|
|
Sept. 23, 2011
Protect against the evil eye
Some believe that words and talismans can counter ill forces.
MELODY AMSEL-ARIELI
Many people believe that the eyes are the windows of the soul and, indeed, eyes do hold power. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, friends see eye-to-eye, baubles catch the eye, and surprises can occur in the twinkling of an eye. In many cultures, eyes also represent negative energy, envy – the evil eye.
If you consider envy as the root of all evil, it’s no wonder that the ancients feared envious stares, believing that they could transform good fortune into misfortune. To this day, some believe that even casual glances or innocuous admiration can cause bad luck as well. If a verdant field of corn withers, a well runs dry or a fat hen stops laying, for example, their owners may recall undue attention paid by passersby. If a beautiful baby falls or falls ill, her mother may blame a neighbor’s doting glances. Chillingly, some societies also believe that certain people, those with particular facial features, actually embody the evil eye.
Words, too, can change luck from good to bad. Compliments, however well intentioned, can harm a thriving business, burn a stew or stall a new car. Many Russians, for example, customarily avoid complimenting their little ones, lest they summon the evil eye.
Words, however, when well placed, can ward off the evil eye. To this day, people will counter innocent words of praise with intentionally deprecating remarks. Many Jews temper compliments about their near and dear with cries of “Kina hora!” (“Begone, evil eye!”); for some, those are the only Yiddish words they know.
Sometimes silence, instead of words, deflects the evil eye. Some Jews, if asked about the size of their families, respond evasively, rather than by enumerating their offspring by name or number. Similarly, many refrain from mentioning their achievements or exhibiting their valuables.
The world over, those who fear the evil eye, rather than tempt fate, may also rely on a variety of actions, charms, spells or talismans for protection. When bestowing or receiving a compliment, for example, some knock on wood, spit thrice in the air or toss grains of salt over their shoulders. Some instinctively cover their foreheads when sensing negative energy hovering nearby. Others, to deflect malevolent forces from their homes, adorn their entranceways with slivers of miniscule mirrors or wreath their doorposts with protective bundles of basil, rue, anise seed or sage. Some, to keep bad luck at bay, donate to charity, carefully dividing handfuls of shekels among boxes labeled “Against Disease,” “Against Terror Attacks” and “Against the Evil Eye.”
When evil eye “practitioners,” specialists in removing the evil eye, determine that someone is cursed, some purify that person by reciting special prayers, ones passed on from generation to generation. Others ceremoniously burn herbs or cobalt-blue incense, readily available at spice shops and outdoor markets, while intoning appropriate incantations. The smoke the spices emit, it is believed, boast spiritually cleansing powers. Because so many people believe that most of humankind’s ills are caused by malevolent forces, these exorcists enjoy lively livings.
Many people also believe that the color red, a vibrant symbol of life and health, protects against evil. Panhandlers at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, for example, do a thriving business in strands of blood-red woolen thread or ribbon that, having been circled round Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, assume strong, kabbalistic protective powers. While some tie them to baby carriages or cribs, others wind them around their wrists or ankles. Multiple red strands braided together, of course, are more potent yet.
Blue, among those who believe, deflects bad luck as well. Even today, people living in some older areas of Jerusalem commonly edge their doors and windows with swaths of pale blue anti-evil whitewash. Many – perhaps evoking a time when few people boasted (contact-enhanced) eyes the unearthly shade of sea and sky – also rely on tiny, eerily realistic glass, blue, “eye” charms which, by out-staring the evil eye, provide protection.
A single glass, eye amulet, for example, slipped into a pocket or pocketbook, offers personal peace of mind; several attached to a cellular phone ensures fruitful conversations and relationships. Blue eye charms, worn as pendants, bracelets, earrings or ankle chains, ensure bodily protection; a handful, tucked into a backpack, assures a safe trip; strewn across a serving dish, they protect an entire household; if threaded on multiples of lucky, red woolen strands, these eye charms deal a double whammy.
Like scores of others around the Mediterranean basin, many Israelis, Sephardi and Ashkenazi alike, also rely on hamsas, ancient palm-shaped talismans that feature five outspread fingers, to deflect the evil eye. Tiny representations of these shapes commonly adorn everyday items like advertisements and lottery cards – in fact, anything that might require good fortune. Small gold, silver or turquoise hamsas also commonly grace necklaces, earrings, bracelets, key chains and traditional red-thread jewelry, offering personal protection.
In recent years, hamsas, big and small, have gained wide popularity across Israel. Nearly every household boasts at least one large wall-hung wooden, glass, ceramic, textile or metal hamsa that approaches or surpasses the size of an actual hand. Many of these, appropriately, are inscribed with blessings for the home or evocations for universal desires like health, happiness, luck and love; many others, situated prominently in restaurants, offices or stores, invoke successful business endeavors. Some feature scenes from the Bible or traditional Jewish motifs like Stars of David, chai (the Hebrew word for life) or fish, another ancient mystical symbol. Many feature combinations of multiple fortuitous motifs: red or blue ones adorned with blessings, biblical scenes and evil eyes, as well as five fingers dangling with Stars of David, fish charms or tiny blue beads. Beliefs aside, hamsas that display purely decorative designs, like arabesques, florals or figures, are just as popular.
Melody Amsel-Arieli is a freelance writer living in Israel, with an interest in history, genealogy and collectibles. She is the author of Between Galicia and Hungary: The Jews of Stropkov and the forthcoming Jewish Lives: Britain 1750-1950 (Pen and Sword 2013). Her website is amselbird.tripod.com.
^TOP
|
|
