Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Book Curses


A couple years ago, I read a cursed book. This wasn't surprising, given the book was about curses. In Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees, (by Joseph Citro) the inscription was as follows:

Steal not this book my honest friend
For fear the Gallows should be your end
And when you die the Lord will say
And where's the Book you stole away?
--Traditional book curse


Book curses were common in medieval times. Most curses promised damnation, excommunication, or anathema. 

I'm not an overly superstitious person, but I do believe in curses, to a point. The book mentioned above is about curses in New England, where I'm from, so I grew up around more than one. Curses are most powerful when the recipient believes in them, but a person in severe emotional distress "casting" one can also have a big effect. I highly recommend the book if you're interested in the subject of curses in general. Just don't steal it. ;-)

I may have to study poetry and write some anti-piracy book curses of my own. Honestly, aside from my vehemence toward book pirates, I think it'd be fun. What do you all think? Would you put a curse on your book? :-)

3 comments:

Rhonda D said...

There a definitely a couple of books I would curse, to make sure that I got them back. :)

Unknown said...

Ha! That, too! :-)

Bridgette said...

After reading this...I'm SOOO going to make up some book curses for the beginning of my books...lol. What a great (& fun) idea. :)