When people suffer from long term physical, economical and relationship problems, majority of the times, it is because of their attitude to life and their current karmas. Instead of assessing one’s character and behaviour and bring about change, which is going to take a lot of patience, honesty and perseverance, it is much easier to attribute the misfortune to external factors. These are curse in the family and black magic.

What is a curse?

It can be defined as a solemn utterance in words or in the mind, intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something. It is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object.

Coming to ancestral curse, according to The Gospel Coalition, a “generational curse describes the cumulative effect on a person of things that their ancestors did, believed, or practiced in the past, and a consequence of an ancestor’s actions, beliefs, and sins being passed down.” Our families’ history and baggage impacts us, whether we like it or not. You may consider your family a blessing, or consider them a burden because of the long history of negative traits they’ve passed down.

There are many examples of generational curse: death of several infants, series of accidents, unmarried children getting older in the family, and continuous physical problems

Illicit income

In our culture great importance is given to the food consumed. We know the importance of sattwik cooking, as the thought waves are generated by the food we eat. When we go deeper than that, the reason for much of the suffering becomes clear. The source of the income that is used to provide the food has a great impact on the family health and environment. In today’s time this fact is so commonly overlooked, because having illicit income has sort of become a norm.

In my childhood, there used to be whispers of somebody taking bribe and they used to be looked down upon. In my youth, I heard mother in laws talking proudly, “My son in law’s salary is Rs. -----, but he earns Rs. ----- over that every month. So my daughter will be happy, as she can have a lavish life.” This was about the bribe he was taking, and I used to wonder, “Really? She is going to be happy living on money received as bribe?”

But people are happy and enjoying with such money

I get to hear this over and over again from youngsters who are starting their life after completing their studies. Outwardly all those with huge money do look so happy, with all the pomp and show. For one, you really don’t know the inside stories, which are pathetic, and they are putting up a facade. Secondly, the Universe is very kind and lenient majority of the times. It gives a long rope, providing adequate time to mend one’s ways and live a dharmic life. But ultimately the noose tightens, and then there is no way out.

Over many decades I have been watching this worldly drama going on around. And in every single instance, the law of karma finally unfolded. We all know that the universal law of karma says – what you sow, so shall you reap. Only thing is no one knows the time frame. Depending on the good deeds the person did in the earlier years of this life or in past lives, it may manifest in a few years, or it may take 30 to 40 years.

So here, it is the curse from one’s own karma, not a familial curse or somebody’s black magic.

Curse from ancestors

In the current generation, there is a resistance from the youth to get married and settle down. The parents are still of the old way of thinking, and they want to finish off their duty of ‘marrying off’ their children. And when the children resist tooth and nail, this is attributed to ‘familial curse’ and there are people taking advantage of this opportunity to squeeze out money from the distressed parents in the name of conducting remedial measures.

Since I am a healer and many people approach me with this situation, I have given deep thought to it. The older generations considered it their duty to obey their parents. The current generation will question the parents and if they are not satisfied, they won’t obey blindly.

In this particular situation, the parents should evaluate their own married life. Was it loving and harmonious, so that the kids can look forward to such a life after marriage. If the non working mother has been ill treated by the father, she makes sure her daughters stand on their feet so that they don’t have to stay in a marriage for economic reasons. And once the daughter starts earning, she finds she can lead a life she wants, doing everything she likes to do, without tolerating tantrums from a spouse. She chooses not to marry since she has no faith in the institution of marriage.

I think in this case, there can be a possibility of a familial curse, even though I would consider it as a blessing from a great lady of the past. When that lady had spent her life time literally like a slave to her husband, looking after all his comforts, receiving no loving actions from him, instead, being slapped once in a while (yes, this happens in educated and even in octogenarian couples), her heart burns at the thought of future female generations and a blessing, ‘May the girls of my future generations be relieved from the chain of marriage” is released.

From the other gender too

It is not necessary that only ladies have influence on future generations. A man, on finding he has no compatibility with his wife, is forced to lead a miserable life because he cannot go for a separation due to familial pressure. Every waking moment his heart may be projecting a message that makes the future male progenies decide not to marry.

Is there a way out?

We can adopt one of the many approaches to maintain the peace and calm inside, irrespective of the experiences life throws at us

1. -- Everything that happens with and around us, is only because of us, and us alone. Once we take up that responsibility, we will start looking for remedial measures and the Universe will steer us through correct path.

2. -- There is a specific time for things to happen. Always remember, we cannot receive anything before time and beyond our luck (or destiny, which is generated from our past karmas).

3. -- Believe the great saying of Lord Krishna, “You have right over the actions you do, but not on the fruits of those actions.”

4. -- Finally, choose your friends wisely to have ‘Satsang’, or companionship of people who follow a virtuous life style.