28/10/2025
PhD topic: Did you know that Spiritual Sanctions and “Cursing” in Aboriginal Cultures still exist today. I have seen this used and consequences to the cursed person cannot necessarily be explained by modern medicine.
Today, these practices are rarely performed openly, but the belief in spiritual consequence remains strong for some Aboriginal people.
Modern Aboriginal psychologists and healers often describe this as part of cultural wellbeing, spiritual balance, and collective justice, not as “cursing” in the Western sense.
Across some Aboriginal Nations, traditional healers (often called Ngangkari, Clever Men/Women, or Maban men) hold spiritual authority. When someone has done harm to another person or broken cultural Law, the community may use spiritual means to restore balance.
One well-known example is the “pointing of the bone”, recorded in several Central and Western Desert groups. In this ceremony:
A respected person or healer uses a special bone or object.
Through song, chant, or ritual, they direct spiritual energy toward the person who has caused harm.
The belief and social power behind this act are so strong that the target often experiences intense psychological and physical distress — sometimes even death — not from physical injury, but from the spiritual and cultural weight of the act.
This is not seen as “black magic” in the sensational sense, but as a serious cultural response to wrongdoing — a way of holding someone accountable when they have violated Law or respect.
