Tag Archives: evil eye

Folk Speech/Protection – Evil Eye – Persian

Nationality: American, Persian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

Folk Speech/Protection – Evil Eye – Persian

“Some Persians believe if you use a word like ‘scissors,” ‘knife,’ or ‘needle,’ it’s as if you are putting that sharp object in the evil eye of the person you’re saying it to, insinuating that person is evil eyeing you. So instead of saying, ‘pass the salt’ or ‘pass the knife,’ you would say, ‘pass that which cannot be named’ or ‘pass that which is far from your soul.’ This can be viewed as a sign of respect when speaking to people you don’t know well, and it also avoids offending somebody if you’re not sure if they believe this tradition. Lots of people have gotten in fights over this… and even families have been broken apart. It’s really ridiculous.”

The informant described a couple of instances in which this affected her. One was when a woman was asking her to pass some salt at the dinner table, and the woman refused to say the word “salt” because it is corrosive and was afraid the informant would be offended. She also gave the example of, when suspicious of a person’s intentions when addressing you, you can make statements like, “I have a toothache,” “today I had to get an injection,” or “my bones ache.” All of these statements are believed to ward of the negative energy associated with the evil eye, because they are “sharp” and can pierce the evil eye. Another instance that this affected the informant was through her friend. When this friend visited her sister-in-law’s house in Beverly Hills for the first time, the sister-in-law immediately brought her to the tapestries hanging on the wall and stated something like, “look at the delicate needle-work on this tapestry.” The friend of the informant was extremely offended and stormed out of the house, thinking her sister-in-law was accusing her of jealousy. This confrontation resulted in cutting off relations with her sister-in-law. This example exemplifies how strong evil eye superstitions continue to be, even in a modern city like Los Angeles.
According the informant, the evil eye superstition, along with this method of protection, began when potential theft was an issue in Iran. People often worried about theft of their cattle or other belongings that were crucial to their survival, so this was a method of protecting themselves. Furthermore, the evil eye superstition exists all over the world, especially in the Middle East, in both Islam and Judaism. Therefore, it only makes sense that such a widespread superstition would endure.
I agree with the informant’s analysis, but I think there is another level to its relevance in modern usage. The informant’s community is predominantly Persian and Jewish, and mostly upper class residents of Beverly Hills. Therefore, it would make sense that these perceived notion of envy would endure in this community, both internally and externally, and they would continue to try to protect themselves from it.

Ritual— Iran

Nationality: Iranian. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Persian.
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

The practice as described by Tara:  “If you feel like the evil eye is near you, you burn this weed called esfand (laughs).  It’s different in other parts of Iran but my mom’s Turkish so she has to say this prayer thing in Turkish.  And you let the smell of the weed take over the house, and it kills the evil eye.”

Tara said she learned this tradition from her mother, who burns esfand often.  She said that most people she knows do this in Iran on important occasions like on the date that their children are being circumcised or if their children are sick.  However, her mother does it for more common occasions.  For instance, if someone gives Tara or her mother a lot of compliments, they burn the weed because it seems like someone is really interested in them and they might be getting jinxed.  Tara’s family moved from Iran to the United States almost ten years ago, but they still perform this ritual in their house in Los Angeles.

Tara said that she doesn’t understand the practice exactly but she likes to burn the weed because it smells really good.  She also said that people probably do this because it’s a tradition and gives you a true sense of comfort.  She said that she does believe in the evil eye even though she knows it’s illogical.  She says it might sound stupid to other people (this is why she laughed in embarrassment while explaining the tradition, which she did in a room filled with Americans uninformed about the evil eye), but she still likes burning esfand because it makes her feel good.

Tara’s analysis seems accurate.  Even though many people believe that the evil eye couldn’t logically exist, they still fear its power because they grew up learning about it.  The evil eye is a common fear among many nations and groups of people, so this seems like yet another way to prevent it from causing harm.  Superstitions like this one have been a part of Tara’s life since she was growing up, so the practice of burning esfand provides a consistent sense of comfort.

Folk Belief – Greek

Nationality: Greek, Native-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Moorpark, CA
Performance Date: March 30, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Greek: Mati

English:  Evil Eye

The Mati is known as the Evil Eye in Greek culture. This belief can also be found in Volume 8, No. 3 of the American Ethnologist. Nichelle’s interpretation states, “You would use this term when you want to explain an unknown disease, the bad luck of somebody, jealousy, or envy. If I said Oh Britt you look so pretty today” but I really didn’t mean to give that comment, I would inadvertently be giving you the evil eye. Children and teenagers are especially prone to this. In order to ward off the evil eye you make a sound of spitting: ‘too soo too soo too soo’ three times because of the importance of the trinity in Greek Orthodox religion (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Spitting three times negates the praise of something bad. To ward of the evil eye from babies a pin that is shaped like an eye with a solid circle in the middle and a circle in the outside as shown in Figure 1 is pinned to the clothing. Other times people will make crosses of dirt. In order to find out if you have the evil eye you take a cup of water and pour three drops of olive oil into the cup of water. If drops mix with the water then you have the evil eye. Getting rid of the evil eye is a recognized phenomenon by the church. The priest takes a communion and prayers. Witch doctors are also used to rid a person from the evil eye. However, priests look down upon witch doctors because they believe that the Mati is a form of witchcraft that has originated from witch doctor practices.”

I do agree with the interpretation of Nichelle’s analysis of this certain Greek belief. This superstitious belief in the evil can be traced back to 300 B.C. Folklorist have claimed its origination to be in Sumeria. I do agree that the origin of its roots comes from social concerns of other people or from a fear of strangers. The “Mati” is a polygenetic piece of folklore. The evil eye is known to a variety of cultures. For example, the evil eye is known as ayin horeh in Hebrew; ayin harsha in Arabic, droch shuil in Scotland, mauvais oeil in France, bösen Blick in Germany, mal occhio in Italy and was known as oculus malus among the classical Romans. Each culture shares similar and different characteristics of warding off the evil eye. In Muslim tradition the evil eye will be warded off by quoting scriptures from the Koran, while in France the evil eye can be warded off by throwing dirt on a child who is praised.

I believe the evil eye can be used as a code of identity, showing who is and isn’t a part of a particular culture or who doesn’t fall within the acceptance of a particular individual. By identifying someone with the evil eye, I believe that you have branded that individual as someone who is not a part of the group and who must go through a certain process to become a part of the group.

Annotation

Herzfeld, Michael. Meaning and Morality: A Semiotic Approach to Evil Eye Accusations in a Greek Village. American Ethnologist, Vol. 8, No. 3, Symbolism and Cognition (Aug., 1981).pp 560-574. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of American Anthropological Association.

Protection – Tehran, Iran

Nationality: Iranian-American
Age: 53
Occupation: Executive
Residence: Calabasas, CA
Performance Date: April 22, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

“In order to keep the “evil eye” away, we wear jewelry with blue, glass eyes or have them hanging from a wall or something.  It takes away the bad energy that somebody else could be giving you.”

My mother first introduced me to this idea and she said that it is very popular in old cultures.  Everybody in Iran, and in most other cultures, have theories of the “evil eye” and how to keep it away.  This was not something somebody taught my mother; rather, it is something she grew up with.  Many people think that the “evil eye” is a superstition whereas some other people believe in it.  In order to keep the “evil eye” and bad energy away, my mom put blue, glass eyes all over our house.  For example, if somebody pays a compliment, he or she may be sending bad energy by through jinxes, intentionally or even unintentionally.

Belief in the “evil eye” is routed back to the Muslim religion and the Koran.  It is very popular in Middle Eastern countries, the Mediterranean area, and some parts of Asia.  Everybody in my family, including me, believes in this tradition.  I always wear this bracelet my mom gave me when I was very young.  It is gold and has three blue, glass eyes on it.  Whenever I am not wearing it, I feel uncomfortable that something bad will happen.  For example, when my dog died a couple of years ago, my mom and my aunts believed that somebody “gave him the eye.”  They did not believe that was the reason that caused his death because he was already very old, but they did believe it had a part to do with it.  After that incident, she told me to wear the bracelet she gave me all the time and even gave me a glass eye to hang on the rear view window of my car.

My mom also has other precautions of keeping the bad energy away.  Other than the glass eyes, she also knocks on wood and also burns seeds of “esfand” (or aspand) on charcoal so that the smoke can waft through the house.  I know that these all count as superstitions but I do believe that they have some sort of power.  It may just be a sense of comfort and security but it is a theory that dates back many years and has become a custom and tradition.

Folk Belief – Jewish

Nationality: Russian, Polish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Anaheim Hills, CA
Primary Language: English

“I guess I can talk about the Evil Eye. And this is almost kind of a universal um idea that not that many cultures have a concept of evil presence, or Evil Eye. And specifically, in Eastern Europe and southern Europe a lot of cultures um have talked about it that there’s this kind of evil presence in the world and uh you just kinda wanna scare it away. It’s really common among older people who are in the immigrant generation like the late 1800s or early 1900s and I’ve heard stories of my great-grandmother who would um almost spit at the ground if something bad was said and there is a Yiddish phrase called ‘Kanahora’ uh which kinda means God Forbid, it’s kinda like ‘knock on wood’ and uh basically you say that if you do say something bad. You say that and it kinda scares away any evil presence that might actually cause that to happen. Um the Jewish phrase is ‘Kanahora’ but I know that a lot of different cultures and religions have this notion of the evil and try to keep it away. I don’t know if it’s so much of a literal eye, I think it’s more just the fact that there is that presence watching over you and you wanna scare it away. I know that different cultures have talked about this and there’s always that fear of the unknown, nobody really knows for sure what’s gonna happen so they just hope for the best. Occasionally I would hear my grandfather who grew up speaking Yiddish yell out or say ‘Kanahora’ after something. But they haven’t told me any stories about them actually seeing any evil. I think my grandfather uses it because his mother or my great-grandmother used it all the time. There was a lot of lack of communication between my great-grandparents who came here from Russia and Poland and my family here now because they spoke Yiddish. Um, my family here basically weren’t so aware of how to speak that language so there is a lot of kind of cultural traditions that were lost there and a lot of lack of understanding ‘cause my parents would have been like the third-generation here so even my grandparents who were like the first-generation born here, there was a lot of Americanization that went on there so even if my grandfather says ‘Kanahora’ I don’t know if he really thinks that there is an evil presence. It might just be him using a term that he heard his mother speak when she came here. So ‘Kanahora’ is kind of the Yiddish version of ‘God Forbid.’ I guess the notion of the Evil Eye, specifically, is common in Eastern and Southern European cultures, mainly Eastern.”

I think this belief in the presence of an Evil Eye is more prevalent among religious cultures because they speculate that if there is a god(s) to help or protect them, there must also exist negative forces out there that harm them. This fear of the unknown reinforces people’s faith in God as they use the phrase ‘Kanahora’ in their everyday speech to call on God’s power to protect them from any unseen evil.

More information on the Evil Eye in the Jewish tradition can be found in:

Brav, Aaron. “The Evil Eye Among the Hebrews”. The Evil Eye: A Casebook. Wisconsin Press: 1981. page 44-49.