invultuation means A form of witchcraft: piercing a wax or clay image of a person in order to harm them. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “invultuation” is a great word
INVULTUATION — [Noun] A maleficent practice of sympathetic magic in which a crafted effigy of an intended victim is ritually pierced or stabbed to inflict harm. From Latin invultuātiō, from invultāre (“to stab the face of”), from in- (“in, into”) + vultus (“face, countenance”). Unlike “fascination,” which implies a beguiling enchantment, or a general “hex,” invultuation is a specific, tactile act of violation upon a surrogate. It is the clandestine molding of the wax face, the deliberate pressure of a thorn into a molded cheek, and the solitary, silent faith that a puncture here manifests as a sudden pain there—the primitive conviction that to deface an image is to reach through the veil and touch the flesh.
noun
- A form of witchcraft: piercing a wax or clay image of a person in order to harm them.“"What, then?" asked the porter. "Hire a witch-wife to burke him by invultuation, with a waxen image and pins?"”