Curses and Cursing

Curse is defined as "To utter a wish of evil against one; to imprecate evil upon; to call for mischief or injury to fall upon; to execrate. To injure; to subject to evil; to vex, harass or torment with great calamities. To devote to evil." As a noun, he defined a curse as "to utter imprecations; to affirm or deny with imprecations of divine vengeance; malediction; the expression of a wish of evil to another." – Noah Webster

Curses include swear words, but worse is to invoke evil or misfortune; an appeal or prayer for evil or misfortune to befall someone or something. Curses are maledictions that involve verbal misuse and perversion of the spoken Word.









Edna Lister on Curses and Cursing

Hold those in mental distress until they let go of doubt, fear, blaspheming and cursing, and return again to God. – Edna Lister, October 27, 1938.


To cause disharmony in another's home is a curse on the creator of the disharmony. – Edna Lister, August 14, 1939.


Indifference grows from one fall, one little lukewarmness an hour by a thousand people. Indifference is a curse. – Edna Lister, April 18, 1943.


Never curse someone who annoys you. Be silent and lift him to a cloud continent of Light. – Edna Lister, August 15, 1947.


You use the same Mind as a blessing or a curse, but it always starts something. – Edna Lister, Promises Fulfilled, March 4, 1948.


Nothing lies between blessing and cursing; there is no difference between a country or a man you curse, and you invest your soul substance in both. You give soul substance to what you condemn. – Edna Lister, The First Days, June 17, 1951.


Blessing or cursing, you stamp your name on the other fellow's aura. If you curse him, it appears in black letters. – Edna Lister, The First Days, June 17, 1951.


The highest moment of your life is when your family has cursed you the hardest because the Councils register their curses as vows to lift. – Edna Lister, September 22, 1952.


God uses everyone who curses to raise evil from earth. Like attracts like, so He uses those who curse our government, for instance, to lift darkness from earth. – Edna Lister, September 25, 1952.


Curses draw all the world's evil together for us to lift as clouds of misused soul substance. When someone curses near you, know that it concentrates darkness for you to speak the Word to lift for cleansing. – Edna Lister, Seeing the Salvation of God, November 22, 1953.


Your words quickly become curses when you descend in consciousness. – Edna Lister, All Shall See the Salvation of God, November 22, 1953.


Blame, criticism, and condemnation are curses that create after their degree and kind. – Edna Lister, June 18, 1954.


A curse is lack of blessing. To ignore a thing is a curse. To be indifferent is a curse. – Edna Lister, Jesus, the Lawyer, November 28, 1954.


Habits cling because they are cursed, not blessed. Do not curse yourself when you indulge a poor habit. For instance, declare that a cigarette represents the Power of the living God moving through and soothing every nerve in body. Gradually, you will no longer need them. – Edna Lister, Jesus, the Descended God, December 12, 1954.


At night, set your mind in a track of blessing and exalting, not cursing, and negativity falls away. – Edna Lister, Jesus, the Descended God, December 12, 1954.


Your words, blessings, curses or gossip, come home to roost, and sometime, somewhere you must eat every word that is unlike the Love of God. – Edna Lister, Promises Are Keys, May 29, 1955.


Do not curse what you do not want, but bless it. A psychological law says that you cannot be negative about anything, a character trait, person or situation, and have it turn out right. – Edna Lister, Aspiration and Prayer, June 19, 1955.


You only have blessings and curses. Anything less than a blessing is a curse. A curse is anything that is not a blessing. – Edna Lister, July 23, 1955.


If you hate or curse your body, you do not honor it as the image and likeness of God. Your body is the chalice of the Almighty; this is lost wisdom. – Edna Lister, Heavenly Manna, August 14, 1955.


When someone curses you and you curse him back, you mingle your life sparks with his and the result is confusion. When you lift the one who curses you, no mingling occurs. If you have returned the curse, it takes much lifting in love later (having given him your soul substance and taken on his spiritual debt) until you redeem your substance and are free. You can do this only through loving enough. – Edna Lister, June 18, 1956.


Pay no attention to darkness or curses spoken to you or about you. Lift. – Edna Lister, August 1, 1957.


Your blessings are diluted with your last curse. It always takes part of the Light you release to wipe out the curse. Dissolve the curse instantly, before you permit it to leave the room. – Edna Lister, September 4, 1957.


One curse and you extend a line to the outer world of darkness that then enters as limitation and delay. – Edna Lister, September 5, 1957.


You curse God when you declare anyone or anything other than good. – Edna Lister, September 9, 1957.


You speak only blessings or curses. "Darling, you are wonderful" is the perfect instant reaction. Anything less is a curse. – Edna Lister, October 10, 1957.


Royal sense, which is comprehension, not common sense, is unable to curse before blessing. – Edna Lister, October 30, 1957.


You cannot simultaneously curse and bless. – Edna Lister, January 7, 1958.


God lets a curse draw to itself all its degree and kind. – Edna Lister, June 12, 1958.


The higher you ascend, the more powerful your words become, blessings or curses. – Edna Lister, September 8, 1958.


Every word you utter is either a blessing or a curse. – Edna Lister, September 8, 1958.


Curses are a mode of self-defense from grief, loss, failure or lack of love. When someone curses, God fills the lack of love and credits him for his faith in his curse. Some people are more faithful to their curses than to their love. – Edna Lister, Love Unquenchable, December 7, 1958.


To do nothing about evil is a curse. – Edna Lister, March 23, 1959.


When criticism takes over, it becomes a curse. – Edna Lister, May 4, 1959.


You have only curses or blessings to give to everyone whom you meet. – Edna Lister, May 28, 1959.


The masses bring us darkness and curses; we make them into beautiful flowers for God's altars. – Edna Lister, May 16, 1960.


You have only blessings or curses. "I don't like" something is a curse. Bless everything with "This is good." Edna Lister, How Can I Apply Law to My Life? June 7, 1960.


Only a thin line lies between a blessing and a curse. – Edna Lister, July 15, 1960.


The Father of Lies uses all lukewarmness and curses for his destructive purposes. – Edna Lister, October 10, 1960.


Law creates hour by hour after the pattern your word sets. You have created your life by your words, blessings or curses. – Edna Lister, October 10, 1960.


You have only blessings or curses, and you contribute to the world's light or darkness as you think, speak and act. – Edna Lister, Heaven, a Place to Fill, April 10, 1962.


This is the Father’s Balance Sheet – When you curse God, He lets it go forth to draw unto itself its kind, and when you pray, the wings of your prayer draw it in to be lifted. Just as the curse attracts things of a like nature as it circles the world, so do the wings of your prayer lift all your debts to be consumed. Pray constantly to lift all the untied ends. If you pray for anything about another, something probably is wrong with you. – Edna Lister, April 18, 1962.


Some preachers curse sinners and make them feel so guilty that many do not return for a long time. Such shepherds need lifting for force; otherwise, they shall end in their own purgatory. They need help as do the millions they curse. You cannot damn people and escape the retribution of law. You misuse your own soul substance when you force or curse. – Edna Lister, August 16, 1962.


Life is black and white, blessings or curses. On which side is "poor so-and-so?" You cannot bless and curse simultaneously. – Edna Lister, November 16, 1962.


"Me" and "mine" are metaphysical curses that try to remove God from His Realm of Being and Unity. – Edna Lister, December 17, 1962.


If it is not a complete blessing, it is a tiny curse that collects after its degree and kind as it orbits earth. – Edna Lister, February 17, 1963.


"What's the use" is a true curse. – Edna Lister, April 24, 1963.


When another curses, remain in Light and lift instantly. Keep "it" in Light; declare it good. This lifts the past. Never become involved in it or take it upon yourself, meaning no hurt feelings, self-blame or self-criticism. God can wipe out the idle words of people who curse you, if you declare, "I never heard you." Edna Lister, September 16, 1963.


Always lift all curses and scattered substance to make it wholly of the Light. – Edna Lister, September 16, 1963.


No space or time exists on the line between good and evil, on the line between blessings and cursing. It is either one or the other. It must become the law of good and doing nothing but good. Look into the face of blackness and say, "You are good." Edna Lister, November 13, 1963.


Idle words can be curses, but God is not changed. The perfect vibration goes forth, despite the low intention. – Edna Lister, October 20, 1966.


When you condemn and curse those doing evil in the world, you only darken yourself. Recognize evil, then immediately release the Light. Do not condemn! Then and only then can God use you for His Plan of Salvation. – Edna Lister, May 9, 1967.


Evil is a fungus that grows, and the spores fly to spread; someone must entertain evil before it can grow. It flies from thought to thought, curse to curse. – Edna Lister, May 22, 1967.

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Treatments for Curses and Cursing

If one is cursing, use your hands, palms facing him and push forward slightly, as if pushing him away from you with each statement. Do not make this an exaggerated movement. Use in rhythms of three as often as you desire. – Edna Lister, January 9, 1960.


Let hands of Light cover the lips of all who curse, and let their curses be changed into blessings. – Edna Miriam, May 26, 1965.


Look at people who curse you and say, "I never heard you," because God can wipe out the curses. – Edna Lister, May 8, 1970.

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New Testament on Curses and Cursing

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. – Matthew 5:44-45.


Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. – Luke 6:27-28.


Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. – Romans 12:14.


For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. – Galatians 3:10


Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. – Galatians 3:13.


Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. – James 3:10.

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Old Testament on Curses and Cursing

What you bless, blesses you; what you curse curses you: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you." – Genesis 12:3.


You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind. – Leviticus 19:14.


I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day. And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods. – Deuteronomy 11:26-28.


The Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. – Deuteronomy 23:5.


These shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. – Deuteronomy 27:13-26.


But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand. The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. 28:36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE Lord THY GOD; Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you. – Deuteronomy 28:15-68.


The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but He blesses the habitation of the just. – Proverbs 3:33.


Do not take to heart everything people say, for often you know in your heart that you have cursed others. – Ecclesiastes 7:21-22.

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Curses and Cursing in Other Sacred Writings

Honor your father and mother (Wisdom and Love) both in word and deed, that a blessing may come upon you from them, for the blessing of the father establishes the houses of children; but the curse of the mother roots out foundations. – Wisdom of Ben Sirach 3:8-9.


When the ungodly curses Satan, he curses his own soul. – Wisdom of Ben Sirach 21:27.

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Edna Miriam Lister
1884 – 1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Etymology of curse: The etymology is of uncertain origin, late Old English curs, "a prayer that evil or harm befall one," of uncertain origin, perhaps Old French curuz, meaning "anger."


Cursing is the misuse of the spoken Word and is a sin.


References

The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary: 2 volumes. E.S.C. Weiner, editor. Oxford University Press, 1971.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).

The Nag Hammadi Library. James M. Robinson, editor. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981.