The Evil Eye

[Victory]

(My apologies if there is already a thread on this, and if so please merge it.
I searched and could not find one.)

Has anyone had experience of this?

The belief that someone can give you a dirty look, look through jealous or hateful eyes, and it causes you harm?

Or of protecting yourself against it?


It is discussed quite a lot in Judaism, and I know Islam too.

Is believed in Judaism that if you don't believe it can hurt, you, it won't.

A palm/hand symbol called The Hamsa can often be seen hanging from walls as protection against it.

And objects can be the target of it too.


A 1933 book called "Jaffa Gate Mill" mentions:

In 1857 British philanthropist Moses Montefiore built a windmill in Mishkenot Sha'ananim (then on the outskirts of Jerusalem.)

Local millers took exception to this perceived threat to their business, and sent a headman to cast the evil eye on it.

When it survived through the rainy season it was thought this must therefore indicate it was the work of Satan!



More about the windmill in post #2977 in the Coincidences thread.


https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/coincidences.9144/page-100

 

[maximus otter]

Surely the Evil Eye is a common belief in many cultures?

ln Italy, for example, it’s known as malocchio, often anglicised as “the maloyk.”

maximus otter

 

[Xanatic*]

Spookdaddy has a nice story about this.

 

[SimonBurchell]

Belief in the Evil Eye, mal de ojo, is very common in Guatemala. It is a bit more complex than just a dirty look, for example if a menstruating woman looks at a baby, it is believed it will get sick from mal de ojo. Also, if babies, or even adults, get sick without apparent cause, all test results coming back negative, they blame it on mal de ojo. I remember a case where a doctor I know very well was treating a child in her family and nothing was working, so she decided it was mal de ojo and performed the traditional rite, passing herbs over the body of the child (limpieza, literally "cleaning"), and the child got better - this I found particularly disconcerting because the doctor is an evangelical Christian. I did mutter about witchcraft and such like but the family, quite rightly, ignored me. They don't view the traditional limpieza ceremony as witchcraft, just traditional healing.