The concept of the evil eye exists since the beginning of humanity on earth. The curse is cast with a malevolent look or glare. The evil eye can spread sickness, cause hatred, conflict, accidents, fires, crop failure and death.
The evil eye is usually more powerful on a personal level, such that misfortune befalls a certain person or household, but it can also start plague or epidemics of contagious disease.
About 40% of the world believes in the evil eye. Compare to about 31.6% of the world which believes in the concept of Christianity. In some areas, though, people believe in both.
The evil eye is a reality for people long before Paul started preaching the gospel in Rome in 47 AD. In later Catholicism, reciting prayers and making the sign of the cross or displaying the cross is considered to repel the evil eye curse.
Demons, hostile spirits and envious humans can cast the evil eye. During the witch hunts, accused witches are considered to have the ability.
In German mythology the Eschenfrau or Ash Tree Woman is a hostile spirit who can sicken a person with her glare. The purpose of apotropaic magic is protection from the evil eye and other curses.
The evil eye is entrenched in cultures of the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere. In the middle of the Bronze Age, c. 1800 BCE, amulets, spells and rituals of protection against the evil eye appear in Mesopotamia.
A common protection is the nazar amulet, made of glass to resemble a blue, black and white eye. Another is a hand shaped ornament called hamsa or the Hand of Fatima.
In Roman times whole tribes are thought to have the power of the evil eye. The people of Pontus, on the southern coast of the Black Sea, and the Scythians, inhabiting the Pontic-Caspian region in 6th to 3rd centuries BCE, are said to transmit the evil eye curse.
Ancient Romans use phallic representations as protection. Stone carvings show a disembodied phallus, repelling the evil eye by ejaculating towards it.
In Southern Italy today, numerous amulets and gestures are used to ward off the curse, including the cornicello, an amulet shaped like a bull's horn; the cimaruta, silver charm consisting of other talismans; and the sign of the horns (in America, the 'rock' gesture esp at concerts), a fist with forefinger and little finger raised.
In Arab culture, the phrase Masha'Allah or God wills it might accompany a compliment to ward off bad luck. In some countries the herb rue gives protection. In many cultures the evil eye affects not only humans but animals, such as making a milk cow go dry.
The ancient Greeks put talismans in the home and wear amulets as protection from the evil eye. In the 6th century BCE, the politician Peisistratus hangs the figure of a grasshopper before the Acropolis of Athens for protection.
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