Monday, January 15, 2024

History of the Evil Eye Part II

 Indian subcontinent

India

In the northern states of India, like the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, the evil eye is called "nazar" (meaning gaze or vision) or more commonly Buri Nazar. A charm bracelet, tattoo or other object (Nazar battu), or a slogan (Chashme Baddoor (slogan)), may be used to ward off the evil eye. Some truck owners write the slogan to ward off the evil eye: "buri nazar wale tera muh kala" ("O evil-eyed one, may your face turn black").

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, people call it as 'Disti' or 'Drusti', while people of Tamil Nadu call it 'drishti' or 'kannu' (translated, means evil eye). The people of Kerala also call it "drishti" or "kannu", the latter of which is Malayalam for "eye". The people of Karnataka call it 'Drushti', similar to other southern Indian languages. To remove Drishti, people follow several methods based on their culture/area. Items often used are either rock salt, red chilies, white pumpkins, oiled cloth, or lemons coated with kumkuma. People remove Drishti by rotating any one of these items around the affected person. The person who removes it will then burn the item, or discard it in a place where others are not likely to stamp on these items. People hang pictures of fierce and scary ogres called drishti bommai in their homes or vehicles, to ward off the evil eye.

In India, babies and newborn infants will usually have their eye adorned with kajal, or eyeliner. This would be black, as it is believed in India that black wards off the evil eye or any evil auras. The umbilical cord of babies is often preserved and cast into a metal pendant and tied to a black string— babies can wear this as a chain, bracelet or belt—the belief, once more, is that this protects the infant from drishti. This is a practice that has been followed right from historical times. People usually remove drishti on full-moon or new-moon days, since these days are considered to be auspicious in India.

Indians often leave small patches of rock salt outside their homes, and hang arrangements of green chilies, neem leaves, and lemons on their stoop. The belief is that this will ward away the evil eye cast on families by detractors.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the evil eye is called Nazar (نظر). People usually may resort to reading the last three chapters of the Quran, namely Sura Ikhlas, Sura Al-Falaq and Sura Al-Nas. "Masha'Allah" (ما شاء الله) ("God has willed it") is commonly said to ward off the evil eye. Understanding of the evil eye varies by the level of education. Some perceive the use of black color to be useful in protecting from the evil eye. Others use "taawiz" to ward off the evil eye. Truck owners and other public transport vehicles may commonly be seen using a small black cloth on the bumpers to prevent the evil eye.

Italy

The cornicello, "little horn", also called the cornetto ("little horn", plural cornetti), is a long, gently twisted horn-shaped amulet. Cornicelli are usually carved out of red coral or made from gold or silver. The type of horn they are intended to copy is not a curled-over sheep horn or goat horn but rather like the twisted horn of an African eland or a chili pepper. A tooth or tuft of fur of the Italian wolf was worn as a talisman against the evil eye.

One idea that the ribald suggestions made by sexual symbols distract the witch from the mental effort needed to successfully bestow the curse. Another is 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. Among the ancient Romans and their cultural descendants in the Mediterranean nations, those who were not fortified with phallic charms had to make use of sexual gestures to avoid the eye. Such gestures include scratching one's testicles (for men), as well as the mano cornuta gesture and the fig sign; 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.

The wielder of the evil eye, the jettatore, is described as having a striking facial appearance, high arching brows with a stark stare that leaps from his eyes. He often has a reputation for clandestine involvement with dark powers and is the object of gossip about dealings in magic and other forbidden practices. Successful men having tremendous personal magnetism quickly gain notoriety as jettatori. Pope Pius IX was dreaded for his evil eye, and a whole cycle of stories about the disasters that happened in his wake were current in Rome during the latter decades of the 19th century. Public figures of every type, from poets to gangsters, have had their specialized abilities attributed to the power of their eyes.

Malta

The symbol of the eye, known as "l-għajn", is common on traditional fishing boats which are known as luzzu. They are said to protect fishermen from storms and malicious intentions.

In Brazil, a number of plants are traditionally said to protect against the evil eye, most notably the rue (the Ruta family – arruda in Portuguese).

Brazil

Brazilians generally will associate mau-olhado ("act of giving a bad look") or olho gordo ("fat eye" i.e. "gluttonous eye") with envy or jealousy on domestic and garden plants (that, after months or years of health and beauty, will suddenly weaken, wither and die, with no apparent signs of pest, after the visitation of a certain friend or relative), attractive hair and less often economic or romantic success and family harmony.

Unlike in most cultures mau-olhado is not seen to be something that risks young babies. "Pagans" or non-baptized children are instead assumed to be at risk from bruxas (witches) that have malignant intention themselves rather than just mau-olhado. It probably reflects the Galician folktales about the meigas or Portuguese magas, (witches), as Colonial Brazil was primarily settled by Portuguese people, in numbers greater than all Europeans to settle pre-independence United States. Those bruxas are interpreted to have taken the form of moths, often very dark, that disturb children at night and take away their energy. For that reason, Christian Brazilians often have amulets in the form of crucifixes around, beside or inside beds where children sleep.

Nevertheless, older children, especially boys, who rather fulfill the cultural ideals of good behavior quite well (for example, having no problems whatsoever in eating well a great variety of foods, being obedient and respectful toward adults, kind, polite, studious, and demonstrating no bad blood with other children or their siblings) but yet unexpectedly turn into problematic adolescents or adults (for example lacking good health habits, extreme laziness or lacking motivation towards their life goals, having eating disorders, or being prone to delinquency), are said to have been victims of mau-olhado coming from parents of children whose behavior was not as admirable.

Amulets that protect against mau-olhado tend to be generally resistant, mildly to strongly toxic and dark plants in specific and strategic places of a garden or the entry to a house. Those include: arruda (Ruta graveolens, the common rue), pimenteira (Capsicum annuum, the chili pepper), comigo-ninguém-pode ("against-me-nobody-can"), Dieffenbachia (the dumb cane); espada-de-são-jorge ("St. George's sword"), Sansevieria trifasciata (the snake plant); and Guiné ("Guinea"), Petiveria alliacea (the guinea henweed). For those lacking in space or wanting to "sanitize" specific places, they may all be planted together in a single sete ervas ("seven [lucky] herbs") pot that will also include manjericão (basil) and alecrim (rosemary). It is, however, said that, when used in a home or any other place for protecting against the evil eye, these plants should not also be used for their culinary purposes.

Other popular amulets used in Brazilian folk traditions against evil eye include: the use of mirrors, on the outside of your home's front door, or also inside your home facing your front door; an elephant figurine with its back to the front door; and coarse salt, placed in specific places at home.

Spain and Latin America

The evil eye or Mal de Ojo has been deeply embedded in Spanish popular culture throughout its history and Spain is the origin of this superstition in Latin America.

In Mexico and Central America, infants are considered at special risk for the 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 Latin America 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 with water and placed under the bed of the patient near the head. Sometimes it is checked immediately because the egg appears as if it has been cooked. When this happens it means that the patient did have Mal de Ojo. Somehow the Mal de Ojo has transferred to the egg and the patient immediately gets well. (Fever, pain and diarrhea, nausea/vomiting goes away instantly) In the traditional Hispanic culture of the Southwestern United States and some parts of Latin America, the egg may be passed over the patient in a cross-shaped pattern all over the body, while reciting The Lord's Prayer. The egg is also placed in a glass with water, under the bed and near the head, sometimes it is examined right away or in the morning and if the egg looks like it has been cooked then it means that they did have Mal de Ojo and the patient will start feeling better. Sometimes if the patient starts getting ill and someone knows that they had stared at the patient, usually a child, if the person who stared goes to the child and touches them, the child's illness goes away immediately so the Mal de Ojo energy is released.

 

In some parts of South America the act of ojear, which could be translated as to give someone the evil eye, is an involuntary act. Someone may ojear babies, animals and inanimate objects just by staring and admiring them. This may produce illness, discomfort or possibly death on babies or animals and failures on inanimate objects like cars or houses. It's a common belief that since this is an involuntary act made by people with the heavy look, the proper way of protection is by attaching a red ribbon to the animal, baby or object, in order to attract the gaze to the ribbon rather than to the object intended to be protected.

Mexico

Differently from other cultures, in Mexico it is believed that the mal de ojo ("evil eye"; literally, "evil of the eye" or "ilness of the eye") can be caused by someone's glance even without any jealousy, envy or evil intention on said person's part. The idea of mal de ojo is therefore connected to other traditional beliefs in the country regarding a supposed underlying sense of insecurity and relative vulnerability to powerful, hostile forces in the environment.

In a study of medical attitudes in the Santa Clara Valley of California, which has many Mexican-descent inhabitants, Margaret Clark arrives at essentially the same conclusion: "Among the Spanish-speaking folk of Sal si Puedes, the patient is regarded as a passive and innocent victim of malevolent forces in his environment. These forces may be witches, evil spirits, and the consequences of poverty, or virulent bacteria that invade his body. The scapegoat may be a visiting social worker who unwittingly 'cast the evil eye' ... Mexican folk concepts of disease are based in part on the notion that people can be victimized by the careless or malicious behavior of others".

Another aspect of the mal ojo syndrome in Ixtepeji is a disturbance of the hot-cold equilibrium in the victim. According to folk belief, the bad effects of an attack result from the "hot" force of the aggressor entering the child's body and throwing it out of balance. Currier has shown how the Mexican hot-cold system is an unconscious folk model of social relations upon which social anxieties are projected. According to Currier, "the nature of Mexican peasant society is such that each individual must continuously attempt to achieve a balance between two opposing social forces: the tendency toward intimacy and that toward withdrawal. [It is therefore proposed] that the individual's continuous preoccupation with achieving a balance between 'heat' and 'cold' is a way of reenacting, in symbolic terms, a fundamental activity in social relations."

Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, Mal de Ojo or "Evil Eye" is believed to be caused when someone gives a wicked glare of jealousy to someone, usually when the person receiving the glare is unaware. The jealousy can be disguised into a positive aspect such as compliments or admiration. Mal de Ojo is considered a curse and illness. It is believed that without proper protection, bad luck, injury, and illness are expected to follow. Mal de Ojo impact is believed to affect speech, relationships, work, family and most notably, health. Since Mal de Ojo centers on envy and compliments, it creates fear of interacting with people that are outside of their culture. Indirect harm could be brought to them or their family. When it comes to children, they are considered to be more susceptible to Mal de Ojo and it is believed that it can weaken them, leading to illness. As a child grows every effort is taken to protect them. When diagnosing Mal de Ojo, it is important to notice the symptoms. Physical symptoms can include: loss of appetite, body weakness, stomach ache, insomnia, fever, nausea, eye infections, lack of energy, and temperament.

Environmental symptoms can include financial, family, and personal problems as simple as a car breaking down. It is important for those who believe to be aware of anything that has gone wrong because it may be linked to Mal de Ojo. Puerto Ricans are protected through the use of Azabache bracelets. Mal de Ojo can also be avoided by touching an infant when giving admiration. The most common practice of protection in Puerto Rico is the use of Azabache bracelets. These bracelets traditionally have a black or red coral amulet attached. The amulet is in the shape of a fist with a protruding index finger knuckle.

Eggs are the most common method to cure Mal De Ojo. The red string and oils also used are more common in other cultures but still used in Puerto Rico depending on the Healer, or the person who is believed to have the ability to cure those who have been targeted. Ultimately, the act of giving someone the "Evil Eye" is a rather simple process and is practiced throughout the world.

United States

In 1946, the American occultist 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.

Media and press coverage

In some cultures, both over-complimenting and envy are said to cast a curse. Since ancient times such maledictions have been collectively called the evil eye. According to the book The Evil Eye by folklorist Alan Dundes, the belief's premise is that an individual can cause harm simply by looking at another's person or property. However, 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 and Jews use charms with palm-forward hands with an eye in the center; Italians employ horns, phallic shapes meant to distract spell casters.

Names 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 on this general pattern from around the world are:

In Albanian it is known as "syri i keq" (Standard and Tosk), or as "syni keq" (Gheg) meaning "bad eye". Also "mësysh" is used commonly, meaning "cast an evil eye".

In Amharic of Ethiopia, is called buda ቡዳ.

In Arabic, ʿayn al-ḥasūd, عين الحسود, "the eye of the envier". ʿAyn ḥārrah (عين حارّة) is also used, literally translating to "hot eye".

In Assyrian Aramaic and Syriac, it is known as ʿaynā bīštā ܥܲܝܢܵܐ ܒܝܼܫܬܵܐ , “evil eye”, as it is referred to in Mark 7:22

In Armenian, char atchk (չար աչք) "evil eye" or "bad eye". Regarding the act of giving an evil gaze, it is said (directly translated), "to give with the eye" or in Armenian, "atchkov tal".

In Azerbaijani, "Göz dəyməsi" – translating as being struck by an eye

In Chinese it is called 惡魔之眼 (Traditional Chinese characters) / 恶魔之眼 (Simplified Chinese characters) (è mó zhī yǎn, means "evil eye") or to call it another way: 土耳其之眼 (tǔ ěr qí zhī yǎn, means "Turkish evil eye").

In Corsican it is called "l'ochju" (the eye).

In Dutch it is called "het boze oog", literally "the malicious eye" or "the angry eye"..

In Estonian, it's called "kuri silm" (evil/angry eye) and "kaetis" (covering)

In Finnish, it's called "paha silmä" (evil/bad eye)

In French, it is named "le mauvais œil" (the bad eye)

In Galician, it is called "meigallo", from meiga, "witch" (and maybe -allo, diminutive or aumentative suffix; or contracted with either ollo, "eye"; or allo, "garlic").

In German, it is called "böser Blick", literally "evil gaze".

In Greek, to matiasma (μάτιασμα) or mati (μάτι) someone refers to the act of casting the evil eye (mati being the Greek word for eye); also: vaskania (βασκανία, the Greek word for jinx)

In Hebrew, ʿáyin hā-ráʿ (עַיִן הָרַע, "eye of evil")

In Hindi and other languages of South Asia, (Hindi: nazar (नज़र); nazar lagna (नज़र लगना)) means to be afflicted by the evil eye. (However, it generally has no evil connotations because a doting mother's eye can supposedly also cause harm.)

In Hungarian, gonosz szem means "evil eye", but more widespread is the expression szemmelverés (lit. "beating with eye"), which refers to the supposed/alleged act of harming one by an evil look.

In Irish, the term drochshúil is used for the 'evil eye', being a compound of 'droch' (bad, poor, evil, ill) and 'súil (eye). This can also be used to refer to someone with weak eyesight.

In Indonesian the word ' 'dengki' ' refers to evil eye.

In Italian, the word malocchio (pronounced [maˈlɔkkjo]) refers to the evil eye.

In Japanese it is known as "邪視" ("jashi").

In Kazakh, it is called "Köz tiiu" - an eye (evil eye) has touched. It is a widespread concept. Apart from harming by an evil eye, one can harm another by an insincere word (with bad intentions). Harming by an evil eye can explain everything from bad luck and headache to death.

In Kurdish, it is called "Çav pîs/Chaw pis/ چاو پیس"

In Lithuanian evil eye is known as "pikta akis", while act of evil watching is called "nužiūrėjimas" (noun), "nužiūrėti" (verb).

In Malay, it is called mata jahat, meaning literally "bad/evil eye".

In Malayalam it is known as kanneru – 'the rising of an eye (upon one)'. 'Kanneru dosham' or 'drishti dosham' is the name for the phenomenon.

In Maltese it is known as "l-għajn". It is a common symbol for warding off evil intentions.

In Mandaic, it is known as "ayna bišta" (ࡀࡉࡍࡀ ࡁࡉࡔࡕࡀ), which means "evil eye".

In Meitei language (alias Manipuri), evil eyes are known as “minu” (Meitei: ꯃꯤꯅꯨ, romanized: /mí.nú/) and “being affected with other's evil eye” is known as “minu changba” (Meitei: ꯃꯤꯅꯨ ꯆꯪꯕ, romanized: /mí.nú ~ cə́ŋ/). Hingchabi Changba (Meitei for 'evil eyes') of the Hingchabi (Meitei for 'evil spirits/possessors') are not uncommon in Meitei culture.

In Neapolitan it is known as "'o mma'uocchje" which translates literally into "the evil/bad/maleficent eye", which afflicts people, especially women and children who are supposedly the most vulnerable, with multiple issues and problems, stemming from pre-natal issues, miscarriages, early childhood death or sickness or death of a mother during birth, as well as afflicting women with infertility, sexual problems, early widowhood, etc., while afflicted men suffer from cancer, laziness, greed, gluttony, and other diseases, disabilities and ailments.

In Persian it is known as "چشم‌ زخم" (injurious look/eyes causing injury) or "چشم شور" (omen eye) "Cheshmeh Hasood", meaning Jealous eye, or "Cheshme Nazar" meaning evil eye.

In Polish it is known as "złe oko" or "złe spojrzenie" (evil eye/an evil glare).

In Portuguese, it is called "mau olhado", or "olho gordo" (literally "fat eye"). The first expression is used in Portugal and the second one is more common in Brazil.

In Punjabi it is known as "ਨਜ਼ਰ" (evil eye/an evil glare). When something goes wrong, the phrase "ਨਜ਼ਰ ਲੱਗ ਗਈ" (Nazzar lag gyi) is often said.

In Romanian, it is known as "deochi", meaning literally "by-eye": a curse put on you by a gaze with evil intentions/ jealousy.

In Russian, "дурной глаз" (durnoy glaz) means "bad/evil eye"; "сглаз" (sglaz) literally means "from eye".

In Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language, it is called "drishti dosha" (दृष्टि दोष) meaning malice caused by evil eye. (but cf. "drishti (yoga)".)

In Serbo-Croatian (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin), it is called Urokljivo oko (Cyr. Урокљиво око). The first word is an adjective of the word urok/урок, which means spell or curse, and the second word means eye.

In Slovak, it is known as "z očí", meaning "(coming) from eyes".

In Slovene, it is known as "Zlobno oko", meaning "evil eye".

In Somali, it is called "il", or "ilaaco" or "sixir" (the first two words literally meaning "eye" and the other word meaning 'black magic')

In Sinhala it is known as "ඇස්වහ" (æsvaha).

In Spanish, mal de ojo literally means "evil from the Eye" as the name does not refer to the actual eye but to the evil that supposedly comes from it. Casting the evil eye is then echar mal de ojo, i.e. "to cast evil from the Eye".

In Berber languages(Tamazight/Tamaziɣt/ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ/ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ) it is called Tafust (ⵜⴰⴼⵓⵙⵜ) which means little hand

In Tagalog, it is known as ohiya or usog, which is a culture-bound syndrome where a visit by a stranger afflicts a child with sudden illness and convulsions.

In Tamil, "கண் படுதல்" (kan padudhal) literally means "casting an eye" (with an intention to cause harm). "கண்ணூறு" (kannooru) means "harm from the eye"

In Trinidadian Creole it is called 'maljo', derived from the French 'mal yeux' meaning "bad eye"

In Turkish kem göz means evil eye and the cure is having a "nazar boncuğu", the nazar amulet. Nazarlık refers in general to protections from the evil-eye, including the nazar.

In Swahili, it is called jicho ("the eye"), or jicho baya, meaning literally "evil eye".

In Ukrainian, it is called "пристріт" (prystrit), "вроки" (vroky), "навроки" (navroky), "призір" (pryzir), "прозір" (prozir), "зурочення" (zurochennia), or "зочення" (zochennia).

In Urdu, nazar (نظر) Chashm-é bad (چشمِ بد) or Nazar-é bad (نظرِبد); nazar lagna means to be afflicted by the evil eye.

In Welsh y llygad drwg, y llygad mall, drwglygad

In Yiddish עין הרע (ayin hora עין הרע)

Amulets and other protections

Azabache – Spanish and Latin American amulet used to ward off the evil eye, especially in the form of a pin placed on infants

Eyespot (mimicry) – as found in living organisms

Fatima's hand – a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East and commonly used in jewelry and wall hangings. Depicting the open right hand, an image recognized and used as a sign of protection in many times throughout history, Fatima's hand (a.k.a. Hamsa) has been traditionally believed to provide defence against the evil eye.

Harmal – plant used as protection against the evil eye

Mirror armour – believed to protect not from only cold steel and arrows, but also from the evil eye

Red string (Kabbalah) – a bracelet in Judaism worn to ward off the evil eye

Jumbie beads – poisonous seeds of the Rosary Pea tree which are used to make jewelry that wards off maljo (bad eye) and evil spirits in Trinbagonian tradition

The color blue – in Trinidad and Tobago is believed to ward off the evil eye, particularly when worn as garments or accessories, as well as in indigo dye

Creatures

Balor – a character in Irish legend

Basilisk – death glance/petrifying glance

Beholder (Dungeons & Dragons) – modern invention

Cockatrice – death glance/petrifying glance

Medusa and Gorgon – petrification glance, picture also used as protection from the evil eye

Petrifaction in mythology and fiction

Concepts

Eye of Providence – a symbol showing an eye surrounded by rays of light or a glory, and usually enclosed by a triangle

Lashon hara – Jewish concept of the "evil tongue"

Matthew 6:23 "If thine eye be evil" – the evil eye as ungenerosity of spirit, hence darkness/blindness/evil itself

Rule of Three

Scopophobia – fear of being stared at

Usog – a Filipino version

 

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