Original subtitles

So, knowing what you know now, would you still get cursed?

That's a good question.

Honestly, I don't know.

You're literally begging the devil just to prove to you that God's real.

There's evil people. There's evil energy.

And if you're playing around with that, you'd be lucky to make it out alive.

This is going to be fun.

Y 'all better not call me at 2 o 'clock in the morning talking about this man's

dick. I don't want to hear that.

in an age of staggering advances in science and technology.

To our predecessors of just a few hundred years ago, much of the world

would be indistinguishable from magic.

But we might not be so far removed from the old world of gobs and superstition

as we might think.

80 % of people in the US identify as either religious or spiritual.

Three out of four Americans believe in some form of the paranormal and similar

figures are reflected globally.

Is belief in the supernatural simply a remnant of an evolutionary trait?

Or is there a deeper and more profound truth to the nature of consciousness

we've yet to uncover?

I've been making documentary films now for more than 20 years.

It's a career that brought me to the US over a decade ago, where I met my wife

and now have a happy little family with two cats.

In my work, I've been lucky enough to film in some exotic and often remote

places around the globe.

Something that caught my imagination is that everywhere I've travelled, lying

just below the surface, of our seemingly modern world.

There's a persistent undercurrent of belief in the spirit world.

I can't help wondering why are we so hardwired to believe in the

Surely it's all superstition.

That's when I stumbled on an unusual idea.

What would happen if I willingly asked someone to put a curse On me.

Hey, babe.

Hey. How are you?

I'm good.

Found anyone to curse you yet?

No.

Ever since I met you, I've known that you're curious about this kind of stuff

and you're always wanting to explore the unknown.

What kind of curse?

What would it be supposed to do?

That's a really good question. I don't know what type of curse either.

You get to choose or they just do something bad and then you find out what

going to be.

I don't know. I mean, and will anyone curse me? Because I'm guessing it's

probably a first for people I'm going to speak to.

And then there's a question, well, how much do I believe?

You want to believe. I'm a skeptic, but you're the molder to my scully. You want

to believe.

I do.

So when I moved to the U .S., I pretty much came here with two suitcases, one

with clothes and one with this case of memories, basically full of old

photographs that I have of me and my rock climbing days.

What really got me was finding this.

I got this book when I was around 10 or 11 years old, and I was obsessed with

this. It's called The Unexplained, Mysteries of the Mind, Science, and

Time. It has all sorts of things in it from the history of Stonehenge, even

of the UFO stuff is being talked about in Congress right now, so it's a real

topic. But what really excited me and really captured my imagination when I

a kid was this, In Search of the Sixth Sense, ESP, Extrasensory Powers.

To me, this was magic.

I see references to Dr.

Ryan of the Ryan Research Center.

And what's wild for me is that in just a few weeks, I'm going to be going to the

research center myself.

And I don't know that 10 -year -old me could have ever imagined that I'd be

doing this.

So I think the fact that I saved this book as one of my most important

from when I was a child says something about me and I guess why I'm doing any

this at all.

It may sound surprising, but this sprawling city of angels is considered

the best cities in the country to be a witch.

With many practicing covens, healers, tarot readers, and magical stores for

all manner of witchy supplies.

And I've made contact with the well -known coven here in the hope that they

introduce me to their world of magic.

So tell me, what is this space and where are we?

This is our temple up here. This is where we do our rituals.

And it is also, it has to double as a classroom because of the space that we

have in this. Actually, it's a good space for that. This is probably going

sound crazy.

I am interested in finding a curse, dark magic, a heck.

To put on myself.

So you're looking... To curse himself.

To be cursed.

We could curse you with stupidity, but we think you've got that down.

Well, because that's a dangerous idea.

I mean, once something like that hits you, undoing it could take a lot more

you think. And sometimes when you're in the throes of something like that, you

don't even realize that you are. You're pulling into action a spirit that's

going to stalk you.

Why did you choose that as the thing that you want to see manifest? Do you

like that's...

The only real magic?

Do you feel like that's the strongest way to experience magic?

I think it's that. I think it's the strongest way to experience. Going into

this, maybe I wondered if magic was more in the mind of the believer, and so

therefore I felt that maybe it wouldn't affect me if I personally didn't believe

in it.

Well, the problem is, just from our conversations today, I mean, we're

conversation, and you're getting a different perspective.

Reality, this is exciting to get more windows and doors in it.

to where a year from now you may be dealing with a curse and you're

engaged in that universe.

You completely have a sense of it's real.

And then it can really take you down.

Well, I've certainly got a lot to think about before I go further on this

journey. But I would love to see what your spellcrafting looks like. Could we

perhaps do something that can help me on my journey to find magic in some way?

I mean, magic in some way is to say to open a spirit for the encounter of

And that we can do.

Preferably without you having to be cursed.

Yes, seriously, do it.

You suddenly become a doorway into the realm of magic, you could get in

Well, basically we're going to do a witch's letter. And this is your witch's

letter, so I'm going to ask you to participate.

Okay. I'm going to ask you to get a very clear idea of that state of wonder, a

changing reality that suddenly opens its doors to you. And at the end, I'm

probably going to ask you to then dump your breath into the last knot.

Okay. Okay?

There we go.

This cauldron of witchery is consecrated to the old way.

We shall embark upon Athabel.

I conjure by the nod of one, to begin the witch's ladder, our work be done.

I conjure by the nod of two, that it gets its mark and strikes true.

Witch -wise, starting up.

It's a good sign for work.

Conjure by the knot of three, as we show will.

Conjure by the knot of four. Yes.

To open wide the flaming wheel. Conjure by the knot of five.

That spell shall live.

Conjure by the knot of six. Conjure by the knot of seven. That is a spell in

stars. It be written on earth that it is in heaven.

Conjure by the knot of eight. Let it be fulfilled by the hand of fate.

The conjurer by the nod of mine, this spell is mine, this spell is mine.

By witch's breath thou will shall be, by witch's breath thou will shall be, and

through the flames I set you free.

It's done.

Done. It's a short spell.

There are many forms of witchcraft. In actual fact, if you have a room full of

witches, you're probably going to have more opinions than the number of people

in a room because everybody has a very personal approach to it.

My understanding of witchcraft, a commonality that we share, is that we

a relationship with the invisible world, with the realms of spirit, and that

would include the realms of divine spirits, how the people would call the

We're all working outside of the construct of organized religion.

So we're not mediating to spirit through priesthood, we're having our own

personal direct relationship, which effectively means we're heretics.

If witchcraft is to be believed, the witch's ladder spell will open doors for

to experience an encounter with magic.

And despite the warnings, I still have my sights set on finding a curse.

So I'm heading to a city famous.

for its history of voodoo.

Celebrated for its festivals and nightlife, New Orleans is just as well

for its long association with magic.

And I'm hoping I've come to the right place in search of a curse.

But it's hard to separate the myths of voodoo from its authentic practice.

So first, I'm seeking out an expert to find out just what is voodoo.

That's the question, right? What does voodoo mean?

And some people say it means spirit or divinity, deity.

We have a concept called ashe, which is the divine, sacred energy of things.

Everything has ashe. The chair has ashe. The crossroads as a space has ashe. And

we celebrate the ashe in ourselves and also outside in the wild world where we

find it. To me, that's what voodoo really is. It's sort of an understanding

everything is interconnected.

Too many misconceptions about voodoo. I mean, I think people hopefully are

coming to terms with things like, you know, that it's not all negative, that

it's bad, that it's dark. I think people understand that voodoo dolls aren't

really a thing. They understand that zombies aren't really a thing.

On the other hand, it also does have things that are very centered on curses

hexes and what people would think of as negative magic.

But what I say to people is, if you knew your partner or your child was getting

hurt, would you retaliate? Would you just sit there and do nothing?

You know, you're going to try and resist and stop them from getting hurt with

whatever you have at your disposal.

And we have this very powerful magic.

Witchcraft, like all religions, is complex and oftentimes contradictory.

And I now know curses are practiced in this tradition.

So I've reached out to a well -known voodoo priest in the hope that they

be receptive to my search for dark magic.

Greetings, welcome.

Thank you.

Wash your hands for me and come on in.

Okay, absolutely.

It's a bit of a blessing. Thank you.

And a slick way to get some sanitizer on you. And welcome to the house of the

divine friend. Thank you so much.

This is my sacred space.

This is my ministry room, if you will. You see Santeria in this room. You see

Lukumi in this room.

You see Ifa in this room. And certainly you see Voodoo present in this room.

One piece that I've noticed is this piece down here.

Can you tell me a little bit about that? You need to be careful with that.

Stand up.

Okay. This is a spirit devil. It's a warrior, if you will. So he handles all

bad things that I can't do in the spirit realm. And each of those nails

represent a successful mission for which this deity has operated in. This piece

has done some powerful things for me.

And so I keep people away from it.

Can you tell me the sorts of things that people come to you looking for? They

look to be blessed. They look to be cleansed. They look to be protected.

I channel the ancestors.

I channel Loa, Arisha, deities.

And certainly I need the head of the client to be active in the ritual.

So I can't do something to you, you know, that you're not willing to accept.

This might sound an unusual request, but I'm interested in finding a curse, a

hex in some way.

Not to visually prove anything on camera, but personally prove to myself

can experience something.

Makes no sense to me at all.

You're looking for a curse to validate what?

And so a positive thing, a blessing.

A miraculous thing won't do that for you. It has to be a curse.

A positive thing feels like it could just be something that happens on day to

day, whereas something more like a curse might be more out of the unusual and

something that would validate for my own personal belief.

As a black man in America, I feel the exact opposite.

I deal with the curse every day. I go through hell every day.

People are calling me and contacting me for help who are...

cursed every day the norm is to be cursed and so it sounds

without being disrespectful almost entitled it's a good point

and i don't mean to make light of it at all i feel like i'm looking for

something harsh so that it can grab my attention and give me some

understanding of what it is that may be beyond this materialistic world

I can't tell you how dangerous that is.

And what you're opening yourself up to, losing everything.

Oh my, I'm about to sound like an evangelical Christian.

You're literally begging the devil to knock on your door just to prove to you

that God's real.

There are rules to our universe. And even before it comes out of our mouth,

got to be in our consciousness.

So the universe has already heard your request.

The position that you see the world from is not something it's very easy for me

to be able to see. We need to experience things for ourselves.

And that's what I'm doing. I'm looking for a personal experience.

My fear at this point is that the wheels are in motion.

Because it doesn't matter what you tell me, you've already released that. And I

can only accept that you...

Absolutely believe what you're saying.

Scarcely.

A curse could end your life. Then what are you proving?

I'm dead now, but wow, now I know that there's something really beyond this.

Oof.

Y 'all better not call me at 2 o 'clock in the morning talking about this man is

dead. I don't want to hear that.

I don't want to hear that.

We're having a tough, little bit of a tough time out here.

I'm struggling to convince anyone of my

meaning and my intention.

What's happening when you talk to them?

Well, there's been a lot of pushback in terms of, you know, making me consider

how much more fortunate I am than a lot of other people in the world.

Yeah, I mean, I guess I can get why if you just, you know, say it's like a

personal journey.

The journey I'm on does kind of sound like buzzwords to people, you know? I

think I need to find a better way to articulate why it's important to me.

Because it is sincere.

And I think that if I go out there and say, hey, I'm looking for a blessing,

I walk down the street and I find a $10 note, I feel like that won't change my

mind, won't be the validation that I'm looking for.

Are you nervous at all that if you do find someone who's willing to curse you,

like, what that will actually be like?

You know, I don't know what.

to believe about any of this stuff anymore.

I think at the beginning of this, maybe I was more skeptical as the days have

gone on.

I'm not sure what I think anymore.

Should I really be concerned about being cursed?

And is there any actual evidence that magic could be real?

Thankfully, there are those who are studying the science of this phenomena.

Founded 50 years ago by Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the

Noetic Sciences is one of the leading centers for the investigation into the

power of human consciousness.

What we study are exceptional experiences. That's our euphemism.

But that means mystical experience, psychic experience, and other kinds of

transformative experiences.

What are the goals of the Institute of Noetic Sciences?

We have a working hypothesis that all minds are interconnected.

And so part of the goal is to test ideas that would either confirm or deny that

hypothesis.

Mostly we end up confirming it.

And of course, this is part of the esoteric traditions that go back as far

humanity goes.

And we're trying to apply the tools of science to better understand what

apparently the ancients knew quite well.

So I'm particularly interested in the idea of force of will magic.

And does thought intention really affect the world around us? So in the

laboratory... That kind of experiment is thought about as a mind -matter

interaction.

Is the mind able to change something that is physically measurable at a

distance?

Well, the answer is yes.

The largest single class of studies involves random physical

systems. We're talking about electronic random number generators.

So you ask somebody, while the bits are being created,

to simply will more ones to come up or more zeros to come up. And so after 50

or more years of doing experiments as part of a laboratory test, that works.

So we take all of that and we then address the question of, well, does

will work?

In the real world, I would say the affirmations, magic spells and all the

they do work, but usually they don't work at anywhere near the same speed.

as what we see in the laboratory.

Traditional witchcraft practitioners believe their spell crafting can affect

world around us.

And now scientists are finding evidence that the human mind can affect digital

systems in the lab.

One of the largest experiments on the subject was conducted by the Global

Consciousness Project.

The group placed random number generators around densely populated

if the thoughts and emotions of large groups of people could skew the

readings away from a 50 -50 chance of being a 1 or a 0, especially during

major world events.

The data recorded on these machines around the events of September 11th

significant deviations that for many suggest evidence of a unified field of

human consciousness.

I've asked magical practitioners if they would in some way give me a negative

spell or that could be a curse or a hex.

What's the likelihood from some of your experience that whether I believe or not

I could still be affected in some way?

You could still be affected purely for psychological reasons.

That once your unconscious has the notion that somebody's putting a curse

you, it could do serious damage.

And that can push your physiology. It can do all kinds of interesting things.

And if I found somebody who did want the harm using this method, I would walk

away fast.

Because what else are they thinking?

I just don't want to be around people like that.

My search for dark magic in New Orleans isn't over yet.

I've made contact with a practitioner who actively practices negative magic

what he sees are many legitimate reasons.

Hi, Elias. Hello. Good to meet you. Good to meet you too. Yeah, absolutely.

Wow, this story is incredible.

Thank you. New Orleans is known very much for voodoo, but what...

Is your practice?

I practice hoodoo and witchcraft. I have a couple of other associations to other

traditions, but people call me all types of things. They call me conjureman.

They call me a witch.

They call me a magician.

They call me a priest.

To me, it's the same thing.

I'm interested in finding out about the world of curses.

Sure, we could definitely have a conversation about curses.

All right, where do we start?

We start right now with the reading. Okay, great. Let's do it.

Why a curse and not something else?

It's hard to explain.

I feel like I want to push the boundaries of my own experience as far

take them.

Does that make sense in terms of...

Do practitioners such as yourself, do you push boundaries for your own

experience? Yeah, I do understand it. I think that you're making agreements.

You're saying in exchange for more knowledge and insight of these esoteric

spiritual concepts, I'm willing to put myself in the face of danger, which to

is partly brave, partly stupid.

That's kind of like the best.

Best things in life kind of come from that kind of mix of stepping out without

feeling like you fully have a net.

So tarot cards are just a tool.

Really what I'm doing is speaking to spirit.

I'm asking specifically about any work that we may do, how that would affect

you.

So wherever the magician card comes up in the reading is where magic enters the

picture, where magic enters the chat, right?

So anyone who has eyes to see and understands even a little bit of art can

how the colors change a little bit here and how the mood has changed after the

work is done.

So we're going from the magician card to the three of pentacles, the hangman,

and then the shadow self. It looks like you have a relatively positive life.

It looks like you have a lot of love and a lot of opportunity.

You are going to cause a little bit of damage to that.

You'll get what you want, though.

You'll get an experience, and you'll get your questions answered.

You'll be represented as the emperor moving forward.

What I see is transformation, your idea of yourself changing, but I think the

crux of what the cards are saying, you're opening a door that you are

consciously saying you want to be negative, down a negative path, to

what's behind it, and you're going to find that, and it's going to have

detrimental effects on things that are already positive around you. Right.

And I'm sorry, but that's what this... Yeah, that's what the cards say.

With the cards as they are right now, and if I would still like to move ahead

with the casting, are you still open to the idea of doing it?

Yeah.

But now it's more into painting.

So today we're going to be doing creation of a charm to be effectively a

We're going to be first tying you to one of these coffin nails.

So some of your hair, we're going to tie it to the coffin nail. This should slow

you down a little bit, making it more difficult for you to accomplish things

that you hope to accomplish, and then repelling people who could otherwise be

assistance to you away from you.

So, that was fun? Okay. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay.

Ancestors, those who sacrifice, bless what intends for our very existence, I

calling you. We are asking you to be here with us. We are asking for your

your wisdom, your direction, your insight in our lives. Yet again,

Those who sacrifice blood, sweat, and tears for our very existence, we are

calling you. We are asking you to be here with us.

Nothing to worry about.

Don't scare you too bad yet.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord

thy God, who observe.

to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day,

all these cursers shall come upon thee and overtake thee.

The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption and with a fever and with an

inflammation and with an extreme burning, and they shall pursue thee

perish. And thou, well, we don't want all that, do we?

The Lord shall make the rain of the land powder and the dust from heaven shall

come down upon thee until thou be destroyed.

The Lord shall smite thee in the knees and in the legs.

Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and

overtake thee till thou be destroyed.

He shall put forth a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed thee.

And so says he has asked for this.

In favor of his experience, his desire to know and to learn and to grow in his

own spiritual practice, I ask that you give this to him.

But you did ask for this. I did ask for this, yes.

Even if you didn't wear this, it's still connected to you.

And this is doom oil.

Doom oil is death unto my enemy.

It comes from a pot called an nganga.

And then Ganga's African necromancy.

So first comes nightmares, random feelings of dread, confusion,

fogginess of the mind.

And then comes sickness, inability to sleep.

And then comes loss.

You're going to have to catch it somewhere along this process.

Before it gets too far.

And if you don't do what's required.

Everything that's spoken is what's intended.

There you go.

So, we've done it.

Mm -hmm.

Feels heavier than I thought.

Wonderful. It's going to feel heavier and heavier and heavier and heavier,

iron around your neck, like it was said.

If you really want to see if it works, then don't take it off.

This is going to be fun.

How do you feel after doing this?

That must be quite seductive. It is.

But that's the power you're calling on.

The devil, right?

Quite seductive.

And now it's with you.

So a curse can happen to a person, whether they believe it or even know

it, because the magic is affecting the quality of spirit in their world.

If you don't have a strong sense of self -identity, no strong sense of

personality, rather you simply follow the energy around you as it presents,

it doesn't matter whether you believe in it or not, you're going to feel that

quality of spirit that's being manipulated around you, and it's going

you down a path that's going to be negative.

I think there's a danger of doing something that is harmful to you,

those around you who might not be protected.

There are, as I said, there's evil people, there's evil energies in the

universe. And if you're playing around with that and you don't know what you're

doing, then you'd be lucky to make it out alive.

So have you ever seen or experienced the effects of dark magic?

Oh yeah, when they broke into my house.

One person.

I knew exactly who the person was.

While I'm gone, he pushes the air conditioning in and breaks into my

But then he went to the altars. That was the mistake.

And he stole very expensive liquor off the altars, consecrated items off the

altars. I immediately called every elder that I knew in town.

This isn't about retribution.

This isn't about my desire to want to do some kind of dark magic.

I cannot protect him.

He violated my shrine.

I can't protect him.

You've got to get him to bring that back.

Seven days later, he's dead.

Okay, Leon, you can hear me?

Great.

You can go ahead and open the shutter.

For the last few months, I've heard from those who practice magic.

Now I'm meeting with parapsychologists whose research into mind over matter

includes the study of spiritual healers.

I want to know how might spiritual healing occur and should I be worried

the opposite, dark magic.

After all, I'm now officially a cursed man.

When I was a kid, My family was very open to the type of phenomena that we

here, different sorts of healing. My mother was a healer. It was a family

of thing.

And then when I was in my 20s, I found out the Ryan Research Center existed.

It was a place where they had scientifically studied ESP, PK, and

phenomena that I was interested in.

Well, a lot of years later, in 2009, I joined a research team and started

working here.

When people think of the term parapsychology, they think of a lot of

things. Many people think of Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster or, you know, chasing

down UFOs. Those are very interesting topics, but not what we study in

parapsychology.

Parapsychology is actually a science that studies five very specific

One being telepathy, mind -to -mind communication.

Another, clairvoyance, getting information about objects or events that

hidden. Third area is precognition, getting information through time.

We group them together and call them ESP or extrasensory perception.

In addition to ESP, we also study psychokinesis, mind -matter interaction.

The fifth area is survival studies.

Survival studies includes everything from near -death experiences, out -of

experiences, past lives, or reincarnation. So those are the five

parapsychologists study.

This is a photo multiplier, too, that measures really low levels of light.

People naturally produce very low levels of light in the ultraviolet range.

And so what we're looking for in here is to see if when people are doing

healing, meditation, martial arts, or any sort of psi activity, whether

any change in the light level from them. And so that's what this machine is

designed to do.

We take people who say they're healers. We don't test to make sure they're

healers. People do that in other labs. People who do medical work are doing

that. What we do here is we're trying to say, what is the mechanism behind

healing? All right, Liam, we've got a great baseline.

Do you want to go ahead and start your meditation now?

So you can see we started the active session, and we had one spike that went

to 12 from the baseline, which was under 7 beforehand.

We just had one spike that went up to 12. That's a nice difference, but we'd

like to see a little bit more than just one. So we'd like to see if we get any

more of those throughout the active session here.

The baseline is typically about 12 to 20 photons a second.

We see that number jump up to 80.

It's four times the baseline.

Statistically, very large.

But we also see people go into the hundreds, into the thousands.

You don't need statistics to figure this out. There's something unusual going on

in the lab there.

Well, it was pretty much a flat baseline throughout.

Okay. But there was a slight variation.

And if you look at the graph over here, you can see as soon as you started, we

saw this jump.

up to 11 or 12.

Now, normally we would want to see multiple jumps like this. So I wouldn't

consider this a really strong indication, but it's a start.

If this bioenergy, if this ultraviolet light that comes from people is being

used as a carrier wave to transfer information between people and allow

to occur in another person, perhaps that's what we're finding in our lab.

This is where we are right now looking at healing in the field of

parapsychology.

If people have this ability to heal, do you think that people have the ability

to do the opposite of that and put a curse on someone, for example, and make

them ill?

I don't understand. Why would you let someone hurt you purposely?

Anyone who is able to affect someone in a healthy way may also be able to affect

them in a negative way as well and hurt their health.

No one wants to put themselves in harm's way. Why would you actually let someone

do that? That would be a dangerous thing.

I know you have something else in mind here. Yeah.

Well, you know, I'll put the cards on the table now. I have been around people

who have suggested they have that ability. Of course. And I have.

I'll have them potentially do that to me.

Okay.

How you feeling?

I'm in the middle of that right now.

Okay.

If you need some help, let me know.

I'm not kidding.

Several weeks after Elias put a curse on me and I started to get some pretty

unsettling dreams, the most recent really shook me up and left me feeling

anxious all day.

I think I need to get some advice on the dangers of what I'm potentially doing

to my psyche.

I noticed you're not wearing the curse around your neck right now.

So I was told that it's at its strongest when I'm wearing it around my neck. But

either way, it's attached to me and doing its work regardless.

Within about three to four weeks of going through that experience, I did

to have some very bad dreams.

more violent, more sinister.

I had a dream in which I was being held captive or something was going to

was going to torture

my cat and make me watch it.

The only way to stop this from happening would be if I had

tried to put my cat to sleep to stop him suffering.

And that dream really, really got to me.

I'll bet.

Yeah.

That was one of the moments, particularly when I felt maybe this

is getting to me.

For me, seeking out something like They're seeking out curses. What are the

potential psychological dangers for me?

Well, I think some of them you've experienced already.

Anxiety and some fear that's come up. I think those are natural, normal

suggestions.

They bypass the rational mind.

They go right to the subconscious, bypass the rational mind, and then they

influence not only your expectations and your perceptions, but your behaviors

without you being aware of it.

In my estimation, the danger is that then it just takes over and everything

becomes a negative. Everything becomes a problem.

And what you did was you went out and said, I'm going to lean into the

right now.

And so how far do you take that? At what point is there enough anxiety for you,

enough bad dreams for you, enough things for you to make a choice to lean into

the positive?

As upsetting as they may have been, I don't think my violent nightmares are

enough to convince me of the existence of magic just yet.

So I've decided to go further.

I'm seeking out another curse from a place known for some of the oldest

teachings of magic in the world.

Perhaps this is tempting fate, but I keep my curse with me as I travel to a

place known as the Land of Black Magic.

I'm traveling to the village of Mayang in the very northeast of India.

Perched on the banks of the vast Brahmaputra river, Mayang's traditional

life shrouds its rich history of magic, witchcraft, and even human sacrifice.

Its unbroken lineage of magical teachings have passed on through the

for hundreds of years.

Today, It's illegal to perform dark magic, and the practices are shrouded in

secrecy.

Luckily, I have an old friend who's a seasoned journalist here in India, and

he's agreed to help me find some of India's elusive magic practitioners.

Mayang is not a small place. It must be maybe in the 50, 60, 70 square

kilometers area.

And Muang is pretty much the epicenter of all black magic in

this country.

So this place where we are at here today is a temple which has been around here

for hundreds of years now.

And it's a primary location where people come to cleanse themselves of any black

magic that's been carried out on them. How difficult is it going to be to see

some black magic practice for ourselves?

It's banned by Indian law. It's very difficult. People are very scared to

talk about it. Forget, begin showing you.

It's not going to be an easy task.

The practitioner here, he helps remove the black magic on you. So if somebody

may cast a spell on you, he removes all of those spirits. He says he'll be able

to clean that out for you.

Tara Baba is one of India's mystical tantric practitioners who are said to

the ability to weave together both our physical and supernatural worlds.

I'm hoping to learn more about the power of this ancient practice before I seek

out a dark magic experience.

There are a lot of wild animals here.

This is a tiger, this is a bull, and I don't know, there are thousands of

forests. There are snakes.

There are a lot of big snakes here. They come here and sit here from time to

time. All animals are my friends. They are your friends.

In our Hindu, there are three mantras.

Tantra, mantra, yantra.

And I have the knowledge of all three.

If someone does tantra,

So this is possession of a jinn.

I'm shaken by the theme of a real life exorcism.

Whether or not it's evil spirit or simply belief through the power of

suggestion, either way, I'm reminded just how fragile and susceptible our

can be to these dangers, especially if we go looking for them.

The spiritual practice of Tantra is of course much more than witchcraft.

First recorded in the 6th century, Its teachings suggest everything in this

material world is interconnected and infused with divine feminine power.

My obsession with finding dark magic seems aligned with an important tantric

principle that by actively engaging with our spiritual obstacles such as desire

and fear we can learn to overcome them and become interwoven physically and

spiritually. with all that surrounds us.

Tonight is an important Hindu festival, and at temples across the country, there

will be large celebrations in honor of Lord Ganesha.

It's an important opportunity to find some local magic practitioners.

To help me navigate the festival, I'm meeting with local guide and wildlife

photographer, Champak.

As the evening celebrations get underway, our team makes an important

with this secretive tantric who agreed to perform a dark magic ritual.

but only in the remote jungle.

The local tantrics have advised us not to venture into the wild with this

unknown practitioner.

But my time here is running short, and I'm determined to experience a dark

ritual for myself.

So basically, I'm worried about the safety issues first because we don't

about him as we already spoke about it. He was speaking about the goddess

Chinnamasta. So she is the goddess of black magic. Right. And you don't know

dangerous she is. She might just slit off your head if she is angry. Okay.

yours, and I...

Will not be able to do anything.

It's like, whoa.

That's what he said. Yeah, that's what he said.

Will there be weapons?

Oh, of course there'll be weapons because they use swords.

Definitely they'll be there.

I guess that's new information.

The path is really, you know, dangerous and full of wild animals.

And also the ceremony he does, like the prayers he does, is always at... At

night. Then we can't come back down?

No. Seems very isolated.

Very isolated in the jungle. And he was talking about all the, you know,

encounters with deities and dangerous, you know, demons, spirits and all,

right? Right.

So we don't know.

Right. I guess we sleep on it and just see what we can do because I don't want

to go home and not get it, but I'm certainly not going to put anyone at

Yeah. Yeah.

India's spiritual devotees awaken early to begin their daily prayers.

It's the place where both life and death is celebrated.

This is our final day here, our last chance to find authentic magic.

So despite the warnings, my crew and I have decided to meet the tantric,

to take us to his place of spiritual practice, deep in the jungle mountain.

With packed supplies, we begin the mile and a half ascent to a cave where he

will call upon his goddess, Chinnamasta.

It seems fitting that my journey to find light from the dark has led me to

Chinnamatta, the goddess of both life and death, of destruction

and recreation, the goddess of contradictions.

As we near our destination, we cross a ring of brush fires.

I'm told they won't burn much past the dry leaves.

Maybe it's just the curse already attached to me.

But I can't help but feel that our options for escape are being choked off.

The tantrics prepare the sacred space with offerings to the gods as we await.

nightfall.

Tonight, the tantric here is going to try and invoke the spirit of

Yes. And that spirit is going to judge upon us.

Right. After sunset, he will do his work.

According to him, Ma may appear here or Ma may talk with us.

What happens? I don't know, but let's see.

As the night finally draws closer, The Tantric focuses his mind ready for

tonight's ritual.

Before I have a chance to question the choices that have led me here, I'm

summoned into the sacred space.

Never before has my fate been so literally in the

hands of the God.

Close your eyes.

Remember God with your heart.

God will talk to you here.

Ma! Ma!

You're good.

You're relaxed.

I relax this body?

Yes.

You're relaxed.

I'm not sure what I was expecting.

Perhaps the goddess herself would rise from the flames.

But real magic isn't. They'd show trick.

How much feel this body?

I feel good. I feel strong.

Strong? Yes.

Very strong?

Yes, I do.

There have been times in my life when I found clues that we may all be connected

universally and spiritually in a way that's hard to intellectually define.

I'm starting to realize that my search isn't for a curve.

I'm looking for a door, for a gateway to the divine, something that

I've experienced before.

There was one big event in my life. I had a big climbing accident.

Yeah, I know you told me about that before.

So I was climbing a big route back home in the UK.

I got right to the top, and then my foot got stuck in the rock.

I realized I hadn't placed enough gear in the rock as I went up.

What that means is I would probably hit the ground if I fell off. It was terror,

absolute terror, because I had to get my foot out of the rock that was stuck.

And the minute my foot came out, my hand came away.

And I fell.

I just remember putting my hands over my eyes. I just remember thinking, I'm

going to die and I just don't want to see it when it happens.

This is where it gets strange.

I went from the most fear I've ever had in my life

to feeling an incredible, incredible

sense of bliss.

I felt so...

at peace in a way that was just incredible just it it to this day it

no sense by luck i didn't hit the ground and i was like i'm alive

i felt like i touched something that wasn't on our

normal natural level and i don't know what that is i don't know what it was

it it bugs me it bugs me that It makes me feel like there's stuff I don't

understand or I'm not prepared to look into. I know this won't make sense to

most people. Like, why would you do this?

I almost want to experience the darkness to know that there is a light.

And I think that's what I'm looking for.

I now know that if I want to prove to myself that my climbing fall experience

was real, I can't be afraid to put myself in danger. So I'm seeking out the

dangerous magic I can find.

I've come to Catamaco in southern Mexico, a beautiful and deeply spiritual

Ironically, it's most famous not for its revered Catholic church, but as a mecca

for witchcraft.

The city's rich tradition of shamanism dates back to the ancient Olmec

civilization, and it's still home to many male and female witches known as

brujos and brujas.

Every year a festival is held along the shores of Lake Catamaco, a gathering of

the area's many witchcraft practitioners.

Crowds in their thousands will come to see the spectacularly dressed shamans

parade through the city.

A celebration of their deeply respected magical practice and history.

And for many visitors, it's a chance to meet with the Brujos to seek out a

magical spell in search of better health, fortune, or maybe something more

nefarious.

And of course, I'm here to meet one of the Brujos.

still seeking a spiritual experience through the power of dark magic.

Mi nombre es Juan Rosario Toto, mayor conocido como el hermano Juan.

Mi oficio es ser chamán y sacerdote negro, que es brujo.

Cuando el paciente viene entrando al consultorio, ya sabemos qué trae de

problema.

Más bien somos como adivino, porque lo traemos de sangre, de genes.

Es un don que traemos, sabemos visualizar bien.

the moment that the person is going through.

It's like driving a white line. All the amulets, everything that is of light,

that is a shaman.

The black priest is because we have already mixed the sanatism, the dark

rituals.

I suffered from alcoholism from the age of 13 to 17, 18 years, more or less.

Yo elegí a él a mis 17 años en mi vida personal porque a mí me sacó de

una adicción que yo padecía, que era alcoholismo.

Le pedí mucho a él y me llegó el momento que dejé de beber.

Para mí fue mi Dios, o ha sido mi Dios, y mi creencia, ¿no?

Pero él es un ángel también, de oscuridad, pero es un ángel.

Que ve por las necesidades del ser humano también.

Hola. Hola, hola.

Tome asiento.

Bienvenido.

Igualmente, igualmente.

In the Christian religion, they say that Satan is a negative and evil person.

Why is it that you feel that that's not the case?

So I'm looking for something of an unusual request. I'm looking for someone

put a curse on me.

Is that something that you could do?

What are the potential things that could happen to me once I make this request?

Puede suceder desde un quebranto económico, divorcio, accidentes, pero

lo que quieres vivir, yo te voy a guiar y te voy a presentar con Satán para que

tú puedas pedir y que te cumpla lo que deseas personalmente.

Muchas gracias.

I already have one curse attached to me, but something in my gut is telling me

there's still more to experience.

So tonight, Juan has invited me to a satanic black mass.

I'm told this is the first step in making a pact with the devil.

Buenas noches a todos ustedes.

Bienvenidos.

Pero sobre todo no estamos aquí por curiosidad.

Puedo sentir que a cada uno de ustedes trae ciertas losas en su vida

personal.

Los problemas que nos acechan día a día.

Desde salud, problemas económicos,

Pero para eso estamos aquí, para eso nos dimos cita hasta el día de hoy.

Señor Satan, Lucifer, te doy gracias.

En este momento abrimos este portal.

Pido humildemente para que escuches a cada uno de los visitantes, porque

derecho de tener paz y felicidad y abundancia.

Y así será.

Los invito a cada uno de ustedes a hacer una purificación de cuerpo y alma y

espíritu.

En este momento, Señor Satán, todos tus problemas se han desaparecido.

En este momento, Señor Satán, resuelve todas las angustias y dolores en el

Oh, Señor Satán, que todo lo que llegue en su vida se cumpla.

Presentamos a este hermano que viene de tan lejos por un propósito.

Que tu propósito se cumpla.

Que así sea, hermano.

Que todo dolor sea quebrantado esta noche.

No lo dejes todo, Señor de la oscuridad.

Oh, Señor Satán, no abandones este tu discípulo.

Cúralos con tu poder.

Libera los de todo peligro.

Señor Lucifer, con tu fuego purifica.

Purificanos, Padre.

So tonight was pretty intense to see and be a part of.

It's hard to talk about the emotion, the sense of the feeling you get, the

energy level that you get when you're in an environment like that.

The music, the smoke, the fire, the drums, it's all building up inside of

and it creates a really powerful energy.

And I can see why that puts you in a state of mind that could make you more

susceptible to believing.

Or some would argue that it puts you in a state of mind more open to receive and

to connect with the spirit world.

So tonight, in theory, I opened up this dialogue, this conversation with Satan.

But that's just the first part.

Tomorrow we're going to Satan's cave.

Juan says it's where he has a more powerful and direct connection with the

spirit world.

And there I'm going to enter into a pact with Satan to put this curse upon me.

I think how this one is different and how the game has changed is that in this

scenario I have to write down exactly what it is I want to occur.

So I'm not asking to test somebody else's power. I'm actually requesting a

upon myself.

I'm entering a pact with Satan to request the negative thing.

An illness, an injury, or even death?

I want to give this a serious attempt at experiencing something supernatural.

But is it supernatural, or am I just using my own mind against myself?

I have to think very carefully about what I write in this pact.

What I'm requesting is so extreme that I don't even want to share it with

anyone.

because there may be some very real consequences to what I'm doing and

magical or psychological I guess I'll have to wait and see

Vas a vivir una experiencia de quebranto de tu vida que jamás la has vivido.

En este momento te presento ante el Señor Satán para que pidas la

que quieres vivir.

Si pides un quebranto de tu vida, Él te lo va a cumplir.

Esto es de mucha seriedad, de mucho respeto.

Oh, mi Señor Satán, pido permiso.

Y aquí tu discípulo, escucha en este momento su ruego de este

hermano, que ahora pertenece a ti por el momento, no lo abandones.

¿Quieres sentir tu poder?

Él te sirve más vivo que muerto.

No lo abandones.

Te viene a pedir para vivir una experiencia de su vida propia.

Es una ofrenda que él va a salir de su corazón y él sabe lo que él te prometió.

Satan, this is my request to you and I humbly offer it to you.

Bien. Que así sea, que así va a ser, mi señor.

Que sus propósitos se cumplan de lo que él quiere vivir.

Mi tatán.

Do you see a correlation or any connection between the power of

magic? Certainly after being in Mexico and making that request

on myself, I do wonder if that even took

the dreams up another level.

Certainly I feel the idea of me looking over my shoulder and being more wary of

situations.

has definitely ramped up. The feeling that maybe you just need to be a bit

cautious right now.

Do you regret having done it?

I genuinely have one big fear that I may have

done some physical damage to myself.

We know that science has proved things like the placebo and nocebo effect and

our minds can have physical effects on our body when we believe.

My feelings about regret might be different if I was to find out that my

results show up a problem that I didn't have six months ago.

The mountain biking is definitely one of my biggest passions in life.

There really is nothing like getting down the trails, shredding, having fun.

And I've got to admit, since going to New Orleans, getting a car, and then

coming out of the cave in Mexico, it's put me off riding and that's been

me down. So I've decided to put that behind me right now.

I've got to get out on the trails, have some fun, and just stop thinking about

all that stuff, you know?

The hospital x -ray showed nothing was broken, thankfully, but I had a pretty

deep cut that needed stitches.

The swelling to the knee was pretty extensive and took five or six weeks to

and get myself walking properly again.

Even when I tried to get away from it, my mind's haunted by curses.

Where your attention goes, your energy flows.

and I fear I'm becoming a danger to myself.

What is strange, though, is I checked out the footage from Elias' curse, and

where he got specific shocked me.

The Lord shall smite thee in the knees and in the legs.

Is magic real, and if so, where does it come from?

Magic is the fact that you are an animate creature existing currently

who is conscious enough to ask the question.

That is magic. So, yes, magic is as real as that.

It's not wrong to go out and seek experiences.

There is value in it, but you have to be careful.

Because all those things are true.

All those things are very, very true.

paranoid all the time even sitting in traffic I keep thinking that every car

going to hit me every time the phone rings I think that something bad has

happened and it's just this constant sense of dread

maybe it's connected to my

lack of sleep but I have this physical feeling that something bad is coming

How long do you want to remain the cursed man?

I think I've had enough.

Was it the dreams where you said, I've had enough, exactly?

Or was it the accident or the anxiety?

As the odd little things that are more physical are happening, it's chipping

away at the armor of it's all in your mind.

And I feel like if I don't try and maybe undo this some way, whether or not

magic is real or not,

I might be finding and forming some real negative habits.

So what has stopped you so far from releasing yourself from them?

I don't know whether or not it's going to be as easy to do as just that.

I think now I'm in a tricky position where if I perhaps didn't

believe in magic and yet somehow it's got into my subconscious.

that now I'm actually going to have to believe in order to get myself out of

there.

Despite your warnings, I have found not one, but

two people who were prepared to put a curse on me.

See, this is why they wonder about us, Bruce. They think we're crazy.

I can't imagine why.

And I feel like I'm getting a laundry list of things that are starting to go

wrong. I have brought with me a couple of clips from the things that have been

done to me.

We're going to be first tying you to one of these coffin nails.

So some of your hair. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption and with a

fever. with an inflammation and with an extreme burning, and they shall pursue

thee until thou perish.

The Lord shall smite thee in the knees and in the legs,

and he shall put forth a yoke of iron upon thy neck

until he hath destroyed thee.

Wow.

Damn, dude.

So that was about six months ago now, and there's certainly been some things

happening to me.

Dude, it's not happening in your dreams?

Yeah. that I'm having pretty severe nightmares now, actually.

You haven't lost any limbs or anything since, though, right?

No.

About five, six weeks after that happened to my knee,

I had to have stitches in the knee.

That's nasty. It doesn't stop at the knee, though. It goes on.

If you don't cut this short, this can get really bad. It's going to start to

very physical.

Perhaps I should have stopped there. I found a brujo in Mexico who aligns his

work specifically with Satan.

He told me that I had to write down the request, and I would petition that

request to Satan at a very special place.

I did that. It was bound in blood.

Binding with blood doesn't make it easy to undo.

Satan,

this is my request to you, and I humbly offer it to you, and I thank you for it.

We marked it.

This one is something that you got marked and you got, and you petitioned,

For a life, not just a curse, but this is going to be your life from now on,

basically what I was hearing. The problem here is you're approaching it

party trick, and so therefore that very action is disrespectful.

And for that, you may get a slap or we may have a fight on our hands. To be

honest, just so you know, going into trying to undo this, you're going to

to find faith in this in order to undo it. You're going to be the key to

it. Okay.

Okay, you ready? I am. All right, come with me.

One is thine.

Three for thee.

Nine is mine.

One for the Lamb.

And one for you.

One for thine.

Three for thee, and nine is mine.

And as each person comes in, you're going to give them one coin each.

Three for thee, and nine is mine.

We are

grouped

here together to close contracts for Liam's legitimate reasons.

I think he was a fool.

But we're here to undo it.

I call upon my gods.

Hear the blood in my veins. Know the oaths I have made on the ancient altars.

I call to the watchers. Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray.

Mingle, mingle, mingle who may.

Tata -ta -ta -ta round and about.

A world within and a world without.

A world within and a world without.

The good stay in and the ill stay out.

Two curses have been placed upon Liam.

The first was made to be undone.

In the service of Liam, I now in this moment

sever this curse.

Bow tight.

Unravel and clean.

Take it apart.

Shred it. Get it all broken up. Take the fickle. Cut some threads. Cut the

fabric. Get it removed, severed.

Give blessing to the one that served you.

Know that it has done its job.

Thank you for giving me this experience, but I'm glad that it ended. This is

over, and it is done.

The next one is harder.

Covent red.

I call to you, fallen angel, the contract now, he asks, be brought to

close.

The knowledge he has gleaned, he knows to be true, and through this work that

is doing, he will share this knowledge with the world. For this, he asks that

the recognition of this pact be completed and laid down.

Look into the mirror.

And speak to that completion.

Do you know it to be true, Liam?

Yes, I know this to be true.

I recognize the power.

I have had enough.

You are ready.

I am ready. This is completely over. It is done. I am finished with this.

Do you see that day that you were in that cave and you made this pact?

Yes. Push.

Push.

You feel the pact?

Yes, I feel it. You see him before you. I can see it, yes. I felt that energy.

Do you feel it now?

I can feel it, yes. Now sever them, tethers.

Sever them one by one. Rip them to shreds.

I have severed these tethers. I have severed these bindings. With honor and

respect. With honor and respect.

Feel it, all that is bound in you. Now be bound within that mirror.

Use your breath.

Again.

Roar!

Roar! Roar!

What's that?

Into it!

And seal!

Yes!

Done?

Done. Put it in.

Hands upon the rim of the cauldron.

That done.

There is no other contract.

Everything has been laid down. Now shred this and put it in.

Contract is done.

All honor and respect. I return what you gave me.

Which is, use your eyes.

Let the sight be true.

Ah, there it went.

It's done.

Everyone okay?

Done?

Done, done, and done.

Liam, stand up.

Head bowed, hands out.

And the root.

It's been six months since I got cursed.

Six months?

I've now been cleansed. How do you feel?

I'm feeling much better.

Really? Yeah.

I'm starting to sleep better.

That's good.

This is the one thing I think has been weighing on my mind a little bit. I

finally got the results from my doctor's checkup, my blood work, and I haven't

opened it yet.

I'm a little nervous right now. Are you really?

Yeah.

Okay. So we screened for some cancers that are in my family.

And the screenings are normal.

That's good.

So how do you feel?

I mean, honestly, that's a real relief.

You were right about that.

Yeah. I didn't know it was weighing on you that much.

Yeah, you know, with the dreams and everything, I suddenly felt scared of

what I might have done and what that would mean for you and us.

I was beginning to worry that I might have made a big mistake.

You're okay.

Yeah, it's all good.

Yay.

There's no...

Nothing bad.

Good.

I think magic is definitely real. I don't know if it's quantifiable. That's

different thing. And then what are we measuring it with?

demonstrable, it's effective.

In a way, I almost want to define it the same way I would define culture, like

that complex whole that makes up a person.

The root of magic is the ability to wield free will. We use our free will to

bring about specific change in the future through actions today.

So our relationship to divine spirits is a lot more dynamic than most people

have in other religious systems.

Hay personas que piensan que la brujería es mala.

Realmente visitar a un chamán es reencontrarte con nuestros miedos.

¿Qué hacemos nosotros? Es liberar todo eso.

De sus miedos, de sus pesadillas, de sus obstáculos negativos. Es cuestión de fe

nada más. La fe va a contar mucho en el ser humano para que su éxito... Can we

do what have we?

Done things that are pretty incredible, absolutely.

But I don't have a magic wand. I'm not going to fix your life overnight,

particularly if you're not invested.

They're not considering their role, their accountability, their

in the life that's manifesting for them.

So what would I say to people who think that it's evil? Go back and challenge

every thought that's been pushed on you as a person.

Your mind is your reality, and so whatever you decide to let in and what

decide to let go of will then shape the world around you.

I went searching for the secrets of magic, and I found that our minds shape

reality in ways that are perhaps still beyond our understanding.

Maybe I just want to believe that that kind of sounds like magic to me.

you