The article first interrogates words’ ability of undoing things, taking asexamples the Islamic verbal formula for divorcing a wife and atheistrituals for religious disaffiliation. Having pointed out differences andsimilarities between words that do things and words that undo them, thearticle then tackles the question whether images can do things in the sameway as words do them in the frame of speech acts theory. Finally, it dealswith the issue of whether images too, like words, can be used not only todo things, but also to undo them. The case study of images used toritually undo imagination, like yantras or hesychastic icons, is analyzed.
