I wonder if there is any relationship to the eye of Osiris which is often found on Mediterranean boats, I think as a symbol of protection. The colours and design seem similar to those used to depict the evil eye.
It would jave been good to include a section on how different peoples tried to counter it. For example, in Turkey there is a special ceremony for it. Turkic peoples also burn certain dried aromatic plants or throw salt on fire to get rid of the evil eye effect. An ofd one is scratching lightly your bum while spitting three times. Overall, rather disappointing that you took such a eurocentric approach given that the evil eye is a predominantly middle eastern symbol.
My mom definitely told me something similar to this evil eye belief, she used to say to me stuff “if something good happened to you don’t tell anyone or they could ruin it for you”
Isn’t there truth to these sayings and beliefs though? There are people who secretly wish your downfall and would take advantage of the good or bad things that happen to you. So it makes sense to at least be careful of what you share with people. I know because I’ve experienced such people who were like family then circumstances exposed their thoughts to me. It’s scary that people can come off so pure and good willed but truly harbor hate what they may or may not be aware of themselves.
I'm Dominican-American and when I was younger my mother would have me wear a small azabache black hand bracelet which was supposed to defend again the evil eye ("mal de ojo" in Spanish). My mother was also just telling me the other day about how, in the old days, my grandmother would sew little pouches full of camphor which babies would then wear around their neck to help protect them from the eye.
In Puerto Rico too. Thankfully the custom seems to be dying out. I think we all ate the "manita de azabache" (jet-blackl hand) at some point while we were babies. That thing is a choking hazard. I some times wonder how we survive this long...
I’m west African a lot of us believe in the concept of evil eye. When I was young my grandmother told me very wise words “don’t celebrate something yet to come, don’t celebrate until you have achieved it.” If you get married and have a wedding don’t post it to all of social media. Because divorce could be around the corner. Post your vow renewal not your wedding. Celebrate your delivery not the pregnancy. Celebrate your promotion, not your hiring. Celebrate the graduation not your acceptance. Anything that is yet to be achieved do not tell others of it, or they could foil your success
My mom isn’t religious or superstitious at all but being from a culture where the evil eye is kinda treated just like a fact of life, she’s always been insistent in taking salt water baths after dealing with people whose vibe just kinda sucks. It’s the tried and true family recipe for getting rid of any lingering “curses”. Dunno if it really works but definitely makes her (and me too, to be honest) feel better.
@@anaiise9358the salt acts as a much nicer sandpaper to rub on your body to get it extra clean. Sea salt probably also has important significance for cleansing and purity but I am not certain on that. Essentially you shouldn't need to rinse off after as the salt actually makes you more clean and doesn't stick, and you should use enough to bathe in which is different for everyone
One of the vivid memories from my early teens is that of the huge evil eye that we hung in our hall, just bursting into a million pieces out of nowhere. My family was going through very tough times back then and it scared us even more. We thought even the trinket is at capacity to dispel away the problems. I'm north Indian BTW and we call it "Nazar lagna", it's when someone envies your success and possessions.
My grandma actually believed in this. When we were children, she believed we needed to be protected from evil eye (the actual Ukrainian word she used was наврочити 'to put an evil eye on someone, to curse someone'). There was some sort of ritual she one performed to remove the supposed effect, something about lighting a match, and then putting that match into water and giving that water to us to drink. You can actually find info about similar rituals in the internet, so that's probably a living tradition. Also, a way to ward evil eye for her was to wear some item of clothing wrong side out, or to have a red string (I think she said wearing any red piece of clothing in general would work, too). My parents never believed that, and I myself don't believe that either. However, when I accidentally put my T-shirt wrong way out, my first thought was "well, at least no one can put an evil eye on me". xD
I reckon the string would be to distract the "evil" viewer from looking directly at the person. But then what if that person hates untidiness and then gives you the stink eye out of spite?
I'm lithuanian and my mom would tie a red string around my hand when I was a baby (according to the advice of some old lady) because the neighbours were complimenting my looks too much and she worried someone would do the bad looking thing to me
I find these kinds of superstitions so hard to relate to because when I come across them it's always told like... "people were afraid of X, so they did G(yes, g) to protect themselves from it"... with no explanation why they think this random G-method to work. They must've come to the conclusion that G, V and T helps *somehow,* right, but they're such random things I have to wonder... how? It seems unlikely that someone just happened to be doing thing G and thought it worked because "correlation=causation". Like you don't typically just put a lit match in water and then drink it in daily life, it's a VERY specific action not used for any other purpose previously, right? I've been wrecking my brain at times trying to find clues of what the thought processes could've been, leading people to do things like your grandma, or rubbing bread on their skin, etc. Why did they think those specific random things eould ward off the evil eye? Who "discovered" those "warding" methods and how? How did they think to rub bread on themselves and think "this could work"? Whenever I read or hear about it, I'm always so confused and hungry for answers!! I really wanna understand it but I just-- you know? 1 - evil eye, aaaaa!!! 😨 2 - ????? 3 - ???!!! 4 - better rub bread on my skin
@@tonichan89 Well, the fire is used in other rituals too. E.g. if flame of a candle flickers too much, it might mean there is something otherwordly lurking around. One way to get rid of such presence is to carry the candle to all the corners of the house. Also, when you light a candle on the grave, it's supposed to be visible both in our world and the otherworld. So, fire kinda connects different worlds, and a match consumed by fire is basically an item that has just returned from the other world! Doesn't it make sense to use such a supernatural item to deal with supernatural conditions like evil eye? It kinda makes sense for me. I don't really believe this, but it has internal logics to it. (Never heard about the bread thing, but I guess bread has also been touched by the fire magic? Also, there are a lot of rituals about bread, e.g. you shouldn't throw it away or show disrespect to it, it's bad luck. My understanding is that in the past, bread was often the main source of food, so it was a big deal.)
@@tonichan89 Anything ranging from tradition of past forgotten rituals to charlatans making stuff up. It doesn't necessarily even need correlation, when the method itself is proposed as a solution the placebo effect will ensure some people will be grateful for it become a demonstrable example of its effectiveness to spread it further.
I like how much the beliefs about the evil eye vary from region to region. My grandmother is from the cyclades and she once said a specific prayer under her breath after I yawned, saying that it was a sign that someone had given me the evil eye.
It’s entertaining to me as a Greek when people get concerned at the fake spitting 😂 “no no no they’re trying being nice, they’re not trying to insult you!”
This is exactly what my mom and grandma do when I yawn, down to the fake spitting that someone mentioned in the replies! I'm from Romania, so no surprise the traditions are very similar (we are so close, geographically speaking, to Greece!)
@@kevinmckenna5682 I think the "bless you" thing dates back to the plague. If someone sneezed/was ill/etc., they were at risk of death from the plague, so you'd say "bless you" in recognition of that and hoping that the ill person would be blessed and recover.
I don't believe in magic, however I believe in the power of belief itself. I had a falling out with a very toxic and judgmental person whom I worked with, and I started wearing an evil eye necklace, it gave me relief throughout the day. I'm sure that a lot of the psychological impact of magical practices can have influence on the mind and therefore the body. For example, a pregnant woman wears an evil eye necklace to repel negative stares. That relief she experiences in her belief can have an impact on her body, reducing stress and helping to ensure a safer birth. I have always loved the Evil Eye and the culture behind it, thank you for the video!
@@AmberyTear to me, that process itself *is* the magic. like our brains having the capacity to subconsciously do this is easily summarized as "magic" to me
When I was a kid I had an encounter with a stranger on my way to a picnic; two hours after that, I suddenly started to feel absolutely awful in the weirdest way. A splitting headache so strong my eyeballs hurt, my skin was on fire and oversensitive, and I felt very nauseous. Thankfully one of our family friends who was with us knew what to do and made a remedy, using campfire coals, a cup of spring water and a prayer. She made me drink the water in a specific way, and I had no clue what was happening but I was desperate for relief. Once I drank it, I got better right away. I asked what was that, and they told me it was an evil eye remedy. To this day, I have never experienced anything similar, and the timing and intensity of it all was too much of a coincidence for me to dismiss it.
Less than fifteen minutes I talked to a bad guy (he looked at me with the left eye) I started having muscle spasms all over my body. It was very acute pain. I prayed till was gone. I didn't believe in evil eye before that. Now I think differently.
@bremlquan can someone be dehydrated without feeling any thirst though? 🤔 I hadn't been thirsty at all before that, and when I drank from that cup, there wasn't that feeling of relief at quenching my thirst, it was actually a struggle to keep going. I just took more sips because my mom insisted. I didn't even finish the whole thing, and the agony was gone. Previously, any touch against my skin felt like sandpaper, including the air itself. I was writhing on the blanket from the pain. My dad is a doctor, so I assume he would have figured out if it was something like dehydration. It was... really weird. Honestly, I get the skepticism, if I hadn't been the one going through that I probably wouldn’t have believed it either.
The evil eye or drochshúil is committed in Gaelic folklore. To this day elderly people in Irish speaking regions will often say "bail ó Dhia ort" or "God bless you" when passing a stranger to protect from the evil eye.
It's interesting because the eye would be something that someone either had or didn't have, you were born with it. I don't think there were objects or symbols to ward them away just blessings to protect oneself or others. I do think some people do naturally have an unsettling stare...
@@ahagqgwvisn9879 Actually the pronunciation of the phrase Dia Duit is (Dee-u-rit). It mean means hello. The response is Dia is Muire Duit. (Dee-is-Mirh-u-rit). Means hello in return. I am learning to speak Irish Gaelic which is how I know the proper pronunciation.
The evil eye gave hard rock music its definitive gesture, the devil horns🤘. It was popularized by Ronnie James Dio when he was with the band Black Sabbath, but he adopted it from his Italian grandmother who performed it as the "malocchio", a traditional gesture to ward off the evil eye.
My grandmother told the story of how after she had a son there would be times where spontaneously he would have fevers frequently. She bought him to a benzedeira(faith healer) and she told my grandmother someone was putting an evil eye on him. She told her to watch carefully for when someone visited and if he showed signs of a fever the next day she’s know who it was and to say certain words( can’t remember which) to break it. Turns out it was her daughters godmother. Who would visit and talk about how lucky my grandmother was to have such a beautiful son. According to my grandmother after she said the the frase to break the evil eye, her son never developed another fever. After I met this woman I most defiantly believed the story. She had such a dark energy to her and her eyes were very scary to look into. She didn’t cast it willingly but when she wanted something she couldn’t have things usually just didn’t go well for another person.
Hello from Greece! Both my grandmothers and virtually every old lady I know off around my area use evil eye apotropaic measures. Headache? Bad moods? Economic misfortune? Some issues with your significant other maybe? Look no further! The evil eye apotropaic ritual is your first line of defense against all evil and malaise! All you need is olive oil, a glass of water and a very secret chant that old ladies share with each other only in a very special occasion I don't know off! (your channel is great btw)
Bulgarian here. Grandma would use oil and and chant with rubbing salt on my forehead when I were to get sick. And I would feel better. Don’t know if this was placebo. And she would make me wear a flashy blue stone on my wrist on a red thread. Also would sneak garlic in my school backpack.
I have Constantinople Greek family and my great grandmother from Turkey took evil eye pendants very seriously - there's even a weird superstition where blue-eyed people can cast curses. I was always scared of the evil eye growing up!
I'm from Turkey and trust me evil eye is real. Whenever I dress beautifully, they compliment me and I always spill something on me that day. Some people are very jealous from the inside out even if they don't want to show it. I believe in the evil eye
I had a woman show up in a dream a few days ago, who was hiding in shadows behind me, i turned around and most of her was dark but her eyes GLOWED *_bright_* blue. what did your mom say to do about blue-eye evil eye? (please don't think i'm wierd, just humour me)
Yesss, we believe that blue eyed ppl or people with glass looking ( big, clear eyes) have more power when it comes to "nazar" as in envious eye bringing bad luck. I cannot name one reason tho.
The Latin word 'Visus' (vision) is etymologically related to 'vis' (force, power) and apparently the ancient Romans themselves recognized the connection. This evil eye stuff is super interesting because now I think I get why they viewed vision as a sort of power
Vīs "force, power" comes from a different word origin having to do with "strength" and "violence," and vīsus is a verb form of the word vīdeo "I see," so it's closer to the meaning "something has been seen/looked at." I do think the similarity between the two terms could have reinforced the association with the evil eye, so this may have been how the Romans also saw it, too (pun intended).
A video on how the evil eye “mal de ojo” is presented in the Latin community would be cool 😊 Babies in Mexico wear red bracelets to protect them from the evil eye. I have a bracelet on my ankle for the same reason, once the bracelet comes loose, or the eye cracks you need to take it off
I’m not Mexican but my step mom and half siblings are. My younger sisters always wear red bracelets. My step grandma and I very close and she is my go to when I need help with bad energies fallowing me
Evil eye is real, I used to laugh at it when I was younger but I have experienced it personally multiple times. If you are happy about something only tell people you trust, you never know what intentions someone has
Exactly, same here. My family was very superstitious and I didn't believe all of their thing. But finally, I experienced so many strange things in my life and I finally understood why my family is like that.
How exactly do you distinguish between something bad happening because of circumstance or random chance VS it happening because someone cursed you with an evil eye?
@@boianko Everyone's experience is probably different, mine is unexplainable sudden fatigue/heaviness/wanting to go to sleep, even though I was fine minutes before. It usually follows when I'm having an interaction with someone and they stare at me or compliment me and they don't mean it. Some people report getting a sudden headache among other things.
@@Veilfire But what makes you think they're cursing you instead of, for example, you getting a headache from medical or even neurological reasons (emotional stress for example)? Like how can you tell?
@@boianko Well, if you're asking for a precise scientific explanation, there isn't one. It depends on your intuition. If your intuition says someone's vibe is off, then try avoiding interaction with them.
Among the Italian diaspora the belief in malocchio (evil eye) is very strong. I always saw the evil eye as something akin to magic that was malicious in nature. I was always told that it can be cast on another willingly or unwillingly. My grandmother recalled a time when the evil eye was cast onto her womb which required rituals to remove it.
Even my strongly skeptical and atheist dad joked about putting the “malook” (a somewhat butchered version of a shortened malocchio) on people. His side of the family on his mother’s side is Italian-American.
Yeah Salvatore, I was once married to a fantastic Italian, but I didn't know that I had married the whole family. Anyway, my mother in law was often banging on about the malleochi, sorry for the spelling. It's all superstitious nonsense of course, as is the Roman Catholic Church. No disrespect meant, but it is, isn't it? Regards and respect from the UK
Yes it is and 'evil eye" (boncuk) is an ancient Turkish talisman for protection. Turkish peoples real religion is Tengri, boncuk "evil eye" comes from very very old times with a prayer and it is all misunderstood by non Turkish people eye is not evil eye is a protector..
I remember when I was young and was at my grandma, there was numerous times I told her I feel sick, sometimes she said that she saw some "lady in the bus" etc, that looked at me weirdly so this is surly the reason. Then she lighted a match, put it out in the cup of water and made me drink some of it. She called it "bad gaze". When I was asking her to explain how and why she told that sometimes people have such gaze and their can do it involuntarily and her mother taught her the thing with match and water. She is devout catholic btw.
Here in Chile, it’s very common for people to say “got bless him/her” when complimenting a baby as a way to ward against involuntary evil eye, and for people to carry protective amulets such as red bracelets, blue eyes and hands
I had an uncle strike me with an evil eye years ago when I told him about some of my college plans. It was only a split second look and it went away immediately, but it stuck with me ever since.
It’s a gateway for the emotions to be released. I work with babies and new moms and truly, my boss uses the concepts of evil eye to diffuse certain envious situations, that will otherwise be unspoken. She always makes others happy and I had never seen anyone take it so seriously but I’m blown away by how happy everyone is at my work (including me) because of the way my boss cares about how customers feel. And it’s especially important because kids are involved. Edit:🧿heh
It goes to show that the most important part is not actually if there some magic in there n such, but what it represents, it's a way for humans to anchor themselves mentally to abstract emotionally-psychological concepts, and as a physical reminder of those things.
It don't have an eye association here in the Philippines but we got a similar concept. Sometimes people will follow up praises with a phrase to try to prevent it. It's usually blamed for sudden maladies in children and the person suspected of unintentionally inflicting it is usually asked moisten the child - with saliva.
Very similar here in Romania!! After you praise a person, child, animal, flower you immitate the sound of spitting and say "să nu te deochi" which I can only approximately translate as "may I not cast the evil eye upon you"
From where Im from you dont need to moisten them with saliva... telling them that you saw them and making them acknowledge it is enough... they would only do the saliva thing to little babies and kids
In India, it is customary to put a 'kala tika' ('black mark' in Hindi) on children and people during important days (like weddings) to ward off the evil eye (I've heard it being referred to as 'nazar' or gaze)
Just saw that your name is fakhruddin "pride of the religion' in Arabic so i guess you're Muslim. It would make sense for nazar being a slight mispronunciation of the Arabic word for sight Although in north Africa we say i got hit by the "ayn" (eye) for the evil eye instead of the very formal نظر. Fun fact Hebrew and Arabic share the same word for eye "ayn"
@@dntbther9298 North Indian languages like Hindi have a lot of Persian influence (because of Mughal rule) and Persian has a lot of Arabic influence. So you are right the word nazar probably has roots in Arabic. You'll find tons of such words in Hindi. I'm pretty sure that there are words in India languages that mean the same thing, but they have been replaced by the Persian/Arabic words due to various different reasons.
@@anya5893 funnily enough original Persian language has influence from old Indian languages mainly Sanskrit. We were basically reintroduced to the language
in Turkish we also say "nazar" and we also do something weird called "kurşun dökme" for long-term protection against it 😂 Lead is melted then this molten lead is poured in water on top of someones head. (with a protection)
When I lived in Greece, someone once told me something about how back in the days of the Ottoman Empire, it was believed that the only people immune to being cursed or otherwise having bad luck in one way or another, were those with blue eyes. Since the Greeks had eyes that were mostly brown, or brown adjacent, they carried around the evil eye amulet so they would have blue eyes too. Don’t clearly remember exactly what the story was, or if it’s at all correct, but it’s a cool idea of how those amulets came to be
There's a sort of reverse evil eye concept in Shingon Buddhism where the practitioner contemplates the seed syllables of certain figures devotion inside their own eyes and then uses their gaze to purify objects or establish protective barriers
In Trinidad, we have a mix of cultures and religions explaining it. The evil eye is called malju, our dialect coming from the Spanish mal de ojo, Nazar (hindi) from najar (arabic). Babies wear malju beads, a bracelet made from jet crystals. Ppl use the ouchey ritual to remove it as well when ppl/kids/pet get sick. Ouchey uses salt, pepper and other vegetables wrapped in newspaper lit and passed around the person 3 times reciting prayers/mantras then left to burn far away from the house/person. My mother used this for ny aunt's puppy who wasn't eating then he began to eat after the ritual.
Back in 2013 me and my family went to Greece for the first time in my life and my parents actually bought two of this evil eyes. I was always curious about their meaning but never tried to search. So thanks Andrew, you just answered one of my biggest life questions
My family is Caribbean, and we called it "bad eye." It can be as innocuous as commenting on someone's food. I remember one time our family was at a buffet, and someone commented on how much food my uncle got, and he swears to God that he couldn't eat any more after that. Even just mocking someone or just wishing you had what they had is enough for the evil eye
Thirty years ago I spent some time in Tunisia, where I learned about the "hand of Fatima" to ward off the evil eye. Your explanation for why these symbols exist makes so much logical sense.
Lol, any kinda hand of fatEmma or Gemma or whatever....was COPIED from the holy Hindu Padma symbolism ( the OLDEST on earth ) just like any other abra.hamic thingie. Copied or appropriated
Bruhhh im a christian and stills acknowledge and respect other beliefs or culture He/she said it was called The Hand Of Fatima Not hand of fatemma gemma , you may think it was copied but that how you feel about it , stop bashing others I seek knowledge from every bit of religions and i suggest you do the same
@@melg6834 Even if it was copied from the holy hindu padma symbolism, it's too far to mock the name Fatima. She was the daughter of the holy prophet muhammad Peace be upon him. No need to mock anything, be a better person because of your religion then :)
Here in Ecuador i heard of the evil eye many times but it feustrated me even as a kid because no one ever explained how such a thing is supposed to work at all.
Basicaly if someone envy you theyll throw the eye at you and if you are envious youll throw it at them Its like hating that ur boy got the ps5 and u dont so u kinda mad about it n hating , you dont say it but you “output” that energy therefor you putting the eyes on them , thats how i understood it when explained to me Im not superstisious but lots of culture talks about the eyes
Ironically my husband & I had a meeting with our tenant last night and his sister gave me such bad vibes, strong terrible energy and she starred at me long and hard that it made me feel so uncomfortable. I initially ignored it but, she continued to do it so, I smiled at her then turned away from her gaze. Afterwards I had to step outside for fresh air then followed up with cleansing my home & myself with sage and frankincense. I thought maybe I was being over dramatic BUT then this video came up on my recommended videos. So, I’ll take this as a sign from the universe that I did the right thing!
That’s so interesting. I’m sorry you had such an uncomfortable experience with that person, but it does present such an interesting topic. These ancient theories are brushed off a lot in western societies, but it seems like it could have relevance still. Why is it we can feel someone looking at us? I know someone who can feel people looking at her in her sleep, and it disrupts her so bad she wakes up. And all people can always get a read on others, or feel certain ways (whether physical or in their head) when meeting new people. I’ve met people who gave me horrible “vibes” for seemingly no reason, as many others have. What can we attribute this to? Being so non believing in today’s age may seem like the logical route, but how do we explain the unexplainable if we base our perception solely on what we can see? And in this video, the “evil eye” belief is in SO many societies. Surely we can’t brush off everything from our past. Much to think about.
@@DWEEBERBUG thanks for taking the time to share your insights and I totally agree w you! We all have some type of 6th sense when it comes to discerning others especially those who give us “stay faaaarrrr away” vibes!! So, yes it certainly is a lot to think of because the way I see it is long ago people were more intuned w nature- they soaked in the sun while inhaling fresh clean air. As well as, eating healthier & fresh foods w no harmful ingredients like pesticides or chemicals and they certainly weren’t pumping animals. And plastics & tiktok weren’t invented 😅 yet. So, ancient peoples weren’t contaminating their bodies, minds and spirits w harmful junk. People were free and believers of what we call now “myths, old wives tales, superstitions, and the supernatural” and if multiple cultures and civilizations all had believed in the 🧿 there has to be some truth to it! And still being held true in many cultures! I just want to add when I was recalling my meeting while watching this video I remembered she wore a bright red shirt which according to the video it’s supposed to fight & protect against the evil eye. So, perhaps she preemptively wore it to protect herself 🤷♀️ I certainly had no intention of giving her in any ill will. But, it goes to show people still believe in it today and perhaps it’s good advice to not ignore!
I had to laugh when you mentioned sight as physical touch. My son was an energetic and curious toddler. When I warned him to look with his eyes not his hands he would tell that he would touch with his eyes!
The Basque people have an interesting subtype of it called Begizko, where one can be born with the Evil Eye without being aware of it, and that usage of it harms the user as well as the target. As a result, one needs a kutun (protective amulet) placed on them to keep the evil eye dormant and must never remove it. It is considered the most powerful form of Betadura, the magic force behind one's eyes/gaze. As I listen to this video, it sounds very much like Betadura is the basque folk term for the extramission theory of vision, though maybe it had been considered an aspect of magic instead of the method by which we sensed visuals.
Ooh interesting. I have basque ancestry but I'm from south america so I know relatively nothing about the place. All I got is my last name. Such an interesting culture.
@@deadsoon Same here! My grandma is Argentinian and my parents Brazilian. At like age 20 I went to my grandma and said "oi, abuela, did you know your maiden name was Basque?" And she said "yes, I'm Basque". She hadn't mentioned it once my whole life lol Now I'm trying to reconnect. Learning the language online too!
It's cool to think that "fascination" may have initially meant something way more extreme like obsession and so people still associated it with an affliction that came out of nowhere
It sort of still does. When people say something fascinates for example most people interpret that as potentially meaning either hypnotising them or being a whimsical fun play thing.
Here in the Dominican Republic, when ever you compliment a baby like "what a beutiful baby" or something like that you have to add "may God bless him/her" or people will think you are looking at them with an evil eye and can be rude, specially in rural areas
@@Mortavita it is the same in Argentina and yeah we got that from the Spanish but they got it from the Muslims (the Moors), as we use that as the Mashallah.
@@yaninaayalaherrera8956 yes, spanish kings actually outlawed the evil eye because they saw it as an arab thing and not fit for iberian customs ironically enough
Andrew! I wanted to say I have been binge watching your videos for the past few days and wanted to express how amazing they are! You and your teams work is contributing to making the world a better place by encouraging people to think about different religions past and present! Love it!
This is truly fascinating. Even today I see people in my circles believing in related things and this helps me understand them better and empathize more.
Here in Argentina almost everyone wears a red bracelet made of threads or ribbon to get protection against envy, bad energies and the evil eye! I'm not sure where this tradition comes from but now I wanna do some research about it! Great video!
I've never been to Argentina, but I noticed the bracelet in several videos featuring Argentinians. I thought it was a modern trend or New Age thing (where I live, another form of string bracelets was fairly popular among young adults when I was a kid, I think it was an American innovation
I’m Mexican and me and my family heavily believe in the evil eye. My mother always had a bracelet or an earring and I myself wear a necklace. I hate that some people call the amulet evil itself without knowing what it actually is
Thank you for your academic study to bring light to this subject. I was given an evil eye symbol from Italy and kept it for years, it may still be in a box somewhere. But, I never quite knew more than that it was for my protection. Thank you, again! What we don't know, or believe, may still exist and exert its influence upon us unknowingly, so it is smart to have a basic knowledge of what is out here, like a doctor who must know diseases from other countries, insects, poisons, etc.
Wow. What a great video. My deceased mother-in-law believed in this. She was a devoted Southern Baptist, but ideas such as the evil eye and horoscopes were a major part of her belief system. Can't wait to see a more in depth treatment of this idea.
I live in the most Greek suburb in the southern hemisphere, so see these a lot. Despite being non-religious and of north-western European background, I'm finding the more I live around here, the more inclined I am to get such a trinket.
i only wish you spent more time on the origins of the iconic blue eye shaped amulet 🧿 it has become a bit of a cultural marker for greeks and turkish people and some other mediterranean groups too. rather than just being a literal protection amulet i've been given the decorative glass eye as a way to show ethnic pride for that part of the world. i think that's significant as i see it grow in popularity as a generalized symbol of witchcraft or as a general symbol against the evil eye. but it's forgotten that the eye pendant is only one amulet tradition and other cultures have very different protection symbols such as the mallachio horns of italy. or a string of red worn as a bracelet to protect babies.
I agree. I listened and listened, and I was trying to understand if the evil eye is so bad, why wear the evil eye pendant? I’m coming from a culture that’s completely different, and I’d like to understand a little more about the practice. He only mentioned about the symbol in the beginning and totally forgot about it in the rest of the video. Not sure if this a click bait video…..
@@ttuanmu yea he didn't go over that much at all! the 🧿 isn't meant to be the evil eye itself, but rather is meant to be a protective talisman /against/ the evil eye. the evil eye itself meaning an envious or malicious glare that can curse you. the evil eye glare can also be interpreted as others bad intentions, and wearing the talisman as a way to boost your confidence and self worth against those who have all that hate in their heart. the 🧿 can almost be described as a good luck item, specifically against social dangers, harsh prejudice and predatory people. in other cultures outside of western asia and greece, they use other protective talismans against the same concept of the evil eye. italy has a horn shaped talisman and a hand symbol like 🤘 which is where heavy metal bands got it from ! other cultures tie a red string or ribbon on the person they want to protect from envy and malicious curse or intentions of an evil eye. other parts of western asia and north africa and beyond use the 🪬 as their protective talisman against the same concept of the evil eye and overall harmful people btw, we don't know where the 🧿 design came from, it's so old. but a good theory is it originated in the glass blowing art of ancient Phoenicia. those were some of the earliest artist to work with colorful and blown glass and some of the oldest 🧿 are distinctive 🧿 style blue and white glass beads made in ancient Phoenicia or the levant / gaza strip during ancient roman times
in Philippines, we call it “usog” .. specifically in certain regions here, parents or relatives of a baby would usually say “purya buyag” to avoid the evil eye curse from other people. even though other people are saying good things to the baby like, “your baby is cute and healthy.” because they believe it might cause sickness and other misfortunes
From your closing remarks I conclude that the evil eye protects me from evil of envious people. And I like that idea. I can't believe how much hate some people connect with it. It is such a beautiful piece of art.
I'm half Turkish and half American. I first visited the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul at age 3, in the late 1980s. I have bright blue eyes that seemed exceptionally large as a small child. I had a woman take me out of my carriage while my mother was turned away. My mom looked down and freaked out. She found me in a stall with a group of women holding me and staring me. I was unharmed and apparently liked the attention. She was hysterical crying, of course. My father explained that the women were curious about me because they thought that my eyes could fend off the evil eye or that I had the evil eye myself. I was told multiple times as a child, sometimes even by strangers that I was born with the evil eye.
I went to multiple therapists and took different medications for months. However, it did not work for me. I wasn't even praying at the time because the only thought that occupied my mind was ending it all, but I didn't, not because I was afraid of leaving, but how was I supposed to meet my Lord knowing that I committed a forbidden act punished by Hell? Later on, I was basically in this state of trance fighting a war for survival in my head when God intervened (all praise to Him) and inspired me to try and change my ways, and why did I ever rely on man before God? I thought. I started praying every prayer on time in congregation, then I was inspired to read the Qur'an and eventually found the secret to life..praying the last third of the night, every night. All my prayers were answered, every request I made was granted, and I realized that this is my body, not me; I don't even own my thoughts; the evil ones I had were merely inspired by the devil to make me forfeit my life and meet my Lord ashamed. Now, I'm in a constant state of bliss as long as I honor my word for "Surely, Allah does not break His promise." Don't do it. 58:10 "Secret talks are only inspired by Satan to grieve the believers. Yet he cannot harm them whatsoever except by Allah’s Will. So in Allah let the believers put their trust." 40:60 "Call upon Me, I will respond to you."
Been fascinated by apotropaism for a long time after learning about it. I had no idea how widespread and prevalent it was and is; this was an awesome deep dive!
Thanks for covering the folk religion aspect! More people need to learn about that. Especially in complex conversations about Religion/culture people tend to imagine it as far more simplistic and disparate than it ever is.
My mom told me a story about a woman coming up to us when I was a baby, and saying how beautiful I was. She got a weird feeling from her. Later that evening, I started crying and foaming at the mouth, and swelling up all over. Her mom told her to put salt in her mouth and spit it on my face, and she did. After she spat, the swelling started to subside, the foam settled, and I stopped crying ♥
In Mexican culture the evil eye is known as well. When my cousin was a baby they couldn't figure out why she wouldn't stop crying and a family friend told my Grandmother it was the evil eye so she massaged the baby with mint water and prayed and she stopped crying.
Yeah I read a book entitled Great Mortality it talks about the 14th century pandemic. And it talked about there was a belief in some parts of France and Germany that the bubonic plague could be transmitted through the eyes.
My parents are from Lithuania, and we do the “Spit three times over your shoulder on the devils hand” whenever something good happens or if you don’t want to jinx anything, that’s how i used to think about it but after research and finding out “it’s the Evil Eye” watching you.
Thank you very much, this was really interesting. I really liked learning about how the Greeks thought vision worked. I've never heard someone explain Greek philosophy like that before.
In some Jewish circles, it is still common, when someone compliments themselves or a family member or friend, to follow up with the Hebrew phrase "B'li Ayin Hara": (Without the Evil Eye) or, in Ashkenazi circles, the abbreviated version of the Yiddish equivalent "Kineinaro"
I had a pretty decent size one hanging in my room by my window for the longest time and just thought it was glass art..🤷♀️ would have never guessed evil eye! It's such a nice calming blue color thanks for all your videos! They're always great
I don’t know where to start. I’ll start here…great great topic and even greater research. Major kudos to you and your deep understanding of the subject. Where I’m from, the “evil eye” is part of our normal lives (not mine, though).
I had a funny experience with getting evil eyed. One time I took my grandma to pay a bill. The teller woman caught a glimpse of my nails (I was a nail tech then and would do my own) and kept going on and on about how much she loved the designs I had the entire time we were there. Specifically my middle nail that had a sun and star charms. Once we left, I was putting my grandma's wheelchair away in the trunk and when I went to collapse the wheelchair, my middle finger nail (of all nails) got caught between 2 bars and split my nail in half and was so painful the rest of the day. And of course it was the day I forgot to wear my evil eye bracelet 🙄😂
Bruh, it broke because you messed up and left your finger between two bars and it just happened to be that finger. I can't stand people that think these things are actual spells and entities.
@@theprofit3398 even people who believe they are affected by the evil eye hurt themselves on purpose to believe it, this could be unconscious. These kind of people irk me
I've now subbed. I love how you twinned with a video involved with contemporary practices around the evil eye. I really respect that. Thanks for this video
I have read that some oriental places do this, too, they say it helps the boat see where it's going, that may just be something they tell children and writers.
When I took a class on Greco-Roman folk magic, my professor brought a ipad with an iOS app for repelling the evil eye and also related when she visited her inlaws in rural Greece who still worried about it.
I am very impressed with your great research and great interpretation. as Muslim I believe you explained the topic from our prospective pretty accurately.
The evil eye *does* harm. Even without the metaphysical aspect, psychology will suggest that actively harboring thoughts of harm is inherently damaging to the society as a whole.
In Brasil, the evil eye is part of our culture, I would guess it became popular because of arabic, turkish and greek imigrants that imigrated here in the last century, we call it Turkish eye or Greek eye (in relation to where it came from). It could also have origins from Portugal and their arabic influences, since there is also the Hamsá hand, but we call it Fatima’s hand. They are both very popular amulets and can be bought anywhere, specialy in street markets. I’m not superstitious at all, but I really like the eye, both for the history, the story and for the aesthetics and used to have one in my car, and my friends would comment on it, so I started giving a Turkish/Greek eye for every friend that bought their first or new car, as a wish of good luck and protection, because our traffic is really 💩. And then random acquaintances started asking me for it as if I was some kind of magical leader or something like that 😆😆😆 it was really weird!
It probably has nothing to do with the Evil Eye, but I still want to tell this story. Once I was visiting my grandparent's town, and on the door of a house I noticed a little sign that said, in Neapolitan: "He who doesn't love this household must die before he comes in".
@@itacom2199 I’m not familiar with the culture, so I’d be wrong to just assume that something was cultural with the chance that it’s just something these specific people thought would be a funny sign. It’s a question of if it has cultural significance or if it’s just a humorous quip, similar to a doormat saying “Go away, no one is home”.
My husband's very Jewish grandmother will always use 'kinehora' when praising one of her grandchildren or great-grands. "against the evil eye' :) And I wear hamsa pendants that have the eye on them as well. (Did you cover hamsas yet or not?) Now I wonder if there's an oh-so-faint link between the blue against the evil eye and the 'haint blue' used in the South to ward off ghosts from homes, and the blue bottle trees my own kin would put up against the same thing. No eyes, no, but blue is definitely the go-to color vs misfortune.
An artist did an installation in the Sahara painting a huge stone outcrop bright blue. Environmentalists frowned on it, but the local Bedouin loved it because blue is good luck.
I am from a country between two rivers, for the first time I know this information 🧿 Indeed, envy exists. We must protect ourselves by praying and supplicating to God
I have all the different forms of it, it is an absolutely wonderful amulet. I have the Do No Evil hanging in my car, along with my dad's Reiki symbol. Had close calls but never came to any harm. Granted, this is mostly through my own unshakable belief that I am protected as well. Fun tidbit is that blue is the colour which catches the eye's attention. A friend of mine from Egypt told me of an old folklore about putting something blue with a newborn in case someone may be wishing the family any ill. So, the colour blue would catch the bad wisher's eye & all ill intent would go toward the item rather than the human.
This is a very interesting topic. In Jerusalem, the plethora of evil eyes in cars, shops and homes indicates how prevalent the belief in the concept is.
Thank you so much for all the work you did to make this information available! I appreciate this video and the understanding I now have on the topic of Evil Eye.
I was once gazed upon by a neighbour with such intense hatred and fixed intensity that it made me sick for a while. I planned moving out just a few minutes after that. It was just unbearable. It might have been a case of succesful evil eye (complex?).
I always wondered about the Evil Eye as a concept. I've heard it referenced so much but never knew what it really meant. Thanks for talking about it :)
Amazing how at first I thought this was a peculiar and weird tradition, but at the same time so universal. Then I realized, how universal and instinctive it is to feel threatened by a hateful gaze. That theory about its social control function makes so much sense.
I’m Mexican and we believe in it too. It’s important on new babies and kids because a lot of people have so much hate and judge even kids and they can get affected and it has happened. Babies have gotten fevers
I was gifted an evil eye charm back when I was young. What I was being told was that it is simply a good luck charm. Back then, we called it "Pfauenauge" or "peacock eye" (directly translated), based on the feathers of a peacock which look like eyes. Later on, I just thought it was some form of common tourist trinket; it's interesting to know what this charm was actually used for!
Fascinating! An excellent topic, considering how ubiquitous these charms are throughout the Middle East (and even in the US now!). One thing I would add about the belief of the evil eye in early Christianity is Matthew 6:22-23, where Jesus describes the eye as the “lamp” of the body. I read somewhere that this would have been understood as an allusion to the “evil eye” in the ancient Mediterranean.
I've always wondered how people who believed in extramission explained how shadows worked, since there is a clear directionality to them, or even how vision was impeded by darkness at all.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the rock and roll/heavy metal hand gesture. Which Rodney James Dio claims came from him copying his grandmother, who used to do it to ward off the evil eye.
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I wonder if there is any relationship to the eye of Osiris which is often found on Mediterranean boats, I think as a symbol of protection. The colours and design seem similar to those used to depict the evil eye.
Fascinum and phalluses should be an episode in itself.
It would jave been good to include a section on how different peoples tried to counter it. For example, in Turkey there is a special ceremony for it. Turkic peoples also burn certain dried aromatic plants or throw salt on fire to get rid of the evil eye effect. An ofd one is scratching lightly your bum while spitting three times. Overall, rather disappointing that you took such a eurocentric approach given that the evil eye is a predominantly middle eastern symbol.
Can you do a video on mythos or mythology
The eye represents to look, the eye of a narcisist or psychopath👍
My mom definitely told me something similar to this evil eye belief, she used to say to me stuff “if something good happened to you don’t tell anyone or they could ruin it for you”
Isn’t there truth to these sayings and beliefs though? There are people who secretly wish your downfall and would take advantage of the good or bad things that happen to you. So it makes sense to at least be careful of what you share with people. I know because I’ve experienced such people who were like family then circumstances exposed their thoughts to me. It’s scary that people can come off so pure and good willed but truly harbor hate what they may or may not be aware of themselves.
The second part to your mothers truths is very true. Don’t spend your blessings before they hatch. I can attest this is very true
its why every story about winning the lottery is always a tragic one.
Ur mom is a wise woman
Gh
I'm Dominican-American and when I was younger my mother would have me wear a small azabache black hand bracelet which was supposed to defend again the evil eye ("mal de ojo" in Spanish). My mother was also just telling me the other day about how, in the old days, my grandmother would sew little pouches full of camphor which babies would then wear around their neck to help protect them from the eye.
Mal de ojo bracelets are also very much a contemporary accessory for babies in parts of Mexico.
In the Philippines we have this little bracelet of black and orange beads commonly worn by babies and I think it serves the same purpose
In Puerto Rico too. Thankfully the custom seems to be dying out.
I think we all ate the "manita de azabache" (jet-blackl hand) at some point while we were babies. That thing is a choking hazard.
I some times wonder how we survive this long...
Im from Cuba, we have the same beleave there
Same 😊
I’m west African a lot of us believe in the concept of evil eye. When I was young my grandmother told me very wise words “don’t celebrate something yet to come, don’t celebrate until you have achieved it.” If you get married and have a wedding don’t post it to all of social media. Because divorce could be around the corner. Post your vow renewal not your wedding. Celebrate your delivery not the pregnancy. Celebrate your promotion, not your hiring. Celebrate the graduation not your acceptance. Anything that is yet to be achieved do not tell others of it, or they could foil your success
The evil eye is brown not blue lol blue is the eye of protection !! .
Sets eye brown vs RA Blue gold
Well said and something I try to live by! but sometimes you just want to let people knooooow! =/
What about when you have a cold? What should you celebrate?
@@donnahaynes138that you didn't die
My mom isn’t religious or superstitious at all but being from a culture where the evil eye is kinda treated just like a fact of life, she’s always been insistent in taking salt water baths after dealing with people whose vibe just kinda sucks. It’s the tried and true family recipe for getting rid of any lingering “curses”. Dunno if it really works but definitely makes her (and me too, to be honest) feel better.
Does she take a salt bath, then a normal shower? How much salt? Or is it like a splash of salt water before the bath?
@@anaiise9358the salt acts as a much nicer sandpaper to rub on your body to get it extra clean. Sea salt probably also has important significance for cleansing and purity but I am not certain on that. Essentially you shouldn't need to rinse off after as the salt actually makes you more clean and doesn't stick, and you should use enough to bathe in which is different for everyone
It makes sense from a scientific perspective. Salinating water will balance ph and change your hertz.
@@KristinaFerrarinobrother u are cooked
@ im literally laughing out loud. I was on pain meds. Can’t stop laughing myself at the moment
One of the vivid memories from my early teens is that of the huge evil eye that we hung in our hall, just bursting into a million pieces out of nowhere. My family was going through very tough times back then and it scared us even more.
We thought even the trinket is at capacity to dispel away the problems.
I'm north Indian BTW and we call it "Nazar lagna", it's when someone envies your success and possessions.
Nazar is an arabic word
From terraria
My grandma actually believed in this. When we were children, she believed we needed to be protected from evil eye (the actual Ukrainian word she used was наврочити 'to put an evil eye on someone, to curse someone').
There was some sort of ritual she one performed to remove the supposed effect, something about lighting a match, and then putting that match into water and giving that water to us to drink. You can actually find info about similar rituals in the internet, so that's probably a living tradition.
Also, a way to ward evil eye for her was to wear some item of clothing wrong side out, or to have a red string (I think she said wearing any red piece of clothing in general would work, too).
My parents never believed that, and I myself don't believe that either. However, when I accidentally put my T-shirt wrong way out, my first thought was "well, at least no one can put an evil eye on me". xD
I reckon the string would be to distract the "evil" viewer from looking directly at the person. But then what if that person hates untidiness and then gives you the stink eye out of spite?
I'm lithuanian and my mom would tie a red string around my hand when I was a baby (according to the advice of some old lady) because the neighbours were complimenting my looks too much and she worried someone would do the bad looking thing to me
I find these kinds of superstitions so hard to relate to because when I come across them it's always told like... "people were afraid of X, so they did G(yes, g) to protect themselves from it"... with no explanation why they think this random G-method to work.
They must've come to the conclusion that G, V and T helps *somehow,* right, but they're such random things I have to wonder... how? It seems unlikely that someone just happened to be doing thing G and thought it worked because "correlation=causation". Like you don't typically just put a lit match in water and then drink it in daily life, it's a VERY specific action not used for any other purpose previously, right?
I've been wrecking my brain at times trying to find clues of what the thought processes could've been, leading people to do things like your grandma, or rubbing bread on their skin, etc. Why did they think those specific random things eould ward off the evil eye? Who "discovered" those "warding" methods and how? How did they think to rub bread on themselves and think "this could work"?
Whenever I read or hear about it, I'm always so confused and hungry for answers!! I really wanna understand it but I just-- you know?
1 - evil eye, aaaaa!!! 😨
2 - ?????
3 - ???!!!
4 - better rub bread on my skin
@@tonichan89 Well, the fire is used in other rituals too. E.g. if flame of a candle flickers too much, it might mean there is something otherwordly lurking around. One way to get rid of such presence is to carry the candle to all the corners of the house.
Also, when you light a candle on the grave, it's supposed to be visible both in our world and the otherworld.
So, fire kinda connects different worlds, and a match consumed by fire is basically an item that has just returned from the other world! Doesn't it make sense to use such a supernatural item to deal with supernatural conditions like evil eye?
It kinda makes sense for me. I don't really believe this, but it has internal logics to it.
(Never heard about the bread thing, but I guess bread has also been touched by the fire magic?
Also, there are a lot of rituals about bread, e.g. you shouldn't throw it away or show disrespect to it, it's bad luck. My understanding is that in the past, bread was often the main source of food, so it was a big deal.)
@@tonichan89 Anything ranging from tradition of past forgotten rituals to charlatans making stuff up.
It doesn't necessarily even need correlation, when the method itself is proposed as a solution the placebo effect will ensure some people will be grateful for it become a demonstrable example of its effectiveness to spread it further.
I like how much the beliefs about the evil eye vary from region to region. My grandmother is from the cyclades and she once said a specific prayer under her breath after I yawned, saying that it was a sign that someone had given me the evil eye.
I wonder if saying God Bless You to people who have sneezed has the same justification?
It’s entertaining to me as a Greek when people get concerned at the fake spitting 😂 “no no no they’re trying being nice, they’re not trying to insult you!”
I'm almost sure my grandma has said something like this too, and I'm from Brazil
This is exactly what my mom and grandma do when I yawn, down to the fake spitting that someone mentioned in the replies! I'm from Romania, so no surprise the traditions are very similar (we are so close, geographically speaking, to Greece!)
@@kevinmckenna5682 I think the "bless you" thing dates back to the plague. If someone sneezed/was ill/etc., they were at risk of death from the plague, so you'd say "bless you" in recognition of that and hoping that the ill person would be blessed and recover.
I don't believe in magic, however I believe in the power of belief itself. I had a falling out with a very toxic and judgmental person whom I worked with, and I started wearing an evil eye necklace, it gave me relief throughout the day. I'm sure that a lot of the psychological impact of magical practices can have influence on the mind and therefore the body. For example, a pregnant woman wears an evil eye necklace to repel negative stares. That relief she experiences in her belief can have an impact on her body, reducing stress and helping to ensure a safer birth. I have always loved the Evil Eye and the culture behind it, thank you for the video!
All superstition works this way: it's a self-imagined defense mechanism which works just because we believe it works. Not because of some magic.
Word
Sounds like placebo.
@@TheCucuyo9779 yes, thats what it is
@@AmberyTear to me, that process itself *is* the magic. like our brains having the capacity to subconsciously do this is easily summarized as "magic" to me
When I was a kid I had an encounter with a stranger on my way to a picnic; two hours after that, I suddenly started to feel absolutely awful in the weirdest way. A splitting headache so strong my eyeballs hurt, my skin was on fire and oversensitive, and I felt very nauseous. Thankfully one of our family friends who was with us knew what to do and made a remedy, using campfire coals, a cup of spring water and a prayer. She made me drink the water in a specific way, and I had no clue what was happening but I was desperate for relief. Once I drank it, I got better right away. I asked what was that, and they told me it was an evil eye remedy. To this day, I have never experienced anything similar, and the timing and intensity of it all was too much of a coincidence for me to dismiss it.
I have similliar experience, but I was nauseous and was throwing up multiple times
Less than fifteen minutes I talked to a bad guy (he looked at me with the left eye) I started having muscle spasms all over my body. It was very acute pain. I prayed till was gone. I didn't believe in evil eye before that. Now I think differently.
Sounds like dehydration
@bremlquan can someone be dehydrated without feeling any thirst though? 🤔 I hadn't been thirsty at all before that, and when I drank from that cup, there wasn't that feeling of relief at quenching my thirst, it was actually a struggle to keep going. I just took more sips because my mom insisted. I didn't even finish the whole thing, and the agony was gone. Previously, any touch against my skin felt like sandpaper, including the air itself. I was writhing on the blanket from the pain. My dad is a doctor, so I assume he would have figured out if it was something like dehydration. It was... really weird.
Honestly, I get the skepticism, if I hadn't been the one going through that I probably wouldn’t have believed it either.
@@Melodymist it's called superstition, the mind can play tricks on you that placebos can fix
The meaning of the “🧿” emoji always kept me awake at night, thank you for explaining 🙏 😭
I never knew this emoji existed lol
@@reemaalmu9172 リま 알ム
@@ADeeSHUPA ??
🧿
🧿
As an Egyptian, i get so excited when you talk about something related to Egypt in your channel, and evil eye is a big part of our culture
You also have the first-ever Sus Among Us meme. The Medjed.
Really? Still? What a funny country lol
@@milliondollarmistake ?
@@freepalestinanow it is humorous that people still believe a mean stare will curse them
@@milliondollarmistake a mean stare wont curse them but a jealous one will
The evil eye or drochshúil is committed in Gaelic folklore. To this day elderly people in Irish speaking regions will often say "bail ó Dhia ort" or "God bless you" when passing a stranger to protect from the evil eye.
It's interesting because the eye would be something that someone either had or didn't have, you were born with it. I don't think there were objects or symbols to ward them away just blessings to protect oneself or others. I do think some people do naturally have an unsettling stare...
Damn, every stranger???
"Bail Oh dee-ah or-t"? Is that how it's pronounced?
@@mariawhite7337 more like “ball o yee-ah ort” but yeah basically
@@ahagqgwvisn9879 Actually the pronunciation of the phrase Dia Duit is (Dee-u-rit). It mean means hello. The response is Dia is Muire Duit. (Dee-is-Mirh-u-rit). Means hello in return. I am learning to speak Irish Gaelic which is how I know the proper pronunciation.
The evil eye gave hard rock music its definitive gesture, the devil horns🤘. It was popularized by Ronnie James Dio when he was with the band Black Sabbath, but he adopted it from his Italian grandmother who performed it as the "malocchio", a traditional gesture to ward off the evil eye.
I always thought \m/ was only for metal
🤟 also defends from goblins, lizards, rhinos, scorpions, and vultures
He actually started that when he played with Blackmores rainbow in the late 70s.
@@banquetoftheleviathan1404 Rhyno??? I WISH I could watch you testing that.
@@jaymthesn5981 it's a spider-man joke
My grandmother told the story of how after she had a son there would be times where spontaneously he would have fevers frequently. She bought him to a benzedeira(faith healer) and she told my grandmother someone was putting an evil eye on him. She told her to watch carefully for when someone visited and if he showed signs of a fever the next day she’s know who it was and to say certain words( can’t remember which) to break it. Turns out it was her daughters godmother. Who would visit and talk about how lucky my grandmother was to have such a beautiful son. According to my grandmother after she said the the frase to break the evil eye, her son never developed another fever. After I met this woman I most defiantly believed the story. She had such a dark energy to her and her eyes were very scary to look into. She didn’t cast it willingly but when she wanted something she couldn’t have things usually just didn’t go well for another person.
So it is envious eyes
If that really happens regularly shouldn't you suspect her of actually poisoning or sabotaging people?
Hello from Greece! Both my grandmothers and virtually every old lady I know off around my area use evil eye apotropaic measures. Headache? Bad moods? Economic misfortune? Some issues with your significant other maybe? Look no further! The evil eye apotropaic ritual is your first line of defense against all evil and malaise! All you need is olive oil, a glass of water and a very secret chant that old ladies share with each other only in a very special occasion I don't know off! (your channel is great btw)
Hahaha cute ❤
Dont laugh about it, every time my grandma did that my headache would end instantly
Bulgarian here. Grandma would use oil and and chant with rubbing salt on my forehead when I were to get sick. And I would feel better. Don’t know if this was placebo. And she would make me wear a flashy blue stone on my wrist on a red thread. Also would sneak garlic in my school backpack.
I have Constantinople Greek family and my great grandmother from Turkey took evil eye pendants very seriously - there's even a weird superstition where blue-eyed people can cast curses. I was always scared of the evil eye growing up!
You should always be careful of people envying you
I'm from Turkey and trust me evil eye is real. Whenever I dress beautifully, they compliment me and I always spill something on me that day. Some people are very jealous from the inside out even if they don't want to show it. I believe in the evil eye
I had a woman show up in a dream a few days ago, who was hiding in shadows behind me, i turned around and most of her was dark but her eyes GLOWED *_bright_* blue.
what did your mom say to do about blue-eye evil eye?
(please don't think i'm wierd, just humour me)
To this day I have the reflex of avoiding the direct sight of ppl with blue eyes, I always feel like they're trying to see beyond my skin
Yesss, we believe that blue eyed ppl or people with glass looking ( big, clear eyes) have more power when it comes to "nazar" as in envious eye bringing bad luck. I cannot name one reason tho.
Seriously? I was literally a few hours away from starting to research this topic for my worldbuilding... that is what I call *timing*
Divine!
It can't be a coincidence 😉😂
Yo same here... I have been wondering about this topic for like 4 days hahaha
Universe is running out of RAM
Synchronicity at its best.
The Latin word 'Visus' (vision) is etymologically related to 'vis' (force, power) and apparently the ancient Romans themselves recognized the connection.
This evil eye stuff is super interesting because now I think I get why they viewed vision as a sort of power
Vīs "force, power" comes from a different word origin having to do with "strength" and "violence," and vīsus is a verb form of the word vīdeo "I see," so it's closer to the meaning "something has been seen/looked at." I do think the similarity between the two terms could have reinforced the association with the evil eye, so this may have been how the Romans also saw it, too (pun intended).
And the word vis-a-vis means power to power, I guess.
@@quinoa_avocado' visus' is a verb form of 'video'? Isn't that like saying 'been' is a verb form of 'am'?
@@wazzup233 It actually means "face to face," vis was Old French for "face," which is where the word "visage" comes from.
@@Sokrabiades Pretty much!
A video on how the evil eye “mal de ojo” is presented in the Latin community would be cool 😊
Babies in Mexico wear red bracelets to protect them from the evil eye.
I have a bracelet on my ankle for the same reason, once the bracelet comes loose, or the eye cracks you need to take it off
would love to see a video on this tbh
I’m not Mexican but my step mom and half siblings are. My younger sisters always wear red bracelets. My step grandma and I very close and she is my go to when I need help with bad energies fallowing me
That's actually pretty interesting! In Bulgaria we do the same thing!
Same in Colombia!
Evil eye is real, I used to laugh at it when I was younger but I have experienced it personally multiple times. If you are happy about something only tell people you trust, you never know what intentions someone has
Exactly, same here. My family was very superstitious and I didn't believe all of their thing. But finally, I experienced so many strange things in my life and I finally understood why my family is like that.
How exactly do you distinguish between something bad happening because of circumstance or random chance VS it happening because someone cursed you with an evil eye?
@@boianko Everyone's experience is probably different, mine is unexplainable sudden fatigue/heaviness/wanting to go to sleep, even though I was fine minutes before. It usually follows when I'm having an interaction with someone and they stare at me or compliment me and they don't mean it. Some people report getting a sudden headache among other things.
@@Veilfire But what makes you think they're cursing you instead of, for example, you getting a headache from medical or even neurological reasons (emotional stress for example)? Like how can you tell?
@@boianko Well, if you're asking for a precise scientific explanation, there isn't one. It depends on your intuition. If your intuition says someone's vibe is off, then try avoiding interaction with them.
Among the Italian diaspora the belief in malocchio (evil eye) is very strong. I always saw the evil eye as something akin to magic that was malicious in nature. I was always told that it can be cast on another willingly or unwillingly. My grandmother recalled a time when the evil eye was cast onto her womb which required rituals to remove it.
Even my strongly skeptical and atheist dad joked about putting the “malook” (a somewhat butchered version of a shortened malocchio) on people. His side of the family on his mother’s side is Italian-American.
I’m Italian American and it’s definitely a strong idea still. To this day my car has the “horn” to prevent the eye.
Yeah Salvatore, I was once married to a fantastic Italian, but I didn't know that I had married the whole family. Anyway, my mother in law was often banging on about the malleochi, sorry for the spelling. It's all superstitious nonsense of course, as is the Roman Catholic Church. No disrespect meant, but it is, isn't it? Regards and respect from the UK
I think the evil eye being a protection against jealous people makes a lot of sense because jealously is the root of so many issues
So If we hang that ornament will it protect us ?
@@sunethrajayadevi6600 That's what they say. 🤷🏻♀️
Yes it is and 'evil eye" (boncuk) is an ancient Turkish talisman for protection. Turkish peoples real religion is Tengri, boncuk "evil eye" comes from very very old times with a prayer and it is all misunderstood by non Turkish people eye is not evil eye is a protector..
I remember when I was young and was at my grandma, there was numerous times I told her I feel sick, sometimes she said that she saw some "lady in the bus" etc, that looked at me weirdly so this is surly the reason. Then she lighted a match, put it out in the cup of water and made me drink some of it. She called it "bad gaze". When I was asking her to explain how and why she told that sometimes people have such gaze and their can do it involuntarily and her mother taught her the thing with match and water. She is devout catholic btw.
Here in Chile, it’s very common for people to say “got bless him/her” when complimenting a baby as a way to ward against involuntary evil eye, and for people to carry protective amulets such as red bracelets, blue eyes and hands
I had an uncle strike me with an evil eye years ago when I told him about some of my college plans. It was only a split second look and it went away immediately, but it stuck with me ever since.
It’s scary 😟
It’s a gateway for the emotions to be released. I work with babies and new moms and truly, my boss uses the concepts of evil eye to diffuse certain envious situations, that will otherwise be unspoken. She always makes others happy and I had never seen anyone take it so seriously but I’m blown away by how happy everyone is at my work (including me) because of the way my boss cares about how customers feel. And it’s especially important because kids are involved.
Edit:🧿heh
🤦🏻♂️
It goes to show that the most important part is not actually if there some magic in there n such, but what it represents, it's a way for humans to anchor themselves mentally to abstract emotionally-psychological concepts, and as a physical reminder of those things.
It don't have an eye association here in the Philippines but we got a similar concept. Sometimes people will follow up praises with a phrase to try to prevent it. It's usually blamed for sudden maladies in children and the person suspected of unintentionally inflicting it is usually asked moisten the child - with saliva.
Very similar here in Romania!! After you praise a person, child, animal, flower you immitate the sound of spitting and say "să nu te deochi" which I can only approximately translate as "may I not cast the evil eye upon you"
From where Im from you dont need to moisten them with saliva... telling them that you saw them and making them acknowledge it is enough... they would only do the saliva thing to little babies and kids
@@turquoisephoenix9931 yes, it's for kids only. Would look awkward with adults. 🤣
In India, it is customary to put a 'kala tika' ('black mark' in Hindi) on children and people during important days (like weddings) to ward off the evil eye (I've heard it being referred to as 'nazar' or gaze)
The word "Nazar" is strikingly similar in terms of pronunciation to the Arabic word "نظر" which also means gaze / sight
Just saw that your name is fakhruddin "pride of the religion' in Arabic so i guess you're Muslim.
It would make sense for nazar being a slight mispronunciation of the Arabic word for sight Although in north Africa we say i got hit by the "ayn" (eye) for the evil eye instead of the very formal نظر.
Fun fact Hebrew and Arabic share the same word for eye "ayn"
@@dntbther9298 North Indian languages like Hindi have a lot of Persian influence (because of Mughal rule) and Persian has a lot of Arabic influence. So you are right the word nazar probably has roots in Arabic.
You'll find tons of such words in Hindi. I'm pretty sure that there are words in India languages that mean the same thing, but they have been replaced by the Persian/Arabic words due to various different reasons.
@@anya5893 funnily enough original Persian language has influence from old Indian languages mainly Sanskrit. We were basically reintroduced to the language
in Turkish we also say "nazar" and we also do something weird called "kurşun dökme" for long-term protection against it 😂 Lead is melted then this molten lead is poured in water on top of someones head. (with a protection)
As Her Lady Doctor Puca Wished - Deeply Indebted to You Dr Henry, For a Sterling Effort, namaste 🙏
When I lived in Greece, someone once told me something about how back in the days of the Ottoman Empire, it was believed that the only people immune to being cursed or otherwise having bad luck in one way or another, were those with blue eyes. Since the Greeks had eyes that were mostly brown, or brown adjacent, they carried around the evil eye amulet so they would have blue eyes too.
Don’t clearly remember exactly what the story was, or if it’s at all correct, but it’s a cool idea of how those amulets came to be
There's a sort of reverse evil eye concept in Shingon Buddhism where the practitioner contemplates the seed syllables of certain figures devotion inside their own eyes and then uses their gaze to purify objects or establish protective barriers
In Trinidad, we have a mix of cultures and religions explaining it. The evil eye is called malju, our dialect coming from the Spanish mal de ojo, Nazar (hindi) from najar (arabic). Babies wear malju beads, a bracelet made from jet crystals. Ppl use the ouchey ritual to remove it as well when ppl/kids/pet get sick. Ouchey uses salt, pepper and other vegetables wrapped in newspaper lit and passed around the person 3 times reciting prayers/mantras then left to burn far away from the house/person. My mother used this for ny aunt's puppy who wasn't eating then he began to eat after the ritual.
Lemons and red green chilli
I am from Trinidad also. Can you share more the Ouchey ritual please?
Had no idea that was a thing in Trinidad. The more you know
Yess I am also from Trinidad and this is so true inno
Back in 2013 me and my family went to Greece for the first time in my life and my parents actually bought two of this evil eyes. I was always curious about their meaning but never tried to search. So thanks Andrew, you just answered one of my biggest life questions
It's amazing to learn about how this is all throughout different cultures and the meaning behind it.
My family is Caribbean, and we called it "bad eye." It can be as innocuous as commenting on someone's food. I remember one time our family was at a buffet, and someone commented on how much food my uncle got, and he swears to God that he couldn't eat any more after that.
Even just mocking someone or just wishing you had what they had is enough for the evil eye
Thirty years ago I spent some time in Tunisia, where I learned about the "hand of Fatima" to ward off the evil eye. Your explanation for why these symbols exist makes so much logical sense.
Lol, any kinda hand of fatEmma or Gemma or whatever....was COPIED from the holy Hindu Padma symbolism ( the OLDEST on earth ) just like any other abra.hamic thingie. Copied or appropriated
Bruhhh im a christian and stills acknowledge and respect other beliefs or culture
He/she said it was called The Hand Of Fatima
Not hand of fatemma gemma , you may think it was copied but that how you feel about it , stop bashing others
I seek knowledge from every bit of religions and i suggest you do the same
@@melg6834 Even if it was copied from the holy hindu padma symbolism, it's too far to mock the name Fatima. She was the daughter of the holy prophet muhammad Peace be upon him. No need to mock anything, be a better person because of your religion then :)
Here in Ecuador i heard of the evil eye many times but it feustrated me even as a kid because no one ever explained how such a thing is supposed to work at all.
There were millions that died with that frustration of a superstition never being thoroughly explained to them -- imagine that lol
You can't explain something with no solid reasoning is why.
Basicaly if someone envy you theyll throw the eye at you and if you are envious youll throw it at them
Its like hating that ur boy got the ps5 and u dont so u kinda mad about it n hating , you dont say it but you “output” that energy therefor you putting the eyes on them , thats how i understood it when explained to me
Im not superstisious but lots of culture talks about the eyes
Just weird Mediterraneans that were scared of the barbarians to the north who had blue eyes and were considered evil
Ironically my husband & I had a meeting with our tenant last night and his sister gave me such bad vibes, strong terrible energy and she starred at me long and hard that it made me feel so uncomfortable. I initially ignored it but, she continued to do it so, I smiled at her then turned away from her gaze. Afterwards I had to step outside for fresh air then followed up with cleansing my home & myself with sage and frankincense. I thought maybe I was being over dramatic BUT then this video came up on my recommended videos. So, I’ll take this as a sign from the universe that I did the right thing!
That’s so interesting. I’m sorry you had such an uncomfortable experience with that person, but it does present such an interesting topic. These ancient theories are brushed off a lot in western societies, but it seems like it could have relevance still. Why is it we can feel someone looking at us? I know someone who can feel people looking at her in her sleep, and it disrupts her so bad she wakes up. And all people can always get a read on others, or feel certain ways (whether physical or in their head) when meeting new people. I’ve met people who gave me horrible “vibes” for seemingly no reason, as many others have. What can we attribute this to? Being so non believing in today’s age may seem like the logical route, but how do we explain the unexplainable if we base our perception solely on what we can see? And in this video, the “evil eye” belief is in SO many societies. Surely we can’t brush off everything from our past. Much to think about.
@@DWEEBERBUG thanks for taking the time to share your insights and I totally agree w you! We all have some type of 6th sense when it comes to discerning others especially those who give us “stay faaaarrrr away” vibes!! So, yes it certainly is a lot to think of because the way I see it is long ago people were more intuned w nature- they soaked in the sun while inhaling fresh clean air. As well as, eating healthier & fresh foods w no harmful ingredients like pesticides or chemicals and they certainly weren’t pumping animals. And plastics & tiktok weren’t invented 😅 yet. So, ancient peoples weren’t contaminating their bodies, minds and spirits w harmful junk. People were free and believers of what we call now “myths, old wives tales, superstitions, and the supernatural” and if multiple cultures and civilizations all had believed in the 🧿 there has to be some truth to it! And still being held true in many cultures! I just want to add when I was recalling my meeting while watching this video I remembered she wore a bright red shirt which according to the video it’s supposed to fight & protect against the evil eye. So, perhaps she preemptively wore it to protect herself 🤷♀️
I certainly had no intention of giving her in any ill will. But, it goes to show people still believe in it today and perhaps it’s good advice to not ignore!
Pay your rent and weak mind u should go somewhere and keep opening the eye
I had to laugh when you mentioned sight as physical touch. My son was an energetic and curious toddler. When I warned him to look with his eyes not his hands he would tell that he would touch with his eyes!
I love having your videos on in the background like a podcast. I feel like I'm learning so much
The Basque people have an interesting subtype of it called Begizko, where one can be born with the Evil Eye without being aware of it, and that usage of it harms the user as well as the target. As a result, one needs a kutun (protective amulet) placed on them to keep the evil eye dormant and must never remove it.
It is considered the most powerful form of Betadura, the magic force behind one's eyes/gaze. As I listen to this video, it sounds very much like Betadura is the basque folk term for the extramission theory of vision, though maybe it had been considered an aspect of magic instead of the method by which we sensed visuals.
See my comment above....I was told my whole childhood that I was born with the evil eye.
@@fighttheevilrobots3417 these days we just say that you have a "resting bi*ch face" lol
Ooh interesting. I have basque ancestry but I'm from south america so I know relatively nothing about the place. All I got is my last name. Such an interesting culture.
@@deadsoon Same here! My grandma is Argentinian and my parents Brazilian. At like age 20 I went to my grandma and said "oi, abuela, did you know your maiden name was Basque?" And she said "yes, I'm Basque". She hadn't mentioned it once my whole life lol
Now I'm trying to reconnect. Learning the language online too!
This is so interesting. How the magic harm the user?
It's cool to think that "fascination" may have initially meant something way more extreme like obsession and so people still associated it with an affliction that came out of nowhere
You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese.
@@jadelinny I thought of that quote, too! I always thought "fascinate" was an odd verb to use in that context, but it makes more sense now.
It sort of still does. When people say something fascinates for example most people interpret that as potentially meaning either hypnotising them or being a whimsical fun play thing.
Here in the Dominican Republic, when ever you compliment a baby like "what a beutiful baby" or something like that you have to add "may God bless him/her" or people will think you are looking at them with an evil eye and can be rude, specially in rural areas
It is the same in Brazil. My grandmother told me her canary was killed by the evil eye of a woman who visited her and desired it
Because you were colinized by the Spanish and their Christianity
@@Mortavita Christians have gone everywhere, so everything that resembles their ideas must have come from them?
@@Mortavita it is the same in Argentina and yeah we got that from the Spanish but they got it from the Muslims (the Moors), as we use that as the Mashallah.
@@yaninaayalaherrera8956 yes, spanish kings actually outlawed the evil eye because they saw it as an arab thing and not fit for iberian customs ironically enough
Andrew! I wanted to say I have been binge watching your videos for the past few days and wanted to express how amazing they are! You and your teams work is contributing to making the world a better place by encouraging people to think about different religions past and present! Love it!
Evil Eye amulets are pretty common here in Central Asia too. It was more widespread few decades ago, but still popular.
This is truly fascinating. Even today I see people in my circles believing in related things and this helps me understand them better and empathize more.
Here in Argentina almost everyone wears a red bracelet made of threads or ribbon to get protection against envy, bad energies and the evil eye! I'm not sure where this tradition comes from but now I wanna do some research about it! Great video!
Same thing here in Chile
I've never been to Argentina, but I noticed the bracelet in several videos featuring Argentinians. I thought it was a modern trend or New Age thing (where I live, another form of string bracelets was fairly popular among young adults when I was a kid, I think it was an American innovation
Same here in India. Its also against ghosts.
Same in Montenegro. A red thread is commonly put on babies’ wrists to protect them from the evil eye.
@@Luka-tp3dlYes! I realized parents here put a red string on babies' wrists when I started working as a nanny haha the mini-bracelets are so cute
I’m Mexican and me and my family heavily believe in the evil eye. My mother always had a bracelet or an earring and I myself wear a necklace. I hate that some people call the amulet evil itself without knowing what it actually is
Thank you for your academic study to bring light to this subject. I was given an evil eye symbol from Italy and kept it for years, it may still be in a box somewhere. But, I never quite knew more than that it was for my protection. Thank you, again! What we don't know, or believe, may still exist and exert its influence upon us unknowingly, so it is smart to have a basic knowledge of what is out here, like a doctor who must know diseases from other countries, insects, poisons, etc.
Wow. What a great video. My deceased mother-in-law believed in this. She was a devoted Southern Baptist, but ideas such as the evil eye and horoscopes were a major part of her belief system. Can't wait to see a more in depth treatment of this idea.
I live in the most Greek suburb in the southern hemisphere, so see these a lot. Despite being non-religious and of north-western European background, I'm finding the more I live around here, the more inclined I am to get such a trinket.
i only wish you spent more time on the origins of the iconic blue eye shaped amulet 🧿 it has become a bit of a cultural marker for greeks and turkish people and some other mediterranean groups too. rather than just being a literal protection amulet i've been given the decorative glass eye as a way to show ethnic pride for that part of the world. i think that's significant as i see it grow in popularity as a generalized symbol of witchcraft or as a general symbol against the evil eye. but it's forgotten that the eye pendant is only one amulet tradition and other cultures have very different protection symbols such as the mallachio horns of italy. or a string of red worn as a bracelet to protect babies.
I agree. I listened and listened, and I was trying to understand if the evil eye is so bad, why wear the evil eye pendant? I’m coming from a culture that’s completely different, and I’d like to understand a little more about the practice. He only mentioned about the symbol in the beginning and totally forgot about it in the rest of the video. Not sure if this a click bait video…..
@@ttuanmu yea he didn't go over that much at all! the 🧿 isn't meant to be the evil eye itself, but rather is meant to be a protective talisman /against/ the evil eye. the evil eye itself meaning an envious or malicious glare that can curse you. the evil eye glare can also be interpreted as others bad intentions, and wearing the talisman as a way to boost your confidence and self worth against those who have all that hate in their heart. the 🧿 can almost be described as a good luck item, specifically against social dangers, harsh prejudice and predatory people.
in other cultures outside of western asia and greece, they use other protective talismans against the same concept of the evil eye. italy has a horn shaped talisman and a hand symbol like 🤘 which is where heavy metal bands got it from ! other cultures tie a red string or ribbon on the person they want to protect from envy and malicious curse or intentions of an evil eye. other parts of western asia and north africa and beyond use the 🪬 as their protective talisman against the same concept of the evil eye and overall harmful people
btw, we don't know where the 🧿 design came from, it's so old. but a good theory is it originated in the glass blowing art of ancient Phoenicia. those were some of the earliest artist to work with colorful and blown glass and some of the oldest 🧿 are distinctive 🧿 style blue and white glass beads made in ancient Phoenicia or the levant / gaza strip during ancient roman times
in Philippines, we call it “usog” .. specifically in certain regions here, parents or relatives of a baby would usually say “purya buyag” to avoid the evil eye curse from other people. even though other people are saying good things to the baby like, “your baby is cute and healthy.” because they believe it might cause sickness and other misfortunes
In Qur'an ( Islam) evil eye mentioned and it indeed cause sickness or that person end up being dead even if you didn't mean to
From your closing remarks I conclude that the evil eye protects me from evil of envious people. And I like that idea. I can't believe how much hate some people connect with it. It is such a beautiful piece of art.
I'm half Turkish and half American. I first visited the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul at age 3, in the late 1980s. I have bright blue eyes that seemed exceptionally large as a small child.
I had a woman take me out of my carriage while my mother was turned away. My mom looked down and freaked out. She found me in a stall with a group of women holding me and staring me. I was unharmed and apparently liked the attention. She was hysterical crying, of course. My father explained that the women were curious about me because they thought that my eyes could fend off the evil eye or that I had the evil eye myself. I was told multiple times as a child, sometimes even by strangers that I was born with the evil eye.
Interesting experience.
Freaky!!! For a child
This is so interesting, considering most of us have the ability to "feel" when we're being watched, even when we can't see who is watching us.
I went to multiple therapists and took different medications for months. However, it did not work for me. I wasn't even praying at the time because the only thought that occupied my mind was ending it all, but I didn't, not because I was afraid of leaving, but how was I supposed to meet my Lord knowing that I committed a forbidden act punished by Hell?
Later on, I was basically in this state of trance fighting a war for survival in my head when God intervened (all praise to Him) and inspired me to try and change my ways, and why did I ever rely on man before God? I thought.
I started praying every prayer on time in congregation, then I was inspired to read the Qur'an and eventually found the secret to life..praying the last third of the night, every night. All my prayers were answered, every request I made was granted, and I realized that this is my body, not me; I don't even own my thoughts; the evil ones I had were merely inspired by the devil to make me forfeit my life and meet my Lord ashamed.
Now, I'm in a constant state of bliss as long as I honor my word for "Surely, Allah does not break His promise."
Don't do it.
58:10
"Secret talks are only inspired by Satan to grieve the believers. Yet he cannot harm them whatsoever except by Allah’s Will. So in Allah let the believers put their trust."
40:60
"Call upon Me, I will respond to you."
My family are from Cyprus and these were always around growing up. Thanks for reminding me! I should get one to keep my yiayia happy.
Been fascinated by apotropaism for a long time after learning about it. I had no idea how widespread and prevalent it was and is; this was an awesome deep dive!
Thanks for covering the folk religion aspect! More people need to learn about that. Especially in complex conversations about Religion/culture people tend to imagine it as far more simplistic and disparate than it ever is.
My mom told me a story about a woman coming up to us when I was a baby, and saying how beautiful I was. She got a weird feeling from her. Later that evening, I started crying and foaming at the mouth, and swelling up all over. Her mom told her to put salt in her mouth and spit it on my face, and she did. After she spat, the swelling started to subside, the foam settled, and I stopped crying ♥
Salt is good.
As a religious studies major… I’m glad I found this channel. Super interesting stuff, I’m going to be bingeing everything
Thank you for making this super in depth video. I can see all the effort you made and I’m grateful. Thank you 🙏
In Mexican culture the evil eye is known as well. When my cousin was a baby they couldn't figure out why she wouldn't stop crying and a family friend told my Grandmother it was the evil eye so she massaged the baby with mint water and prayed and she stopped crying.
Mint water? Interesting, we use an egg. Rub the egg over the body and say a specific prayer.
@@KaptainTorres Yea egg is probably the most common remedy you will hear but there are many.
@@KaptainTorres the egg is what I've always heard of
Bruh maybe the baby just wanted massage
Paying attention to a child does tend to stop it crying.
I always enjoy your videos. I’m of Greek decent and my dad always said the evil eye is just a pagan thing. I didn’t realise how complicated it was.
Yeah I read a book entitled Great Mortality it talks about the 14th century pandemic. And it talked about there was a belief in some parts of France and Germany that the bubonic plague could be transmitted through the eyes.
My parents are from Lithuania, and we do the “Spit three times over your shoulder on the devils hand” whenever something good happens or if you don’t want to jinx anything, that’s how i used to think about it but after research and finding out “it’s the Evil Eye” watching you.
Thank you very much, this was really interesting. I really liked learning about how the Greeks thought vision worked. I've never heard someone explain Greek philosophy like that before.
In some Jewish circles, it is still common, when someone compliments themselves or a family member or friend, to follow up with the Hebrew phrase "B'li Ayin Hara": (Without the Evil Eye) or, in Ashkenazi circles, the abbreviated version of the Yiddish equivalent "Kineinaro"
I had a pretty decent size one hanging in my room by my window for the longest time and just thought it was glass art..🤷♀️ would have never guessed evil eye! It's such a nice calming blue color thanks for all your videos! They're always great
I don’t know where to start. I’ll start here…great great topic and even greater research. Major kudos to you and your deep understanding of the subject.
Where I’m from, the “evil eye” is part of our normal lives (not mine, though).
I had a funny experience with getting evil eyed.
One time I took my grandma to pay a bill. The teller woman caught a glimpse of my nails (I was a nail tech then and would do my own) and kept going on and on about how much she loved the designs I had the entire time we were there. Specifically my middle nail that had a sun and star charms. Once we left, I was putting my grandma's wheelchair away in the trunk and when I went to collapse the wheelchair, my middle finger nail (of all nails) got caught between 2 bars and split my nail in half and was so painful the rest of the day. And of course it was the day I forgot to wear my evil eye bracelet 🙄😂
Bruh, it broke because you messed up and left your finger between two bars and it just happened to be that finger. I can't stand people that think these things are actual spells and entities.
@@theprofit3398 even people who believe they are affected by the evil eye hurt themselves on purpose to believe it, this could be unconscious. These kind of people irk me
@@theprofit3398if you don’t believe in anything beyond the 3rd dimension why are you even on this video lol
@@Nothing36902 you just admitted to how narrow minded you are, just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean my world is closed off to it
@@theprofit3398you are the narrow minded here, wdyem
I've now subbed. I love how you twinned with a video involved with contemporary practices around the evil eye. I really respect that. Thanks for this video
I believe “Evil Eyes” were also painted on bow of Triremes (Classical Greek Warships), just above the bronze ram.
I seem to recall that fishing boats in Malta still have these
I have read that some oriental places do this, too, they say it helps the boat see where it's going, that may just be something they tell children and writers.
When I took a class on Greco-Roman folk magic, my professor brought a ipad with an iOS app for repelling the evil eye and also related when she visited her inlaws in rural Greece who still worried about it.
I am very impressed with your great research and great interpretation. as Muslim I believe you explained the topic from our prospective pretty accurately.
*perspective
I agree the video was great!
Dont forget brother, these protections against evil eye like the blue necklases or any accesories are shirk
The evil eye *does* harm. Even without the metaphysical aspect, psychology will suggest that actively harboring thoughts of harm is inherently damaging to the society as a whole.
I adore the way you balance professionalism with a small dose of humor
In Brasil, the evil eye is part of our culture, I would guess it became popular because of arabic, turkish and greek imigrants that imigrated here in the last century, we call it Turkish eye or Greek eye (in relation to where it came from). It could also have origins from Portugal and their arabic influences, since there is also the Hamsá hand, but we call it Fatima’s hand. They are both very popular amulets and can be bought anywhere, specialy in street markets.
I’m not superstitious at all, but I really like the eye, both for the history, the story and for the aesthetics and used to have one in my car, and my friends would comment on it, so I started giving a Turkish/Greek eye for every friend that bought their first or new car, as a wish of good luck and protection, because our traffic is really 💩. And then random acquaintances started asking me for it as if I was some kind of magical leader or something like that 😆😆😆 it was really weird!
I am Brazilian as well. It preceeds Syrian/Lebanese migration by centuries. It came with the Portuguese, and is found in in all Mediterranean cultures
It probably has nothing to do with the Evil Eye, but I still want to tell this story. Once I was visiting my grandparent's town, and on the door of a house I noticed a little sign that said, in Neapolitan: "He who doesn't love this household must die before he comes in".
i would love to have a sign like that. i wonder if thats related to a cultural thing or just a fun goofy little sign?
@@dickscumWhat do you mean? Of course it is cultural
@@itacom2199 I’m not familiar with the culture, so I’d be wrong to just assume that something was cultural with the chance that it’s just something these specific people thought would be a funny sign.
It’s a question of if it has cultural significance or if it’s just a humorous quip, similar to a doormat saying “Go away, no one is home”.
@@Patch.of.clover no need to get familiar with the culture, just go to Naples and walk around the city for 10 mins
in the nearby ruins of Pompeii and hercolaneum you can find the same practice in the form of mosaics or signs.
This is as cultural as it gets
My husband's very Jewish grandmother will always use 'kinehora' when praising one of her grandchildren or great-grands. "against the evil eye' :)
And I wear hamsa pendants that have the eye on them as well. (Did you cover hamsas yet or not?)
Now I wonder if there's an oh-so-faint link between the blue against the evil eye and the 'haint blue' used in the South to ward off ghosts from homes, and the blue bottle trees my own kin would put up against the same thing. No eyes, no, but blue is definitely the go-to color vs misfortune.
Eehh a super super faint link if one, the haint blue in the south comes from west African and Central African influence
An artist did an installation in the Sahara painting a huge stone outcrop bright blue. Environmentalists frowned on it, but the local Bedouin loved it because blue is good luck.
I read an article by Snopes about Haint blue, apparently it was just a marketing thing that was made up and attributed to the Gullah people in 1985.
I am from a country between two rivers, for the first time I know this information 🧿 Indeed, envy exists. We must protect ourselves by praying and supplicating to God
I have all the different forms of it, it is an absolutely wonderful amulet. I have the Do No Evil hanging in my car, along with my dad's Reiki symbol. Had close calls but never came to any harm. Granted, this is mostly through my own unshakable belief that I am protected as well.
Fun tidbit is that blue is the colour which catches the eye's attention. A friend of mine from Egypt told me of an old folklore about putting something blue with a newborn in case someone may be wishing the family any ill. So, the colour blue would catch the bad wisher's eye & all ill intent would go toward the item rather than the human.
The video editing and the "Scientific Demonstration" was just brilliant. Great video as always.
This is a very interesting topic. In Jerusalem, the plethora of evil eyes in cars, shops and homes indicates how prevalent the belief in the concept is.
In Germany we adopted from citizens with Turkish heritage the term "Auge machen" (to make eye) which i love
Thank you so much for all the work you did to make this information available! I appreciate this video and the understanding I now have on the topic of Evil Eye.
Evil can't hide from me the evil energy that I feel when I step out of my house I will utterly decimate and bring into a state of begging for mercy
I was once gazed upon by a neighbour with such intense hatred and fixed intensity that it made me sick for a while. I planned moving out just a few minutes after that. It was just unbearable. It might have been a case of succesful evil eye (complex?).
I always wondered about the Evil Eye as a concept. I've heard it referenced so much but never knew what it really meant. Thanks for talking about it :)
Amazing how at first I thought this was a peculiar and weird tradition, but at the same time so universal. Then I realized, how universal and instinctive it is to feel threatened by a hateful gaze. That theory about its social control function makes so much sense.
I’m Mexican and we believe in it too. It’s important on new babies and kids because a lot of people have so much hate and judge even kids and they can get affected and it has happened. Babies have gotten fevers
that's scary
I was gifted an evil eye charm back when I was young.
What I was being told was that it is simply a good luck charm.
Back then, we called it "Pfauenauge" or "peacock eye" (directly translated), based on the feathers of a peacock which look like eyes.
Later on, I just thought it was some form of common tourist trinket; it's interesting to know what this charm was actually used for!
Fascinating! An excellent topic, considering how ubiquitous these charms are throughout the Middle East (and even in the US now!).
One thing I would add about the belief of the evil eye in early Christianity is Matthew 6:22-23, where Jesus describes the eye as the “lamp” of the body. I read somewhere that this would have been understood as an allusion to the “evil eye” in the ancient Mediterranean.
I've always wondered how people who believed in extramission explained how shadows worked, since there is a clear directionality to them, or even how vision was impeded by darkness at all.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the rock and roll/heavy metal hand gesture. Which Rodney James Dio claims came from him copying his grandmother, who used to do it to ward off the evil eye.
Thanks for the scientific demonstration! I enjoyed it tremendously.
This video was impressively jnformative, thank you!
This is a video topic I didn’t know I wanted. Thanks man.
I find so many of his videos like that : )