In folklore and religion alike, there is an extremely deep seated superstition that the mere act of wishing harm upon another person will in some way cause harm to come to them or contribute to existing harm.

This was tragically illustrated in the Battle of Chester

According to Bede, an Anglo-Saxon warlord called Aethelfrith was attacking the native Britons near Chester. A large group of non-combatant monks from the nearby monastery had turned up to pray for the Britons.

Aethelfrith ordered his men to attack the monks and kill all of them. His rationale was: the monks may not bear weapons but they are still praying against us, which makes them combatants, which makes them a threat.

Typical pagan, taking things literally. But one can understand his stance. He treated prayer like magic. If it works, it's a threat; if it doesn't work, they wouldn't be doing it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chester

The musician and atheist Tim Minchin has been known to declare 'I hope my daughter dies in a car crash!' at his concerts, in order to demonstrate that merely saying these things does not supernaturally induce them to happen

And there's always a reaction of 'but what if it actually happened?' from some, as if the mere dread that it might happen was enough to keep the superstition alive

Going all the way back to the Battle of Chester, the unspoken rules of 'wishing harm' considered as subtle magical warfare appear to me:

- it's okay for us to do it
- it's not okay for them to do it
- it doesn't actually do anything
- except when we act as if it does

In the benighted land of Britain, we still deeply believe that shouting at men who are playing a game many hundreds of miles away (and who cannot hear us) will induce them to play the game better