Tag Archives: curse

Kenahora

Nationality: American
Age: 40
Occupation: Designer
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

“Kenahora” is a curse in Yinglish (bastardized english/yiddish) world that comes from three words slurred together: the Yiddish word kein, meaning no,  ayin, which is Hebrew for eye, and hara, Hebrew for Evil. My informant’s mother would always say “don’t give us /it a kenahora” to mean “don’t give us bad luck.”
“If you are driving cross country let’s say, and making great time – but stupid decide to comment “Oh boy we are making great time” – BANG – you will instantly hit traffic – BUMPER TO BUMPER. It  always happens!” my informant tells me.

My informant’s grandmother also used to spit after saying Kenahora, “pu-pu-pu!” It implied spitting on the demon to stop it.

The Slovakian Werewolf

Nationality: Slovakian-American (2nd. Gen)
Age: 54
Occupation: Physician
Residence: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

When my father was growing up, he was a very big fan of the classic monster and horror movies, among them Dracula (1931), and The Wolf Man (1941). Because his grandmother was born in Slovakia, he thought to ask her about other ‘eastern European’ legendary monsters that the movies portrayed such as vampires in Transylvania, etc. He was about 18 or 19 when he asked her about vampires and werewolves. He said that she told him that she did not know about vampires in Slovakia, but that she did believe in werewolves.

His grandmother was from the region near Bratislava, Slovakia. She told my father that while growing up, she had heard of a girl that had been attacked by what she claimed to be a wolf. His grandmother then said that people saw a man with a bit of the girl’s clothing caught between his teeth. The folklore of her region prompted her to believe the possibility of this man being a werewolf. She offered no charms to ward off werewolves to my father, however, just that she believed in them.

Because she believed that a human male could be a werewolf, my father’s grandmother obviously viewed werewolves as shape-shifters, which also has origins in Russia.  It is also interesting to note that it was a girl who was attacked and that the significant clue to prove the existence of a werewolf was clothing in the man’s mouth. This to me sounds like a distant version of the tale of Red Riding Hood, which had an underlying lesson to teach girls the dangers of the male ‘appetite.’

Toyol

Nationality: Singaporean Chinese
Occupation: Student
Residence: Singapore
Performance Date: February 2007
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

This is a familiar or an imp type creature. The Toyol is a spirit that is invoked by a bomoh (Malayan witch doctor) from a dead foetus. These people who possess a Toyol  usually use them to do mischief, like steal money and sabotaging people. As these are children spirits, they are not very intelligent and are easily distracted by toys and things they can play with. People who have these creatures usually have an urn in their home with the dead foetus with embalming fluid in their homes. However, it is said that you cannot get rid of a Toyol once you have one and it is passed down from generation to generation. To keep these creatures happy, you have to feed it a few drops of your blood once a day and give it offerings of toys and a lot of attention. Supposedly, these are able to be seen without having the evil/magic eye and look similar to House Elves in Harry Potter.

                  My informant was informed of this when she was growing up in Singapore in the 1990s. This was something that she heard while at Primary five camp at her school at Camp Christine, which was rumored to be haunted. So, as kids are wont to do, they shared scary ghost stories in their beds and one of her classmates told her this story.

There are many variations of this particular creature as well. One of which is that the person can buy these spirits from the bomohs, in others people have to create them. A variation says that people can get rid of them by throwing the urn into the sea, or burying them with the proper rites and respect.  Also, feeding a Toyol in one version, has to be fed from blood from the owners big toe, in another it requires fresh rooster blood.

                  As superstitious beliefs run rampant over most of the countries with people that are mostly uneducated and have strong beliefs in Black Magic and the woods. This was also a convenient excuse for things going missing and bad luck. However, while there is no concrete evidence for anything supernatural, according to my friend, there have been reports of sightings of these creatures.

Taaveej (Taaveez)

Nationality: Pakistani
Occupation: Student
Residence: Lahore, Pakistan
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Urdu, Arabic

This is, in Pakistan, one of the worst forms of black magic that a person could wreak on another. It involves writing a spell or something on a piece of paper, then putting it in a leather pouch, before hiding it somewhere until it’s found. The spell would persist on the person until the pouch is recovered and opened, dispelling the curse.  One of the “blackest” or darkest forms of this curse is when the pouch is hidden in the mouth of a dead person because it is nearly impossible to be found by anyone else.  Manifestations of this spell or curse include but are not limited to (in order of seriousness from least to worse):  strange aches and pains, waking up with cuts all over their body, burns appearing spontaneously , blood spots appearing all over their abode, never able to get married or insanity.

My informant says that these spells are relatively common knowledge in Pakistan, but most people try to stay away from these sorts of things. Pakistan is an Islamic country and according to my informant, she states that Islam frowns on all things that involve black magic and that it is “hiram” or impure.  Generally, these items are viewed very seriously by most, if not all Muslims and going against or defying the Qur’an would be going against Allah, which is one of the most heinous crimes in their religion.

Additionally, she informed me of an instance that she had heard about first hand that was related to this phenomenon, when one woman was complaining that she was suffering a stroke of really bad luck and couldn’t figure out what was happening. This woman helped to purify and cleanse the death for burial, and this was a sacred task so, theoretically, she should have been blessed instead of cursed. However, after much deliberation, she revealed that she had collected money for hiding Taaveej in the mouths of the different corpses so they would not be found. This was a big revelation for my informant and all those that were listening to her. Largely because to do so was taboo and explained much of what was happening to her.

While I’m sure that these do exist and work, it can be also seen as an example of how older cultures explained phenomena that they could not explained by normal means. As it can be seen, this might reflect the superstitious nature of most agricultural based societies because, most rural folk are usually uneducated and more superstitious than most. However, regardless of this, these beliefs usually seep through all classes, no matter their wealth, educational status or religious beliefs. Additionally, this is an example of binary opposition in culture as well, because of the religious nature of most Pakistanis. For to have something good and holy, there needs to be something evil to balance things out and the Taaveej is just one of these exam

Curse— Chicago

Nationality: American. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 56
Occupation: Attorney
Residence: Champaign, IL
Performance Date: 4/24/11
Primary Language: English

The curse as described by Jim:  “The owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago wanted to bring his goat to a Cubs game in 1945.  He wanted to bring the goat in, but the owner of the Cubs prohibited him.  So, he put a curse on the Cubs by saying that they were no longer going to win.  The Cubs have tried to get rid of the curse, but they haven’t been able to break it… because they haven’t been back to a world series since 1945.  There have been other occurrences proving that the curse is true.  For instance, the Cubs were five outs from going to the World Series in 2003.  Then, a foul ball was hit to left field.  A fan, the now infamous Steve Bartman, interfered with the fly ball which made left fielder Moises Alou angry.  Then, the Cubs lost the next two games.  That proves the curse is true.”

Jim told me that he believes wholeheartedly in this curse, as it’s his duty as a Cubs fan to stay loyal.  He explained that there’s no other explanation for why the Cubs haven’t been to the World Series since 1945.  He said that he believes the curse will one day be broken, but he’s not sure how that will be accomplished.

Jim said that he learned about the curse from his father when he was growing up.  His father was a huge Cubs fan, which influenced his team preference.  Jim also said that every Cubs fan should know about the curse.  He mentioned that it’s perpetuated by the media, who reference it after losing Cubs seasons.

At the simplest level, this curse is used as justification/an excuse for why the Cubs have not been to the World Series since 1945.  The team is known for its losing seasons, and this is an easy way for fans to justify their losses and feel better about the team.  For instance, when the aforementioned mishaps involving Steve Bartman occurred in 2003, it was easier to blame the curse than the actual players involved with losing the games leading up to the World Series.

The curse is also a way to shape the identities of Cubs fans.  Jim mentioned that all Cubs fans should know about the curse.  While most non-fans wouldn’t believe in the curse, true Cubs fans do… giving its fans a sense of community and camaraderie.

This curse is similar to other baseball curses like “The Curse of The Bambino,” which was supposedly placed on the Red Sox after the team traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.  However, the curse was “broken” in 2004 when the Red Sox finally won the World Series.

This curse is referenced in Issue #250 of the Hellblazer comic book series, in which main character John Constantine is hired to break the curse.