Thursday 1 October 2009

Witch hired to curse footballer

A witch has been paid to cast a voodoo curse on football star Cristiano Ronaldo, a former Manchester United player who is now in the Real Madrid team, according to a story on Mailonline.

The news source states that a famous person who knows the winger paid the witch to "inflict a serious injury on the Real Madrid star".

In a letter to newspaper El Mundo, the witch wrote: "I have nothing against this grand club. I am a professional and get paid very well for using my powers. I have been contracted so Cristiano Ronaldo suffers a serious injury. I can’t promise that will be, but I can say he will be injured for more time than he plays."

The report doesn't say why the person paying for the spell wanted Ronaldo cursed - whether it is out of professional rivalry, a dislike for the team, or a more personal grievance. Whatever the reason, I have to say the story saddens me.

Luckily, in this case, few people in Europe believe curses can harm them these days. A Real Madrid spokesman dismissed the threat as "a stupid thing just like all the others Madrid comes across every day."

If witchcraft was taken more seriously, this is the type of thing that could lead to the craft being made illegal once more.

In many parts of the world the fear of witches' curses is so great that witchcraft is illegal, and people suspected of casting spells are persecuted, punished and even put to death. According to a report by news agency Reuters, murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is increasing globally. Aides to UN special investigators on women's rights and on summary executions said killings and violence against alleged witches - often elderly women -were common in countries from South Africa to India.

Jeff Crisp of UN refugee agency UNHCR said: "This is becoming an international problem. It is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe."

Against this background of persecution, the story of someone paying a witch to cast a curse, and the witch feeling that it is acceptable to do so, seems extremely out of place.

Most Wiccan witches believe it is wrong to curse. They follow the Wiccan Rede of "An it harm none, do what ye will". Many believe that if you cause harm to someone through magic, harm will eventually come back to you one way or another. Some call this the law of threefold return, thinking that you will get three times as much bad luck as you dish out.

Now, I'm not totally convinced about the law of threefold return, but I do believe that if you are nasty to someone then they are likely to want to get their own back on you and that this can escalate into a very unpleasant situation. I also believe that cursing someone through magic is no better than physically hurting them with your fist or with a weapon. It might be acceptable in self-defence, but that's all.

Football hooliganism and violence are seriously anti-social behaviour. The thugs that commit such acts deserve to be dealt with by the full force of the law. They bring their club and fellow fans into disrepute and damage people's opinions of the beautiful game. The people behind this cursing of Ronaldo are no better than football hooligans, in my opinion.

That isn't to say I wouldn't use magic to try to help the club I support, though. Casting a good luck spell - or wearing your lucky underpants to give yourself and your team much-needed support - is quite different from wishing anyone harm.

The picture above comes from the Cristiano Ronaldo 2010 Calendar available from Amazon

Links
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1216834/Cristiano-Ronaldo-hit-voodoo-spell-witch-hired-famous-acquaintance-Manchester-United-star.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE58M4Q820090923
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2007/11/superstitions-and-folk-traditions.html

1 comment:

Mo said...

He scored twice last night, so maybe he has a nice chunk of positive magic working for him.