Acurse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object.[1] In particular, "curse" may refer to such a wish or pronouncement made effective by a supernatural or spiritual power, such as a god or gods, a spirit, or a natural force, or else as a kind of spell by magic (usually black magic) or witchcraft; in the latter sense, a curse can also be called a hex or a jinx. In many belief systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is sometimes called "removal" or "breaking", as the spell has to be dispelled, and often requires elaborate rituals or prayers.[2]
There is a broad popular belief in curses being associated with the violation of the tombs of mummified corpses, or of the mummies themselves. The idea became so widespread as to become a pop-culture mainstay, especially in horror films (though originally the curse was invisible, a series of mysterious deaths, rather than the walking-dead mummies of later fiction). The "Curse of the Pharaohs" is supposed to have haunted the archeologists who excavated the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, whereby an imprecation was supposedly pronounced from the grave by the ancient Egyptian priests, on anyone who violated its precincts. Similar dubious suspicions have surrounded the excavation and examination of the (natural, not embalmed) Alpine mummy, "tzi the Iceman". While such curses are generally considered to have been popularized and sensationalized by British journalists of the 19th century, ancient Egyptians were, in fact, known to place curse inscriptions on markers protecting temple or tomb goods or property.
In the Old Testament, starting at(Deuteronomy 28:15), the Lord put curses on the Israelites for disobeying the laws, statues, and commandments of Yahawah. When you read Deuteronomy 15-64, the Lord exalted a nation with a different tongue and the symbol is the Eagle. It translates into the Edomites being raised up to punish the Israelites in America (aka Babylon The Great). This also is in the Apocrypha in Baruch Chapter 3. The Lord will punished the Edomites for their actions via Deuteronomy 30:7, Obadiah 1, and Psalms 149:6-9.
Cursed objects are generally supposed to have been stolen from their rightful owners or looted from a sanctuary. The Hope Diamond is supposed to bear such a curse, and bring misfortune to its owner. The stories behind why these items are cursed vary, but they usually are said to bring bad luck or to manifest unusual phenomena related to their presence. Busby's stoop chair was reportedly cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby shortly before his execution so that everyone who would sit in it would die.
According to the Bible, cursed objects are those which are used in idolatry whether that idolatry is indirectly or directly connected to the devil. A list of those Bible references along with a comprehensive list of occult and cursed objects can be found online.[7]
In 1525 Gavin Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland, pronounced a curse on the Anglo-Scottish Border reivers and caused it to be read out in all churches in the border area. It comprehensively cursed the reivers and their families from head to toe and in every way.[8][9] In 2003 a 371-word extract from the curse was carved into a 14 ton granite boulder as part of an art work by Gordon Young which was installed in Carlisle; some local people believed that a series of misfortunes (floods, factory closure, footballing defeats etc) were caused by the curse, and campaigned unsuccessfully for the destruction of the stone.[10][11]
Curses have also been used as plot devices in literature and theater. When used as a plot device, they involve one character placing a curse or hex over another character. This is distinguished from adverse spells and premonitions and other such plot devices. Examples of the curse as a plot device:
Leah* was one of the myriad innocent victims of the Curse. She once knit not one but two sweaters for her boyfriendand then they broke up. Her Dad was the lucky recipient of one of the sweaters, and the other went to Leahs new boyfriend, making Leah feel plenty guilty for giving him a gift made for another. Not one to give up easily, Leah later knit a sweater for another boyfriend and suffered another painful break-up. She is now happily married to a man who [luckily?] doesnt even like sweaters.
I first heard of the Curse when I wrote to a knitting e-mail list for advice on a new project. I had discovered that, although my boyfriend had previously dated at least two knitters, none of them had made him a Dr. Who scarfa replica of the 15-foot erratically-striped scarf used on the British science fiction show. And he loves Dr. Who. I asked the group for advice on knitting this scarf, but in response, I got advice of a very different kind. I was immediately deluged with cautionary messages. "Never knit for a man before marriage!" one read. "Dont put all that time and effort into something for just a boyfriend," others advised. And almost all of them mentioned the Sweater Curse.
In its most dire form, the Sweater Curse states that if you knit anything for a romantic interest before he or she is bound to you by a tie such as marriage, he or she will break up with you. Many knitters staunchly believe thissome because of repeated personal experience. Rose tells one such story:
"I made two sweaters for men I was involved with and lost both, in addition to several men I lost while I was still in the process of making a sweater. When I started dating my last boyfriend, we talked about the curse, so I made him an afghan, then a scarf. Finally for Christmas that year, I made him a beautiful green Aran sweater, and we laughed about the curse because things were going so well between us. Two weeks later he dumped me by e-mail without any explanation then or since. People can laugh and give me a thousand examples of times it didnt happen [to them], but Im not risking it again. Ive lost the best sweaters that way."
There are plenty of knitters who dont believe in the curse. Libby writes, "I am proof that the curse is not necessarily true! I knit a sweater for a boyfriend one Christmas, and less than a year later, we were married. Still are, too, and happily." Like Libby, many doubters of the Curse are living proof that it is not universal. Some doubters appear to be victims of the Curse, but argue that other factors, such as immaturity, were the true reason for the collapse of their earlier relationships, not their knitted gifts. Other knitters, though, believe that what we call a Curse is, in fact, a symptom of the psychology that plays out in our relationships.
Some suggest that knitting for a partner is a similar [albeit less drastic] tactic to that of having a baby to save the relationship. June broke up with her boyfriend of a year and a half just as she was in the middle of knitting him a pair of socks, which was the only gift she ever knit for him. "I wonder if maybe I decided to knit for him because I knew the relationship was on the rocks," she writes. "I was hoping that affection [as expressed by the socks] would hold us together when we were drifting apart."
While few knitters use knitted gifts so consciously as a gauge for the worthiness of a potential mate, it seems clear that the innocent sweaters may indeed serve such a purpose. When a man receives a hand-knit gift from his girlfriend, he must confront the fact that she cares about him enough to spend the thought, time, and energy required to create a personalized, hand-crafted gift for him. Some men are uncomfortable with so obvious and public a declaration of emotional intimacy, especially if they fear or are not ready for a higher level of commitment.
Indeed, a knitted gift may appear to be an outright statement of commitment. "Knitting for a boyfriend is a very domestic gesture which presumes a future together . . . at least to somewhere beyond the time it takes to knit the object," she wrote. If the one who receives the gift is uncomfortable with these implications, he may end the relationship as a result.
This, then, may be the "truth" of the Sweater Curse. The creation of the sweater itself does not force the relationship to end. But the sweater may serve as a catalyst for one of the partners in the relationshipthe one who receives the gift or, in some cases, the knitter herselfto recognize and express the fact that he is not comfortable with the view his partner takes of the relationship. Some knitters embrace this aspect of the Curse and are happy that their sweater incidents alerted them to the unsuitability of a potential partner. After describing how she lost a boyfriend while finishing a sweater that he had actually requested, Carrie praised her husband for cherishing her knitting and wrote, "I thank my lucky stars that the other guy was scared off by the sweater!"
So whats the verdict? Should you knit your boyfriend a gorgeous raglan for Christmas or just go to Best Buy and pick up the new computer game hes been eyeing? Well, would he like it and wear it? Some guys just dont wear sweaters, or scarves, or whatever it is you are thinking of knitting. If you dont mind it not being a total surprise, its generally smart to run the idea by him first, and perhaps ask him to help pick out a pattern and yarn. That way you wont risk spending umpteen hours knitting something in a style or color your partner secretly despises.
If you determine that your partner would enjoy receiving the gift, and that youd enjoy knitting it, go ahead. Just keep in mind what the sweater may suggest to him. A hand-knit gift will hint at a certain level of both commitment and domesticity. Make sure that you are comfortable with this before you express it to your partner. And be aware that your expression of these feelings may cause your partner to confront his own. Most importantly, though, keep in mind that if you are in a loving, secure relationship, you should have nothing to fear from the Sweater Curse.
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