Thankfully, few of us in modern times have had a dead chicken left on our doorstep or found a wax doll pierced with pins, containing strands of our hair, wrapped in red cord and hidden under the sofa. However, sending ill-wishes or curses through an object is still very common. We may receive the artifact unexpectedly, even as a gift, apparently sent as a peace offering from someone known to dislike us.

In many ways, a negative sending is nastier even than the Evil Eye of envy or a spoken curse. This is because we keep and may touch or use the cursed item regularly—especially if it is beautiful. Each time we do so, we activate the bad energy that was put into it deliberately (or, less frequently, unconsciously) by the ill-wisher. The negative thoughts that have become attached to the object become attached to our energy field. To add to this, the nastier the curse, the more dramatic and long-lasting the effects.

How to Tell if a Gift Is Cursed
You can be fairly certain an item is cursed if, almost immediately after receiving it, you start getting splitting headaches, having a spate of accidents or breakages, feel constantly jittery, become unable to sleep, or (worse still) have vivid nightmares in which you are viciously attacked or injured. You may also experience a run of unexpected and undeserved bad luck, and those around you may being quarrelling or being spiteful as they pick up the vibes transferred into the home from the object.

As a rule, be wary of unexpected gifts from someone you know does not like you, especially if the gifts are personal items like jewelery or artifacts. If you want to keep the item, cleanse it thoroughly (keep reading for those methods). Be particularly cautious also of acquiring magical objects or those portraying unknown deities or spirits from other cultures, especially from ancient times or spirit-worshipping peoples, as these can hold a curse quite powerfully from the original creator or those who have used them for less than positive purpose.

Cursed Objects that Bring Nightmares
If you are in a land or environment where magick is routinely practiced and you even unwittingly cause offense to a practitioner, retribution may be swift and unpleasant. Recently while on holiday in Thailand, I visited a hill village famed for its spirit altars and adherence to the old ways, with people wearing traditional costumes of their own fierce people who were not indigenous to Thailand. As I began the hill climb, an old woman with blackened teeth asked me to buy something from her stall. There were many stalls extending up the hill, and I promised to stop on the way back—which I fully intended to do. She took my wrist and tied a knotted strand of red wool, resembling a friendship bracelet, around it and stared into my eyes in an unsettling way. By the end of the visit I was loaded with souvenirs and paused at the old woman's stall feeling compelled to buy something. However, the tour bus was waiting and the guide hurried me past the stall of the old woman. As I turned back I could see the old woman muttering something. I gave the friendship bracelet not a thought.

That night I had a nightmare that was so vivid it was like a living experience. In the dream, a car smashed into me; the next moment I woke to an intense cracking sound. I was lying on the floor, in terrible pain, and with blood pouring from my nose and face, which did not stop for more than a half hour. I had two black eyes and I had badly damaged my legs and arms. I have never fallen out of bed, not even as a child. I was also on the ninth floor and in a locked room, so no one could have entered and attacked me. I might have dismissed the experience as coincidence, but a day or so later, in another nightmare, I received a huge punch to the jaw; again no one was there and the pain was terrible. As I woke I saw the old woman's face sneering and I tried to rip the bracelet from my arm, but it had sunk into my skin. At last I cut it free, and as soon as I could next morning, threw the red wool into running water. There were no more incidents.

The Cursed Shell
My experience involved nothing more valuable than a piece of red wool, but it had made the connection between me and the curser. Here is another example of a cursed item. Julia, who lives in Twickenham on the River Thames near London, was sent a huge shell with similar dire effects. Julia had a boyfriend named Bill. Bill's mother, who lived in the West Indies, was very jealous of the women in his life, and had wrecked every previous romantic relationship he had.

Bill went to Australia on business for a couple of months, stopping en route to visit his mother. He phoned Julia upon reaching Australia to say his mother had a marvellous cowrie shell that was also a musical instrument, and she had given it to him for Julia. To Julia, it sounded hopeful if Bill's mother was sending her presents. Bill told Julia that it was so beautiful that he didn't want to wait till he came back for her to have it, but it was too delicate to post. Luckily, a friend of his who was coming back to England that week would drop it off at her apartment.

Julia was away when the shell was delivered. On her return, she took it out of the box and into her hands. It wasn't at all pretty, like Bill had told her, but wide, deep, and ugly. She put it to her left ear to listen for the sea, and a tendril of black smoke rose. The walls and ceiling of the room seemed to close in on her, and it became incredibly hot.

Julie knew instinctively that she had to take it to the water. She threw it into the Thames, and as it landed in the water, she could see flames rising from it. It then sank without trace. As soon as she'd thrown it, she'd known it was nasty magic from Bill's mother.

Months later, a friend of Bill's from the West Indies told Julia that Bill's mother had gone to a woman in one of the outlying villages and paid her a great deal of money to put a curse on Julia and get rid of her. The relationship broke up anyway, as Bill had changed so much after seeing his mother.

Casting unwanted sendings into water, burying them at a crossroads, or burning them are effective ways of breaking the link.

Preserving Cursed Objects
However, even if they are cursed, you do not have to throw the items away if they are beautiful or valuable (though you may wish to do so).

In this case, you do need to cleanse them thoroughly using a powerful herb like hyssop, the ultimate cleansing herb, or by smudging using sagebrush or cedar herb sticks or a pine or sage incense stick. The power of hyssop, Hyssop officinalis, goes back to Biblical times: Psalm 51:7 says, "Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

A Hyssop Infusion Spell for Removing Bad Energies from a Cursed or Unlucky Object
Ingredients and Tools

• Dried hyssop (substitute nettle or dandelion if you are pregnant)
• A cupful of water
• A teacup in which to make the infusion
• A small jug to collect the strained infusion
• A tea strainer

Timing: Friday morning, the day of Anael, archangel of love and beautiful things

The Spell
Place a teaspoon of dried hyssop or three teaspoons of chopped fresh herb in a cupful of water that has just been brought to the boil.

Stir nine times clockwise and then nine times counterclockwise, saying,

"Hyssop, hyssop, remove the pain.
Let on this (name object) the curse not remain."

Cover the brew and leave for five to ten minutes, and then pour the liquid into a small jug, after straining off the herbs and discarding them.

Stir the strained liquid again nine times clockwise and nine times counterclockwise, saying the words again.

Sprinkle the infusion counterclockwise round the item if it is delicate or would mark the object; otherwise, sprinkle the infusion on top of the item saying,

"By this hyssop, the evil goes.
From this (name object) the curse does flow.
Away darkness; be purified.
Wickedness no longer here abide."

Wash the remaining infusion away under a running tap, repeating the second set of words.

Items with Bad Energy
Even if an object is not directly cursed, it can carry bad energy from the person who previoulsy owned it, especially if they dabbled in the occult. So, if you buy things from a garage sale or antique dealer, always smudge them.

Jewelery you buy from pawn shops or antique stores may also have negative energies if the owner had a sad life or was forced to part with her treasure for financial reasons.

If the item is large, like furniture, set a green, thriving potted plant on it in the center for twenty-four hours to the same effect, and if possible, set a circle of nine small amethysts around the plant on the furniture item.

Spell to Remove Evil from an Object or Yourself
Whether you have been sent an object you suspect is cursed or you buy an item that does not feel right (natural wooden artifacts, especially old ones, can hold some strange vibes and make you feel jittery or as if they are very heavy). this spell removes evil through smudging or fragrant smoke burning. It is an even more potent technique than the hyssop cleansing. It is especially effective if black magic or a professional practitioner is involved, or if you are feeling spooked even when not near the artifact.

Ingredients and Tools

• A small sagebrush or cedar smudge stick or a sage or cedar incense stick
• Nine red candles arranged in a circle large enough to safely stand in (red is the color of Samael, archangel of cleansing fire)
• The cursed item
• If you wish, a photo of any affected loved ones in the center.

Timing: Tuesday, the day of both Samael andanother fiercely protective archangel: Camael, the archangel of Mars and courage.

The Spell
Light each candle in counterclockwise order, saying,

"I call upon Samael to purge this curse away.
Against his power can no evil stay.
None may stand against his name,
No one resist his cleansing flame.

Hold the smudge in each candle flame in turn, blowing the tip so that it glows. Say for each,

"Samael, by the power of air,
The curse, at your command, no longer is there."

Spiral the smudge in counterclockwise smoke around the outside of the candle circle nine times, saying,

"Be gone, be done.
Samael triumphs; the battle is won."

Finally, stand in the center of the candle circle and turn in all four directions counterclockwise (west, east, south, and north). Raise the smoke or incense stick in a counterclockwise spiral in each direction, then raise it above your head, towards any photos and finally point it to the ground. As you do so, say at each direction,

"Above, below, and all around,
No sign of evil may now be found."

Blow out the candles, quickly and counter-clockwise, saying,

"None may do harm within Samael's guardianship of fire.
Gone is all malevolent desire."

Take the smudge outdoors and leave it to burn through.

If you don't have the space to make a candle circle large enough for safety, stand outside the candle circle and move and smudge round the outside it.

If You Have Destroyed the Artifact but Still Feel Spooked
After throwing the cursed object into fire, water, or burying it, you may wish to rid yourself of any vestiges of the ill-feeling or misfortune.

Eggs are traditionally used for removing the Evil Eye of envy, but this anti-curse and Sending Spell Removal using eggs is one of the simplest and most effective of which I know. In fact, if the curse was motivated by jealousy, then the spell also blocks the cause of the curse, therefore removing both curse and background Evil Eye. This spell does not send the curse back, but disposes of it by putting it in the egg and symbolically washing away the residue of the curse. Therefore, it does not compromise your integrity.

Ingredients and Tools

• Seven fresh eggs, one for each day of the week
• A tall glass of water
• Salt

Timing: Seven days in the morning beginning on Saturday, the day of the Saturn archangel, Cassiel, who sets limitations and draws boundaries to exclude harm

The Spell
On Saturday, hold the first egg so that it touches the center of your brow. Then hold it at the base of your throat and, finally, against your heart, saying,

"Take from me this ill-wishing sent;
Its powers I now give to you.
Malice be gone, all bad intent;
The curse is spent and through."

Add four tablespoons of salt to the glass of water and stir well counter-clockwise, saying,

"Cleansed be of this negativity.
Curse be carried from the rivers to the salt sea.
No more to trouble me."

Place the egg in the glass of water and, just before sunset, remove the egg from the water and throw it against a tree so that it breaks, saying,

"Fair is foul and foul is fair;
I toss this curse into the air."

Wash out the glass well with hot water.

Repeat the spell for seven days, but on day seven, rather than breaking the final egg, bury it in a place where no plants are currently growing.