The Evil Eye's Ancient Power Still Resonates Today

"The evil eye is a curse that's unleashed by a glance or a stare," says Antonio Pagliarulo, author of the new book, "The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery and Magic of the Quiet Curse." "And it's born of envy and jealousy, but also of resentment, anger or greed. Most of the time the curse is intentional, but it can also be roused unintentionally, which is where you get the 'spitting' or different hand gestures to ward it away."

The evil eye originated from the ancient belief that the eyes are conduits for energy, both positive and negative. Even a passing glance, if directed with enough malice or envy, can zap the recipient with a beam of bad juju or bad luck.

That's exactly how Plutarch, the Greek philosopher and historian, described the evil eye 2,000 years ago. In a collection of essays called "Moralia," Plutarch explained that the emotions of the mind increase the violence and energy of the body's powers. When someone is overcome with jealousy, their body literally fills up with evil. And because the eyes are so physically close to the mind, the evil energy shoots out of the eyes as a malevolent glare, and into its victim.

Any bad outcome can potentially be traced back to the evil eye. If you suffer illness or injury, it was brought by the evil eye. If you lose your job or get robbed, the evil eye was behind it. Even inanimate objects can be afflicted by the evil eye. If your basement floods or your smartphone dies, that's also the evil eye at work.

Babies, children, pregnant women and animals are most vulnerable to the evil eye, which is why cultures the world over prescribe different amulets and rituals to protect them.

In Turkey, it's a custom for family and friends to give a small blue-and-white nazar token to newborn babies to ward off the evil eye. In India, some parents use kohl to draw a black dot on their infant's face to deflect the evil eye, known there as nazar or drishti. My grandmother and some other Jewish parents tie a red ribbon to a baby's crib to misdirect the evil eye.

When it comes to pregnancy — a condition fraught with uncertainty and anxiety — believers in the evil eye will avoid any behavior or speech that "tempts fate," as Pagliarulo puts it.

"In the Italian and Catholic culture that I was raised in, there was no such thing as a baby shower," says Pagliarulo. "That was seen as a dangerous thing to do." Instead, pregnant women would wear amulets and say special prayers to ward off the evil eye, and newborn babies had ribbons pinned to their onesies in the hospital to protect them.

In 2021, the state-run religious authority in Turkey caused a stir by proclaiming that wearing evil eye talismans was prohibited under Islam, because one shouldn't attribute power to anyone or anything but Allah.

It shouldn't be a surprise that some of the cultures with the richest and most vibrant evil eye traditions today — among them Italy, Greece and Turkey — are found near the Mediterranean Sea and in the Middle East. The region has produced rituals and charms to ward off the evil eye for thousands of years./\r\n/

The oldest evil eye talismans discovered by archeologists are the so-called "eye idols" excavated from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Tell Brak in modern-day Syria. The small figures, carved out of gypsum, have oversized eyes and functioned as protective idols against the evil eye as far back as 3300 B.C.E.

In ancient Egypt, the Eye of Horus (also known as the wedjat) performed the same function. The recognizable symbol, painted on homes and buried in the tombs of pharaohs, offered protection from the evil eye in the realms of both the living and the dead.

Plutarch wasn't the only ancient Greek writer to describe the evil eye and its effects. In a third-century romantic novel called "Aethiopica," the Greek writer Heliodorus of Emesa made an explicit connection between jealousy and the evil eye:

As for the blue-and white "glass eye" beads and other nazar amulets sold in Mediterranean marketplaces, historians believe they started as the blue-hued Eyes of Horus from Egypt, then evolved and spread throughout the region through successive empires including the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans and Ottomans.

"I think the evil eye has survived for millennia because it's a facet of the human condition; it's in our spiritual DNA," says Pagliarulo. "Everyone has felt envious or jealous at some point in their life, and everyone has been the target of someone else's envy or jealousy."

Pagliarulo comes from a long line of believers in the evil eye and a long line of "folk magicians" who are skilled in the ways of detecting and lifting the curse. Pagliarulo's grandmother kept a bowl of water in her kitchen in which she would pour droplets of olive oil. The shapes and patterns that formed in the water would tell her if a family member or concerned neighbor was stricken with the evil eye.

"In the town in Italy where my grandmother was from, she was very well-known as a person who could remove il malocchio, the evil eye," says Pagliarulo.

To lift the curse, Pagliarulo's grandmother, a devout Catholic, would prescribe certain prayers or the wearing of a talisman. Sometimes matches or herbs were burned, or a pinch of salt was rubbed on the victim's neck.

In his book, Pagliarulo shares some of his own methods for warding off the evil eye, including daily meditation, honing his "intuition" and wearing certain amulets ("I wear a lot of amulets!" he says). Feel free to celebrate accomplishments and blessings like a new job or a new baby, Pagliarulo advises, but avoid being boastful or prideful.

Pagliarulo insists that belief in the evil eye doesn't have to be based in fear or superstition. Instead, it can be freeing.

"Energy is energy; the evil eye is out there," says Pagliarulo. "But rather than focus on fear, you can focus on awareness and taking positive steps to protect yourself and your loved ones."