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Evil eye
The evil eye is a belief that the envy elicited by the good luck of
fortunate people may result in their misfortune, whether it is envy
of material possessions including livestock, or of beauty, health,
or offspring. The perception of the nature of the phenomenon, its
causes, and possible protective measures, varies between different
cultures.
Forms of belief
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.
History
The amount of literary and archaeological evidence attests to the
belief in the evil eye in the eastern Mediterranean for more than a
millennium starting with Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus
Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and
Aulus Gellius. In Peter Walcot's Envy and the Greeks (1978) he
referenced more than one hundred of these authors works related to
the evil eye. Studying these written sources in order to write on
the evil eye only gives a fragmented view of the subject whether it
presents a folkloric, theological, classical or anthropological
approach to the evil eye.
While these different approaches tend to reference similar sources
each presents a different yet similar usage of the evil eye, that
the fear of the evil eye is based on the belief that certain people
have eyes whose glance has the power to injure or even kill and that
it can be intentional or unintentional. The origin of the belief can
only be guessed, but it can be traced back to the earliest of human
records and the references in Deuteronomy indicate that the evil eye
was known in the Hebraic world.
The Classical Evil Eye
Belief in the evil eye during antiquity is based on the evidence in
ancient sources like Aristophanes, Athenaeus, Plutarch and
Heliodorus. There are also speculations that claim Socrates
possessed the evil eye and that his disciples and admirers were
fascinated by Socrates' insistently glaring eyes. His followers were
called Blepedaimones, which translates into demon look, not because
they were possessors and transmitters of the evil eye, but because
they were suspected of being under the hypnotic and dangerous spell
of Socrates.
Distribution of the belief
Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, East and
West Africa, South Asia, Central 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.
Protective talismans and cures
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"
(Greek for "prophylactic" or "protective", literally: "turns away")
talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.
Rome
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.
Judaism
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 near
Bethlehem, in the West Bank, 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 and the teachings of
kabbalah put much emphasis on this custom.
India
In India the evil eye, called "drishti" (literally view) or "nazar",
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
carried out in which the plate is moved in a circular motion 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 a 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 and are likely to attract the evil
eye. Often mothers apply a spot of kohl on their children's cheeks
or on the forehead to make the child imperfect and ward off evil
eyes.
Central America
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.
USA
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. |
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