Evil eye
The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures in the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America, with such cultures often believing that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury, while others believe it to be a kind of supernatural force that casts or reflects a malevolent gaze back upon those who wish harm upon others. The idea also appears multiple times in Jewish rabbinic literature.
Different cultures have pursued measures to protect against the evil eye. Some of the most famous talismans against the evil eye include the nazar amulet, itself a representation of an eye, and the hamsa, a hand-shaped amulet. Older iterations of the symbol were often made of ceramic or clay; however, following the production of glass beads in the Mediterranean region in approximately 1500 BC, evil eye beads were popularised with the Indians, Phoenicians, Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans and Ottomans. Illyrians used objects with the shape of phallus, hand, leg, and animal teeth against the evil eye. Ancient Romans used representations of phallus, such as the fascinus, to protect against the evil eye, while in modern-day Southern Italy a variety of amulets and gestures are used for protection, including the cornicello, the cimaruta, and the sign of the horns.
In different cultures, the evil eye can be fought against with yet other methods – in Arab culture, saying the phrase "Masha'Allah" alongside a compliment prevents the compliment from attracting the evil eye, whereas in some countries, such as Palestine and Iran, certain specific plants – such as rue – are considered prone to protecting against the evil eye.
History
Early evidence excavated from various ancient cities include alabaster idols with incised eyes found in Tell Brak, one of Mesopotamia's oldest cities. Texts from ancient Ugarit, a port city in what is now Syria, attest to the concept of the 'evil eye' – the city existed until about 1180 BC, during the late Bronze Age collapse. In Greek Classical antiquity, the 'evil eye' is referenced by Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. Peter Walcot's Envy and the Greeks listed more than one hundred works by these and other authors mentioning the evil eye. Ancient Greek authors frequently mentioned the ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος.As widely documented in archaeologic findings and in ancient literature, the Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Such amulets included objects with the shape of phallus, hand, leg, and animal teeth.
Classical authors attempted both to describe and to explain the function of the evil eye. Plutarch in his work entitled Symposium has a separate chapter describing such beliefs. In his scientific explanation, he stated that the eyes were the chief, if not sole, source of the deadly rays that were supposed to spring up like poisoned darts from the inner recesses of a person possessing the evil eye. Plutarch treated the phenomenon of the evil eye as something seemingly inexplicable that is a source of wonder and cause of incredulity. Pliny the Elder described the ability of certain African enchanters to have the "power of fascination with the eyes and can even kill those on whom they fix their gaze".
The idea of the evil eye appears in the poetry of Virgil in a conversation between the shepherds Menalcas and Damoetas. In the passage, Menalcas is lamenting the poor health of his stock: "What eye is it that has fascinated my tender lambs?".
Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the evil eye could affect both humans and animals, for example cattle.
Protection from the eye
Belief in the evil eye during antiquity varied across different regions and periods. The evil eye was not feared with equal intensity in every corner of the Roman Empire. There were places in which people felt more conscious of the danger of the evil eye. In Roman times, not only were individuals considered to possess the power of the evil eye but whole tribes, especially those of Pontus and Scythia, were believed to be transmitters of the evil eye.Many different objects and charms were used for protection from fascination. The protective items referred to by the Greeks with a variety of names such as apotropaia, probaskania, periammata, periapta, profylaktika and phylaktiria. Greeks placed talismans in their houses and wore amulets to protect them from the evil eye, in addition they attached charms on the animals. Peisistratus hung the figure of a kind of grasshopper before the Acropolis of Athens for protection.
The fascinus or fascinum, from the Latin verb fascinare "to cast a spell", is one example of an apotropaic object used against the evil eye. They have been found throughout Europe and into the Middle East from contexts dating from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. The phallic charms were often objects of personal adornment, but also appeared as stone carvings on buildings, mosaics, and wind-chimes. Examples of stone phallic carvings, such as from Leptis Magna, depict a disembodied phallus attacking an evil eye by ejaculating towards it.
In describing their ability to deflect the evil eye, Ralph Merrifield described the Roman phallic charm as a "kind of lightning conductor for good luck".
Another way for protection from fascination used by the ancient Greeks and Romans was by spitting into the folds of the clothes.
Ancient Greeks also had an old custom of dressing boys as girls in order to avert the evil eye.
Psychological and Literary Interpretations
The concept of the Evil Eye has been examined not only in cultural terms but also through psychological and literary lenses, emphasizing human perception, attention, and social emotion as psychologists have also studied how gaze and attention can function as causal agents in social and non-social contexts, a phenomenon termed “gaze agency,” in which the eyes themselves are understood as capable of influencing external events.Similarly, the emotions associated with the Evil Eye, particularly envy, have been analyzed as a personal response to the advantages of others, encompassing feelings of inadequacy and interpersonal tension, and influencing both behavior and literary representation. In literature, figures such as Herman Melville explore these psychological dimensions, portraying characters’ experiences of scrutiny, suspicion, and envious observation in ways that echo both the social and internalized consequences of the Evil Eye.Around the world
Belief in the evil eye likely originated within Indo-European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cultures. Probably starting in Sumeria, it spread through the Greco-Roman world, India, Portugal, Spain, northern Europe and North Africa. It has, however, not been found in the original folklore traditions of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Native America. Only with the arrival of Spanish colonies in the New World, did the belief spread there in particular.Belief in the evil eye is found in the Islamic doctrine, based upon the statement of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, "The influence of an evil eye is a fact..." . Authentic practices of warding off the evil eye are also commonly practiced by Muslims: rather than directly expressing appreciation of, for example, a child's beauty, it is customary to say Masha'Allah, that is, "God has willed it", or invoking God's blessings upon the object or person who is being admired. A 2012 Pew Research Survey found belief in the Evil Eye is still very common in many Muslim majority countries, with majorities in 20 out of the 39 countries surveyed.
In the Aegean Region and other areas where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with green eyes, and especially blue eyes, are thought to bestow the curse, intentionally or unintentionally. Thus, in Greece and Turkey amulets against the evil eye take the form of eyes looking back at someone. These amulets are known as Greek eyes or Turkish eyes, depending on the region.
A 2015 Pew Research Survey in Central and Eastern Europe found a Median of 48% of adults reported believing in the Evil Eye, with majorities in Greece, Latvia, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Lithuania.
In the painting The Evil Eye by Scottish painter John Phillip, we witness the culture-clash experienced by a woman who suspects that the artist's gaze implies that he is looking at her with the evil eye.
Among those who do not take the evil eye literally, either by reason of the culture in which they were raised or because they simply do not believe it, the phrase, "to give someone the evil eye" usually means simply to glare at the person in anger or disgust. In such context could also simply be used to express jealousy, envy or admiration, especially in a hyperbolic manner. The term has entered into common usage within the English language. Within the broadcasting industry, it refers to when a presenter signals to the interviewee or co-presenter to stop talking due to a shortage of time.
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" talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.Disks or balls, consisting of concentric blue and white circles representing an evil eye are common apotropaic talismans in West Asia and the Balkans, found on the prows of boats and elsewhere; in some forms of the folklore, the staring eyes are supposed to bend the malicious gaze back to the sorcerer.
Known as nazar, this talisman is most frequently seen in Turkey, found in or on houses and vehicles or worn as beads.
The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In the Levantine Christian culture is called the Hand of Mary, in some Muslim and Balkan cultures, the Hand of Fatima. It is condemned as superstition by doctrinaire Muslims. To many individuals, though, the hamsa or nazar are simply used as decoration.
A variety of motifs to ward off the evil eye are commonly woven into tribal kilim rugs. Such motifs include a cross to divide the evil eye into four, a hook to destroy the evil eye, or a human eye to avert the evil gaze. The shape of a lucky amulet is often woven into kilims for the same reason.
While the Egyptian Eye of Horus is a similar symbol of protection and good health and luck, the Greek evil eye talisman specifically protects against malevolent gazes. Similarly, the Eye-Idols excavated at the Tell Brak Eye Temple are believed to have been figurines offered to the gods, and according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are unrelated to a belief in the evil eye.