What Is A Curse and Is It Worth Worrying About?

‘The Three Witches’ by Henry Fuseli

First of all, we need to understand that a curse is a great sin. After all, what is a curse in its essence? It is something pronounced in extreme anger when one person experiences terrible anger towards another. The degree of such anger almost reaches the point of physical murder. Of course, the root cause of the curse and its motivation are the work of an evil spirit who hates every living thing and especially man. A soul that is at peace with God cannot pronounce curses. Only a soul driven by a demon is capable of doing this.

We need to understand one simple truth that is revealed very well in the New Testament: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:1-5). Of course, in this Gospel passage, first of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, is meant by the Word.

But we must also understand that everything starts with a word with a lowercase letter. Not from actions and not from deeds, but from a word.

Saint John of Kronstadt writes in his book “My Life in Christ”: “What is harder, more constant and more powerful than a word? The world is created and stands by the word: upholding all things by the word of his power; while we sinners treat words so frivolously, carelessly. <…> Christian! Cherish every word, be attentive to every word; be firm in the word; trust the word of God and the word of saints, as the word of life. Remember that the word is the beginning of life”. And continuing the thought of the great saint, I would like to say that word is a prayer as well. Life for man starts with it. And as soon as it stops, the world will collapse. Everything stands on it, and everything starts with it. Therefore, when a priest is asked any question about problems, he often starts his answer with the words: “Pray, and God will fix everything.” That’s very true! Prayer is the beginning of all beginnings. Deed, sanctified by this, is like a mighty oak tree, growing from a faithful and deep root in good soil.

The curse itself has a very negative and destructive effect on those people who pronounce it. Because such a man, embraced by malice, voluntarily excommunicates himself from God, Who, as you know, is Love. Therefore, the curse is primarily directed at the curser himself. It brings anger, irritation, rancor in his heart and, as a result, anxiety, which causes physical (stroke, heart attack) and mental illness. Also, socially, an angry person dooms himself to total loneliness. We are arranged by God in such a way that we must love all people without exception, because we are a coherent whole. And, in fact, brothers and sisters, who have same ancestors – Adam and Eve, the holy forefathers. Therefore, anger at one person often develops into anger at others (if not at everyone!). As a result, such a person destroys ties with others, fencing off from them. We are connected with other people and the Lord by the bonds of love. And it goes without saying that man (anyone of us!) is the image and likeness of God. And by insulting or cursing man we offend the Creator. Moreover, Christ commanded us to love all people, and above all, our enemies.

If someone curses you, do not panic. Something undeserved will not come true. In the Book of Proverbs of Solomon (26: 2) it is said: “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come”.

And if a person committed a sin, then what’s the difference whether someone curses him or not? After all, the universal mechanism of punishment is already “on” anyway. And until a person improves himself, he will suffer. What is the way out? The answer is very simple – the fruits of repentance: ask for forgiveness, confess your sin, admit your guilt – and the Lord will forgive everything. There will be no sin or curse. That is, the curse is not a self-sufficient fatalistic substance such as “I was cursed – then I will die” or “I was cursed, because my life does not add up.” These are false auto-suggestions. Unfortunately, such self-reflections are a breeding ground for all sorts of “babkas” (old ladies who practice witchcraft hiding behind prayer and Icons), fortunetellers, psychics, “those who remove curses, bad spells, evil eyes, celibacy wreaths” and so on. People, who goes to church rarely, come to them. Such people are used to a convenient formula, which is the foundation for their life: “Others are the source of all my woes not me. I am a very good and kind person, you know”. Such people are looking for enemies, and the servants of Satan gladly provide them with them: in the neighbors, mother-in-law, bosses, envious friends, lovers, colleagues – the list is very long.

While Orthodox person understands: my main enemy is me and Satan with demons who incite me to evil; my main war is war against passions; I live poorly not because the president is bad or because my neighbor poured cemetery ground under the threshold of my house, but because I sin and thereby destroy my life, let evil in and excommunicate myself voluntarily from God. Let us remember the words of St. Basil the Great. He said that the end of the fulfillment of the commandment of God is eternal life, and the violation of the commandment of God is death. In this context, even a curse, pronounced on a person not for nothing, for something he deserves, can entail punishment, but not ephemerally-fatalistically-hopeless, but for a particular sin. Therefore, let us firstly get rid of our sins, then no curse can affect us.

Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/chto-takoe-proklyatie-i-stoit-li-ego-boyatsya

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