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	A blue eye can also be found on some forms of the ], an ] hand-shaped talisman against the evil eye found in the Middle East. The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa and hamesh, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In ], the hamsa is called the ]; in some Muslim populated cultures, the ]. However, it is considered a superstition to practicing or religious Muslims that any symbol or object protects against the evil eye. In Islam, only God can protect against the evil eye.		A blue eye can also be found on some forms of the ], an ] hand-shaped talisman against the evil eye found in the Middle East. The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa and hamesh, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In ], the hamsa is called the ]; in some Muslim populated cultures, the ]. However, it is considered a superstition to practicing or religious Muslims that any symbol or object protects against the evil eye. In Islam, only God can protect against the evil eye.

			===Armenia===
			Armenians in ] and the ], in addition to wearing or displaying an evil eye charm, may protect themselves from a perceived evil eye by scraching their buttock. Furthermore, it is believed that if an evil eye pendant cracks, it has deflected an evil eye from harming the bearer.<ref>The Evil Eye among European-Americans, LC Jones - Western Folklore, 1951, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan., 1951), pp. 11-25.</ref>

	===Assyrians===		===Assyrians===

Revision as of 01:17, 19 August 2011

The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. The term also refers to the power attributed to certain persons of inflicting injury or bad luck by such an envious or ill-wishing look.

The "evil eye" is also known as ʿayn al-ḥasūd (عين الحسود)" and "mal de ojo."

The idea expressed by the term causes many cultures to pursue protective measures against it. The concept and its significance vary widely among different cultures, primarily the Middle East. The idea appears several times in translations (Tirgumim) of the Old Testament. It was a widely extended belief between many Mediterranean tribes and cultures: It started in Classical Greece and later passed to ancient Rome.

Forms of belief

In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy, with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally. Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye may cause disease, wasting, or even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women. The late UC Berkeley professor of folklore Alan Dundes has explored the beliefs of many cultures and found a commonality—that the evil caused by the gaze is specifically connected to symptoms of drying, desiccation, withering, and dehydration, that its cure is related to moistness, and that the immunity from the evil eye that fish have in some cultures is related to the fact that they are always wet. His essay "Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye" is a standard text on the subject.

In many beliefs, a person—otherwise not malefic in any way—can harm adults, children, livestock or possessions, simply by looking at them with envy. The word "evil" is somewhat misleading in this context, because it suggests an intentional "curse" on the victim. A better understanding of the term "evil eye" can be gained from the old English word for casting the evil eye, namely "overlooking", implying that the gaze has remained focused on the coveted object, person, or animal for too long.

History

The amount of literary and archeological evidence attests to the belief in the evil eye in the eastern Mediterranean for millennia starting with Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. In Peter Walcot's Envy and the Greeks (1978) he referenced more than one hundred of these authors' works related to the evil eye. Studying these written sources in order to write on the evil eye only gives a fragmented view of the subject whether it presents a folkloric, theological, classical, or anthropological approach to the evil eye. While these different approaches tend to reference similar sources each presents a different yet similar usage of the evil eye, that the fear of the evil eye is based on the belief that certain people have eyes whose glance has the power to injure or even kill and that it can be intentional or unintentional.

The classical evil eye

Belief in the evil eye during antiquity is based on the evidence in ancient sources like Aristophanes, Athenaeus, Plutarch, and Heliodorus. There are also speculations that claim Socrates possessed the evil eye and that his disciples and admirers were fascinated by Socrates' insistently glaring eyes. His followers were called Blepedaimones, which translates into "demon look," not because they were possessors and transmitters of the evil eye, but because they were suspected of being under the hypnotic and dangerous spell of Socrates.

In the Greco-Roman period a scientific explanation of the evil eye was common. Plutarch's scientific explanation 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 (Quaest.Conv. 5.7.2-3=Mor.80F-81f). Plutarch treated the phenomenon of the evil eye as something seemingly inexplicable that is a source of wonder and cause of incredulity.

The belief in the evil eye during antiquity varied from 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 the Roman days 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.

The spreading in the belief of the evil eye towards the east is believed to have been propagated by the Empire of Alexander the Great, which spread this and other Greek ideas across his empire.

Distribution of the belief

Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to other areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions, and the Americas, where it was brought by European colonists and Middle Eastern immigrants.

Belief in the evil eye is found in Islamic doctrine, based upon the statement of 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 that is being admired. Aside from beliefs based upon authentic Islamic texts, a number of unsubstantiated beliefs about the evil eye are found in folk religion, typically revolving around the use of amulets or talismans as a means of protection.

Although the concept of cursing by staring or gazing is largely absent in East Asian and Southeast Asian societies, the Usog curse of the Philippines is an exception.

In the Aegean Region and other areas where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with green eyes are thought to bestow the curse, intentionally or unintentionally. This belief may have arisen because people from cultures not used to the evil eye, such as Northern Europe, are likely to transgress local customs against staring or praising the beauty of children. Thus, in Greece and Turkey amulets against the evil eye take the form of blue eyes, and in the painting by John Phillip, below, 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 in such things, the phrase, "to give someone the evil eye" usually means simply to glare at the person in anger or disgust.

Protective talismans and cures

File:Evil Eye.jpg

John Phillip, "The Evil Eye" (1859), a self-portrait depicting the artist sketching a Spanish gypsy who thinks she is being given the evil eye.

Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye has resulted in a number of talismans in many cultures. As a class, they are called "apotropaic" (Greek for "prophylactic" or "protective," literally: "turns away") talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.

Disks or balls, consisting of concentric blue and white circles (usually, from inside to outside, dark blue, light blue, white, dark blue) representing an evil eye are common apotropaic talismans in the Middle East, found on the prows of Mediterranean 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 (Template:Lang-tr or Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), this talisman is most frequently seen in Turkey, found in or on houses and vehicles or worn as beads.

A blue eye can also be found on some forms of the hamsa hand, an apotropaic hand-shaped talisman against the evil eye found in the Middle East. The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa and hamesh, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In Jewish culture, the hamsa is called the Hand of Miriam; in some Muslim populated cultures, the Hand of Fatima. However, it is considered a superstition to practicing or religious Muslims that any symbol or object protects against the evil eye. In Islam, only God can protect against the evil eye.

Armenia

Armenians in Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, in addition to wearing or displaying an evil eye charm, may protect themselves from a perceived evil eye by scraching their buttock. Furthermore, it is believed that if an evil eye pendant cracks, it has deflected an evil eye from harming the bearer.

Assyrians

The Assyrians are also strong believers in the evil eye. They will usually wear a blue/turquoise bead around a necklace to be protected from the evil eye. Also, they might pinch the buttocks, comparable to Armenians. It is said that people with green or blue eyes are more prone to the evil eye effect. A simple and instant way of protection in European Christian countries is to make the sign of the cross with your hand and point two fingers, the index finger and the little finger, towards the supposed source of influence or supposed victim as described in the first chapter of Bram Stokers novel Dracula published in 1897:

When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty, I got a fellow passenger to tell me what they meant. He would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye.

Bangladesh

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In Bangladesh young children often have a large black dot drawn on one side of their foreheads in order to counter the evil eye. Young girls that are often praised for beauty get a dot drawn behind their earlobes with kohl so no one can see it. This keeps away the evil eye of men and other jealous people.

Brazil

In Brazil, the equivalent for the evil eye is called "olho gordo" (loosely translated as "fat eye") or "mau olhado" ("evil looking"). It is said that, when a person praises someone's belongings, the owner should be cautious about who the other person is. That means, if the compliment is sincere, there's no harm done; if it's not, then the other person secretly wishes that thing to be either his/hers, or gone. Usually, it is believed that a future damage to the praised object comes from the envious person who complimented it. For example, Jose goes to Antonio's house and remarks that the flowers vase on the table is beautiful; at the same night, Antonio's flowers are dead. That would be due to the evil eye Jose gave it, because he wanted to have it or (even unconsciously) destroy it. Due to this, some people used to "hide" newborns (specially the beautiful ones) from his neighbours for some days, to avoid the evil eye. Some people believe that some tricks could avoid and protect from "olho gordo": to plant "espadas-de-são-jorge" ("Saint George sword", a widely spread and well known plant originally from Africa - Sansevieria trifasciata) or peppers - around or inside the house; to bath in sea salt water or in an infusion of rue; to keep in the pocket a black stone or gem such as coal or black turmaline, or even use handmade "patuás" (lucky charms or amulets) such as "figas" (a small wrist with closed fingers, made of wood, bone or plastic, with the thumb emerging between the index and middle fingers) as garments (in necklaces, bracelets and earrings).

Egypt

The Eye of Horus – Horus was an ancient Egyptian sky god in the form of a falcon. The right eye represents a peregrine falcon's eye and the markings around it, that includes the "teardrop" marking sometimes found below the eye. The right eye of Horus is said to ward off the evil eye in the ancient Egyptian culture. In modern Egypt, Islamic charms and amulets such as the hamsa are used.

Ethiopia

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In Ethiopia, its believed that anyone could give you the evil eye. Women occasionally spit to the ground when ever they admire a loved one in order not to give them the evil eye. Buda (or bouda), in Ethiopian folk religion, is the power of the evil eye. Buda is generally believed to be a power held and wielded by those in a different social group, for example among the Beta Israel or metalworkers. Belief in the evil eye, or buda, is widespread in Ethiopia. The Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, are often characterized as possessing buda. Other castes such as ironworkers are often labeled as bearing the buda. In fact, the word for manual worker, tabib, is also used to denote "one with the evil eye." The alleged evil power of the tabib is believed to be at a level similar to that of witches. Buda's alleged prevalence among outsiders correlates with the traditional belief that evil eye curses themselves are rooted in envy. As such, those allegedly possessing the power of buda might do so because of malevolent spirits. One study specifies that they are believed to be "empowered by evil spirit". Niall Finneran describes how "the idea of magical creation underpins the perception of artisans in Ethiopia and in the wider African context. In many cases these skills have been acquired originally from an elemental source of evil via the paternal lineage, rather like a Faustian pact". Ethiopian Christians will generally carry an amulet or talisman, known as a kitab, or will invoke God's name, to ward off the ill effects of buda. A debtera, who is either an unordained priest or educated layperson, will create these protective amulets or talismans.

Greece

The evil eye, known as μάτι (mati), "eye," as an apotropaic visual device, is known to have been a fixture in Greece dating back to at least the 6th century BC, when it commonly appeared on drinking vessels. In Greece, the evil eye is cast away through the process of xematiasma (ξεμάτιασμα), whereby the "healer" silently recites a secret prayer passed over from an older relative of the opposite sex, usually a grandparent. Such prayers are revealed only under specific circumstances, for according to superstition those who reveal them indiscriminately lose their ability to cast off the evil eye. There are several regional versions of the prayer in question, a common one being: "Holy Virgin, Our Lady, if so and so is suffering of the evil eye release him/her of it" repeated three times. According to custom, if one is indeed afflicted with the evil eye, both victim and "healer" then start yawning profusely. The "healer" then performs the sign of the cross three times, and spits in the air three times.

Another "test" used to check if the evil eye was cast is that of the oil: under normal conditions, olive oil floats in water, as it is less dense than water. The test of the oil is performed by placing one drop of olive oil in a glass of water, typically holy water. If the drop floats, the test concludes there is no evil eye involved.

If the drop sinks, then it is asserted that the evil eye is cast indeed. An alternate form of the test is to place two drops of olive oil into a glass of water. If the drops remain separated, the test concludes there is no evil eye, but if they merge, there is. This is usually performed by an old lady, who is known for her healing, or a grandparent.

The Greek Fathers accepted the traditional belief in the evil eye but attributed it to the Devil and envy. In Greek theology the evil eye or vaskania (βασκανία) is considered harmful for the one whose envy inflicts it on others as well as for the sufferer. The Greek Church has an ancient prayer against vaskania from the Megan Hieron Synekdemon book of prayers (Μέγαν Ιερόν Συνέκδημον).

India

In India the evil eye, called drishtidosham (literally "sight curse") or nazar, is removed through Aarti. The actual removal involves different means as per the subject involved. In case of removing human evil eye, a traditional Hindu ritual of holy flame (on a plate) is carried out in which the plate is moved in a circular motion around the person's face so as to absorb the evil effects. Sometimes people will also be asked to spit into a handful of chilies kept in that plate, which are then thrown into fire. If there is a lot of smoke, you were being ridiculous and no one evil-eyed you. If there is no smoke (the burning throat, burning eyes kind of smoke), you were evil-eyed and now it's all clear. For vehicles too, this process is followed with limes or lemons being used instead of chilies. These lemons are crushed by the vehicle and a new lemon is hung with chilies in a bead to ward off any future evil eyes. These can also be seen at shops and private homes, usually hanging at the doorways. Many Indian shop keepers also burn a piece of newspaper and then wielding it in a circular motion before the already locked shutter or gate, before they finally leave for home. The use of kumkum on cheeks of newly-weds or babies is also a method of thwarting the "evil eye." Toddlers and young children are traditionally regarded as perfect and are likely to attract the evil eye. Often mothers apply a spot of kohl on their children's cheeks or on the forehead to make the child imperfect and ward off evil eyes. A black cord is sometimes tied around the hip of young children for the same purpose. Sometimes shells or other amulets are attached to the cord.

Islam

Evil eye, Isabat al-’ayn, is a common belief that certain individuals have the power to look at people, animals or objects to cause them harm. But talismans and images with an eye cannot be used to ward off the evil eye. According to a tradition, Muhammad prohibited the use of talismans as protection against the evil eye because it is idolatry, the form of protection allowed is suplication to Allah. It is tradition among many Muslims, that if a compliment is to be made, you are always supposed to say "Masha'Allah" (ما شاء الله) ("What God wills") and also "Barak'Allah" (بارك الله) ("Blessings of God") to ward off the evil eye. The reference of the Evil eye is mentioned in the Sunnah. Also (لا قوة إلا بالله) ("There is no power other than with God"). It is a testimony from someone that he/she believes that either good or bad will only happen if God wants it to. Persian speakers in Afghanistan use the phrase "Nam-e Khoda" ("The name of God") occasionally in place of "Mashallah," as well as another phrase with a similar purpose: "Chashmi bad dur" ("May the evil eye be far") also used in Urdu. These phrases are found in Tajiki as well, but in a slightly different form. In addition to saying "Mashallah," there are duas (prayers or supplications) that are said to protect against the evil eye. In Islam, God is the only one who can protect against the evil eye. No object or symbol can.

Judaism

The evil eye is mentioned several times in the classic Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Fathers. In Chapter II, five disciples of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai give advice on how to follow the good path in life and avoid the bad. Rabbi Eliezer says an evil eye is worse than a bad friend, a bad neighbor, or an evil heart. Judaism believes that a "good eye" designates an attitude of good will and kindness towards others. Someone who has this attitude in life will rejoice when his fellow man prospers; he will wish everyone well. An "evil eye" denotes the opposite attitude. A man with "an evil eye" will not only feel no joy but experience actual distress when others prosper, and will rejoice when others suffer. A person of this character represents a great danger to our moral purity. Many Jews avoid talking about valuable items they own, good luck that has come to them and, in particular, their children. If any of these are mentioned, the speaker and/or listener will say, "b'li ayin hara", meaning "without an evil eye", or "kein eina hara" (often shortened to "kennahara"), "no evil eye".

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 rural Mexico 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 and examined (the shape of the yolk is thought to indicate whether the aggressor was a man or a woman). In the traditional Hispanic culture of the Southwestern United States and some parts of Mexico, an egg is passed over the patient and then broken into a bowl of water. This is then covered with a straw or palm cross and placed under the patient's head while he or she sleeps; alternatively, the egg may be passed over the patient in a cross-shaped pattern while saying the Lord's Prayer. The shape of the egg in the bowl is examined in the morning to assess success.

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 wanting 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 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

Mal ojo often occurs without the dimension of envy, but insofar as envy is a part of ono, it is a variant of this underlying sense of insecurity and relative vulnerability to powerful, hostile forces in the enviornment. In her study of medical attitudes in the Santa Clara Valley of California, 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 enviornment. These farces may be witches, evil spirits, the consequences of poverty, or virulent bacteria which invade his body. The scapegoat may be a visiting social worker who unwitingly '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 syndrom 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 Mexian 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. 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."

Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya

Amongst the Papua people of New Guinea Island, the evil eye is not called as such, but is referred to as sorcery. This can sometimes lead to atrocities against villagers or tribal warfare and raids. A shaman or medicine man is consulted if someone died, to find out if the cause of death was sorcery (the evil eye). Other means, such as looking at the intestines of slaughtered animals are also employed by lay people to determine if sorcery has been the cause of death or disease. If confirmed, the person responsible may be killed and in the pre-Christian era, they were sometimes killed and ritually eaten.

Rome

The Hamsa, a charm made to ward off the evil eye.

In ancient Rome, people believed that phallic charms and ornaments offered proof against the evil eye. Such a charm was called fascinum in Latin, from the verb fascinare (the origin of the English word "to fascinate"), "to cast a spell," such as that of the evil eye.

One such charm is the cornicello, which literally translates to "little horn." In modern Italian language, they are called Cornetti, with the same meaning. Sometimes referred to as the cornuto (horned) or the corno (horn), it 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 something similar.

Some theorists endorse the idea that the ribald suggestions made by sexual symbols would distract the witch from the mental effort needed to successfully bestow the curse. Others hold 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 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 the fig sign; a fist with the index and little finger extended and 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. In Latin America, carvings of the fist with the thumb pressed between the index and middle fingers continue to be carried as good luck charms.

Folklore of Italy and Sicily

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 black 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 the fourth 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 that latter decades of the nineteenth century. Public figures of every type, from poets to gangsters, have had their specialized abilities attributed to the power of their eyes.

Oral tradition in ancient Rome

According to Eugene Bahn and Margaret L. Bahn in their book A History of Oral Interpretation, "A very important function of spoken verse in ancient times was protection against the evil eye, and even in the present age there are countless jingles recited to prevent bad luck under certain circumstances". This originated as "devices for appeasing the jealousy of the spirits which hold sway over the destinies of mortals..."

Tibet and Himalayan regions

Evil eye

Modern 'new' dzi beads made from etched agate

Chinese

天珠

Hanyu Pinyin

tian1 zhu1

Literal meaning

heaven pearls

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	tian1 zhu1
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	tin1 zyu1

In Tibet and surrounding areas Dzi beads are valued as a protection against the evil eye as well as lucky charms, depending on the design and the number of eyes. Ancient Dzi beads are amongst the most expensive beads known to man. Dzi stones may have made their first appearance between 2000 BC to 1000 BC, in ancient Tibet: a few hundred thousand were supposedly brought back by Tibetan soldiers from Bactria or ancient Tajikistan during a raid or later occupation. Fear of the evil eye was taken very seriously by these people, so whoever made the dzi created talismans with "eyes" on them as a "fight fire with fire" form of protection. Dzi were crafted by an unknown people using agate as the base stone and then decorated with lines and circles using unique ancient methods like darkening with plant sugars and heating as well as bleaching, and white line etching with ancient natron or other alkalines. Certain parts must have been left out by using either grease, clay, wax or similar—the actual ancient alchemic process can only be assumed. Two or three types of dzi exist: those with etched lines and "eyes" and those with eyes formed naturally by the agates banding. Dzi are often barrel shaped, but can be coin shaped as in the case of natural agate Luk Mik.

Turkey

In Turkey, evil eye jewelry and other such trinkets are particularly common. The evil eye is also known as the Eye of Medusa (a mythical Greek gorgon). A nazar or evil eye stone (Turkish: nazar boncuğu) is an amulet that protects against the evil eye. Colorful beads, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and all manner of decoration may be adorned by this particularly popular symbol, and it is common to see it on almost anything, from babies, horses, doors to cars, sidewalks, cell phones, and even airplanes.

The idea of using the "nazar bead" is that it will attract the evil eye (nazar) before it can damage the thing or the person that it is directed to, absorbing the damaging power of voluntary/involuntary "evil look". Therefore the nazar bead is always out in the open, not a secret talisman.

United States

In 1946, the American magician Henri Gamache published a text called Terrors of the Evil Eye Exposed! (later reprinted as Protection against Evil), which offers directions to defend oneself against the evil eye. Gamache's work brought evil eye beliefs to the attention of African American voodoo practitioners in the Southern United States.

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 "syni keq" (Gheg), or "syri i keq" (Tosk), meaning "bad eye."
In Arabicو ʿayn al-ḥasūd (عين الحسود) "the eye of envy." ʿAyn ḥārrah (عين حارّة) is also used, literally translating to "hot eye."
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, ʿayin haraʿ (עין הרע) "evil eye"
In Hindi-Urdu and other languages of North India and Pakistan, nazar; nazar lagna means to be afflicted by the evil eye.
In Italian, the word malocchio refers to the evil eye.
In Macedonian it is known as урокливо око.
In Persian it is known as "چشم‌ زخم" (injurious look/eyes causing injury) or "چشم شور" (Salty eye)
In Portuguese, it is called "olho gordo" (literally "fat eye"). The expression is quite common in Brazil.
In Russian "дурной глаз" (durnoy glaz) means "bad/evil eye"; сглаз (sglaz) literally means "from eye".
In Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, it is called "drishti dosha" meaning malice caused by Evil eye.
In Serbian it's called Urokljivo oko (Cyr. Урокљиво око). First word is adjective of the word urok/урок which means spell or curse, and the second one means eye.
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 Turkish nazar looking with kem göz meaning looking with evil eye

Notes

"?".
Rivka Ulmer (1994). KTAV Publishing House, Inc. (ed.). The evil eye in the Bible and in rabbinic literature. p. 176. ISBN 0881254630, 9780881254631. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
Frederick Thomas Elworthy (1958). Forgotten Books (ed.). The Evil Eye: An Account of this Ancient and Widespread Superstition. p. 5. ISBN 1605065579, 9781605065571. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
William W. Story (2003). Kessinger Publishing (ed.). Castle St. Angelo and the Evil Eye. pp. 149–152. ISBN 9780766153974.
Dundes, Edited by Alan (1992). Evil Eye: Folklore Casebook. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 257–259. ISBN 0299133346. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
"USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts". Usc.edu. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
"Du'a - What to say when in fear of afflicting something or someone with one?s eye". Makedua.com. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
Cora Lynn Daniels, et al., eds, Encyclopædia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World (Volume III), p. 1273, Univ. Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, ISBN 1-4102-0916-4
The Evil Eye among European-Americans, LC Jones - Western Folklore, 1951, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan., 1951), pp. 11-25.
Dracula, Bram Stoker's novel 1897 edition online. p. ?
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. 2000, p. 69
Ludwig W. Adamec, Historical Dictionary of Islam, Scarecrow Press, 2nd ed. 2009, pg. 92
Chapters of the Fathers, Translation & Commentary by Samson Raphael Hirsch, Feldheim Publishers, ISBN 0-87306-182-9 pg. 32
"Medical Anthropology: Explanations of Illness".
Franz Flórez. "El Mal de Ojo de la Etnografía Clásica y La Limpia Posmoderna" (PDF).
Maloney, Clarence. The Evil Eye. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. p.184. Print.
Maloney, Clarence. The Evil Eye. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. p.29. Print.
Vaskania (Βασκανία) in Εγκυκλοπαιδικό Λεξικό Ελευθερουδάκη, (Encyclopedic Lexicon Eleftheroudakis) ed. 1928
loghatnaameh.com. "Dictionary of Dehkhoda - لغت‌نامه دهخدا". Loghatnaameh.com. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
"Hakim Bey: Urokljivo oko (evil eye)". Kontrapunkt. February 7, 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
"Real Academia Española de la Lengua. Diccionario Usual" (in Template:Es icon). Buscon.rae.es. Retrieved 2010-10-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

References

Borthwick, E. Kerr (2001) "Socrates, Socratics, and the Word ΒΛΕΠΕΔΑΙΜΩΝ" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 51(1): pp. 297–301
Dickie, Mathew W. (January 1991) "Heliodorus and Plutarch on the Evil Eye" Classical Philology 86(1): pp. 17–29
Dundes, Alan (editor) (1992) The Evil Eye: A Casebook University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, ISBN 0-299-13334-6; originally published in 1981 by Garland Publishing, New York
Elworthy, Frederick Thomas (1895) The Evil Eye. An Account of this Ancient & Widespread Superstition John Murray, London, OCLC 2079005; reprinted in 2004 as: The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, ISBN 0-486-43437-0 (online text)
Gamache, Henri (1946) Terrors of the Evil Eye Exposed Raymond Publishing, New York, OCLC 9989883; reprinted in 1969 as Protection Against Evil Dorene, Dallas, Texas, OCLC 39132235
Gifford, Edward S. (1958) The Evil Eye: Studies in the Folklore of Vision Macmillan, New York, OCLC 527256
Jones, Louis C. (1951) "The Evil Eye among European-Americans" Western Folklore 10(1): pp. 11–25
Limberis, Vasiliki (April 1991) "The Eyes Infected by Evil: Basil of Caesarea's Homily" The Harvard Theological Review 84(2): pp. 163–184
Lykiardopoulos, Amica (1981) "The Evil Eye: Towards an Exhaustive Study" Folklore 92(2): pp. 221–230
Maloney, Clarence (editor) (1976) The Evil Eye Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-04006-7; outgrowth of a symposium on the evil eye belief held at the 1972 meeting of the American Anthropological Association
Meerloo, Joost Abraham Maurits (1971) Intuition and the Evil Eye: The Natural History of a Superstition Servire, Wassenaar, Netherlands, OCLC 415660
Slone, Kathleen Warner and Dickie, M.W. (1993) "A Knidian Phallic Vase from Corinth" Hesperia 62(4): pp. 483–505
Ulmer, Rivka (1994) The Evil Eye in the Bible and in Rabbinic Literature KTAV Publishing House, Hoboken, New Jersey, ISBN 0-88125-463-0

External links

A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus by Richard Payne Knight (1786), mentions phallic charms against the Evil Eye in ancient Rome.
The Evil Eye at Fortean Times
The Evil Eye by Frederick Thomas Elworthy
Evil Eye by Hakim Bey
What is an "Ayin Hara" (evil eye)?

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