Curse Tablets

The Morbid Curiosity Podcast

Hallie Lloyd

Cryptid, Serialkiller, Science, Disease, Medicine, Scary, Skeleton, Historyofmedicine, Social Sciences, Ghost, History, Medical, Anthropology, Monsters, Archeology, Murder, Creepy, Skeptic, Paranormal, Prison

4.8 • 634 Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the most common types of magic in the ancient Graeco-Roman world were curses. These binding spells were placed on special tablets & figurines that have since been unearthed by archaeologists. In this episode, we discuss these curse tablets, & how they were made & used.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was suggested by a listener, Elena, via our website.
0:05.1	If you'd like to suggest a topic, you can do so on Facebook and Instagram at Morbid Curiosity Podcast.
0:12.0	On Twitter, at Morbid Podcast, and on our website, www.morbidCuriositypod Podcast.com.
0:37.7	Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.
0:43.3	Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity,
0:46.6	and it has gripped hundreds of people throughout the ages.
0:48.8	I am one of those people.
0:54.1	My name is Halley, and this is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast.
0:55.0	My name is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast. Magic is an ancient concept that originates back before written history.
1:21.4	The concept of a curse is likely just as ancient.
1:25.0	A curse in this context is a sort of wish that some misfortune will be
1:29.8	fall or attached to a person, a group of people, a place, or an object. Usually this wish is
1:36.6	requested of a supernatural or spiritual power, such as a god or goddess, a spirit or natural force.
1:44.0	Later in time, these wishes could be enacted by a person believed to be imbued with magic or witchcraft.
1:51.0	In this episode, we're going to focus on a specific type of curse casting, one that left physical evidence in the archaeological record,
2:00.0	something that is usually rare in the
2:02.1	case of cultural concepts like magic. Among ancient Mediterranean cultures, such as the Greeks,
2:08.8	Romans, and Egyptians, objects known today as curse tablets or Deficiones in Latin were created
2:15.6	in an attempt to exact one person's will over another. The word Deficiones in Latin were created in an attempt to exact one person's will over another.
2:20.3	The word Deficcio is derived from the Latin word De Figere, meaning to pin down or bind.
2:27.4	To date, around 1600 tablets with curse text on them have been found in the Mediterranean,
2:33.1	various parts of Europe and northern Africa,
	...

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