"Spoiling"
In Polish mythology, spoiling is a term used to mean a curse being on someone, or working magic against someone. One way of doing this is measuring out the exact length of someone’s footprint with a string, and then burning the string. A footprint in mud or snow was dug up and buried under the victim’s house to cause grief. Spoiling may be averted by lighting a candle if you are not face to face with the culprit, or by spitting on the ground, or by throwing dirt in the direction of the culprit walking away.
Read more about this topic: Polish Folk Beliefs
Famous quotes containing the word spoiling:
“This is the crux of the moral pessimists: if they really wanted to promote their neighbor’s redemption, then they would have to resolve themselves to spoiling existence for him, and thus to being his misfortune; out of pity, they would have to—become evil!”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Fiddle-dee-dee! War, war, war. This war talk’s spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides, there isn’t going to be any war.”
—Sidney Howard (1891–1939)
“Poetry is a beautiful way of spoiling prose, and the laborious art of exchanging plain sense for harmony.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)