Magic Forums

Even though it's largely cinematic and fictional, I'm a bit fixated on the legend of the witch that can curse enemies by turning them into animals. Outside of modern pop culture and the like there are ancient myths such as Arachne who was turned into a spider, Psyche and Bloudewedd who were both turned into owls and Lycaon who was turned into a wolf (although these all heavily involved divine intervention). The Odyssey also mentions a witch named Circe who turned trespassers on her island into pigs and other animals. Scottish witch Isobel Gowdie, in her lengthy confessions, also claimed that she and her friends once turned one of the townsfolk into a camel.

Anyway, it made me wonder what the closest thing to it would be in real life. Obviously you can't actually turn someone into an animal, but what if there was a curse that changed their mood and thoughts to match that of a certain animal? For example if you turn them into a rabbit they'd feel unfocused and jumpy, if you turn them into a toad they'll feel restless and cranky, if you turn them into a snake they'll feel threatened and start lashing out at people, etc. Although I'm not sure what the spell needed to accomplish that would resemble.

I don't really curse people, I just find myself musing on this kind of thing. I'd like to hear someone else's ideas on it, what the closest thing in real life would be to an animal-hex, and maybe how you could hypothetically go about casting it.