The concept of the evil eye has been around for thousands of years and is based on the belief that someone has cast a spell or curse on you. It is believed to protect wearers from the effects of other people’s ill will and intentions, especially the evil eye stare. Evil eye jewelry, such as the evil eye bracelet, necklace, and nazar amulet, is believed to protect against negative energy and harm.
The history, types, and colors of evil eye jewelry are diverse, with each color symbolizing a different aspect of the evil eye. The nazar amulet, also known as the evil eye, is a circular talisman traditionally made out of glass with a dark blue background with a white, light background.
The ocular amulet is actually the charm meant to ward off the true evil eye, a curse transmitted through a malicious glare. The evil eye is designed in the shape of an eye, traditionally in the colors blue or green, that indicate spiritual protection.
Evil eye jewelry is believed to protect against negative thoughts, which can result from any offensive emotion, including anger, envy, disgust, mistrust, and desire for vengeance. The evil eye serves as a charm to elude this venomous gaze from the wearer.
Evil eye amulets and talismans originated in Greece and are believed to reflect the power of the evil look. They are used to protect against misfortune or injury, and they are considered the origin of all lucky charms.
The evil eye is essentially a spiteful glare cast by jealous individuals who believe that the other person does not deserve the life or item. The evil eye amulet or charm works by representing an eye that never blinks and is ever watchful, serving as a protective tool against negative energy and harm.
📹 What is the Evil Eye Symbol? Should I be worried? | SymbolSage
01:42 – The Nazar Boncugu and What It Represents 02:40 – How is Nazar Boncugu Used? 03:15 – The Evil Eye Charm Today …
What does the evil eye mean spiritually?
The evil eye is a myth that many people believe is a protective tool against pessimistic energy. It is believed that the evil eye, a reflection of the person who protrudes it, bounces the bad energy back onto the person who sends it. This belief originated in Greek culture during the B. C. era, as it was believed that bad things would happen to good people if the person was causing them harm. The evil eye is believed to be a reflection of the bad energy, aiming to ward off pessimistic energy. The belief in the evil eye has gained importance since the B. C. era, as it was believed to help in preventing bad luck from being sent to good people.
Can I wear an evil eye if I don’t believe in it?
The wearing of a bracelet intended to ward off the “evil eye” is not permissible, as it promotes and advertises the concept of the “evil eye,” which is considered a superstition.
Can I sleep with my evil eye bracelet on?
Wearing an Evil Eye bracelet daily is crucial for protection against the curse, but it is not recommended to wear it 24/7. It is recommended to take off the bracelet while sleeping and showering to avoid tarnishing or damaging it. Showering with the bracelet on could potentially affect its protection against malevolent gaze.
Evil Eye bracelets work by absorbing negative energy and providing positive energy to outweigh the bad. They are meant to protect against malicious and envious curses and absorb negative energy. The idea of wearing the bracelet and being protected gives us positive energy, which is essential for a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
What religion is the evil eye?
The evil eye is a belief that can cause injury or death to those it falls on, with pregnant women, children, and animals being particularly susceptible. This belief has been present in ancient Greece, Rome, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, indigenous, peasant, and other folk societies, and has persisted throughout the world into modern times. The most common accusers of casting the evil eye include strangers, malformed individuals, childless women, and old women.
The power of the evil eye can be involuntary, as seen in a Slavic folktale, or malice towards prosperity and beauty. In medieval Europe, it was considered unlucky to be praised or have one’s children or possessions praised, so phrases like “as God will” or “God bless it” were commonly used.
Measures taken to ward off the evil eye vary widely between cultures. Ritual cross-dressing, blackened faces, and ingestion of substances are common ways to ward off the evil eye. In some Asian and African peoples, the evil eye is particularly dreaded during eating and drinking, as soul loss is more prevalent when the mouth is open. Other means of protection include the consumption of protective foodstuffs, wearing sacred texts, hand gestures, and the display of ritual drawings or objects.
What does 🌀 mean?
The cyclone emoji is a symbol used for cyclones and can also have a spiral shape for decorative purposes. Emojipedia is a registered trademark of Zedge, Inc., Apple, Microsoft, and Google. It is used on various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and TikTok. For retail stores, Emojipedia offers the NRSPlus. com Point of Sale system and low-rate NRSPay. com credit card processing from partner National Retail Solutions.
What does the 🧿 mean?
The evil eye symbol (🧿) has been used for thousands of years across cultures, including Latin America and parts of Asia. It is often depicted as four concentric circles in the shape of an eye, and is used to ward off evil intentions. In the Middle East and North Africa, the symbol wards off “nazar”, a curse motivated by envy that can bring about bad things in life. This fear can prevent boastfulness and celebration of accomplishments. The evil eye is always watching, making it a controversial topic in comics about gender and identity. Follow @thelilynews on Instagram for more updates.
Is the evil eye bad to wear?
Evil eye jewelry, worn on the left side of the body, is believed to bring protection and ward off negative energy. It holds cultural significance and is not strictly regulated. Evil eye jewelry is not just a fashion trend but also a symbol of protection and good luck. It is a beautiful and meaningful accessory that can bring positivity into one’s life, whether worn for its symbolic meaning or as a fashion statement.
How does the evil eye protect you?
Evil eye charms or pendants are believed to provide protection, good luck, positivity, and good health. They repel negative forces and keep people feeling positive, preventing negativity from affecting them. These designs are often worn during journeys, exams, or interviews. They also help maintain good health by keeping negativity out of one’s mind. People often wear these designs during important events, such as exams or interviews, to ensure a positive outlook.
Which color evil eye is best?
The “evil eye” is a legend dating back to 3, 000 BC, rooted in various cultures worldwide. It is believed that a person can cast a powerful evil gaze with ill intentions, causing harm or misfortune. The main traits associated with the evil eye are jealousy, envy, and the power of thoughts and intentions. To ward off the superstitious effects, evil eye amulets, talismans, and jewelry (sometimes referred to as nazar) are used, each with its own unique powers. The colors red, dark blue, and light blue represent protection, strength, courage, and self-acceptance.
Is it bad to take off an evil eye bracelet?
Wearing an Evil Eye bracelet daily is crucial for protection against the curse, but it is not recommended to wear it 24/7. It is recommended to take off the bracelet while sleeping and showering to avoid tarnishing or damaging it. Showering with the bracelet on could potentially affect its protection against malevolent gaze.
Evil Eye bracelets work by absorbing negative energy and providing positive energy to outweigh the bad. They are meant to protect against malicious and envious curses and absorb negative energy. The idea of wearing the bracelet and being protected gives us positive energy, which is essential for a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Is The evil eye bad luck?
The evil eye is a Greek curse that has been passed down through generations and still exists today. It is believed that jealousy can result in an “evil glare” that sends bad luck. As a symbol of protection from the evil eye, people often wear evil eye jewelry as a symbol of luck. The legend of the evil eye spans cultures, religions, and generations, and can be found in paintings, stories, and jewelry. It is believed that when someone is jealous, they can curse you with an “evil glare” and send bad luck your way.
📹 What is the Evil Eye?
Bibliography: Lukas Licka, “Approaches to the Extramission Postulate in 13th Century Theories of Vision,” in Medieval Perceptual …
I’m west African a lot of us believe in the concept of evil eye. When I was young my grandmother told me very wise words “don’t celebrate something yet to come, don’t celebrate until you have achieved it.” If you get married and have a wedding don’t post it to all of social media. Because divorce could be around the corner. Post your vow renewal not your wedding. Celebrate your delivery not the pregnancy. Celebrate your promotion, not your hiring. Celebrate the graduation not your acceptance. Anything that is yet to be achieved do not tell others of it, or they could foil your success
I’m Dominican-American and when I was younger my mother would have me wear a small azabache black hand bracelet which was supposed to defend again the evil eye (“mal de ojo” in Spanish). My mother was also just telling me the other day about how, in the old days, my grandmother would sew little pouches full of camphor which babies would then wear around their neck to help protect them from the eye.
My mom isn’t religious or superstitious at all but being from a culture where the evil eye is kinda treated just like a fact of life, she’s always been insistent in taking salt water baths after dealing with people whose vibe just kinda sucks. It’s the tried and true family recipe for getting rid of any lingering “curses”. Dunno if it really works but definitely makes her (and me too, to be honest) feel better.
I don’t believe in magic, however I believe in the power of belief itself. I had a falling out with a very toxic and judgmental person whom I worked with, and I started wearing an evil eye necklace, it gave me relief throughout the day. I’m sure that a lot of the psychological impact of magical practices can have influence on the mind and therefore the body. For example, a pregnant woman wears an evil eye necklace to repel negative stares. That relief she experiences in her belief can have an impact on her body, reducing stress and helping to ensure a safer birth. I have always loved the Evil Eye and the culture behind it, thank you for the article!
My grandma actually believed in this. When we were children, she believed we needed to be protected from evil eye (the actual Ukrainian word she used was наврочити ‘to put an evil eye on someone, to curse someone’). There was some sort of ritual she one performed to remove the supposed effect, something about lighting a match, and then putting that match into water and giving that water to us to drink. You can actually find info about similar rituals in the internet, so that’s probably a living tradition. Also, a way to ward evil eye for her was to wear some item of clothing wrong side out, or to have a red string (I think she said wearing any red piece of clothing in general would work, too). My parents never believed that, and I myself don’t believe that either. However, when I accidentally put my T-shirt wrong way out, my first thought was “well, at least no one can put an evil eye on me”. xD
One of the vivid memories from my early teens is that of the huge evil eye that we hung in our hall, just bursting into a million pieces out of nowhere. My family was going through very tough times back then and it scared us even more. We thought even the trinket is at capacity to dispel away the problems. I’m north Indian BTW and we call it “Nazar lagna”, it’s when someone envies your success and possessions.
When I was a kid I had an encounter with a stranger on my way to a picnic; two hours after that, I suddenly started to feel absolutely awful in the weirdest way. A splitting headache so strong my eyeballs hurt, my skin was on fire and oversensitive, and I felt very nauseous. Thankfully one of our family friends who was with us knew what to do and made a remedy, using campfire coals, a cup of spring water and a prayer. She made me drink the water in a specific way, and I had no clue what was happening but I was desperate for relief. Once I drank it, I got better right away. I asked what was that, and they told me it was an evil eye remedy. To this day, I have never experienced anything similar, and the timing and intensity of it all was too much of a coincidence for me to dismiss it.
Hello from Greece! Both my grandmothers and virtually every old lady I know off around my area use evil eye apotropaic measures. Headache? Bad moods? Economic misfortune? Some issues with your significant other maybe? Look no further! The evil eye apotropaic ritual is your first line of defense against all evil and malaise! All you need is olive oil, a glass of water and a very secret chant that old ladies share with each other only in a very special occasion I don’t know off! (your website is great btw)
Among the Italian diaspora the belief in malocchio (evil eye) is very strong. I always saw the evil eye as something akin to magic that was malicious in nature. I was always told that it can be cast on another willingly or unwillingly. My grandmother recalled a time when the evil eye was cast onto her womb which required rituals to remove it.
My grandmother told the story of how after she had a son there would be times where spontaneously he would have fevers frequently. She bought him to a benzedeira(faith healer) and she told my grandmother someone was putting an evil eye on him. She told her to watch carefully for when someone visited and if he showed signs of a fever the next day she’s know who it was and to say certain words( can’t remember which) to break it. Turns out it was her daughters godmother. Who would visit and talk about how lucky my grandmother was to have such a beautiful son. According to my grandmother after she said the the frase to break the evil eye, her son never developed another fever. After I met this woman I most defiantly believed the story. She had such a dark energy to her and her eyes were very scary to look into. She didn’t cast it willingly but when she wanted something she couldn’t have things usually just didn’t go well for another person.
It’s a gateway for the emotions to be released. I work with babies and new moms and truly, my boss uses the concepts of evil eye to diffuse certain envious situations, that will otherwise be unspoken. She always makes others happy and I had never seen anyone take it so seriously but I’m blown away by how happy everyone is at my work (including me) because of the way my boss cares about how customers feel. And it’s especially important because kids are involved. Edit:🧿heh
It don’t have an eye association here in the Philippines but we got a similar concept. Sometimes people will follow up praises with a phrase to try to prevent it. It’s usually blamed for sudden maladies in children and the person suspected of unintentionally inflicting it is usually asked moisten the child – with saliva.
i only wish you spent more time on the origins of the iconic blue eye shaped amulet 🧿 it has become a bit of a cultural marker for greeks and turkish people and some other mediterranean groups too. rather than just being a literal protection amulet i’ve been given the decorative glass eye as a way to show ethnic pride for that part of the world. i think that’s significant as i see it grow in popularity as a generalized symbol of witchcraft or as a general symbol against the evil eye. but it’s forgotten that the eye pendant is only one amulet tradition and other cultures have very different protection symbols such as the mallachio horns of italy. or a string of red worn as a bracelet to protect babies.
I remember when I was young and was at my grandma, there was numerous times I told her I feel sick, sometimes she said that she saw some “lady in the bus” etc, that looked at me weirdly so this is surly the reason. Then she lighted a match, put it out in the cup of water and made me drink some of it. She called it “bad gaze”. When I was asking her to explain how and why she told that sometimes people have such gaze and their can do it involuntarily and her mother taught her the thing with match and water. She is devout catholic btw.
I had a funny experience with getting evil eyed. One time I took my grandma to pay a bill. The teller woman caught a glimpse of my nails (I was a nail tech then and would do my own) and kept going on and on about how much she loved the designs I had the entire time we were there. Specifically my middle nail that had a sun and star charms. Once we left, I was putting my grandma’s wheelchair away in the trunk and when I went to collapse the wheelchair, my middle finger nail (of all nails) got caught between 2 bars and split my nail in half and was so painful the rest of the day. And of course it was the day I forgot to wear my evil eye bracelet 🙄😂
Ironically my husband & I had a meeting with our tenant last night and his sister gave me such bad vibes, strong terrible energy and she starred at me long and hard that it made me feel so uncomfortable. I initially ignored it but, she continued to do it so, I smiled at her then turned away from her gaze. Afterwards I had to step outside for fresh air then followed up with cleansing my home & myself with sage and frankincense. I thought maybe I was being over dramatic BUT then this article came up on my recommended articles. So, I’ll take this as a sign from the universe that I did the right thing!
My family is Caribbean, and we called it “bad eye.” It can be as innocuous as commenting on someone’s food. I remember one time our family was at a buffet, and someone commented on how much food my uncle got, and he swears to God that he couldn’t eat any more after that. Even just mocking someone or just wishing you had what they had is enough for the evil eye
The Basque people have an interesting subtype of it called Begizko, where one can be born with the Evil Eye without being aware of it, and that usage of it harms the user as well as the target. As a result, one needs a kutun (protective amulet) placed on them to keep the evil eye dormant and must never remove it. It is considered the most powerful form of Betadura, the magic force behind one’s eyes/gaze. As I listen to this article, it sounds very much like Betadura is the basque folk term for the extramission theory of vision, though maybe it had been considered an aspect of magic instead of the method by which we sensed visuals.
My mom told me a story about a woman coming up to us when I was a baby, and saying how beautiful I was. She got a weird feeling from her. Later that evening, I started crying and foaming at the mouth, and swelling up all over. Her mom told her to put salt in her mouth and spit it on my face, and she did. After she spat, the swelling started to subside, the foam settled, and I stopped crying ♥
When I lived in Greece, someone once told me something about how back in the days of the Ottoman Empire, it was believed that the only people immune to being cursed or otherwise having bad luck in one way or another, were those with blue eyes. Since the Greeks had eyes that were mostly brown, or brown adjacent, they carried around the evil eye amulet so they would have blue eyes too. Don’t clearly remember exactly what the story was, or if it’s at all correct, but it’s a cool idea of how those amulets came to be
In Trinidad, we have a mix of cultures and religions explaining it. The evil eye is called malju, our dialect coming from the Spanish mal de ojo, Nazar (hindi) from najar (arabic). Babies wear malju beads, a bracelet made from jet crystals. Ppl use the ouchey ritual to remove it as well when ppl/kids/pet get sick. Ouchey uses salt, pepper and other vegetables wrapped in newspaper lit and passed around the person 3 times reciting prayers/mantras then left to burn far away from the house/person. My mother used this for ny aunt’s puppy who wasn’t eating then he began to eat after the ritual.
I’m half Turkish and half American. I first visited the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul at age 3, in the late 1980s. I have bright blue eyes that seemed exceptionally large as a small child. I had a woman take me out of my carriage while my mother was turned away. My mom looked down and freaked out. She found me in a stall with a group of women holding me and staring me. I was unharmed and apparently liked the attention. She was hysterical crying, of course. My father explained that the women were curious about me because they thought that my eyes could fend off the evil eye or that I had the evil eye myself. I was told multiple times as a child, sometimes even by strangers that I was born with the evil eye.
Thank you for your academic study to bring light to this subject. I was given an evil eye symbol from Italy and kept it for years, it may still be in a box somewhere. But, I never quite knew more than that it was for my protection. Thank you, again! What we don’t know, or believe, may still exist and exert its influence upon us unknowingly, so it is smart to have a basic knowledge of what is out here, like a doctor who must know diseases from other countries, insects, poisons, etc.
in Philippines, we call it “usog” .. specifically in certain regions here, parents or relatives of a baby would usually say “purya buyag” to avoid the evil eye curse from other people. even though other people are saying good things to the baby like, “your baby is cute and healthy.” because they believe it might cause sickness and other misfortunes
In Brasil, the evil eye is part of our culture, I would guess it became popular because of arabic, turkish and greek imigrants that imigrated here in the last century, we call it Turkish eye or Greek eye (in relation to where it came from). It could also have origins from Portugal and their arabic influences, since there is also the Hamsá hand, but we call it Fatima’s hand. They are both very popular amulets and can be bought anywhere, specialy in street markets. I’m not superstitious at all, but I really like the eye, both for the history, the story and for the aesthetics and used to have one in my car, and my friends would comment on it, so I started giving a Turkish/Greek eye for every friend that bought their first or new car, as a wish of good luck and protection, because our traffic is really 💩. And then random acquaintances started asking me for it as if I was some kind of magical leader or something like that 😆😆😆 it was really weird!
I was gifted an evil eye charm back when I was young. What I was being told was that it is simply a good luck charm. Back then, we called it “Pfauenauge” or “peacock eye” (directly translated), based on the feathers of a peacock which look like eyes. Later on, I just thought it was some form of common tourist trinket; it’s interesting to know what this charm was actually used for!
My husband’s very Jewish grandmother will always use ‘kinehora’ when praising one of her grandchildren or great-grands. “against the evil eye’ 🙂 And I wear hamsa pendants that have the eye on them as well. (Did you cover hamsas yet or not?) Now I wonder if there’s an oh-so-faint link between the blue against the evil eye and the ‘haint blue’ used in the South to ward off ghosts from homes, and the blue bottle trees my own kin would put up against the same thing. No eyes, no, but blue is definitely the go-to color vs misfortune.
Fascinating! An excellent topic, considering how ubiquitous these charms are throughout the Middle East (and even in the US now!). One thing I would add about the belief of the evil eye in early Christianity is Matthew 6:22-23, where Jesus describes the eye as the “lamp” of the body. I read somewhere that this would have been understood as an allusion to the “evil eye” in the ancient Mediterranean.
I married a Sicilian in 1990s where i learned that people could have the evil eye unknowingly, so it wasnt always personal. People with uni-brows, warts, or disfigurements (probably) had the evil eye: shedding light on how such people could be outcast historically. The fear of disfigurement, misfortune, transfers well to concepts of how vision can be a physical or material power.
I have all the different forms of it, it is an absolutely wonderful amulet. I have the Do No Evil hanging in my car, along with my dad’s Reiki symbol. Had close calls but never came to any harm. Granted, this is mostly through my own unshakable belief that I am protected as well. Fun tidbit is that blue is the colour which catches the eye’s attention. A friend of mine from Egypt told me of an old folklore about putting something blue with a newborn in case someone may be wishing the family any ill. So, the colour blue would catch the bad wisher’s eye & all ill intent would go toward the item rather than the human.
Very interesting! We have a similar belief here in Finland. It’s an old belief that “the eye of the Jealousy (Kateen silmä)” could hurt especially newborn still without a name. This belief is why even in the modern days Finns tend to say “it’s nothing really” or minimize their achievements or good luck, if someone acknowledges it. It’s not like either the person with good luck or the one praising them would really think that it’s totally insignificant, it’s just a habit of the language expected as a part of the social norms. On the contrary, if a person openly agrees with someone who praises them, they’re easily been seen as big-headed and egoistical. Whereas if you say “it’s nothing” or “it’s not that much really”, you sound more pro-social in the ears of Finn, because you’re taking the feelings of the less lucky person into account in that situation.
Here in Greece, it’s still a big thing and the majority, especially the elders believe in the “evil” eye, wearing these small bracelets. We even spit two times when we see a relative of ours who is very impressive, saying “Φτου φτου μην σε ματιάξω” which literally translates to “Spit, spit in order not to evil eye you”…
I heard references to the evil eye in various places in the United States over the last fifty years or so. First, in Chicago in the late 60s from white Appalachian migrants, and from black Americans who had (presumably) roots in the south. Later, as a sea-farer for work I heard evil eye mentioned, again mostly from those from southern states. Mostly it was used as a warning,such as, “watch out he don’t give you the evil eye.” But once I heard a woman say that she could put the evil eye on others.
I used to have a necklace of one, I liked to wear it because it kinda felt protected. Then some day for some unknown reason the cord of my necklace suddenly broke when I wore it and I was too late to capture the evil eye charm and it shattered in half on the ground. I told this to a spiritual person once and the person told me that it means that I wouldn’t need a evil eye charm anymore to feel protected. I’ve done some research and I discovered that when a evil eye necklace suddenly snaps and the charm breaks it means that a person who is jealous of you looked at you.
When I worked at Walmart I found a keychain with a large metal pendant of a butterfly with small evil eyes on each of the wings and one large one suspended with a small chain above it. Butterflies are my favorite symbol. I kept it for a while in my pocket in case somebody came back for it, But when I got home I turned into a necklace and removed a little gemstone from the center of the butterfly include the fly in the middle of the butterfly. I wear the necklace every day even if I don’t necessarily believe in that stuff
In the eastern european area this belief is very much alive and i am on the fence about it. It happened a lot of times where I would get sick all of a sudden (feeling like I will throw up, nausea, cruel headaches and fevers). I would ask my mom to say a protective prayer and both me and her would start yawning (how deep/often would you yawn = how much you were given the “evil eye”/bad energy). After the prayer you would have to move around a bit or wash your face and everything bad suddenly dissppeared, i no longer felt sick. It says that someone can give you the evil eye knowingly or unknowingly, with the intention of appreciating you but mostly with bad intent (envy etc.). It may be placebo yes but it’s still fascinating to me to this day In my culture, when someone admires others, people would often joke “don’t give me the evil eye haha”. Often people who are admiring others spit 3 times to avoid giving the evil eye and make harm to those they are looking at.
Paul’s alluding to the Evil Eye at the start of Galatians provides an intriguing frame for the portion where he calls upon those reading/hearing his letter being publicly announced to “Look how large the letters are that I write with my own hand,” almost as if it’s an ultimate breaking of the “bewitchment” that’s caused the Galatians to question his apostolic authority.
It’s probably far older than civilization itself, and reaches back into biology and evolution. If you’ve ever seen those articles of the family dog refusing to look at the new puppy… What people interpret as jealousy or anger is actually a form of politeness, as staring as offspring that aren’t biologically “yours” (or staring in general, for that matter) is considered challenging or threatening… Which could cause a fight. I would not be surprised to find that these myths and legends are an outgrowth of some sort of behavior that is hard wired into our DNA.
An important note on the intromissive/extramissive theory of sight: Remember that quantum particles exhibit a phenomenon known as “retrocausality”. When you look at a person, that interaction with the light retroactively aligns the history of events to result in that interaction. Time flows backwards as well as forwards. While a person’s own state of being is obviously coherent and not in some kind of superposition, one could argue that observation does reduce their potential even further because it’s further forcing the person into coherence with another system.
Basically, they thought vision worked like radar. Also, I think Euclid was aware of the other theory of vision and pointed out that the math would be the same in either case. Now if only someone had told Euclid that the math went deeper because light was made out of waves what could be described changes in values of the sides of right triangles in a circle, his mind would be blown.
My father has always told us this one story involving the evil eye – he says that they had a very beautiful rooster when he was younger. One day, some women strangers were passing the house and noticed the rooster. They kept talking how beatiful it was. And the next day the rooster was inexplicably dead.
My aunt is covered in tattoos, including facial tattoos. One of these is a pretty prominent eye on her arm. Combine that with an unusual (almost pirate-esque really) clothing style, bright blue eyes and flaming red hair and you get several stories from abroad of people getting spooked and quickly protecting themselves against the evil eye when she passes.
In Portugal we call it mau-olhado and it can cause quebranto, you can remove your quebranto with some prayers, a bowl of water and olive oil, after the prayer you put 3 drops of olive oil in the water and if it disappears it means that you have quebranto, you have to repeat the process until the tree drops don’t split apart. (Remember, olive oil and water don’t mix, so seeing the oil spread and basically disappear in the water is mind blowing. I have several amulets, that I use everyday, since I have to deal with many persons everyday.
Honestly I’m surprised this is widespread across the world, I live in North Africa and people here strongly believe in it, my grandmother used to tie a red string around my wrist, she used to say it’s for my protection from the evil gaze, some people used to own hedgehogs because they believed it would protect them from the evil eye, my grandmother like almost all people here believed in a lot of superstitious legends, but the evil eye is the most prominent of them all, I don’t believe in it personally but I do find it fascinating how this phenomenon is everywhere.
It’s interesting that you’ve shown the evil eye mosaic in the city of Antioch several times but never mentioned it’s located in Antakya, Hatay Province, Turkey. Almost every single evil eye amulet you see around the world is produced in Turkey and you can see it embedded in their culture and history more than others for hundreds of years. It’s in their ceramic art, fabric art, sculptures, architecture, jewelery anything you can imagine. If you visit there you can see it literally everywhere, even in shopping bags and over the gas pumps in gas stations. Even the apartment buildings are built with evil eye mounted above every door by default, it’s crazy. Even their government or private sector companies have it in their logos. Turkish Airlines has it on their airplanes. Not mentioning their culture, history and effect on the Evil Eye is unacceptable.
I like the scientific explanation of why it might have arose in society, having more cattle more children more wives more of anything etc can bring envy. making the envious aware and the envied of what to say in public and the emotions that you don’t wanna act upon makes for a more supportive community.
When I was a kid, a game I remember my sister and I playing a game we called “Giving You The Evil Eye.” This is how we did it; start by positioning yourself as close to the edge of their peripheral vision as you can. You must also be close enough for your face to still be visible but not the focus of their attention, the more distracted they are, the easier it will be. Do not turn your head directly toward them, instead look at them out of the corner of your eye. Squint that eye, raise the opposite eyebrow, and slowly smirk. This is “The Evil Eye.” They win if they notice you, you win if they don’t.
‘Mal de Ojo’ in Mexican culture. According to my mother, when I was about 6/8 months I became very sick and she said it was caused by people wanting to handle me so often. I was taken to doctors, supposedly none of them could pin down an ailment or underlying condition. When it came down to the wire, I was going to have a surgery in on my cranium. My mother became distressed and pleaded for another way. Relatives told her about the Evil Eye, and recommended her to take me to a ‘Brujo’ or witch doctor. I don’t know what happened or what was done here to ‘heal’ me but apparently it worked. The surgery was averted and I got better
I’m from a small country in Central Europe (not very much known to the general population of the world), and we may not use those blue beads like they doo in the eastern mediterranean, but we certainly do share the same culture belief around the evil eye concept. When I was a baby, my great grandfather was still alive, although his phsysical health was deteriorating. My parents brought me in, because they thought this might be the last chance for him to see me, or to be able to hold me in his arms and push my stroller, and for me – to ever meet my great-grand father. But he refused to look at me or even go near me at first, because he was afraid he would inflict an evil eye on me. It is believed that babies are especially susceptible to the evil eye. He did eventually see me and pushed me on a stroller. And passed away a month or two later. For undoing the evil eye, we got some charms and rituals, but the blue beads are not a thing here – only if someone brings it back as a souvenir from Greece or Turkey. For us it’s a red string for example. And for undoing the already inflicted evil eye, there is small ritual that includes matches and water.
@ 12:28 to 12:40 – I think there is also another facet of this that is not discussed; the direction of the hand: upward ✋🏾gives protection (stop, hold on there, 3 fingers in the evil eye of the beholder), and downward (I don’t have one on my digital keyboard for my phone, there is one on facebook emoji set though) gives blessing (the gesture of giving), but that is just relevant research that came up when I was searching for things regarding the turkish/hamsa evil eye before buying one.
In Peru, we have the term “ojear” for the action of eyeing (?) someone, that is a reference to the evil eye. My grandma said that you have to always wear red to protect you from people who have the “ojo pesado” (heavy eye). Babies, especially, wear red ribbons in their hands or clothing to protect themselves.
There is a similar concept in India. It’s called nazar(gaze). People use various methods to repel the evil eye like putting a small Kohl mark next a baby’s eye to protect it. People even use a clay mask of the face of a demon Asura to guard against evil eye. It was not uncommon for grandmothers to warn their younger generations that ” nazar lag jayegi”(you will be afflicted by an evil gaze). So interesting to see how this concept spread around the world.
I don’t know if the evil eye itself was “personified” necessarily. Here in Iran even to this day, some people believe that certain people have the evil eye. If they even walk by you or cross paths with you or glance your way you are meant to repel tham and their evil glance. A distant relative of us is considered to be بد چشم translating to “owner of the bad eye” and they said hello to me at a gathering a few months before I fell into a deep depression and was hospitalized, my parents, both highly educated are convinced that that was due to her evil eye and my lack of respect for the tradition. I didn’t do the ritualistic burning of dried Angelica to ward off her bad wishes. Oh well modern medicine helped.
Here in northeast of Brazil we have a version of evil eye, it’s called “olho gordo”, and it’s related to envy. It’s common someone say that we should hide or not announce things that we are pride of (material things or imaterial too). This believe is more common in old people. If a plant start to die or things start to get wrong, you may heard “isso foi olho gordo” or “alguém botou olho gordo”. They blame the evil eye. And if someone give me to much compliments, my grandma used to ask me to be careful because the person could be putting a evil eye upon me. They don’t have a explanation for how it’s work. My grandma was a “benzedeira” and used to “benzer” people who suffers with evil eye. “Benzer” is a hard word to translate, but means bless. She use a mix of Christian with indigenous preying to clean the evil eye. (Sorry any mistake, still learning English)
I use to wear one when I was a baby. It was a bracelet with red beads and one blackish or brownish seed thing. One time an old lady put saliva on me when I was a baby. True story! I felt disgusted when my mom told me. She did this because she wanted to protect me so nothing bad happens to me. Another story I heard was when a puppy died due to someone having an evil eye or mal ojo.
This is really cool! I have had a thought tumbling around about our perception being more of a flashlight than a camera lens. Feels good to hear about other minds coming to a similar conclusion 🙂 In my idea, the vision that you ‘cast’ can be tuned to receive certain things(positivity, cynicism, and synchronous happenings such as that word you keep seeing this week). Anyone have something to add to this?
The evil eye trinket is an important symbol that goes back through history. The giving of the Nazar bead, “the evil eye” was one given by old Nazarite, hence the words Nazar, separated one. Before Nazarite were given that title they were called many names, the trinket was left by them as they were tokens of those whom had contacted with the ancient Nazar. The nazarite in those days were not good nor evil but righteous, they were often seen as warriors and saints. They are depicted in ancient Mesopotamian as the anunaki, and various places around the world. The thing is the trinket is not an “evil eye” but it was the ward of the even eye. This is where the term “an eye for an eye” comes from. This symbol is very very important to history as it’s one often misattributed and misunderstood. From the eye of ra, to the eye of Vishnu, these are all indications of the eye of the nazar. Good to see someone breaking down this stuff, also I’m assuming this was made in response to some of my earlier comments on your website, if not you should go seek some of those comments out.
This article was very informative and I really enjoyed it. Thanks so much! For those looking into the Evil Eye there’s another greatly informative book that has been recently published “The Evil Eye, The History, Mystery and Magic of the Quiet Curse” by Antonio Pagliarulo (I believe it may have been released after this article). It’s filled with interesting information and it is a pleasure and to read. I’m enjoying it and thought others may enjoy it too.
Hi! I’ve been perusal you for a while now as I like to listen to you while doing other tasks or eating the eponymous breakfast and your newest stuff is great, high quality, and awesome. Could you please redo some of your older articles so it doesn’t have the distracting music and carries the better audio quality you’re currently capable of? Probably would be a good chance to revisit some of those topics too.
The evil eye is so common in the Caucasus and ironically almost a must have. And funny although we are majority Christian orthodox – we still are superstitious, and we have a lot of objects around the house to prevent bad spirits and things from coming to us. We even have certain habits and things we do/don’t do! Like you can’t whistle inside the house to not lose money (or leave open drawers), don’t break mirrors, don’t open umbrellas inside home 😂
The idea that ancient philosophers believed that the eye emitted something that let them see it is super interesting when thing about Observation and how it effects quantum particles like electrons. Through superposition an electron can be considered to be in any of it’s possible position until it is literally viewed or observed, like we are emitting something that locks the electron into a specific position. Also see Shrodinger’s Cat for examples of paradoxical quantum superposition
Yep, this is my grandmother. Muslim from Uganda so additional ‘back home’ mythology to squish in 😊on the Indian side it’s called nazar – literally hard gaze/stare, the intention behind the gaze is negative to evil. Newborn are marked (in some places) with a dab of charcoal or mud to make them less perfect and keep them out of the way of roaming evil.
Elderly people in the Philippines usually say “pwera usog” whenever someone conplimented another, they do this to repel “bad vibes” coming from those people. A baby here (my cousin) had been praised by our aunts and this older lady (that none of our family members know who literally not even one) had conplimented my baby cousin but my aunt didn’t said the pwera usog then the next day he was sick, my aunt told my mom that they went to a witch doctor and the doctor said that the baby has been cursed by an old person and for what reason? envy.
I was perusal a article about how some people feel and think that they actually project something from their eyes, akin to how people can feel when someone is staring at them and can even feel and see where the glare/stare is coming from… That got me to thinking, if we can feel when someone stares at us, can we feel or be affected when someone stares at us with negative intentions? Anyway, it was just a lot of roundabout thoughts and concepts only to make it back to “the evil eye” and thought this article was a great follow up to that other one. Thanks to you and youtube algorithm.
The belief in evil eye is prevalent in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, where it’s called “maljo” in local slang, derived from Spanish “Mal de ojo” or evil/bad eye. Babies are protected by a black jet bead bracelet or wearing something blue when out in public. Crops are protected by hanging something blue in the field
My mom gifted me two – one hangs right above my bed, and the other one is kept in my desk drawer. In Bulgaria we share with other countries the ‘belief’ that people with blue eyes cast curses (intentional or not) more easily than other people. The word we use is уроки/урочасване (uroki/ urochasvane) – the effect of throwing an evil glare towards a person. We also wear a red thread on the wrist (sometimes the thread has a silver or a gold charm) for protection from evil eye, as well as protection from evil powers as a whole. It is tied by a person who wishes you good and means no harm, wishing well on you while tying it. When the thread breaks off of your wrist it means that it was oversaturated with negativity and it has done it’s job protecting you.
Thank you for enlightening me on haptic vision. I believe it exists. New borns have different eyesight and initially see the world upside down, due to the lens formation. I think I am starting to believe they have superior vision compared with the adult human eye that is ‘corrupted’ by brain interpretation of the upside down world provided by the lens of the eye curvature in adults.
It’s amazing how a lot of cultures share this same concept. From Egypt to Galia, Russia and Mexico. Here in Peru exist the same idea. Babies use a bracelet made of red and black seeds (Huairuro(its writing changes)) to protect them from ‘evil sights’ (Mal de ojo) Maybe ancients are right in something?
This is intresting, because in traditional martial art like kungfu, there actually have a technic which use a glance of eyes to harm people. It hard to explain how it work, but basically like this, when in a fight or aggressive situation, the one who maintain to look at opponent will have advantage. The weaker usually avoid eye contact, and then mostly refuse to fight. It also somehow bring trauma to opponent, make them feel like you always look at them, and make them hard to forget your glancing eye. Overtime, this will harm their mental health.
Hi i saw your clip about the evil eye i to have been caught in that i once worked with 2 supervisors and never had a problem then a new supervisor took over and i had the most evil time of my life till i walked off my job lost my wife and children and since then i never trusted anyone again this woman caused so much trouble in my life it was unthinkable have you ever felt like someone is putting their hand in your pocket when no one is there that happened to me i went as far as researching how to avoid and counteract such things but i was bathing in it a lot for such a long time i lost hope i even downloaded the same eye symbol to protect myself you can’t trust people they laugh and talk with you but they have evil intentions these days i keep to myself a lot everything of value is gone but i’m coping people say if you don’t beleive in evil it can’t do you anything but that is not true because the bible says there is spiritual wickedness in high places and its true people feed on your energy to gain power for themselves be careful as you mingle you don’t know what people do when in the privacy of their homes
I have always had one in my childhood because my skin was unusually light for my region and it would attract attention so I needed to wear a Nazar boncugu at all times :D. Currently there are some people who believe wearing the evil eye amulet does not protect but attracts envy and says you have something to be envious of. it is like a full belief circle so some people who strongly believe in evil eye but do not wear it in any way.
I think there definitely is some form of physical energy being transmitted between the space of the eye of the viewer and the object/person they’re viewing bc it makes so much sense when you think of why we’re even able to sense another person staring at us without even seeing them, how can we FEEL another persons gaze if there wasn’t any form of energy being transmitted through vision 🤔
In my country we give newborns black azabache bracelets to protect them from a mal de ojo (evil eye). It is believed that if the baby received an evil eye the beads will explode, thus having successfully protected the baby. I, myself, never had one but my sister had two: the first one exploded and my mom had to get her a new one! The mal de ojo is a huge thing in my country but I had no idea about all this history behind it!
Evil Eye might came about from how glaring at someone with bad thoughts might show on your face and actions, eventually making that person nervous and make mistakes, or further increase your negative thoughts and subconsciously sabotage them. To combat the first effect, the beliefs were made to make you less affected by how people glare at you. Doing this rituals and talismans might also keep in check your own negativity towards someone as you (hopefully) don’t want to evil eye someone. So in a way, they might actually be effective.
In Hinduism the evil eye is known as kudristi. It has been mentioned in books thousands of years ago. To ward it off, we usually use a black dot or kajal. Some people turn salt for the affected person as well.. Just a lil something that wasn’t mentioned in the article but is also a popular belief among many 🙏
I have a great aunt and she is fading further into dementia but she was always particular and some would say snide or narcissistic but within the last 4 years one of her eyes has cataracts and is completely glassed over. Many in my family would consider her a witch and not just a narcissist with some sociopathic tendencies either playing on the dementia as a subterfuge to manipulate and wrought havoc but with an actual ability to place hexes and curses many have said that there are ghosts around her and many would steer clear of her and indeed she has caused me undo stress if not to say she’s playing a power against me that originates in the Aether. I find that many women have powers over reality whether it be that it is just social dynamics at play by which men manipulate themself on behalf of the woman and or the pedestal they put women on or if perhaps women are just more potent in these powers but there is a paranormal power out there that can shape reality
Its interesting. I didn’t type this article into my search bar but it was the first article on my feed and immediately, it caught me. Some context: my mom and I had just been speaking about how my pastor’s wife gave my 9 yr old daughter the evil eye on Sunday after she hugged the pastor. My daughter came to us and told us that she did that. This happened last Sunday and she was sick the entire week. I prayed over some olive oil and prayed over her in general. We went to church yesterday and the pastor prayed for her then and guess what? His wife did it again but this time someone else saw her and told us. There is some back story to this whole thing but God is speaking and I truly believe this article popped up for a reason.
I’m fascinated by the quote by Pliny who references Marcion of Smyrna in the practice of spitting three times to ward off the evil eye, especially in regards to infants. This is something that is still commonplace in Ukraine, and I’ve encountered it countless times throughout my life, in particular from older generations. Do you happen to have any more information about Marcion of Smyrna and his writings?
Indian here. The concept of evil eye is quite prevalent in our culture as well. For hindus, a way to mitigate this can differ widely depending on the region yoy live in. For children, kohl is applied around their eyes, on their forhead or behind their ears. If the evil eye is perceived to be too strong, they are taken to spiritualists who burn salt and dust it on the child. Other gestures include softly biting the little finger or waving one’s hand over the heart.
I was not told that I have the “Evil Eye”. I studied this interesting thing, as I was diagnosed with autism, as stated, we “Do not like eye contact”. As those with autism have high intelligence. If someone seems to talk nonsense, my eyes locks into the other ones eyes. No harm or violence, just a straight needle-like spotting of something that seems wrong. Your eyes are the gatway to your soul anyway.
As a practicing modern mage, I can tell you that the evil eye is basically what causes mass anxiety and fear. High cortisol if you will. If you live with an abuser, you are being afflicted by the evil eye. Example: Your mother banishes you from your household and does so with a horrible malicious gaze, you have been afflicted by the evil eye. I was tortured for 20 years, in the metaphysical communities – I was told that the evil eye was just constantly following me and that I was cursed. In the medical profession – I have a pituitary tumor that’s causing me mass problems from mental, emotional, and physical damage. Especially mental and psychological, from a former ex-cultist biological father. Does the charm actually work? Yes if you put your intentions of good into it. It’s also nice to forewarn anyone with such an amulet. 🧿
In my family we have Gypsy ancestors, and Evil Eye is a “Real” thing!! and an incantation has been passed on for many many years! and I’ve learned to “cure” Evil Eye, so believe it or not, it does exist and can be cured. And I’ve made many non believers, believe LOL… and when you have it. the “pain” is so specific yet impossible to explain. so when you feel that. You got it!! Amazing article!!
The people from the ancient world were not necessarily wrong about the eye being an active component in vision. Today, in neurology we talk about top-down vs bottom-up processing. “Bottom-up and top-down processing are two different ways of making sense of stimuli. In bottom-up processing, we allow the stimulus itself to shape our perception, without any preconceived ideas. In top-down processing, we use our background knowledge and expectations to interpret what we see” Our brains to both at the same time.
It’s interesting that belief in the evil eye falls along cultural lines. In the British Isles, Irish, Highland Scottish, Welsh and Manx believed in the evil eye, but the English and Lowland Scottish didn’t. Apparently this (and the belief in fairies) meant that these parts of the British Isles saw little witch-hunting, since they didn’t need to attribute misfortune to conscious witchcraft.
I think it’s interesting to think of the fact that they thought Vision was a physical sorta thing? It would make sense at the time. Even without the objects, people can usually detect someone briskly if someone has their eyes on them. Like when you have a sense that someone is perusal you. Without the actual science factor tbh I would believe it