Evil eye

File:Evil Eye.jpg

John Phillip, "The Evil Eye" (1859), a self-portrait depicting the artist sketching a Spanish gypsy who thinks she is being given the evil eye

The evil eye is a widely distributed element of folklore, in which it is believed that the envy elicited by the good luck of fortunate people, whether in the form of material possessions including livestock, or possessing beauty, health, or offspring, may result in their misfortune. The perception of the nature of the phenomenon, its causes, and possible protective measures, varies between different cultures. In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy, with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally. Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye can cause disease, wasting away, and even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women. Professor Alan Dundes has explored the beliefs of many cultures and found a commonality — that the evil caused by the gaze is specifically connected to symptoms of drying, desiccation, withering, and dehydration, that its cure is related to moistness, and that the immunity from the evil eye that fishes have in some cultures is related to the fact that they are always wet. His essay "Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye" is a standard text on the subject.

In many forms of the evil-eye belief, a person —otherwise not malefic in any way— can harm adults, children, livestock, or a possession, simply by looking at them with envy. The word "evil" can be seen as somewhat misleading in this context, because it suggests that someone has intentionally "cursed" the victim. A better understanding of the term "evil eye" can be gained from the old English and Scottish word for casting the evil eye, namely "overlooking," implying that the gaze has remained focused on the coveted object, person, or animal for too long.

While some cultures hold that the evil eye is an involuntary jinx cast unintentionally by people unlucky enough to be cursed with the power to bestow it by their gaze, others hold that, while perhaps not strictly voluntary, the power is called forth by the sin of envy. In Jewish religious thought, it is sometimes asserted that the one who looks upon another with envy is not always at fault, but that the envy may be perceived by God, who then may redress the balance between two people by bringing the higher one low. It has been suggested that the term covet (to eye enviously) in the tenth Commandment refers to casting the evil eye, rather than to simple desire or envy.

Names for "the evil eye" in various languages

In most languages the name translates literally into English as "bad eye", "evil eye", "evil look", or just "the eye". Some variants from around the world are: Yiddish aynore or ahore (from Hebrew עין הרע ^cayin hara^c; Hungarian szemmel verés ("beating with eyes"); Turkish nazar, from Persian nazar-e shaitaan ("the eye of Satan"); Tagalog mata ng diablo ("the devil's eye"); Polish oko proroka ("the eye of the prophet"); Sicilian jettatura ("casting" [of evil from the eye]). Spanish uses "mal de ojo" to describe the affliction; mal can be translated as "evil," "illness," or simply "bad," resulting in a possible translation of "illness of/from the eye" as well as "evil of/from the eye."

Distribution of the belief

Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to other areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions, and the Americas, where it was brought by European colonists and Middle Eastern immigrants.

Although the concept of cursing by staring or gazing is largely absent in East Asian and Southeast Asian societies, the usog curse is an exception.

Belief in the evil eye features in Islamic mythology; it is not a part of Islamic doctrine, however, and is more a feature of folk religion. In the Islamic areas of the Middle East, rather than directly expressing appreciation of, for example, a child's beauty, it is customary to say Masha'Allah, that is, "God has willed it".

The evil eye is equally significant in Jewish folklore. Ashkenazi Jews in Europe and the Americas routinely exclaim Keyn aynhoreh! (also spelled Kein ayin hara!), meaning "No evil eye!" in Yiddish, to ward off a jinx after something or someone has been rashly praised or good news has been spoken aloud.

In the Aegean region and other areas where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with blue eyes are thought to bestow the curse, intentionally or unintentionally. This belief may have arisen because people from cultures unused to the evil eye, such as Northern Europe, are likely to transgress local customs against staring or praising the beauty of children. Thus, in Greece and Turkey amulets against the evil eye take the form of blue eyes, and in the painting by John Phillip, above, we witness the culture-clash experienced by a woman who suspects that the artist's gaze implies that he is looking at her with the evil eye.

Among those who do not take the evil eye literally, either by reason of the culture in which they were raised or because they simply do not believe in such things, the phrase, "to give someone the evil eye" usually means simply to glare at the person in anger or disgust.

Protective talismans and cures

This Hamsa Hand, called a Hand of Fatima by Muslims, contains the eye motif that wards off the Evil Eye; the same sort of amulet is called a Hand of Miriam among Jews.

Turkish aircraft with nazar

Blue eyes (nazars) on sale

Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye have resulted in a number of talismans in many cultures. As a class, they are called "apotropaic" (prophylactic or "protective") talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.

Disks or balls, consisting of concentric blue and white circles (usually, from inside to outside, dark blue, light blue, white, dark blue) representing an evil eye are common apotropaic talismans in the Middle East, found on the prows of Mediterranean boats and elsewhere; in some forms of the folklore, the staring eyes are supposed to bend the malicious gaze back to the sorcerer.

Known as nazar (Turkish: nazar boncuğu or nazarlık), this talisman is particularly common in Turkey, found in or on houses and vehicles or worn as beads.

A blue eye can also be found on some forms of the hamsa hand, an apotropaic hand-shaped amulet against the evil eye found in the Middle East. The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa, and spelled as hamesh, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In Jewish culture, the hamsa is called the Hand of Miriam; in Muslim culture, the Hand of Fatima.

Among Jews, fish are considered to be immune to the evil eye, so their images are often found on hamsa hand amulets. A red thread is also said to protect babies against the evil eye, and according to folkloric custom it is placed on the pillow upon which a newborn baby is presented for the first time at a viewing by family and friends. In the late 20th century it became the custom to wind a red string around the tomb of the great Matriarch, Rachel, located in the land of Israel, then to cut the string into pieces and give them out to be worn on the left wrist as an effective protection against the evil eye. According to this custom, the left hand is considered to be the receiving side for the body and soul, and by wearing the red string on the left wrist, believers receive a vital connection to the protective energies surrounding the tomb of Rachel, carrying her protective energy with them and drawing from it any time there is need. The Kabbalah Centre puts much emphasis on this custom, which is virtually unknown in classical Kabbalah.

In ancient Rome, people believed that phallic charms and ornaments offered proof against the evil eye. Such a charm was called fascinum in Latin, from the verb fascinare (the origin of the English word "to fascinate"), "to cast a spell", such as that of the evil eye. Some theorists endorse the idea that the ribald suggestions made by sexual symbols would distract the witch from the mental effort needed to successfully bestow the curse. Others hold that since the effect of the eye was to dry up liquids, the drying of the phallus (resulting in male impotence) would be averted by seeking refuge in the moist female genitals. The fact that the hamsa hand, a non-phallic apotropaic amulet, is seen as the hand of a woman (Miriam by Jews and Fatima by Muslims) reinforces the idea that protection comes from the feminine element.

Among the Romans and their cultural descendents in the Mediterranean nations, those who were not fortified with phallic charms had to make use of sexual gestures to avoid the eye. This is one of the uses of the mano cornuto (a fist with the index and little finger extended, the heavy metal or "Hook 'em Horns" gesture) and the mano fico (a fist with the thumb pressed between the index and middle fingers, representing the phallus within the vagina). In addition to the phallic talismans, statues of hands in these gestures, or covered with magical symbols, were carried by the Romans as talismans. In Brazil, carvings of the mano fico continue to be carried as good luck charms.

In India the evil eye, called "drishti" (literally view), is removed through "Aarthi". The actual removal involves different means as per the subject involved. In case of removing human evil eye, a traditional Hindu ritual of holy flame (on a plate) is rotated around the person's face so as to absorb the evil effects. Sometimes people will also be asked to spit into a handful of chillies kept in that plate, which are then thrown into fire. For vehicles too, this process is followed with limes or lemons being used instead of chillies. These lemons are crushed by the vehicle and another new lemon is hung with chillies in a bead to ward off any future evil eyes. The use of kumkum on cheeks of newly weds or babies is also a method of thwarting the "evil eye". Toddlers and young children are traditionally regarded as perfect so especially likely to attract the evil eye. Often mothers will apply kohl around their children's eyes to make their beauty imperfect and thus reduce their susceptibility to the evil eye. In Bangladesh young children often have large black dots drawn onto their foreheads in order to counter the evil eye.

In Iran, Iraq, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the seeds of Aspand (Peganum harmala, also called Esfand, Espand, Esphand, and Harmal) are burned on charcoal, where they explode with little popping noises, releasing a fragrant smoke that is wafted around the head of those afflicted by or exposed to the gaze of strangers. As this is done, an ancient Zoroastrian prayer is recited against Bla Band. This prayer is said by Muslims as well as by Zoroastrians in the region where Aspand is utilized against the evil eye. Dried aspand capsules are also used for protection against the evil eye in parts of Turkey.

In Mexico and Central America, infants are considered at special risk for evil eye (see mal de ojo, above) and are often given an amulet bracelet as protection, typically with an eye-like spot painted on the amulet. Another preventive measure is allowing admirers to touch the infant or child; in a similar manner, a person wearing an item of clothing that might induce envy may suggest to others that they touch it or some other way dispel envy.

One traditional cure in rural Mexico involves a curandero (folk healer) sweeping a raw chicken egg over the body of a victim to absorb the power of the person with the evil eye. The egg is later broken into a glass and examined. (The shape of the yolk is thought to indicate whether the aggressor was a man or a woman.) In the traditional Hispanic culture of the Southwestern United States and some parts of Mexico, an egg is passed over the patient and then broken into a bowl of water. This is then covered with a straw or palm cross and placed under the patient's head while he or she sleeps; alternatively, the egg may be passed over the patient in a cross-shaped pattern. The shape of the egg in the bowl is examined in the morning to assess success.

In 1946, the American magician Henri Gamache published a text called Terrors of the Evil Eye Exposed! (later reprinted as Protection against Evil), which offers directions to defend oneself against the evil eye. Gamache's work brought evil eye beliefs to the attention of African American hoodoo practitioners in the southern United States.

Evil eye references in popular culture

• Evil Eye is the alternate title to Michael Slade's novel Zombie.

References

• Alan Dundes (1980). "Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye". In: Alan Dundes, Interpreting Folklore. Indiana University Press. Also in: The Evil Eye: A Casebook.
• Alan Dundes, editor. The Evil Eye: A Casebook. Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1992.
• Frederick Thomas Elworthy. The Evil Eye. An Account of this Ancient & Widespread Superstition. London: John Murray, 1895. Republished as: The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition. Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN 0486434370.
• Henri Gamache. "Terrors of the Evil Eye Exposed". Raymond Publishing, 1946. Republiushed as "Protection Against Evil". Raymond Publishing, 1969.

See also

• Eye contact
• Eye of Horus - an Ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and power.
• Eye of Providence - a symbol showing an eye surrounded by rays of light or a glory, and usually enclosed by a triangle.
• Motif of harmful sensation - sight that harms rather than the gaze that harms
• Eye of Sauron - a fictional eye from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Usog - A Filipino version.

External links

• How to Cast off Evil Eye by Spiritual Science Research Foundation
• Do You Believe in the "Evil Eye"? chabad.org
• Protection Against the Evil Eye Kabbalah
• The Evil Eye by catherine yronwode at luckymojo.com
• A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus by Richard Payne Knight (1786), mentions phallic charms against the Evil Eye in ancient Rome.
• The Evil Eye at Fortean Times
• The Evil Eye by Frederick Thomas Elsworthy
• Evil Eye by Hakim Bey
• Islamic religious ruling on the fact that the evil eye may be given to Muslims by Kaafirs (unbelievers)
• Aspand: A Zoroastrian Rite Surviving in Muslim Nations by catherine yronwode at luckymojo.com