In the world of pop culture, there are two general approaches to curses or spiritual grudges. Either the magician overwhelms their target with higher quantities and levels of spiritual power. Or, they take the route of discussion. In both cases, curses and negative spiritual energy are originate from negative emotions. People die with regrets. People feel resentment, fear, and hatred. 

The Brawn Method

What I consider ‘The Brawn Method’ is the most common in action-based settings. This is what you find in, for example, Jujutsu Kaisen and most Cultivating Immortals settings. If you want to punch your enemies with Cursed Energy or internal energy, this is the method you are looking at. Jujutsu Kaisen likens Sorcerer and Curse Grades to force generated by mundane means.

Within the common tropes of Cultivation and Immortals, training the body is also necessary in this process. Many of these characters are depicted with muscular, ripped bodies. This type is also featured in stories like Shaman King, D-Grey Man, and (to an extent) Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer). Indeed, in Shaman King, there is even a numerical way of measuring magical capability. So it’s a quantity over quality game as well. I would say that Mononoke falls between both methods—or that the Medicine Seller uses both methods. 

The Brains Method

Should I call this ‘The Brains Method’ or the ‘Emotions Method?’ Ether way it works. But, this relies on emotional intelligence and lore more than magical muscle. When I first wrote a self-insert character for Jujutsu Kaisen, this was the method that character used. She might have been rather useless in a fight, but by speaking to curses and giving them a way to emotionally move on, she was able to exorcise them over a long process but more permanently than the direct method. 

This method is also used in the Manga and Light Novel series “My S-Rank Party Fired Me for Being a Cursificer ~ I Can Only Make “Cursed Items”, but They’re Artifact Class!” In this way, the main character is able to face the undead with more skill and success than those who use the Brute Force method for exorcism—and I really loved the way it was explained. It’s like being really upset, and then you are just suddenly scolded by someone you don’t even know. Yikes. That would make me pretty upset as well. 

Within Pop Culture Paradigms, Mushishi definitely falls into this category. There is deep lore behind each Mushi presented in this series (either manga or anime) and many of them can be dealt with by someone who knows what they are doing. Mononoke also falls into this method. Before exorcism, the Medicine Seller must find the the Form of the spirit, its Truth, and its Reason for behaving the way it does. 

This is probably the preferred method for those who, like me, a rocking the equivalent of a Constitution score of 4-5. Readers, what would you say your preferred method is?