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The evil eye is a widely
distributed element of folklore, in which it is believed that the envy
elicited by the good luck of fortunate people may result in their
misfortune, whether it is envy of material possessions including
livestock, or of beauty, health, or offspring. The perception of the
nature of the phenomenon, its causes, and possible protective measures,
varies between different cultures. In some forms, it is the belief that
some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their
magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy,
with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally.
Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with
bad luck; others believe the evil eye can cause disease, wasting away, and
even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies
and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon
by strangers or by childless women. The late UC Berkeley professor of
folklore Alan Dundes has explored the beliefs of many cultures and found a
commonality that the evil caused by the gaze is specifically
connected to symptoms of drying, desiccation, withering, and dehydration,
that its cure is related to moistness, and that the immunity from the evil
eye that fishes have in some cultures is related to the fact that they are
always wet. His essay "Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye" is a standard text on
the subject.
In many forms of the evil-eye belief, a person otherwise not malefic in
any way can harm adults, children, livestock, or a
possession, simply by looking at them with envy. The word "evil" can be
seen as somewhat misleading in this context, because it suggests that
someone has intentionally "cursed" the victim. A better understanding of
the term "evil eye" can be gained from the old English and Scottish word
for casting the evil eye, namely "overlooking," implying that the gaze has
remained focused on the coveted object, person, or animal for too long.
While some cultures hold that the evil eye is an involuntary jinx cast
unintentionally by people unlucky enough to be cursed with the power to
bestow it by their gaze, others hold that, while perhaps not strictly
voluntary, the power is called forth by the sin of envy. In Jewish
religious thought, it is sometimes asserted that the one who looks upon
another with envy is not always at fault, but that the envy may be
perceived by God, who then may redress the balance between two people by
bringing the higher one low. It has been suggested that the term covet (to
eye enviously) in the tenth Commandment refers to casting the evil eye,
rather than to simple desire or envy. |
