Evil EyeIn some areas of the world the evil eye is thought to be a sickness that is transmitted by someone who is envious of the person who is ill. There are many names for the evil eye, in Italian it is called mal occhio or bad eye, in Spanish its called mal ojo which translate into the bad eye or el ojo which means the eye. The belief is that an envious person can look at your children, your livestock or your fruit and vegetables and harm them with envy. Only in Sicily and Southern Italy do people believe that some people can deliberately cast the evil eye on others. In these regions there is a belief that some people are born with the evil eye and can project it without them noticing it. These people are known as projectors or in Italian jettatores and their specific form of evil eye is called projection or jettatura in Italian. Because they involuntarily use their evil eye on people these jettatores are not thought to be evil. In Greece and Turkey it is thought that blue-eyed peoples are bearers of the evil eye. This is probably because few local born people are born with blue eyes. Jews have a particular hand gesture when they feel threatened by the evil eye; they place the right thumb in the left palm and the left thumb in the right palm and their fingers over the thumbs. Many areas of the world have different ways of diagnosing evil eye. In Eastern Europe the evil eye is diagnosed by dropping charcoal or a burnt match head into a pan of water. If indeed the charcoal floats in the water than the affliction is caused by the evil eye. In the Ukraine region of Russia they melt wax and drip it into holy water. If the wax splatters and sticks to the side of the bowl than the cause of distress it the evil eye. To cure the evil eye the Ukrainian woman recite special prayers and bath the afflicted person in holy water after that the procedure is repeated with the wax and the holy water, this time if the wax falls to the bottom of the water then a cure is proclaimed. In Italy they diagnose evil eye by dripping olive oil into a basin of water a drop at a time. The females in a family do this while they recite special prayers. If the drops run together to form that of an eye than the cause of the affliction is that of evil eye. The cure for this is to continue to recite the prayers and drop the oil into the water until the oil does not form an eye. This could take hours of praying for this to happen. In Mexico to diagnose an evil eye an uncooked hen’s egg is placed under the person’s bed or rolled over the body and then it is cracked open. If the egg’s yoke is hard or resembles an eye than evil eye is the cause of the person’s illness. There are many beliefs that charms or amulets can repel the evil eye. This sort of charm is called an apotropaic charm or a repellent talisman. A repellent talisman is a charm that has special powers to ward off the evil eye when a person wears it. An apotropaic charm is a charm that is meant to ward off the evil eye. Apotropaic is an adjective that comes from a Greek word meaning to ward off. The designs of each charm vary from place to place and can take the form of an eye or a hand or even a horseshoe. Many of these charms are combined into two elements such as an eye in a hand. In Greece and Turkey the common charm worn to ward off the evil eye is a blue glass eye which they believe mirrors back the blue evil eye. In India blue beads are strung on cord charms as a means of warding off the evil eye. This is given to newborn babies as a way of keeping them safe from the effects of the evil eye. As the cord begins to decay the beads break off and by the time the last bead is broken off the child is believed to be old enough to escape the dangers of the evil eye. The farmers of the Middle East place blue beads that are glazed earthenware. These beads are dangled in a blue glazed wall plaque in the form of a horseshoe. One of the oldest forms of talisman is the Roman hand of power, which is a hand that is covered with symbolic images that was kept in the home to protect and bless the family. In India, Israel and the Arab countries the eye in the hand amulet is popular. It can be carved from or cast in metal. The image of the eye is in the palm of the hand. In countries where is Catholicism is the dominant religion than the apotropaic charm is usually carried on the person in the form of a holy card. In Peru Saints have replaced the symbolic images that cover the hand or the crucifixion wound. In the Middle East they wear a hand shaped charm that is cast in silver as jewelry. In their homes they hang larger ones inscribed with prayers for protection on their walls. These larger ones are made of blue glazed ceramics. In Sicily a lemon is pierced by nails and placed above the doorways so that the projector or jettatore can not enter. While in Mexico a large brown legume seed is hung from a red cord along with a red tassel and a picture of a saint. This is either worn by a person or hung from a baby’s crib. Some dangle it from their car mirror to protect them while they are driving from any evil eye given by other drivers. Even in America and England people have been wearing or carrying eye-like charms as their personal magical protection. In addition to the ones mentioned there are other numerous eye-design and hand-design amulets that are used to repel the evil eye.
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