The Evil Eye
Origins
There are many cultures that believe receiving the evil eye will cause injury or misfortune. The curse is cast by a malevolent glare and given to a person when they are unaware. Talismans created to guard against the evil eye are also called “evil eyes”.
Some of the countries that pursue protective measures against the concern over the evil eye include:
- Greece
- Turkey
- Egypt
- Iran
- Morocco
- Southern Italy (Naples)
- Afghanistan
- Levant
- United States (Hawaii-“stink eye”)
- India
- Ethiopia
- Pakistan
- Italy
- Spain
- Mexico
- Brazil
- England
- Ireland
- Arabia
History
The evil eye belief dates back to Classical Antiquity and references to it are made by Plato, Diodorus, Hesiod and many others. Peter Walcot’s Envy and the Greeks listed more than one hundred works by authors who mention the evil eye. The evil eye was treated as a phenomenon from an inexplicable source and feared in certain areas of the Roman Empire more intently. There were locations where people felt more conscious of the dangers associated with the evil eye and some tribes believed that they, as a whole, possessed the powers of the evil eye. Pontus and Scythia, were believed to be transmitters of the evil eye. The phallic charm called fascinum in Latin for the verb fascinare, “to cast a spell” (the origin of the English word “fascinate”) was used against the evil eye. The belief of the evil eye spread towards the East as a result of the Empire of Alexander the Great which spread Greek ideas throughout his empire.
Where is the belief Strongest?
- West Africa
- Latin America
- East Africa
- Central America
- South Asia
- Europe
- Mediterranean region
- Northern Europe-Celtic regions
- Americas
In the Aegean Region where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with green eyes and especially blue eyes, are thought to bestow the curse, intentionally or unintentionally. In Greece and Turkey amulets against the evil eye take the form of blue eyes.
Evil eye, Isabat al-’ayn, is a common belief that individuals have the power to look at people, animals or objects to cause them harm. It is tradition among many Muslims that if a compliment is to be made one should say “Masha Allah”, God has willed it or, “Tabarakallas”, Blessings of God to ward off 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.
Christian countries make the sign of the cross with the hand and point two fingers, the index finger and the little finger towards the source of influence or victim. This was described in the first chapter of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula published in 1897:
When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty, I got a fellow passenger to tell me what they meant. He would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye.
In Judaism the evil eye is mentioned several times in the classic Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Fathers by Rabbi Eliezer. He states that an evil eye is worse than a bad friend, neighbor of an evil heart. Judaism believes that a “good eye” designates good will and kindness towards others. Such a person will prosper. An “evil eye” is the opposite attitude and a man with “an evil eye” will not only feel no joy but will experience distress when others prosper.
It has also been suggested the 10th commandment: “do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor” is a law against bestowing the evil eye on another person.
In some cultures over complimenting equates to casting a curse. The same is true about envy. According to the book The Evil Eye by folklorist Alan Dudes, the belief’s premise is that an individual can cause harm simply by looking at another’s person or property. But protection is easy to come by with talismans that can be worn, carried, or hung in homes, most often incorporating the contours of a human eye. In Aegean countries people with light-colored eyes are thought to be particularly powerful, and amulets in Greece and Turkey are usually blue orbs. Indians, Muslims, and Jews use charms with palm-forward hands with an eye in the center; Italians employ horns, phallic shapes meant to distract spell casters.
Short Video-Meaning of Amulets
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