and I knew enough about that world to know how 00:24:50.509 --> 00:24:52.549 things worked. I started to entertain the idea 00:24:52.549 --> 00:24:55.529 that he'd thrown a love me or die my way, but 00:24:55.529 --> 00:24:58.529 I still wasn't taking it entirely seriously. 00:24:58.630 --> 00:25:00.609 That changed when I was driving home from work 00:25:00.609 --> 00:25:03.529 behind a dump truck. When a rock flew out of 00:25:03.529 --> 00:25:05.670 the back of the truck and slammed into my windshield, 00:25:05.710 --> 00:25:08.210 right in front of my face. Fortunately it didn't 00:25:08.210 --> 00:25:10.910 shatter the window completely, but it was bad 00:25:10.910 --> 00:25:12.950 enough I had to pull over and have Toad to a 00:25:12.950 --> 00:25:15.630 repair shop. Oh yeah she's pissed. No joke, three 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:17.710 days after it was repaired a freaking turkey 00:25:17.710 --> 00:25:19.890 flew directly into my windshield and shattered 00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:22.769 the window right in front of my face again. Oh 00:25:22.769 --> 00:25:25.609 my god. After that I was like okay I think I 00:25:25.609 --> 00:25:27.730 get it. A reading from a friend seemed to confirm 00:25:27.730 --> 00:25:29.650 what I thought. I will credit this experience 00:25:29.650 --> 00:25:31.789 with igniting my interest in practice and magic 00:25:31.789 --> 00:25:34.940 however I managed to personal effect of my flings, 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:37.799 did a mirror spell, engaged in a serious 13 day 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.259 cleansing bath, swept out and washed down my 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:42.980 house from attic to basement, the works. Happily, 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:45.220 everything noticeably calmed down a hell of a 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:47.940 lot after I completely blocked said fling from 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:50.660 my life. That was a lot going wrong. Yeah, it 00:25:50.660 --> 00:25:53.240 was. It doesn't seem like a coincidence at that 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:56.400 point. And then Zelda Alleri right below this 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:58.700 said, that's intense. My friend and I suspected 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:00.759 something similar happened with him. He was dating 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:04.250 a guy. who was also in Davudu and really just 00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:07.269 conjuring some dark -ish that neither my friend 00:26:07.269 --> 00:26:10.190 or I interested in experimenting with. I remember 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:12.269 when my friend called it off with the guy, he 00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:14.750 did not take it well. all. We actually came home 00:26:14.750 --> 00:26:17.049 one night a couple of days after they broke up 00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:19.910 and had this really eerie feeling someone was 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:21.549 watching us in our home but thought not much 00:26:21.549 --> 00:26:23.549 of it. We actually cast a little protection spell 00:26:23.549 --> 00:26:25.769 on our home and ourselves hoping it would ease 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:27.750 the tension felt in the air. I don't know if 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:30.730 tension is even the right word it was just heavy 00:26:30.730 --> 00:26:32.970 like I remember it actually stopped us both in 00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:34.930 the doorway and had us wondering if someone had 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:37.130 been in. A couple of days later we gone out for 00:26:37.130 --> 00:26:38.869 the evening and when we returned we noticed things 00:26:38.869 --> 00:26:41.289 in our house were off like someone had been there. 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.279 Things didn't appear to be moved, but like there 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.119 had been touched. It felt like someone was recently 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.140 there and they left quickly. Our doors were locked 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:52.900 and our security system was still set but we 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:55.299 also noticed the heavy watching feeling wasn't 00:26:55.299 --> 00:26:57.279 there anymore. We chalked it up to our spell 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.619 working and maybe we were just paranoid. Well 00:26:59.619 --> 00:27:02.619 not even 24 hours later my friend life literally 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:04.619 started falling apart. Everything from work to 00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:07.059 his health was affected and we were just at the 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:09.759 loss. He got into a fight with his boss which 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.460 came out of nowhere. He broke his wrist and then 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:14.799 sprained his ankle. It was a disaster. We called 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.119 it reinforcements and went to someone we knew 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.980 through other witches who is far more experienced 00:27:19.980 --> 00:27:22.500 in their craft than either of us. She agreed 00:27:22.500 --> 00:27:25.960 he was cursed or that some sort of hex was placed 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:28.579 on him. I mean that's easy enough to do. Yeah, 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.059 you're cursed. Just looking at you, you're cursed. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:33.299 And agreed to assist him. She removed the hex 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:35.759 and told us to get in touch should anything further 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:37.980 happen. Everything seemed to clear up and things 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:40.589 went back to normal. But about two, maybe three 00:27:40.589 --> 00:27:42.670 weeks later, that woman called my friend and 00:27:42.670 --> 00:27:44.730 asked that neither of us get in touch with her 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:54.440 again. This next post written by a girl has no 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.640 name 17 written and edited seven years ago My 00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:00.319 story is that I got a highly graphic death vision 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.160 a few months prior to the events the vision didn't 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:06.420 make any sense So I filed this under some random 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.000 weird shit then I started being ill a lot the 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.460 symptoms were vague enough to be Undiagnosable 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:13.599 but nasty enough to keep me nearly bedridden 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.900 for weeks. I was lethargic week My mom actually 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:19.099 said that I seemed to lose my spark that I used 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:23.799 to be a fairly vivid A couple months later, I 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:25.839 was at my partner's place, I drank some whiskey, 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:30.039 took a big ass knife and cut off my arm. I don't 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:32.039 understand that. Then I just sat there calmly 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.839 and watched the blood drip until my partner saw 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:36.880 what was happening. I have no explanation for 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.140 that. There was no real trigger. I don't have 00:28:39.140 --> 00:28:41.960 any major psychiatric conditions and it's as 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.440 if I was in a trance. I still have three scars 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.200 on my arm. The next day I sustained a major bodily 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.980 injury out of the blue. The next day I was found 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:51.180 unconscious. This was pretty much the exact same 00:28:51.180 --> 00:28:53.359 thing I saw in my vision. My hands started shaking, 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:55.799 realized which took a while. Another week later, 00:28:55.900 --> 00:28:58.240 I developed a new set of genuine LAR symptoms. 00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:00.819 Screaming in my sleep, laughing, hallucinating. 00:29:01.049 --> 00:29:03.150 My mom rushed me to the ER again. Believe it 00:29:03.150 --> 00:29:05.769 or not, I was still in denial. I am not suggestible. 00:29:05.769 --> 00:29:08.410 I am very strong -willed. I am tough and very 00:29:08.410 --> 00:29:10.789 resilient. I trust my instincts. I am very self 00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:12.869 -aware. I have wards in my apartment. I didn't 00:29:12.869 --> 00:29:15.549 think I'd truly wronged anyone. Another week, 00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:18.430 I came down with severe abdominal pain in 24 00:29:18.430 --> 00:29:21.130 -7, not the kind of pain I ever experienced before. 00:29:21.190 --> 00:29:23.910 At the point, I was seeking mystical help. An 00:29:23.910 --> 00:29:26.950 experienced shaman did a depossession ritual 00:29:26.950 --> 00:29:29.289 and said that my stomach was stuffed with snakes. 00:29:29.410 --> 00:29:31.490 The pain disappeared. literally within an hour. 00:29:31.630 --> 00:29:34.849 I had a few decent days, but not so fast. Another 00:29:34.849 --> 00:29:37.029 few days later, I developed constant pain in 00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:39.650 my back which spread like wildfire. Suffice to 00:29:39.650 --> 00:29:41.910 say, I spent the next two months wanting to climb 00:29:41.910 --> 00:29:44.549 up the wall from pain despite already being on 00:29:44.549 --> 00:29:47.049 opioids. The heavy duty painkillers were not 00:29:47.049 --> 00:29:49.230 working. The ultrasound I insisted on showed 00:29:49.230 --> 00:29:51.529 nothing. I actually asked my best friend to look 00:29:51.529 --> 00:29:53.450 after my mom because I was pretty certain I was 00:29:53.450 --> 00:29:55.789 going to die very soon. As what I was feeling 00:29:55.789 --> 00:29:59.319 was very much it came to gradual. I gave her 00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:01.359 instructions as to what to do with my few possessions 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:04.160 of sentimental value. I was exhausted from pain, 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:06.720 barely able to sit up, unable to find a pain 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:09.460 -free position even in bed. But that time I felt 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:11.579 like my life turned into an actual horror movie, 00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:14.019 since as soon as one problem got cleared, something 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:16.839 new and medically inexplicable popped up another 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:19.140 friend whose powerful energy worker got involved. 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:22.220 The first time she did some work on me, she said 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:24.440 my natural light energy. She kept working on 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:26.480 it over the span of several weeks and things 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.039 gradually stabilized. I'm finally feeling like 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:31.460 myself again. Who did this? I'll never know. 00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:35.259 Sure, but my main suspect is an egomaniacal occult 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:38.339 practitioner who pursued me last year since he 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:41.019 tried to break up me and my partner. I did not 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.619 take kindly to that. I rejected him. Then I kind 00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:46.000 of forgot about him, but I guess he did not. 00:30:46.359 --> 00:30:48.440 That would probably be the person who did it, 00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:50.960 I would suspect. I found this one really interesting 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:54.740 posted by Lord Voldy -O six years ago. Sorry, 00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:57.099 it's not me, but curses are a cultural thing 00:30:57.099 --> 00:30:59.930 in the poorest part. Serbia. So I have tons of 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:02.069 family stories. So let's go back to the 80s. 00:31:02.130 --> 00:31:04.430 My grandma, who helps Serbian immigrants get 00:31:04.430 --> 00:31:06.329 settled in France, is helping this young woman. 00:31:06.490 --> 00:31:09.150 Her name is Anna. She's in her 20s, polyglot. 00:31:09.269 --> 00:31:11.049 I don't know what that means. Amazingly smart 00:31:11.049 --> 00:31:13.789 and goddamn gorgeous. She came to France to study 00:31:13.789 --> 00:31:17.130 languages but didn't know anyone so people sent 00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:19.630 her to my grandma. My grand does her job. She 00:31:19.630 --> 00:31:21.950 found her a nice job as an au pair for rich kids 00:31:21.950 --> 00:31:24.190 in the richest part of Paris where she'll get 00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:26.549 free food and accommodations with a pay every 00:31:26.549 --> 00:31:28.549 month. So So for years, everything's perfect. 00:31:28.750 --> 00:31:30.789 She gets her diploma in languages, gets a great 00:31:30.789 --> 00:31:33.009 job as a translator in the government, has friends, 00:31:33.109 --> 00:31:35.170 a boyfriend, all the stuff successful people 00:31:35.170 --> 00:31:37.630 have. Here's another detail I have to add. There 00:31:37.630 --> 00:31:39.849 was a little community of Serb immigrants in 00:31:39.849 --> 00:31:42.069 Paris. People started to talk and some of these 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:44.190 people got really jealous and suddenly Anna went 00:31:44.190 --> 00:31:47.130 from a healthy, successful woman to the shadow 00:31:47.130 --> 00:31:49.170 of a human being in less than three months. Three 00:31:49.170 --> 00:31:51.369 months of hell, where she couldn't sleep. She 00:31:51.369 --> 00:31:54.170 was disgusted by food, couldn't think properly, 00:31:54.289 --> 00:31:56.849 and became antisocial. Of course, at first, nobody 00:31:56.849 --> 00:31:58.809 thought of witchcraft. They all told her to go 00:31:58.809 --> 00:32:01.049 to a psychiatrist and see what was wrong, so 00:32:01.049 --> 00:32:03.849 she went, and nothing. She had no mental issue. 00:32:04.029 --> 00:32:06.309 Once everyone learned of the news, maybe it was 00:32:06.309 --> 00:32:08.809 not her mind but her body, so she went, and still 00:32:08.809 --> 00:32:11.230 nothing. She was fine. After months and months, 00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:14.809 her health in mind and body deteriorate. She 00:32:14.809 --> 00:32:17.349 wouldn't get out of her flat even to go to work. 00:32:17.609 --> 00:32:20.369 She would only speak Serb even though she used 00:32:20.369 --> 00:32:22.829 to only speak it when she really had to. She 00:32:22.829 --> 00:32:25.609 got thinner and thinner even if my gran monitored 00:32:25.609 --> 00:32:28.809 every meal and made sure she ate enough. Anyway... 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:30.940 Things were not improving in the slightest and 00:32:30.940 --> 00:32:33.480 people started to link witchcraft to poor Anna. 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:35.900 Those were just rumors, but my grandma was sure 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:38.240 it was witchcraft. She saw it before and she 00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:41.000 knew the results of a curse. So she started searching 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:43.579 Anna's flat. She inspected every inch of the 00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:46.519 place, nothing. But the only place she had not 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:49.339 inspected was the bedroom. So she searched the 00:32:49.339 --> 00:32:51.359 bedroom and guess what? She found a little pouch 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:53.859 with chicken bones in it. That was the proof. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:56.380 Chicken bones are used for rituals and curses. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:58.339 Anna was cursed and the worst thing about it 00:32:58.339 --> 00:33:00.740 is that nobody could stop it, only the caster 00:33:00.740 --> 00:33:04.240 can stop hers. Of course my gran tried to find 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.599 who was the sick fuck who enjoyed destroying 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:09.009 the life of a young woman. But she never found 00:33:09.009 --> 00:33:11.609 who did it. Very often, my gran went to Anna's 00:33:11.609 --> 00:33:13.710 flat to inspect it, and more than once found 00:33:13.710 --> 00:33:15.869 chicken bones. Under the carpet, under the mattress, 00:33:15.990 --> 00:33:18.470 Anna moved, but it just followed her no matter 00:33:18.470 --> 00:33:20.369 what. She tried everything to get rid of the 00:33:20.369 --> 00:33:22.349 curse, but nothing worked, so she gave up and 00:33:22.349 --> 00:33:24.150 kicked herself from the world completely. After 00:33:24.150 --> 00:33:26.109 years and years, Anna's health got worse and 00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:28.809 worse, and she finally died at 32. In a tiny 00:33:28.809 --> 00:33:31.329 flat in the poorest part of Paris, I know so 00:33:31.329 --> 00:33:34.250 much more stories about lives being destroyed 00:33:34.250 --> 00:33:36.750 by petty revenge curses that I can only recommend 00:33:36.750 --> 00:33:40.049 some more bathed in wishcraft. Now tonight, as 00:33:40.049 --> 00:33:43.529 we near Halloween and the boundaries of the world's 00:33:43.529 --> 00:33:46.730 blur, remember in every curse word, in every 00:33:46.730 --> 00:33:49.529 whispered taboo, in every name spoken with fear 00:33:49.529 --> 00:33:52.509 or awe, we glimpse the ancient magic. Words can 00:33:52.509 --> 00:33:56.470 hurt, heal, curse, charm, or conjure, and sometimes 00:33:56.470 --> 00:33:59.250 just release the pressure of a stubbed toe. But 00:33:59.250 --> 00:34:01.809 beneath the veneer of modern profanity and comedy, 00:34:02.069 --> 00:34:04.730 beneath the theatre rituals and inscribed tablets, 00:34:04.829 --> 00:34:07.930 we still carry old primal beliefs that speech 00:34:07.930 --> 00:34:10.610 is an act of power, that names and words have 00:34:10.610 --> 00:34:13.309 consequences, and that to break a taboo is to 00:34:13.309 --> 00:34:16.369 enter the realm of risk, change, and transformation. 00:34:16.469 --> 00:34:20.510 The ancient Cast your words wisely, whether a 00:34:20.510 --> 00:34:23.530 shout, a whisper, a curse, or a blessing, for 00:34:23.530 --> 00:34:26.730 on this night, perhaps more than any other, who 00:34:26.730 --> 00:34:30.610 knows what might be listening. Chelsea, that 00:34:30.610 --> 00:34:35.050 is the episode. I learned a lot, and now I will 00:34:35.050 --> 00:34:40.429 curse with pride as it is not only releasing 00:34:40.429 --> 00:34:44.449 the emotional baggage that comes with life, but 00:34:44.449 --> 00:34:47.510 it'll keep me clean from curses. and it most 00:34:47.510 --> 00:34:49.670 importantly links us to our ancestors. Exactly. 00:34:49.889 --> 00:34:52.309 There's all kinds of good and cursing I found 00:34:52.309 --> 00:34:55.670 out in this episode. I have nothing to add because, 00:34:55.750 --> 00:34:58.949 wow, my mind is blown from most of that, but 00:34:58.949 --> 00:35:01.269 that was a great episode. I quite enjoyed that. 00:35:01.409 --> 00:35:04.070 I learned a lot of new things that I didn't know. 00:35:04.170 --> 00:35:07.730 And it's always the fun things that you do in 00:35:07.730 --> 00:35:10.940 everyday life. that is like you never think of 00:35:10.940 --> 00:35:14.460 why you do it it's just as it is and it's just 00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:17.440 another it has shaped so much of society that 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:20.690 like yeah you can't even begin to characterize 00:35:20.690 --> 00:35:22.769 every little aspect of it. All we can really 00:35:22.769 --> 00:35:24.949 look at is ritual, but that's not where it's 00:35:24.949 --> 00:35:27.969 going to be limited to. My mind is constantly 00:35:27.969 --> 00:35:31.030 blown in which the most mundane things in our 00:35:31.030 --> 00:35:33.610 life that you do without thinking is tied back 00:35:33.610 --> 00:35:36.050 to something that happened like hundreds of years 00:35:36.050 --> 00:35:40.369 ago. And we just like even the fact that we don't 00:35:40.369 --> 00:35:44.289 say bear, like that's insane. And it's from so 00:35:44.289 --> 00:35:47.630 fucking long ago. You can't even imagine that 00:35:47.630 --> 00:35:51.159 just blows my mind yet. Here we are doing it 00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:54.280 every single day because that was a belief that 00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:57.780 was held so long ago. So those are my thoughts. 00:35:58.099 --> 00:36:00.659 I quite like that. That was a very nice Halloween 00:36:00.659 --> 00:36:02.920 episode. Glad you liked it. And with that, I 00:36:02.920 --> 00:36:05.139 have been Taylor, here with Chelsea. We are Journey 00:36:05.139 --> 00:36:06.800 to the Fringe. Thank you all for listening. We'll 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:12.320 see you next week. Fuck. That's a good way to 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:12.699 end it.