Curse Work Exposed: A 20-Year Practitioner's Guide to Occult Offense

Real Stories and Hard-Earned Wisdom from Witch Wars and Blood Feuds

In a world filled with conflicts and intense emotions, the concept of curses has always been an intriguing topic. For those who dare to explore the shadowy realms of magic, understanding the ethics and mechanics of curse work is crucial.

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Introduction to Cursing

Do you find yourself harboring intense feelings towards someone? Perhaps you’re tempted to curse them. Before you take such a step, it’s important to delve into the ethics and mechanics of curse work. The practice of cursing spans millennia and crosses countless cultural boundaries. From ancient Egyptian execration texts to medieval European grimoires, from African diaspora traditions to contemporary occult practices, the desire to influence reality through focused will and ritual has remained a constant in human spiritual expression. Yet despite its prevalence, curse work remains one of the most misunderstood and controversial aspects of magical practice.

In many cultures, including my own, brujería involves practical and dark magic, including proficient curse work. Growing up, I found myself in an advanced witch war, which required me to learn the art of defending and initiating curses out of necessity. This experience taught me the pressure and spiritual violence associated with curses. It is not an art to be taken lightly.

The Brujería Tradition

Brujería, often misunderstood in mainstream culture, is a complex system of folk magic that developed through the syncretism of indigenous American, African and European magical traditions. Within this framework, curse work is not merely about causing harm—it is about understanding the delicate balance of spiritual forces and knowing when and how to tip those scales.

*San Simon house, Zunil, Guatemala

In my childhood community, curse work was viewed as a legitimate form of spiritual defense and justice. Elders would speak of it in hushed tones, not out of fear, but out of respect for its power. They taught that every curse carries weight, not just for the target, but for the practitioner as well. This understanding shaped my approach to the practice and instilled in me a deep respect for the forces at play.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives

While my foundation lies in brujería, my research has taken me through various cultural approaches to curse work. The Greek and Roman curse tablets (defixiones), the Nordic traditions of níð, the complex curse systems within Haitian Vodou and the execration rituals of ancient Egypt all share common threads while maintaining unique cultural signatures.

What becomes clear through comparative study is that curse work has always served multiple functions: protection, justice, revenge and sometimes simply the expression of human frustration when faced with powerlessness. Understanding these motivations is crucial for any serious practitioner or researcher.

Do’s and Don’ts of Cursing

An essential part of understanding curses is recognizing cause and effect, a concept deeply embedded in occult practices. While some, like the Wiccans, may take a cautious approach, often viewing curses as a last resort, it is vital to exhaust all other options before engaging in such practices. The coercive energies associated with curses can create cycles of curse mentality, potentially causing harm to yourself and others that were not intended to get hurt (trust me I have seen it).

The Do’s of Curse Work

1. Understand Your Motivation Before any curse work, examine your true motivations. Are you seeking justice or revenge? Protection or punishment? The clarity of your intent will shape the outcome of your work.

2. Master Protection First Can you do curse work without being able to take a punch or have proper defense? Sure. Just do not cry if it stings more than you thought it would. I would recommend never attempting curse work without first establishing strong protective practices. This includes routine cleansing rituals, protective amulets or talismans and maintaining spiritual hygiene. Think of it as wearing safety equipment before handling dangerous materials.

3. Study the Target Thoroughly Knowledge is power in curse work. Understanding your target’s weaknesses, patterns and spiritual defenses (if any) is crucial. This is not about stalking—it is intelligence gathering.

4. Document Everything Keep detailed records of your work, including dates, methods, observations and outcomes. This documentation becomes invaluable for understanding patterns and refining your practice.

5. Have an Exit Strategy Know how to break or modify a curse if necessary. Circumstances change and what seemed justified in one moment may become excessive or unnecessary later. Truth be told, this step is much easier said than done. Momentum can be a hard thing to stop once the ball starts rolling, or in this case, heads start rolling (sarcasm).

The Don’ts of Curse Work

1. Curse in Anger(sometimes) Hot emotions can lead to sloppy work and unintended consequences. Allow yourself to cool down and approach the work with cold, calculated intention at times. Other times, let it burn and that volcanic energy will serve the curse well. If you cannot decide on which approach is best for your situation, do divination!

2. Avoid Collateral Damage Be specific in your targeting. Broad, unfocused curses can affect innocent bystanders, particularly family members or others close to your target.

3. Don’t Neglect the Rebound Every action has a reaction. Even justified curse work can have energetic rebounds. Prepare for this possibility through proper shielding and cleansing practices. An example I like to use is a fighter can win a fight in the first round with the first punch they throw without taking a hit. This is not very common but it happens. Flawless victory? Come to find out they have broken their hand on the same punch that won them the fight. Magical actions and actions in real life go beyond our stories of deserving and dogma and conclusions based on cause and effect.

4. Never Curse Without Cause Frivolous cursing weakens your spiritual authority and can attract unwanted attention from both mundane and spiritual sources.

5. Don’t Become Addicted to the Power The ability to influence reality through curse work can be intoxicating. Maintain perspective and remember that curses are tools, not solutions to every problem.

The Law of Fault and Reason

During my journey, a mentor taught me the invaluable lesson of aligning with the law of fault and reason. It is a concept that requires adaptability and has proven to be a powerful tool against other practitioners. It offers immense leverage when negotiating spiritual conflicts. If I am speaking candidly, this law is universal to all metaphysical endeavors and consistently analyzing and applying it to your situation will lead to astounding increases in your magical win rate.

Understanding Fault

The law of fault suggests that curse work is most effective when directed at genuine wrongdoing or strategically speaking, when there is probable cause. This suggests cursing is not simply about moral absolutism—different traditions have different ethical frameworks. Rather, it is about recognizing that curses aligned with a sense of justice, however defined, tend to manifest more reliably than those born of petty grievances.

In practical terms, this means that before initiating curse work, you must be able to articulate clearly:

• What wrong has been committed

• How you or others have been harmed

• Why magical intervention is necessary

• What outcome would constitute justice

The Role of Reason

Reason in curse work does not mean cold logic alone. It encompasses the ability to:

• Assess situations objectively despite emotional investment

• Recognize when curse work is and is not appropriate

• Understand the likely consequences of your actions

• Adapt your approach based on changing circumstances

This combination of fault and reason creates what my mentors would call justified force. As in, curse work that carries the weight of legitimacy in the spiritual realm. Such work is harder to defend against and less likely to rebound in detrimental ways on the practitioner.

Personal Stories from My Experience

Raised in a culture that prided itself on curse work, I have seen many peers who excelled in the art. However, I have also observed how a lack of mysticism and connection to the divine can lead to a perpetual cycle of curses and spiritual violence.

The High School Rival

A memorable experience from my past involves a high school rival. Despite attempting to befriend him, his jealousy and attempts to undermine me in our high school military program (JROTC) led me to eventually perform a simple curse spell. The consequences of that action, both immediate and long-term, served as a profound lesson in the unpredictable nature of curses.

The curse itself was simple—a molly-whoop of energy meant to knock him down a few pegs, shut up his rumors and outclass him for positions within the unit. I used a black candle, a photograph, bat’s blood oil and a powder from my madrina’s botanica that I cannot specifically recall. The results took a fair bit of time but were dramatic: within the next few months I had surpassed him in skill, beat him out for awards at encampments and won the coveted commander’s position that we both had wanted.

While this might seem like success, the long-term consequences were more complex.

Towards the end of high school he found himself on academic probation from JROTC activities after spending too much time obsessing over military extracurriculars and ignoring the books. After graduating he was accepted into a prestigious military academy when he would wash out during their cadet summer candidacy because he believed he knew more than the instructors. Ironically, he did, but that does not fly well when you are in a subordinate position. Later on, our paths would cross in the actual military where…well, refer to the video. It is a candid story that I like to narrate the value of.

All to say, his life trajectory altered significantly. A simple but meaningful curse not only delivered a blow but snowballed on his character flaws of arrogance into lifelong problems. This taught me that curses, even “simple” ones, can have cascading effects far beyond our intentions or timeframe of observation.

The Witch War Years

Perhaps the most formative period of my magical education came during what I call the “witch wars”—a period of intense spiritual conflict within my community and outside individuals threatening my family with magic and malicious material leverage. Multiple practitioners, each with their own grievances and agendas, engaged in an escalating series of magical attacks and counterattacks.

The attacks came in waves: mysterious illnesses, financial troubles, relationship discord, strange spontaneous odors in the home and nightmares that felt more real than waking life.

Learning to defend against and return these attacks became a crash course in advanced curse work. I learned to recognize the energetic signatures of different practitioners, to trace curses back to their source and to construct elaborate defensive networks that could function autonomously. Most importantly, I learned the exhausting nature of sustained magical conflict and why most experienced practitioners avoid it when possible.

The Price of Power

One of my peers from those early days became consumed by curse work. Let’s call her Maria (because every Latino or Latino-adjacent family has a girl or 2 named Maria). She was naturally talented, able to manifest results that took others years to achieve. But she lacked grounding in the mystical aspects of the practice—the connection to divine forces, the understanding of the cosmic landscape and the wisdom to know when not to act.

Maria’s life became a series of conflicts. Every slight, real or imagined, warranted magical retaliation. She grew paranoid, seeing magical attacks in every misfortune. The last I heard, she had isolated herself completely. Not in a fortress of protective moats but cannons pointed outward at all times, unable to maintain normal relationships due to her fear and suspicion. Her story serves as a cautionary tale about the psychological toll of excessive curse work.

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