Why curses fail

This comes as a recurring afterthought, something I kept thinking to tell people in general and potential clients in particular. It should make a good addition to Why Magic Fails, but it solely focuses on cases where the force you've set into motion is powerful, the ritual was done using a good election, etc. It applies to beneficial spells too, but by shifting perspectives, although I've spoken of spells in general in Words.

In order for a curse to work completely as intended, it must utterly obliterate a certain structure or structures. That is to say, it must destroy a construction that is more or less material in nature, but is the product of our material existence nonetheless. It can be someone's body, relationship, status and so on. Cracking that structure is not enough, for it will simply cause more or less damage one can overcome more or less easily. 

That's why a lot of curses have only temporary, often short lived outcomes, especially if the curses themselves aren't permanent. In "A living hell: The eerie twelfth house" from Asteria 2 I briefly mentioned permanent curses saying they're not a topic for that book. Perhaps I'll write a class on the matter at some point. We shall see although there's no actual need since I already have a class on that's covering one particular powerful kind of such curses.

Anyway, let's dig a bit deeper into this by considering some fictional examples.

Some people would buzz me saying they want me to literally terminate someone. I always tell them I'd do the ritual, but there's a slim chance it'll succeed. At best, the target would end up suffering an accident that may or may not permanently damage them for life and the same applies if they were to become ill. Otherwise this fuck would've ended being six feet under a long time ago. This case doesn't count because the outcome wasn't the result of a curse aimed at the target. I'm not saying it's impossible, but highly improbable.

Besides the obvious fact everyone's got a divine spark within themselves to which they owe their very existence and lifespan, as well as at least one guardian angel that can protect them, not to mention the configuration of their natal chart, their physicality also plays a great role in the outcome of such spells. Is their health above average or are they weaklings in this regard?  The healthier they are, the more the curse would have to chip away at that health (and lose steam doing so). 

The same applies to accidents that may prove fatal. How good is the target's conscious awareness? Are they good at multitasking and thus less prone to accidents while they're eating a sandwich when driving, for instance? Do they commute often? Does their commuting take them through potentially hazardous places such as construction sites or bad neighborhoods? 

When it comes to relationships, people usually ask for curses to separate a couple. In the same Asteria 2 I wrote "Getting down and dirty: Astrology and love spells" to discuss the astrological implications of a relationship. The same implications play a great part in the dynamics of the relationship itself as well as in the interactions between the couple and outside environment. 

But let's focus on more mundane aspects. There are many people who stay in a relationship for reasons other than purely romantic. Some stay together for purely financial interests,  irrespective of how much one or both of them cheats on or acts like a dick towards the other. Others sacrifice their happiness and remain in a relationship for what they consider to be the good of the children. They consider their children deserve to live a stress free life as much as possible, so they create an artificial environment for the kids at least until they come of age, during which time they continue living in misery regardless of whether they have another sexual partner on the side throughout that time. 

In cases such as these a curse can create tension within the couple. It can cause verbal fights or physical violence, even situations where the couple separates for a time. In the end the two get back together for whatever underlying cause holds the couple together.

Let's say you want to ruin someone's career. Do they have something on their superiors that allows them to keep their position through blackmail, irrespective of how much they fuck up? Have they had good evaluations over a considerable time, allowing them to fuck up every once in a while without considerable consequences? Is their public image strong enough they'd be able to resist a sustained smearing campaign or slander? How large, influential and reliable is their crowd of followers? You get the gist.

Curses may cause the target to experience more stress in regards to their position. Fights with peers may occur. Their public image may suffer for a while. He or she may also miss out on a raise or bonus, even an opportunity to climb the hierarchical ladder. Thing is, depending on the intent, it won't manifest as desired even though the target will suffer more or less along the way.

Someone recently asked me how come I'm so proficient at curses. That's an overstatement even though I'm quite good in this field. Anove average by far, if I do say so myself. One of my greatest magical successes by far is a curse. By success I mean it completely fucked up the target as intended and then some, but unfortunately I haven't received further updates on their status past the happy news their life was going to become even more miserable than initially desired.

I think I remember mentioning this example elsewhere on the blog, but here we go again. Someone was upset they were having a hard time at work due to their boss and the boss' lackey and second on the hierarchical ladder. By hard time I mean they were constantly treated unfairly even though they were minding their own business, not taking part in shenanigans at work and not being part of any clique that usually forms at a workplace. The person was pushed around, belittled, made fun of, ordered to do the hardest or most tedious work, etc. The boss' lackey was behind this, with the boss' tacit approval and encouragement. 

Given this was taking taking place inside a government facility where the boss was basically god-king for life due to bureaucratic reasons, the intent of completely removing the targets from their seat of power seemed like wishful thinking to say the least. The fact there were two targets instead of one made things far more complicated to begin with, as the two were hand in hand working towards the same goals and focusing their considerable power and influence towards achieving the same outcomes. Being at the top of the food chain in their microclimate basically made them literally untouchable using both mundane and magical means. 

It took a few months and more than a few rituals, lots of stress and nervousness on my part due to lack of news, but at some point I suddenly received exciting news an Internal Affairs investigation no one could've predicted had begun and the two were the prime targets. Within a weak the investigation revealed the two were utterly corrupt, using their vast power and influence to take advantage of others for their own benefit. A few days later the good news finally arrived: the two were arrested, fired and were awaiting trial. Based on the charges they risked facing more than a few years behind bars. Unfortunately for me the updates stopped there, but the fact one day they were living-god-like and the next they were practically thrown into the deppest pit of hell proved more than a very successful outcome.

So such things can happen, but not frequently in my experience.

But why the hell do I even bother explaining...