Curses Throughout history it was felt one of the most powerful weapons in existence was a curse. There have been plenty of movies made where the plot is a curse, maybe by a gypsy, or an ancient Egyptian priest. In real life many people still believe Howard Carter, the discoverer of King Tut’s tomb died because he entered a cursed vault and to add wood to the fire, they also claim that is what killed many other people on that crew. All together nine people were said to have been killed by the curse, but even though it seems unlikely so many who discovered King Tut’s mummy died soon after, to the rest of us it is the fact that spider bites and bad air sealed in the tomb for thousands of years with molds and such took their toll. Tecumseh's brother had become a prophet among the Indians and espoused giving up all the ways of the white man. He became known as Tenskwatawa, his real name being Lithically. William Henry Harrison was Governor of the Indian Territory at the time and hated all Indians. He did his best to undermine Tenskwatawa by challenging him to prove he was a true prophet by making the sun stand still. On the day Tenskwatawa accepted the challenge a solar eclipse occurred. Tenskwatawa was now even more revered by his people. Harrison didn't give up, taking advantage of the Indians whenever he could. In 1809 he made a treaty with a group of intoxicated chiefs in which they gave three million acres of land that they didn't own to the US. In 1811 Tecumseh traveled south to meet with Indians from many tribes. He promised to show them a sign of his power. When he arrived in Alabama a comet streaked across the sky. When he left Alabama to return to his land a series of earthquakes struck from Missouri throughout the Midwest and southern US. When Harrison found out Tecumseh had left for Alabama, he attacked the Indians at Tippecanoe and burned the Indian settlement to the ground. Since Tenskwatawa was in the settlement, the Indians lost faith in him and scattered. During the war of 1812 Tecumseh joined forces with the British on the promise of an independent Indian nation. Tecumseh was placed in command of all Indian forces by General Brock. Many victories followed and Tecumseh personally prevented the slaughter of US troops at Fort Meigs by the British. As the war progressed General Brock was killed. After many days of running Tecumseh convinced Proctor who was now in charge of the army unit to fight. Tecumseh dreamed of his death the night before but was determined to make a stand. The Battle of Thames River took place on 5 Oct. 1813 and showed Proctor for what he really was as he ran. Tecumseh was killed. Harrison was propelled into the presidency. Before he died Tecumseh stated that any man who was elected president of the United States in a year which was divisible by 20 would die in office. Seven presidents have died in office so far. They were: William Henry Harrison - elected 1840 President Reagan was shot but didn't die as we all know. It is said that Nancy Reagan did everything she could to try and break the curse. Most people feel the curse is over. When technologically advanced people meet primitive people sometimes the primitive people feel helpless to defend themselves and resort to curses, which unfortunately for the primitive people are ignored. When it turns out bad things do happen to the cursed, because of coincidence or whatever, it reinforces the belief in the curse even though the curse had nothing to do with anything. Throughout history curses have been pointed to as reasons for certain bad events happening to people. Take the curse of the Hope Diamond for example. Supposedly the diamond was stolen from an idol in an Indian temple in India. The high priest was said to have put a curse on it. It was given to King Louis XVI of France and Princess de Lamballie and Marie Antoinette both wore it and were both beheaded. Some of the jewelers who held the diamond in their shops experienced mysterious deaths. Many football players believe the Madden video football game is cursed and do not want their picture on the game. They cite the fact many of the players who have been featured on the cover suffered very bad seasons or had to leave the game. This is what happened to Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, Brett Favre, Troy Polomalu and Peyton Hills. You can understand the reluctance by the players to have their photo on this game even if there is no such thing as a real curse. Remember the movie Poltergeist? Many believe the movie was cursed and supposedly that is why four cast members died between the first and third film. The movie used real cadavers in some scenes and that is why the movie was said to have been haunted and cursed. People have cured things since the beginning of time, but rest assured some still do it today. It is said the original creators of the Superman comic cursed everything Superman when they were denied the rights to the character. Since then there has been a lot of grief connected with the character and those who played it. George Reeves committed suicide, Christopher Reeve became paralyzed, his wife died of lung cancer and she had never smoked. Lee Quigley was the actor who played baby superman died and Margot Kidder became mentally ill. When you see what has happened to people who were thought to be victims of a curse by some, it is no wonder to those people they believe curses are real.
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