Everything Under the Moon

The belief in the evil eye seems to exist across cultures in the world. The evil eye seems to be a component of no tool folk magic. It seems often times that the evil eye can be cast with out meaning to. Other times it seems that you can purposefully cast an evil eye upon some one. The idea that an unwanted envious gaze can cause misfortune and ill will seems to be pretty widespread in folklore.

The evil eye is probably one of the most well known curses out there, yet do we all know and understand what exactly the evil eyes is? In the book Psychic Self Defense by Dion Fortune she talks about many ways to counter the evil eye. A book I just picked up recently called A witches world of magick which covers many different folk magic methods of both casting the evil eye and of curing the evil eye.

The evil eye is a very real practice and a very real thing. This thread is going to discuss the Evil eye in different cultures and different ways to defend against the Evil eye,

Disclaimer:
This thread is going to discuss the casting of the Evil eye, in the context of being able to understand how it can happen and how to work against the Evil eye. The discussions of how the evil eye is cast is in no way meant to teach you to cast the evil eye, but to understand its origins, the effects it has, and how to protect yourself from it and how you may be able to help others who may have fallen under the "Evil eye."



So what is the "evil eye"?

The Evil eye is essentially ill will and misfortune cast and directed upon a single person by just a gaze. The idea is that the eye and the look itself carries the power. By looking at the target and by focusing their ill will towards the person they have ill will the eye can be cast.

The evil eye can be cast accidentally. By thinking envious thoughts of some one for a moment as they pass by or talk about something they have that you want you can unfortunately cast an evil eye through the way you look at a person. The evil eye is all in how the look is presented. The idea is that the air the eye looks through is so emotionally charged by feelings of envy or jealousy that without intending to the eye can be cast with out meaning to hex or curse a person.

The Effects of the Evil eye:

The way the evil eye is said to manifest is different in different cultures. Some cultures believe that it can cause physical illnesses and crop failures. Other cultures believe that depression, headaches, and nausea can result. Basically the evil eye is a curse and can manifest itself in different forms. If the curse was accidental it probably will manifest in a way directly related to what the caster was envious or jealous of.

Can we defend ourselves from the Evil eye:

According to the book A witches world of magick there was a method devised in the Rio Grande area where Mexican Americans lived to remove the curse if effected. They devised this method because they had such a belief in the power of the evil eye, something had to be done.

"Upon seeing a person or thing and admiring that person or thing, one must touch what he has seen and admired, else the person will become sick or the object will break"

Source

In the end I think like any and all curses there are ways we can defend ourselves from them. How about every one else? Have you in your studies and practices of folklore and folk magic come across any ways to remove the evil eye, defend from the evil eye, and or the theories behind the evil eye?

i find the topic of evil eye more like superstition then anything else.

It makes sense, to me. It seems like any other spell, just without physical tools...you get such a charged buildup of energy, that when you look at a person, it can all just rush towards them.
Fascinating post, thanks.

in my culture they cast out of someone the evil eye by saying a prayer 3 times while thinking intensely of the person. they believe that this method can be learnt by a person of the opposite gender or else the prayer won't be effective.

SpiritDragon wrote:i find the topic of evil eye more like superstition then anything else.

That's exactly what I thought before. One day a gypsy guy looked at my child in a strange way and she cried the whole afternoon. That was the moment when I started believing in the Evil eye.
In my country it's believed that gypsies (but not necessarily only gypsies) with blue or green eyes can hex people by just looking at them a certain way. It's also believed that sometimes it can be unintentional. For example a mother can put Evil eye on her child by paying too much attention to it.
To protect yourself against Evil eye, you are supposed to wear a red thread on your wrist. Every bride and every child is supposed to wear it in order to prevent it. If you are "caught" by Evil eye, you are supposed to pour water over a door handle and then wash your eyes with it. Another way to remove it is to light match over a cup of water, make a cross with it over the cup and drop it in. Do that 3 times and then wash the person's eyes with the water. That's what I did to my kid and believe it or not, she stopped crying immediately.

SpiritDragon wrote:i find the topic of evil eye more like superstition then anything else.

Isn't all magic basically superstition to some one else? I'm thinking specifically good luck charms and amulets like that. I mean for example throwing salt over your shoulder is a superstition, but it could also be considered a folk magic practice when you think about context.

Falcon_Heart27 wrote:It makes sense, to me. It seems like any other spell, just without physical tools...you get such a charged buildup of energy, that when you look at a person, it can all just rush towards them.
Fascinating post, thanks.

The chapter in the book A witches world of magic was called No tools magic. The first section of the chapter was all about the evil eye. The second part of the chapter was just about verbal charms. After reading the different versions and ways of dealing with the evil eye I thought that it would be a good topic to discuss.

Kat wrote:in my culture they cast out of someone the evil eye by saying a prayer 3 times while thinking intensely of the person. they believe that this method can be learnt by a person of the opposite gender or else the prayer won't be effective.

Actually Greece was mentioned in the book as one of the prevalent cultures for having a belief in the evil eye as well as having ways to counteract it. I think they mentioned that for a man to learn the craft they had to learn it from a women and for a women to a man. This is not an unfamiliar concept to me.

Do you happen to know what the prayer is?

it's a christian prayer. i don't believe in this stuff. just coz culture believes in evil eye it doesn't mean i do.

Kat wrote:it's a christian prayer. i don't believe in this stuff. just coz culture believes in evil eye it doesn't mean i do.

I realized it was a Christian prayer. In folk magic you are actually going to come across a lot of Christian prayers and influences. A lot of practical herbal workings and practices were slightly altered when Christianity became the dominant force. This is really clear in English Folk Magic.

Is there a reason you don't believe in the evil eye? What makes the evil eye any different from any other magical practice?

YanaKhan wrote: That's exactly what I thought before. One day a gypsy guy looked at my child in a strange way and she cried the whole afternoon. That was the moment when I started believing in the Evil eye.

So you have seen the effects of the Evil Eye for yourself. Often today I think many people could actually be under the influence of the Evil eye and not know it. I say this because its been boiled down to superstition which many people think are silly and you are silly to believe in.

However when I looked at the definition of what the Evil eye is and how it is cast I realized that I could have very well cast this myself unknowingly. I think an example would be how I looked upon the lead actors in the Drama club with envy and jealousy. Then on opening day one of the main roles was so sick she couldn't talk let alone sing. Which was a problem as there were no understudies.

I basically wished very hard that something would happen so she wouldn't be able to perform. I wasn't conscious of directing the energy that way. However I knew and remember what I was feeling. At the time I was still learning magic and spell craft so I didn't know the power that real intentions and desires actually have.

YanaKhan wrote:In my country it's believed that gypsies (but not necessarily only gypsies) with blue or green eyes can hex people by just looking at them a certain way. It's also believed that sometimes it can be unintentional. For example a mother can put Evil eye on her child by paying too much attention to it.

When it comes to gypsies it seems that they are the ethnic group most often associated with the Evil Eye. I mean its in the media that Gypsies cast the Evil eye. Which is why you never see in media people actually looking gypsies in the eye.

Thats interesting about the mom and their child. I wouldn't think that a mother could put the evil eye on their child by paying too much attention to it.

YanaKhan wrote:To protect yourself against Evil eye, you are supposed to wear a red thread on your wrist. Every bride and every child is supposed to wear it in order to prevent it.

Interesting. A red thread on your wrist huh. That protects against the evil eye? Would that protection work for everyone or just children and brides?

YanaKhan wrote:If you are "caught" by Evil eye, you are supposed to pour water over a door handle and then wash your eyes with it.

Another way to remove it is to light match over a cup of water, make a cross with it over the cup and drop it in. Do that 3 times and then wash the person's eyes with the water. That's what I did to my kid and believe it or not, she stopped crying immediately.

Sounds like this last method is a very powerful uncrossing for the evil eye. I'm glad that it worked for you.

I don't know probably coz it's a prayer of a religion I don't have. connected evil eye with christianity

The red thread works for everyone. I believe it's the egregore of the common belief that actually works.

Kat wrote:I don't know probably coz it's a prayer of a religion I don't have. connected evil eye with christianity

The Evil Eye doesn't belong to any one religion or culture though. Its a folk magic curse/hex that goes across many different cultures.

Personally for me if there was a protective and defensive prayer against a folk magic curse and hex I'd want to know it.

I dont want to sound like I'm pressuring you to learn it. Not at all. I was just curious about the prayer and the way your culture deals with the evil eye.

This is a really interesting topic.

When I lived in Turkey, where they believe in Nazar Boncugu, or the evil eye, they had a lot of talismans like this to protect the wearer from it:



Just about everyone believes in it and has one of these.




Also people use Hamsa to ward off the evil eye.

YanaKhan: In my country it's believed that gypsies (but not necessarily only gypsies) with blue or green eyes can hex people by just looking at them a certain way.

When my family was stationed in Turkey (my dad was air force) whenever we would go out places, because I have Blue/Green eyes the Turkish would like to touch me for "good luck." It was impossible to go anywhere without someone stopping us and wanting to pinch my cheek and touch me for luck. I was very young, by my parents said I didn't care much for it.

I think it's interesting how people in your country, or at least just you, think people with light colored eyes can hex people whereas the turkish were non-stop cheek pinching to get good luck because of my eye color.



My dad says I have the most powerful "stink eye" or evil eye when I chose to do it out of the members in my family. That's a really common saying with my family when someone gives this look, it isn't out of envy or jealousy. More like, dislike.